The End

Note: I'm recording this experience as a result of counsel from the stake president. I won't be offended if you skim through it.

I thought I would start my story of Trek from the end. The end was unexpected and didn't go as planned. Many might think that it didn't end well, but I think this was the way God intended.

We'll begin in the wee hours of Saturday morning, day three of trek; the final day. I'm not sure what time it started raining, but it seemed to have started not very long after midnight. It poured and the winds blew fiercely. There were several times when I thought my tent would blow over. I was so grateful for my tent and my warm sleeping bag.

Around 3:30 I was on the verge of consciousness and realized my feet were wet. I sat up reaching around, thinking that my water bottle tipped over, but I found other puddles of water and realized that the rain water must have flooded the tarp under the tent. I scooched my sleeping bag to a dry area and drifted back to sleep. A few short minutes later I found once again that my feet were wet. Several more times I adjusted my sleeping bag to a dry area until there wasn't one. I remembered an emergency blanket (you know those thin silvery ones) in my first aid kit, so I retrieved it and spread it out to keep me dry.

A little while later I heard a drip drip drip by my head. The rain fly was leaking. I moved and tried to go back to sleep. This happened again and again until about 5am I gave up any attempt at sleep and waited for the sun to come up and the rain to stop. An hour later the rain let up a little (it was still drizzling) and I was bored. I packed up my stuff and said a prayer that rain would stop. Josef brought me my sad little rain poncho and then I put on my wet shoes.

Every hour proceeding seemed to bring a new level of physical misery; fresh ankle-deep mud and icy water was every where and the temperature was quickly falling. The rain stopped pouring but it continued to mist us with water. There was no way to stay dry, no shield from the wet and cold. I made no attempts to cheer up. I allowed myself to sink into self pity. "Why did I come?" and "I will NEVER do this again!" were the thoughts that I allowed to pollute my spirits.

The decision to end trek six or seven hours early was made by the Stake President when it became apparent that conditions were only going to get worse. I'll never forget the joyous cheers of the youth when we shared the news with them. I will also never forget the relief in there eyes when they boarded the warm dry cars that rescued them and whisked them home.

Even though Trek did not have the "happy" ending that the leaders had envisioned from the beginning, I firmly believe that this ending was the will of the Lord. Testimonies formed and strengthened in such a way that may not have been the result of other circumstances. It taught me that God truly is in control and its up to us to find joy in every moment of our journey.