She's Back!

She made it! I could hardly wait to pick up this dirty, sweaty little pioneer at the church on Saturday. A huge wave of relief came over me as I saw her hop out of the car with a huge smile on her face. That told me how it went pretty much. She had lots to say about her 4 days away from me. She was so dirty! They walked through powdery dirty that just fluffed up when they stepped so she had dirt through her socks into her shoes, her underclothes were just as dirty as her outer clothes. I did not send enough wet towelettes for her to clean up with though. Hahaha I was so relieved to hear that she didn't have any blisters, no sore feet or muscles, no chaffing, cuts or bruises. She made the 25+ miles of rough terrain and all I've heard from the adults around her was how strong she was. The physical exercise and making her drink lots to prepare for this trek has definitely paid off. She feels good knowing she did it. She did something that everyone agreed was hard. The hardest thing that many have ever done. 

Susi did tell me that one night she saw Lindsey looking a bit down. She called Lindsey's name and put her arms out and Lindsey came running into them for a big bear hug and cried. She was missing home just like I knew she would. So her and Susi from then on gave each other hugs and words of encouragement. It helped Lindsey see someone so close to home I think. I appreciate Susi showing the love. I told her she was my angel watching over Lindsey while I couldn't be there. 

Sending Lindsey off without any way of communicating or knowing how she was was very hard for me. It made me think of the early Saints who could only pay for some of their family to make the journey to America to trek to Salt Lake. How hard that must have been for those families. I at least knew when I'd see Lindsey again but I still worried and cried and prayed for her. 

My prayers were answered that Lindsey would be in a good "family." She had Nate and Staci Henry as her Ma and Pa. They used to be in our ward before the split. Lindsey was also blessed to have two young men from our ward that she knew. One was a Priest, Kaden Daw (Susi's son). Kaden also kept an eye out for Lindsey. More answered prayers. Lindsey loved the family she was in. They were considered the loud group because every time they could have some free time they liked to play games, especially mafia.

I had to get a picture of all these authentic Amish made handcarts. There were 200 carts made just for this trek. A lot of time and money really went in to this. 

There were company photographers on the trek so I was able to get some photos of Lindsey while she was away. :)

Time to dance! This is Brother Nate Henry, Lindseys' "Pa" during trek.

I only heard good things about this girl. 

She was lucky enough to get a ride for a bit.

She didn't do the heavy pulling for much of the trek but she was good at helping to push the cart when she took her turn. She can be a hard worker when she wants to be.