Trek 2025, Bountiful Utah Stake

On Trek, you will spend many waking hours pulling and pushing your handcart and your sleeping hours next to it. Only a small portion of Latter-day Saint pioneers came west with handcarts. Most traveled in wagon companies, though many of them also walked to Zion. For the time pioneers were on the trail, their wagons and handcarts were their homes. And, like if you were to move from one home to another, they also served as their "moving vans." Pioneers needed to take everything they needed for their new homes or make things from the natural resources there. During our few days of Trek, notice the many vehicles used to support this experience. Of course, there will be the handcarts, but also trucks to pull refrigerated trailers full of food, supplies, medical teams and supplies, and porta-potties, called in past Treks, "the Emerald City." Vehicles were an important part of westward migration and today's Treks. "The Saints used all kinds of wagons, buggies, and...

The Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo left in desperate circumstances. Buyers knew that the sellers were leaving and, in many cases, took advantage of that desperation. Those who followed Brigham Young were willing to sacrifice to follow their leaders west to new homes. They did the best they could to get supplies for their travels and new home, but ultimately did what was necessary in leaving their homes to build a new Zion. "Sarah Studevant Leavitt recalled, 'We soon found we had to leave the place if we meant to save our lives, and we got what little we could from our beautiful farm. We had forty thousand bricks that my husband and sons had made for us to build a house, and part of the rock to lay the foundation. For this we got an old bed quilt, and for the farm a yoke of wild steers, and for two high post bedsteads, we got some weaving done.' "Heber C. Kimball was among the lucky Saints who was able to trade his new brick two-story home for thirty-five yoke of oxen. Jo...

Many will never know the hours of preparation and planning that has gone into Trek. Something of this magnitude is not thrown together overnight. Brigham Young, other Church leaders, and pioneer families spent months preparing to leave Nauvoo for their new home in the west. Organization and planning was and is essential to ensure that everyone is safe, fed, and healthy. Packing lists ensure that everyone has what they need to be successful. Trek will be successful and meaningful because we have all spent the time to prepare for this singular event. Like the pioneers of old, we've planned and worked for this time.  "Four months earlier, the homes and yards of the Saints in Nauvoo presented an equally busy scene as preparations began for an orderly departure for a new Zion when the weather permitted their journey west in the spring. Grass, water, and game would be plentiful. A company of men was called to head out early, searching out a new home for the Saints. The others would ...

Many Latter-day Saints emigrated to Zion as part of a family. You will be part of a family on Trek. You'll have a "ma," "pa," and "siblings." You'll do a lot with your family - pull and push handcarts, eat together, sleep around your handcart, etc. Make great memories with your family; memories you'll enjoy the rest of your lives. "The family is among the few universal institutions of humankind; and migrating was a family affair among the [Latter-day Saints], differing in nature from the experiences of Oregonians and Californians. Most religiously inspired migrations are family affairs - for example, the Pilgrims, the Puritans, and the Dutch in South Africa. Since [Latter-day Saints] believe that the family unit remains intact in the next world, they have highlighted the importance of family and community among believers probably more than any other people. The Saints moved as villages on wheels - a whole faith, culture, and people. "...

While these passages describe the experiences of the first pioneer company that arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in July of 1847, all pioneers would have experienced the exhilaration of seeing the Salt Lake Valley for the first time and realizing that their journey was almost done. "Home" is such a powerful idea. Do you have places that feel like home? That you would consider your home? Have you ever moved from one home to another? While the pioneer experience was different in many ways from ours, they also shared many experiences and feelings that we have today.  "Whether the Saints had driven a wagon, pushed and pulled a handcart, herded the cattle, or walked the entire route on blistered feet, the promise of better days and freedom to worship in peace awaited in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. The Saints, some of whom had wandered along the banks of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, and the flatlands of Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa for nearly fifteen years, found...

"On the trail itself, opportunities for trading were limited to within one's own company, except at Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger. Archer Walters, a member of the Willie Handcart Company in 1856, wrote: 'Camped 3 miles from Fort Laramie. Trucked away [traded] a dagger for a piece of bacon and salt and sold one for One dollar and one-fourth. Bought bacon and meal and Henry [his son] and me began to eat it raw we were so hungry.' John Jaques, who was traveling in the Martin Handcart Company the same year, recorded in his diary on October 8, at Fort Laramie: 'I took a cup of tea at Brother Haven's and another at Sister Dove's. Got a little salaratus from Brother Haven's and another at Sister Dove's. Got a little salaratus from Brother Haven an da little salt from another brother.' The next day, he and several men in the company went to Fort Laramie 'to buy provisions, etc. I went and sold my watch for thirteen dollars. I bought from the fort co...