"My Boy's Somewhere in This Picture"

Jennifer emailed me this picture last night.  She wrote "My boy's somewhere in this picture!"  

This picture brought tears to my eyes.  Today was Taylor's first day of "Trek" and here the company is out in the middle of Wyoming somewhere.  I'm so emotional about things like this after reading Fire in the Covenant and The Work and the Glory and now A Banner is Unfurled. The sacrifices that our ancestors made for us are incredible.

I wonder how yesterday went. I've heard that the kids are usually all "gung-ho" the first day and they just cruise along and are all happy and such. And then, the second day, after sleeping on the ground, not getting a lot to eat, dealing with the heat, sore feet, etc., they kind of get a little more irritable. Then, the next day, when the girls have to pull the handcarts, it's an emotional rollercoaster for everyone.

I hope Taylor took a little journal of sorts and writes all about his feelings of everything. It's sad (but also good) that they do this as teenagers - because they haven't lived life enough yet to really "feel" the depth of emotions that an adult may feel like I am right now from so far away. My heart longs to be there on that trek with him. To take it all in. To walk in the footsteps of my ancestors. To know what our ancestors went through for us so we would have the gospel in our lives from day one. To feel so much closer to my Heavenly Father. To really realize it all.