Trek - Day 4

Gathering at the Cook's Place - Brother Sherman and all

Before heading into our
"entering the Great Salt Lake Valley experience,"

we were fed, muffins, hot coco, and fruit.

It was our chilliest morning yet, but it warmed up quick

 We also got some final photos.

104 youth
13 sets of Ma's and Pa's
Two on horseback
and a slew of support
to pull off the cooking, water, first aid,
and all the activities - AMAZING!

The Blair Family,
loaded up and ready to head out.

We walked for quite a while
and then we had a final break to say some closing words.
I ended our journey with this excerpt:

"Henry Clegg Jr. was a finisher.  He joined the Church with his family when the first LDS missionaries went to Preston, England.  Henry had a view of his destination in his mind as he and his wife, Hannah, and their two young boys immigrated to Utah.  Henry left his older parents, who were too feeble to make such a long and arduous journey, knowing he would never see them again.

"While crossing the plains, Hannah contracted cholera and died.  She was laid to rest in an unmarked grave.  The company then moved on, and at six in the evening, Henry's youngest son also died.  Henry retraced his steps to Hannah's grave, placed his young son in his wife's arms, and reburied the two of them together.  Henry then had to return to the wagon train, now five miles away.  Suffering from cholera himself, Henry described his condition as being at death's door while realizing he still had a thousand miles to walk.  Amazingly he continued forward, putting one foot in front of the other.  He stopped writing in his journal for several weeks after losing his dear Hannah and little son.  I was struck with the words he used when he did start writing again:  "Still moving."

"When he finally reached the gathering place of the Saints, he began a new family.  He kept the faith.  He continued his story.  Most remarkably, his heartache over the burial of his sweetheart and son gave birth to our family's legacy of moving forward, of finishing.

". . . All faithful modern-day pioneers are learning.  With the Lord, nothing is impossible, but we each have to finish our own story.  He sends His Spirit, we call out encouragement to each other, but we have to keep [moving] and accepting new challenges to the end of our own story.  "Still walking" [with faith in every footstep] is the fundamental requirement in the journey of life.  He wants us to finish well.  He wants us to come back to Him.  I pray that each of our stories will end in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His son, our Savior Jesus Christ, the authors and finishers of our faith."

Gayle M. Clegg

"The Finished Story"

Ensign, May 2004

Testimonies,

good-byes,

and a final round of hugs

from Ma and Pa Blair,

and we're off.

"FINISH YOUR STORY"

Banners, people, cheers, and food greeted us.

We made it!
Ma and Pa Blair with PJ

Time to unload.

Greeted by friends and family we had a yummy meal.
After packing the truck we drove down the mountain
and headed home.

Before we got home we stopped by the Smith's house.
Sam was there ready to leave for Scout camp.
We said our good-byes.
With Scout camp and Trek we are 11 days apart.