Youth pull handcarts through snow
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SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS, CALIF.
Pulling their handcarts through the snow, youth of the Inglewood California Stake gained a better understanding on their Jan. 2-3 trek of what some of the Church's early handcart pioneers went through.
Because the summer heat can be intense in Southern California, the stake decided to avoid that season for their handcart trek, according to Nancy Kerr, stake Young Women president, during a Church News telephone interview. She also noted that the youth of the stake attend school in five different districts, so their spring breaks were at different times, eliminating the possibility of a spring trek.
But all had the same winter break when the weather is seldom severe in the area. But the stake was surprised when, just days before the activity, temperatures plummeted and several feet of snow fell on Mile High Ranch/Riley's Farm, the site of the trek in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains.
"We decided to go ahead and couldn't have been more blessed," Sister Kerr said.
The weather improved and, for the most part, the trail was dry, she said. But there was a patch where the youth had to pull through snow, experiencing a little of the conditions that devastated the Willie and Martin handcart companies when early winter storms raged against them on the plains of Wyoming in 1856.
Through it all, the youth "were great," according to Sister Kerr, who added, "It was a good experience for them to get to work together."
Sister Kerr said there are large populations of Polynesians, Hispanics, African-Americans and Caucasians in the stake's wards. She said youth from different wards were mixed in different families so they could "expand their circle of friends. They learned to pitch in and do what it took to help the next group."
At the end of the trek, the youth "were tired, but they were proud that they were able to accomplish it," she said. "They had a great testimony meeting at the conclusion."
