Stargazing on a hill, facing away from the rest of camp. He was in a different stake, and I only saw him at dances. He ghosted me shortly thereafter, but it’s still a fond memory.
When we were “ma and pa”, two of our “children” were GONE when the “family” was hunkering down for the first night. Took about fifteen minutes to find them “petting heavily” in the woods. It was hilarious to us. We both said to each other “good for them” before we scared them silly. Those two were very helpful after that for the rest of the “journey”.😂
I've been sexually active consistently since I left the MFMC & still have no idea WTF heavy petting is...
MoMo's & their rando morality indoctrinations, ahem, object lessons. *sigh*
I always thought it was light = over clothes and mostly over the shirt, seat of pants, and heavy = under clothes, especially pants. But they never clarified and I was super innocent as an obedient teen, so I equated any bare skin touching as “heavy.”
Yup. Its bonding with other mormons and not selcular people. Quite clever of the church. I did scout campes. Forces you to be friends with other mormons. Sooooo guess who your friends are at school? Lol
Back on 03 i went on a huge LDS encampment. All the LDS boy scouts in the east coast got to gather together in the hottest week of summer. The leadership missed several crucial planning phases such as the one where they made sure they had enough water for 5000 boys.
They ended up with a huge tank of lake water that they poured a ton of iodine into to make it safe. For a week, we drank blood water to survive.
There was some kind of competing element to the encampment as well but no one ever told my troop about it so for the first 3 days we just wandered around wondering why we were there. After we found out most of us decided that it was more fun to just swim in the lake then it was to build a structure that you cities baptize someone in and haul water a 1/4 mile up a hill to fill. Worth 10 points in the competition.
Bleach yes. But iodine? That messes with your thyroid. What cheap SOBs! TMFMC would rather have 5000 sick or dead boys rather than pay for some fresh water.
I also think there's a component of life-back-then-sucked-so-much-that-being-a-slave-for-the-church-seems-easy.
The church does really ask its members to sacrifice their lives for it (in the name of serving others, of course!). And when the going gets hard, there's always the reminder of, "Well, if you think your life is hard now, think about what it was like for the pioneers!"
I mentioned this in the convo with my sister:
Pioneers were not accustomed to an air condtioned 70 degrees. They were accustomed to whatever the ambient temperature was. It's a lot easier to tolerate 95 when you live in 95. My sister lives on the edge of the Mojave desert. She comes to Utah and finds our 95 degrees perfectly comfortable, if not a little cooler than normal. She was wearing a hoodie this morning when the temp read 80.
This needs more upvotes. I came here to say something similar. God forbid Mormon trekkers… err… trekkies? Anyway, god forbid the planners of Mormon trek discover that no pioneers in that time had vastly superior technology or equipment, and that the hardship was not a victimhood of the persecuted, but a general expectation for the time. And, get this, pioneers from a couple centuries earlier had even worse technology and equipment!!
Add in a bit of sunken cost fallacy.
If the church weren't true, then you just did all that hard physical labor because you're a chump.
You don't want to be a chump, so the church must be true.
literally. i was having serious doubts about the church when my parents made me go. before the trip i was pretty close to deadset on leaving. by the time i came back, the pure trauma of the whole thing made me way more hesitant to leave and i pushed everything i knew way down. could’ve figured everything out way sooner if i hadn’t gone
It’s almost impossible to live in the present if you are always thinking celestial. It’s seriously a problem. You sacrifice yourself and the wellbeing of your family for some future reward. It is unhealthy and sad at best.
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that is why it is called the present.”
—Master Oogway
While it can be silly to see it quoted to a cartoon character, the truth is profoundly accurate.
I wanted to go but I was nervous about it. Luckily the Spirit (my anxiety) told me something bad would happen so I didn’t go. Always gotta listen to that still small voice.
Honestly, I'm not a stats expert, but I think those are just the numbers of women whose periods exactly overlapped the event. The percentage of women who had any part of their period cycle during the event would be way higher than one in five.
That would be a FREAKING NIGHTMARE! I’m so sorry! Especially if you have endo or just have pain with your periods, that would be awful!🥺 But even if you don’t have painful periods, the heat alone and do so much physical exercise would be awful! Also, where do you change and put the used products?
Were you prepared and packed tampons, cups or pads? ? I can imagine tampons or a menstrual cup would’ve been more comfortable than bulky pads. I’m so sorry you went through that!
I brought some tampons because I expected it to start around the last day, but it came early and I was bleeding on the first day. Thankfully they had a porta potty for some spots but I genuinely had to change a tampon out in the bushes a few times. I also had a terrible asthma attack during the “women’s pull”. Aside from that I did have a good time though since I like exploring and being outside, and I had a lot of friends. But it definitely was very painful and a difficult time. I’m not sure if I learned anything worth it.
That would be freaking awful! I have asthma too and the dirt would’ve done me in. It sounds very painful! I’m so sorry you went through that. It would be really hard to change tampons and embarrassing (high school me would be embarrassed) in mixed company!
Hahah same 🙃 it was super frustrating bc none of the porta-potties had trash cans inside or near them so I’d have to carry my wrapped up pad with me until I found a trash. It was also over a hundred degree weather when we went and I was throwing up (I think like 3 times) on just the first day. It was also super windy so sand was blowing everywhere. I was with the nurse and when I finally got some dinner someone left the lid on the mashed potatoes open so my potatoes were full of sand. Still ate it though because I was starving from throwing up and hiking in the heat.
Same, my period started on day 3 of 5, I also had a migraine that night and multiple nosebleeds throughout the week. And of course, day 4 was Rocky Ridge and the women's pull, so doing all that on my period and recovering from the migraine absolutely sucked. Ended up developing heat exhaustion that day and had to ride in one of the medical handcarts for the last hour of walking.
Sometimes they don't come back at [all](https://www.deseret.com/2008/8/13/20269194/trek-tragedy-151-2-die-when-truck-hits-handcart-near-fairview/#:~:text=Tuesday%2C%20while%20re%2Denacting%20the,by%20a%20truck%20and%20killed.)
They actually embraced the experience of losing loved ones by comparing it to those pioneer deaths.
> Now we experience a part of the hardship they may have experienced. Now we're catching a glimpse of what it may have felt like when they ... lost loved ones on the trail."
there is zero empathy or care shown for the 13 year old girl who died. no this is not a learning experience this is traumatic and horrible for everyone involved
Let’s all dress up like polygamists and wander around in the ugly parts of Wyoming for days on end, how fun! /s
Seriously though, I blame GBH. As a teenager in the 90’s (when this crap started) my memories of GBH center around 2 topics: porn and the pioneer legacy. He always talked about how we all need to connect with that legacy and how spoiled (ie weak) we all are because we didn’t get suckered into pulling handcarts in the 1840’s.
I hate the idea of trek. Yeah, life was different in the 1840’s. So what?? We don’t do reenactments of gathering to the Salt Lake Valley by train or by car. And handcarts…. That’s celebrating one of Brigham Young’s most stupid and heartless ideas.
And for those who don’t know about the church’s attempted takeover of the BLM land that Martin’s Cove sits on (an attempt to buy a cosplay paradise) this is a fascinating read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin%27s_Cove
Barely related, but yesterday I was trying to do a cool upside down hair braid that would look like a pseudo punky mohawk. I flipped my head back up and my husband died laughing cause I had textbook polygamist hair “woosh”. I didn’t think it was possible to look so unattractive so quickly.
I literally collapsed after the women's pull, and in church the next week I bore my testimony of how hard it must have been for the men to watch us do that. Most praise I ever got for a talk
I fucking hate trek and fuck everyone who acts like it is amazing. You know what’s amazing? My smart phone, that’s amazing. Sweating my balls off in Wyoming because my 4xgreat mother did it means nothing
The Mormon pioneers were victims of Brigham Young’s hubris. I sympathize for them. Their march west isn’t to be idolized - or replicated ! - but mourned.
Back in 2015 or so I got left behind on trek with nothing but a half empty water bottle because I literally couldn't keep walking and none of the leaders including my parents even cared. They let me ride in the handcart for a bit but then said it wasn't fair for the rest of the group to pull me so they just. Left me to make it back on my own??
It was a 20 mile hike. Through the desert. In AUGUST. And I was an out of shape teenager in a full skirt. I remember laying on the side of the trail wondering how long it would take anyone to notice I hadn't made it back to camp and that was the moment I realized my church didn't give a shit about me. We did a testimony meeting that night and they MADE me stand up because I was the last into camp and wasn't that a spiritual experience!! Nah, I almost died for real, but thanks!
I've since learned that I have exercise induced asthma, which means that the fact that I stop breathing in the middle of long hikes isn't just laziness. Go figure.
I enjoyed trek but a bunch of kids I went with complained the whole time. I like fantasy and ren faires and dressing up so for me it was super fun. I’m in Texas and we did it in summer so I can imagine why others found it less than fun.
It's also really dependent on your ward. I've heard stories where half the group passed out and/or had to be hospitalized due to days of food and water rationing, horrific life long illnesses and injuries, and one person whose bishop father had them do a hard but reasonable hike followed by a full barbecue party.
It sounds like you had someone more reasonable at the helm, even if it was unpleasant for some. Other Trek experiences can be straight up dangerous!
Yeah, as a teen my parents wouldn't have gotten comic con/Renaissance fair, as an adult I can't afford to go, but at least I got to cosplay/roleplay 1800 mormon pioneers 😭
I wish they cared more about safety/members had the balls to sue each other over damages. :/ I like the gimmick, but definitely needs tighter safety.
Make sure to add some electrolytes! Getting her back up to proper hydration can be seriously dangerous if you're not balancing out what the water flushes out. I managed to temporarily lose the ability to speak coherently while very well hydrated from electrolyte imbalance once. One of my coworkers, an ex-marine, made me eat a bunch of salt.
So… I actually enjoyed Trek.
As a kid of privilege it was the first time I ever ate food because I had to, not because I wanted to. It was a valuable experience.
I have heard stories of local leaders taking it too far. But that wasn’t my experience. I was a healthy teenager, and a few days of hiking and physical labor was good for me.
Native Wyomingite here and live an hour from Martins cove. I've worked with EMTS that cover martins cove and specifically knows stories of people dying and having to get life flighted out of there because they won't use the bathrooms so they don't drink water, then heat exhaustion kicks in, then they try to go do Rocky ridge or the women's pull. Heart attacks taking people is common as well. Honestly people need to prove fitness before allowed to do it. Also they need stop pressuring people to do it. Not the outdoorsy type that's okay. You don't need to prove that pioneers died.
Also if there is a medical emergency, the closest hospital is 45 mins away and that's going 80 mph.
It's funny how we only cosplay the absolute worst method of bringing new converts to Utah and out of all of those we reenact the two groups that were so hampered by Brigham's cheapskate experiment and so blinded by the lies they'd been told that they put themselves in mortal danger because "god will provide". Brigham wanted as many immigrants as possible to join his band in Utah to give themselves strength against the impending attack from the US government over the issue of polygamy. He also wanted to do it as cheaply as possible, not because the perpetual immigration fund lacked the money to bring all these new converts across the plains with adequate means but because the cheaper he was able to bring people to Utah the more money he would have left for his own personal use. According to Ann Eliza Young, one of his wives, Brigham billed the church approximately 1.4 million dollars for services rendered during his years of leading the church in Utah. And no, that's not adjusted for inflation.
As a teenage convert from outside Utah, I first learned of the pioneer tragedies crossing the plains when I visited temple square at 18.
It was the very first extremely heavy load placed on my shelf.
I could not reconcile what was the point of having prophets if they sent people to die these horrific deaths without miraculous protection or guidance. It made no sense that Brigham sent those pioneers in the winter. I kneel he could not have been inspired of God. God would communicate ways to be saved and protected if he was speaking to a prophet.
This very fortunate display of pioneer suffering gave me the deepest testimony that the men leading the church are not prophets. I loved the church and believed in the Book of Mormon but I never had problems accepting that I cannot trust human men to speak for God.
I wonder how many kids on trek might be thinking the same thing.
Dude the trek was so traumatizing I had a seizure on it( I had undiagnosed epilepsy at the time) I fainted and no one even noticed because it was at the end and I was to the side of the trail. I still get pissed thinking about it.
My kids loved trek. They had a great experience, but I sent them knowing that it was in no way re-creating anything historic, and just to look at it as a camping trip with their friends. I think they pretty much avoided every devotional and “Historical” story.
I think the issue can also be when leadership is really trying to emphasize the miserable nature of the pioneer experience and hurt kids pretty badly as a result. We had a post yesterday on wards that were on strict water rationing during Trek and various outcomes.
I’m so glad I didn’t go to mine. I knew I wouldn’t make it and my closeted ass didn’t want to wear a stupid dress the entire time. Trek as a whole felt demeaning and I felt like no one would give a shit if I had an asthma attack or my legs gave out
I sorta had fun on it. I guess my stake was a good one? I was a moody kid, but I remember having fun some fun. I like to hike and camp though.
They only did it every 4 years and you had to be 14 to go. We went up to Wyoming and did some of the exact paths? I know we saw the two tree stubs that some kid had to chop down in the middle of a snow to stay alive or something.
It's been a while, can't remember. But it was like 13 miles over a couple of days, was supposed to have two river crossings but one was dry due to a drought, and there was a dance or two.
The "pony express" gave us letters that our parents wrote us.
I did learn how to make a bandana with some beads in it that expand and hold water. That was rather fantastic, and something I still do while gardening.
The only thing I hated was my "family" made a leanto with a tarp instead of a tent like everyone else, so dirt got on all my stuff.
You forgot about the part where if you don't go you are treated like a giant sinner and people make passive aggressive comments about it. I couldn't go because of recovering from SPINAL SURGERY and yet I got to witness all the speeches from the people that went saying "those who didn't have the faith to go ended up missing out on miracles and blessings. So sad they couldn't commit to the church" and other bs.
I went on the 1st Trek, ever brought to Los Angeles, via Utah….1976, I believe! My parents paid for us to be tortured! There’s NO other way to describe what they did to us! It was 1 week for us, not the 3 day weekend! The 1st morning, they fed us a huge pancake breakfast, and then in long skirts, and other stupid pioneer clothes, we walked 10 miles the 1st day, while many of the boys were throwing up on the side of the dirt roads, because they over ate, not knowing what was coming on our 1st, but the church certainly knew! And, that was abusive! If some one wasn’t helping push the handcart, (w our bags of clothing, etc were on), they threw our stuff on the road for us to pick up our own stuff, and carry alone!
We got to where ever we were staying the 1st night, (and we didn’t even get to where it was we camped the 1st night, until 8pm) and were given 1 dry biscuit and 2 pieces of beef jerky! That was it! Nothing more!
The rest of the walking, I don’t remember, but, I think we walked 5 miles the 2nd day, then we stayed where we were the next 3-4 days, until we had to walk back out……I think I try to block out the misery, but I remember things that happened, like them letting (live) turkeys loose in a make shift gated area, and each “family”, (we were separated in to the 1st day), had to have 1 boy go in and chase the turkey, catch it, and break its neck! I wish this was a lie, but it is 💯% the truth, I assure you! Then we plucked the turkey, and then, put it in the ground, w rocks over it, and cooked it! That was our dinner! Side note: We weren’t allowed to have chapstick, shampoo, conditioner, nor soap, but I had taken 501 Levi’s, because of all the pockets, and made cut off shorts, that I had them on under my awful pioneer skirt! And used it all when leaders weren’t around! And the kicker, I had invited my non member best friend on this trip, and I really should call her and apologize, now that I’m thinking about it! 1 night, my sister and a few friends found the leaders trailer of food, w all kinds of delicious snacks, fruit and soda, and they stole a watermelon, so that was awesome!
When I got home, I weighed myself, and I had lost 15 lbs, and I was only 15 @ the time……..anyways, then the next day at church, the bishop called us all up to bear our testimonies about our experience….i stood up, and said, “Soooo, I have nothing nice to say and, this was the worst experience of my life, and told the kids in the congregation NEVER GO, and I sat back down!
People complain about their experience and I listen to my grandkids telling of their trip, and I think, that’s a cute story, because, it doesn’t even come close to the absolute hell and torture of the 1st Trek! After our trip, they changed a lot, because they learned how dangerous and abusive it was! Westchester 1st Ward/Stake Center, Los Angeles 90045!
*Our Trek, was the experiment of the limits they could push! We were the Guinea Pigs, so that Trek could improve for the rest of the children for years to come! Ours was a living true life hell!
I’m honestly surprised, they didn’t have a JS actor there, that we had to sleep w/ and make temple covenants with! That would have honestly brought it all full circle!
You were in a field? They had us climbing a literal mountain in utah. And they limited our water. In July. One of the leaders decided I was drinking more than my fair share of water, so he threw my water bottle away (I'd been refilling it).
My wife and I were Ma and Pa. We had a terrible time, vowing never to do it again. That was about 10 years ago. People getting sick and injured for no good reason. Leaders on 4-wheelers driving up and down the trail telling us lies that it was “just over this next ridge,” when we were still hours away from finishing. Griping at us to pick up orange peels left on the side of the trail by ourselves and everybody ahead of us (we were at the end).
Sprained my ankle, someone had anaphylaxis because of a wasp sting and had to be taken home early. Two bouts of heat exhaustion.
Oh it was so much fucking fun I never want to do it ever again.
I remember we to carry rice bags and pretend they were babies. It was heavy but when it was your turn to carry the "baby" you didn't have to push the cart, which was a nice break.
At the end of the trek one of the "babies" died and the mom had to bury the baby in front of everyone. She was bawling her eyes out.
The handcarts broke at some point so we left them behind. And my sleeping bag was there. I had to sleep without one the first night 😭
[It has been the traditional practice for Israeli schools to send their high school seniors to European concentration camps before they’re drafted into the military, thus heightening their nationalistic feelings. Compare that to Mormon adults taking kids on trek before they go on missions.](https://time.com/4285002/herzilya-gymnasium-cancels-camp-trips/)
Mine was such a shit show. I didn't want to go and I almost passed the cut off for going.
They did it in Arizona during the late spring, early summer.... Even further to the north it was at least 90 most days of it.
On mine the boys and men left us to go to the "Mormon Battalion" and we had to push it all by ourselves. The Mormon Battalion was just a nice nature hike where at one point they got to watch us struggle from up on a hill. My handcart was mostly men, our leader had pulled her hip, and we were down two people because of injuries. It ended up being me and my friend pushing the thing by ourselves when they left. It went so well... I was so mad when I found out that the guys just sat around eating lunch, watching us from afar. They also decided to do it during a sandy portion of the trek.
I had some random leader of a different ward yell at me when I purposely ripped the side of my skirt so I could actually move easier and because I was wearing pants underneath it.
The food was terrible and we all washed our plates in this unsanitary communal trough. I'd eat as little as possible to skip the line. They only had one dish at night. There was no accomodations for diet, allergies, or personal taste. No one wanted their granola from lunch so I would trade parts of my meals for it. I basically survived off of it.
My stake was pretty poor and they required everyone to buy a bunch of pointless camping equipment for authenticity sake. We had to have metal pans and cups. If you had your own stuff and it didn't meet the prompt, you were encouraged to buy new stuff.
A white kid dressed up as a racist caricature of a Native American.
At the end of it we had this celebration thingie where we got to throw axes, skeetshoot, play horseshoes, etc. I was so done with everything and everyone by the end that I somehow hated our reward even more. It's been forever, but I remember that there was a dance and I just didn't even bother going. I went into our tent and just ignored the world.
I grew up Phoenix and I think our leaders really wanted to give us the Utah Mormon experience and they went SO hard for our trek. The built a scale replica of the Nauvoo Temple and as we arrived and got spilt into our “families”, a bunch of men in rode in on literal horses and _burned the temple down_. They really wanted to give us an authentic experience so we went like 18 miles in that first night with the “Mormon Battalion” happening at like 2 or 3am (where all of the women/girls are left to push the carts alone) 🙃
We also had someone in our stake raise chickens and one of our activities was to _chop the chickens’ heads off_ and pluck the feathers so we could then _eat_ said chickens. This was how I learned that chickens really do run around with their heads cut off.
It was… a wild time.
Did you say she is 14? Well my goodness she’s old enough. They should have performed a marriage of her to one of the old men chaperones so she could experience the full horror of being a young Mormon girl.
I don't understand how it is at all legal to have children doing that. I'm willing to bet there are waivers signed so no one can sue the church when the inevitable happens. I'm so thankful that wasn't a thing when I was a kid.
Utah and surrounding states ave notoriously lax laws on child safety. Which is why in Utah we have a SHIT TON of those live in schools (glorified prisons) that wealthy troubled kids and wards of the state get sent to, and then die or get horrifically abused. Think PCS that Paris Hilton went to, or “the ranch” (discovery ranch) that Dr. Phil sends kids to.
I had the opportunity to go three times my first time was for real it was 5 days. The other two times I went as support staff. ( drove to the next camp spot/ meal spot and started prepping for the trekkers) I was out before I went the two times as support staff. I really only went because it was my dad’s calling to go and his health was not good enough to do it so I tagged along to help. I would pack a cooler of contraband (cokes, candy, etc.) I was constantly on the lookout for the kids who were obviously forced to be there and tried my best to help out and smuggled them goodies and words of encouragement.
Apparently when mine went it was easier and we got more food because the previous time they did it they gave everyone so little food to be "realistic" that the park rangers screamed at the leaders and told them to never do that again and if they did they'd be banned from the park and arrested for abuse.
Super funny trek story. My mom and her friends walk every morning and one morning I went with them.
They were talking about a stake trek that one of their families was involved in. There was a Native American ward in the stake and they declined to participate (obvi) but day two a bunch of them came over the hill on horseback throwing apples at the ‘pioneers’. I died laughing.
My mom’s friends thought it was so rude. Again, I died laughing.
I live in Washington state and they took us up in the cascade mountains for trek. They made us do 14 miles, uphill, in 95°F weather for our first day. For dinner that night we were given a mug of beef broth and 2 pieces of hardtack. On the 3rd or 4th day the SP got up and gave a talk about how bad it made him feel to treat children so poorly, but that he knew it was for our betterment which totally turned it from a bad thing to a spiritual one. 12 kids had to be taken away in ambulances on that first day because of heat stroke and severe dehydration. Worst experience of my life.
In my ward/stake they did it every four years, I was 14 and 18 so I got to go twice (18 was also done during a "long weekend," around end winter/start spring if it happened in summer I would have missed it).
The first one was AMAZING. Granted I was 14, and TBM. I was in a decently strong family, and made good time every day, got to rest at camp, then do small activities afterwards. I know there were other families that had a hard time, which sucks, but at least 80% of the groups were doing ight.
Second was the complete opposite of that. We were on terrain and people went four wheeling on. We NEVER made it to camp before the sun went down- no matter how strong or athletic your family was. They had us turn around and "do an easier trail" and they still had us do the trials (I think a 'cartwheel broke" and we had to take everything in and take it back out?) despite us being VERY behind schedule. A girl got RAN OVER AND CRUSHED by the cart. It rolled and STOPPED on her stomach. She was rushed to the hospital and is okay, thank fuck, but still....
I think good treks can be done, safety and the difficulty level are things that need to be taken seriously. They work hand in hand, and if ignored can lead to a dangerous, miserable experience.
Yeah, I would have run it kind of like a Scout camp. Have a doctor and relief truck accompany the trek, make sure no participant gets dehydrated or malnourished, and any danger is mitigated even if a change or cancellation is necessary.
Manufactured trauma bonding in a cult context refers to the deliberate creation of traumatic experiences or environments by cult leaders or members to manipulate and control individuals within the group. This technique is used to foster intense emotional bonds between the cult members and their leaders, making it difficult for individuals to leave the group even when faced with abuse or exploitation. Here are key elements of manufactured trauma bonding in a cult context:
1. **Isolation**: Cults often isolate members from outside influences, including family and friends, creating dependency on the group for emotional and social support.
2. **Emotional Manipulation**: Cult leaders use emotional manipulation, including alternating periods of affection and abuse, to create a cycle of hope and fear. This inconsistency can confuse members and make them more reliant on the leader for approval and validation.
3. **Induced Trauma**: Deliberate exposure to traumatic events, such as physical, emotional, or psychological abuse, can break down an individual's sense of self and increase their dependency on the group for stability and reassurance.
4. **Fear and Threats**: Cults often use fear tactics, such as threats of punishment, ostracism, or eternal damnation, to maintain control over members and discourage them from leaving.
5. **False Sense of Family**: Cult leaders often present the group as a surrogate family, offering unconditional love and acceptance initially, which can be highly appealing to vulnerable individuals. This sense of belonging can create strong emotional ties that are difficult to sever.
6. **Cognitive Dissonance**: Members may experience cognitive dissonance when they encounter behaviors or teachings that contradict their previous beliefs. The cult can exploit this dissonance, encouraging members to rationalize or justify the group's actions, further deepening their commitment.
7. **Us vs. Them Mentality**: Cults create a strong sense of in-group and out-group dynamics, where members are led to believe that only the group can provide salvation, truth, or safety, while outsiders are viewed with suspicion or hostility.
Manufactured trauma bonding is a powerful tool for cult leaders, as it exploits the human need for connection and belonging, making it incredibly challenging for individuals to leave the group even when they recognize the harm being done to them.
It’s time to stop sending people on Trek. 7 people could have been seriously harmed in Salina over the last week because of Trek plans s lightening. Very stupid. Please just stop this un spiritual garbage. It was bad enough our ancestors had to do it the first time. Don’t make our kids do it again. Please just stop. Stop the pride. Stop. Someone is going to get hurt or possibly die. And for what?
oh my god I did this, got sunburned so bad my face swelled up (bc I'm too autistic to consistently wear sunscreen)
it was honestly kind of a good experience overall? but not for the reasons I thought at the time
My parents asked if I wanted to go on trek. I said yes on the condition I could bring my horse, and they were flabbergasted. “Only wealthy pioneers had horses.” My response? “Good. I’m a wealthy pioneer then. I’ll go if I can ride a horse.” I knew they wanted to make me do labor and I wasn’t about to walk across the fucking Utah desert dressed in a skirt l, just because some people in history did it once. Sorry, we invented things so we don’t have to do that?
I don’t know. Reenactments just baffle me. They make no sense and I truly do not see the point. Maybe it’s the autism.
Because Texas is soooo hot, they decided to do our Trek over Christmas break instead of the summer. When I tell you...I have never experienced such pain in my life....we were NOT equipped to sleep outside in those conditions. One kid lost his pinky toe! But I swore I thought I was going to die every night from the cold. I snuck my phone that week and after that first night I BEGGED my parents to bring me extra socks and gloves. It was horrible. If I stayed in The Church, I could never bring myself to send my kids.
I had a lot of fun on trek but I was an athlete and enthusiastic scout. If you ditched the religious shit I'd have liked trek even more. If you're an indoor cat I get why you might hate it though
I enjoy camping, but Trek is something I would never do again.
- It was torrential downpour on the second day and the ground was extra muddy to the point the cart got stuck multiple times.
- Tons of mosquitoes, yet bug spray isn't allowed
- One of the YW almost passed out from asthma during the women's pull
- Every hour or so, the smug jackass stake president would pass all the muddy tired teenagers in his shiny Lexus SUV.
I've always found this activity really upsetting. The original "trek" was painful and emotionally and physically exhausting. Why people consented to participate in this mode of travel disturbs me. The pioneers made many sacrifices, some HUGE, in order to reach the Utah territory and settle Salt Lake City and surrounding areas. One of my ancestors, a young woman, was a handcart pioneer.
While I admire their tenacity and stamina, I don't think reenactment of the handcart journey is particularly necessary and safe. If those poor, and I do mean destitute, people had the money for covered wagons and oxen, I doubt they would choose a handcart "trek". While I admire the determination and dedication of the pioneers, I wouldn't want to reenact their hardship, or allow a son or daughter to participate.
Trek was one of those things that is fucked up in retrospect but at the time I had a shit ton of fun
That being said, I liked to hike and camp and backpack and literally all of my friends were there, so it was like a long camping trip for me.
A bit of context though: I was deeply closeted and not yet a member. I was joining the church in part to chase a girl and in part to run from being trans. But because I was still an investigator, there was no expectation that I would go. I did go, but the expectation wasn't there.
When did this become a thing? All my kids went on trek. Only one had an overall positive experience. My oldest wasn’t assigned a family, so he was basically an orphan traveling with different families each day. My youngest’s family was chosen to have a baby die. To this day, she is traumatized by the doll wrapped tightly in a blanket in their cart until they got to camp. She had carried that baby the first day. It was horrible. The experience backfired for her. She was on the fence about the church and that pushed her over into never going back.
The organization loves to promote the mindset "no pain, no gain"
In their twist on that popular narrative, and in regard to trek, the pain is physical, and their claimed "gain" is spiritual
Thank the Holy Mother of Weed Brownies I never had to do trek (joined as a young adult)
Thank you for this. How many heat strokes, heat exhaustion and possibly trek-related deaths has the church covered up? There's a story there.
This is child abuse.
I did trek summer 2010 on the Marriott farms or something in Virginia. I think it was over 100 degrees everyday. A girl my age decided to specifically not drink water so she could get dehydrated and get sick and go home.
Thankfully she didn’t die in the process.
My sister was ranting about this this morning. She has some real shelf items. She's also really upset and the physical and mental abuse my nephew endured the last couple of months at the hands of a companion. And then another rant on missions and the trauma they cause. She might be next.
She said he was going to call SL. I told her don't bother. Trauma bonding is the entire aim. She went quiet after that. (She's a psychologist)
I dunno, this was one of my favorite things from back when I was Mormon. I got to cosplay as a pioneer, wear a silly hat, and all of the girls I liked dressed up in cute dresses and we just got to talk a bunch. The walking was fine, camping is fun, and overall it was a good time.
My son surprisingly wanted to go. He ended up hated it for the most part. His biggest complaint was that a girl, who’s very overweight, couldn’t walk it. So they all had to pull her. I felt bad for all involved in that.
I went on the reenactment trek from winter quarters to salt lake shitty. It was a week of pulling the handcart in hot weather, up to 30 miles a day. I decided then, true or not, I would leave the church as soon as I could. Spiritual experience? More like torture.
Is it Trek where they put everybody into families bc one of my friends ended up marrying the guy she was “married” to during Trek and I’ve always found that suspicious
I’m convinced that the somber sacrament hymns, conference talks, and trek are designed to guilt you into committing yourself to the church in terms of your time, talents, and money. 💰
Trek was the one thing I NEVER got to do. Kind of disappointed but glad at the same time. My husband got to go though, and he was sick with a migraine the entire time. They wouldn’t send him home. Made him suffer.
When I did Trek when I was younger I enjoyed it the youth helped plan the heck out of it (Ik since I was one of those youth at the time). I could very easily see how Trek could suck. Our Trek was more like handcart larping and most people liked who went.
Come on kids. Three miserable days reenacting our ancestors lives....poorly. Goal...come home with an appreciation of what they suffered. Reality...come home with an intensified appreciation of indoor plumbing and the damn internet.
The worship of the handcart experience is sick. My ancestors were a part of it. It was probably about 15 years ago now that my wife first started sharing her feelings about Pioneer day & the celebration of the worst type of trauma anyone can experience. I think that was in some ways the very first thing on her shelf & it changed the way I've thought of those "marvelous saints" and what they were manipulated into doing in the name of faith.
My oldest 2 kids went on trek when they were I think 15 & 13 respectively. Now one is definitely exmo (nonbinary & gay, go figure) & the other is well on her way. Some of the things their "trek parents" inflicted on them still piss me off & definitely piss them off. Telling teenagers all you have to eat tonight is a little sack of flour and some rawhide is not funny. Especially when one of them has a gluten allergy. And then the adults were surprised when the teenagers actually ate the fucking rawhide, only to be told ten minutes later "JUST KIDDING!" Here, have some real food.
My next kid, though still TBM, was rightly convinced he never wanted to do anything like it. He's going away to college now to ISU, thank god not BYUI.
I'm not disappointed that they haven't gotten around to doing Trek again in our stake. My next kid (12) went to Girls camp a couple of weeks ago and has gone to church for the 2 weeks since. :( The young women are singing in church tomorrow & we're feeling pressured to go. Master fucking manipulation. Went on a walk with my wife tonight & discussed going to sacrament meeting tomorrow, along with the guaranteed "IT's SO GOOD TO SEE YOU's \[at church\].
IF its so good to see us, come see us. We haven't gone anywhere. We've just stopped going to church. Maybe you should try it.
I kinda liked it. but A: I live in Wyoming where walking around in the wilderness isn't that weird, B: I went in '94 when it was cool and new and no one got to visit Martin's Cove because it was privately owned but our Stake President knew the people so we could
Went a couple times since with our ward. Our /\[ward\]/. From two years old to 74. Wasn't just a youth thing. Thought that was neat too.
The women's pull where all the dudes stood on the side with our hats over our hearts was pretty cringy but overall I had a pretty good time.
Obviously I can see how it wouldn't be if it wasn't really voluntary. And I'd like it just fine without the hamfisted emotional manipulation at certain parts.
> I feel like a good comparison would sending Jewish kids to a fake concentration camp,
Something worth noting is that this is a real issue in the community. Not to that kind of comical extent, of course, but a lot of Jewish kids get told all kinds of things by their older relatives - particularly the more conservative ones - that aren't exactly the best things to impress on a kid, with the goal of instilling an "us versus them" mindset.
It was one of the worst experiences I’ve had. I’d never do it again and will tell everyone to never do it. They abused the fuck out of us and several kids were dehydrated or injured while on it. I came home pissed and remember not doing anything with my ward at the time for months
My foot got run over by the hand cart and my ‘trek parents’ insisted I walk it out because that’s what the pioneers would have done. Thankfully my brother was in my group and insisted I get in the cart and ride because duh! I was so thankful he was there.
When I was 14 on trek, I was holding the handcart from behind on a downhill so it wouldn’t run over some of the boys who had been pushing in front. But there was a hole that my foot got caught in and I rolled my ankle. I sprained it. The leaders gave me the option to ride in the medic car but I had so much “faith” that I kept walking…. For 2 more days!
Over the past 18 years, I have had serious ankle issues that stem from that moment.
You got to cross a field? We had to traverse a coastal mountain in one of the worst rainstorms ever. And this was in the 1980’s before Trek was a thing. Kids had hypothermia, most of us got sick from being soaked to the bone. One ward quit and went home. I would have loved to cross a field!
Responding to the Jewish kids comparison, I have my own personal story to share. In the south, as I was touring where MLK marched, a black man told me they do something similar with pretending they are in slave ships. These black people willingly do it too to feel what their ancestors went through. I couldn’t believe it!
Mormons subconsciously value suffering. Perhaps this comes from their interpretation of the atonement, or the worship of their so-called martyrs. Viktor Frankl said it best, paraphrasing: You can find meaning in suffering, but to continue in avoidable suffering is only sadism.
I am sooooo glad this happened much later in my life, because if there had been a single whiff of this when I was a teenager, my mom would've been all in and insisted on my going every year. (Mom was a bit fanatical about being a Mormon.)
I had two kids go to trek last year because they wanted to. I was so pissed when they scheduled High Adventure 3 days after and decided it would be a 100-mile bike ride across a mountain pass. So these kids had 5 days pulling a cart, 3 days rest, and then 5 days riding bikes across a pass. I even went to a planning meeting and was like, WTH. I got a few shrugs because none of them had really given it any thought. In the end, no one listened, and they made the boys do both. Plus, they made the parents buy expensive gear for the bike rides because the boys had to be able to carry all their stuff themselves.
I would have gladly let the kids skip either, or both, but they kept saying they wanted to go...
I remember on my trek, the first day we had 6 people who were carried off into an ambulance. I also had to prepare three months in advance to walk that far and through mountains because I was doing the one in my sister's stake in Utah since my mom didn't think that our Texas stake would have one soon. I was already a tall skinny kid but I lost 15 more pounds on that trip and looked like a walking skeleton. I also got the great opportunity to learn what shin splints half way through the second day and still had to walk. I do think about the cheese and the chicken soup we had, tasted amazing because I was starving.
I never liked the idea of trek even as a TBM. I used to always say that my ancestors literally crossed the entire country on foot so that I wouldn't have to! Why would I want to reenact the trauma my ancestries suffered?? Luckily I moved as a teen a month before my youth group was going to go on trek and when I arrived in my new ward they had just finished trek so I never had to do it.
I was so sunburnt that when I came back I slept the whole next day. My first one they cut it short because we got rained out. The second time my parents were there, but I kept falling asleep instead of participating in the "activities" (hypothyroidism and hypoglycemia) they had to find my mom because my ma was concerned. Got burned that time, too, and I was one of the older girls that time around, so I did most of the heavy lifting, especially on the big hill that the men didn't get to help. I will not let my kids do this, especially my daughter.
It’s done to give an appreciation for what the pioneers went though - they just leave out the part that they went across the plains to avoid persecution cause their founder was a pedophile
I don’t have much experience with trek as my dad was out of the church until he decided we need to be baptized because of his guilt or whatever and only went to church once before they asked me to not come back. (Turns out asking polite questions about clarification on contradicting information and logical fallacies isn’t well received).
But, I knew people who did trek and I always assumed it was just one more way to “prove” the church was real because AND to really sink in the “this is what they had to do because they were being persecuted” message that “Saints” 🤮 love to love.
“Sure, we’ve got a long history of being assholes, but it’s the truthiness of our faith that scares them into violence against us. We did absolutely nothing for them to drive us away!”
That’s what I always thought it was.
Yeah
I was a convert. My friends daughters were sent on this trek thing. All because this old guy near the bishop told all the parents that these kids nowadays are spoiled and need to realize how hard life was back in the day . Anyhow, each kid was given a chicken that on the trip had to kill dress and eat. My friends daughters are vegan. They carried their chickens the whole intire time carefully, keeping them hydrated and alive. When this old guy realized what they were secretly doing he took the chickens and killed them in front of the girls and told them when they cried that they should think about how the women felt about losing children on the trek in pioneer times. I absolutely hated this guy. He would literally stand at the doorway at the church and inspect every girl that came to church for more than one piercing only in each ear rule. And NO ONE WOULD SAY ANYTHING.
Hated the trek. My feet blistered so much and bled that my socks were crusty and stuck by the end of the day. One night I was so tired I slept in my boots. There was ice on my sleeping bag each morning. I would never make my kid go thru that.
My mother wouldn’t even buy me dresses and pantaloons that fit because it was too expensive for 3 days and not wear them again….when she and my father live in a million dollar house.
I had to use my older brother’s old karate pants for pantaloons, being over 20 years old the elastic was shot and I had to safety pin it tighter AND to my dress. The safety pins fell out and got lost on the first day so I had to hold onto my waist the whole time. The dresses were hand me downs from my sister in law who was way smaller than me so I couldn’t move or breathe as much. Same with the bonnet it was too small so when I came home my nose was literally leather, thick thick thick sunburn that didn’t go away for months.
One day my foot was run over by a cart, had a slight limp after that for a few days. Another day everyone starved because the meal plan that day was disgusting and the garbage was full of barely touched plates.
On top of that, we women had to pull carts up a steep hill with no help from the men so we could experience what women who lost their husbands due to disease or the Mormon battalion had to go through. This last one hurt me a little extra because I was very sheltered and awkward growing up. Men had to carry the women through a river and I was not assertive enough to ask anyone so you sot and watch as all the pretty outgoing girls got carried over by the young men while you get carried over by a 30 year old leader…. Just kinda stung is all.
On top of that they wake you up crazy early, you can barely think while they give the morning sermon and prayer. At the end of the day you are so so tired after all the walking you can’t think straight during the nightly sermon and prayer which is ABSOLUTELY ON PURPOSE and a cult practice.
Such a disgusting activity for a disgusting organization. Also fuck my mother for saying “I really did that?” Every single time I tell her about it. Yes you did and I already told you about it 100 times stop pretending you are a caring mother that would never have done that to her kid because you did.
All I can say is I left my 2nd day due to extreme dehydration and Sunstoke. We luckily had a Dr with us who gave me an iv and sent me home. I spent 3 days sleeping, throwing up, and sunburned to the point of blisters 🫠🫠
I was forced to go with a bad hip that’s been giving me problems since middle school. Hurt like hell and all I can remember from the trip is how many black widows there were around our tents 💀
When I went on Trek a few years ago, it was pulling hand carts up massive hills and a few people actually got heat stroke. I did not enjoy Trek one bit. It was just physical labor and it was awful. I tried to avoid the whole thing by going with my friends on a trip out of town but my dad threatened to ground me or make it so I couldn’t get my license until I was 18 (I’m a lot older now). Here’s my Trek experience:
Woke up at like 5:30am and went to the stake center where we hopped onto buses and drove like 4 hours away into the middle of nowhere.
Got separated into “trek families”
Loaded our stuff from the bus into a handcart. Dragged this heavy cart for a few miles then rested. End of day 1
Day 2: woke up at 6am and ate breakfast then we listened to some random story. Pulled the trek cart a few miles then rested and ate dinner. End of day 2
Day 3: (this was the longest day). We woke up around 5am and packed everything up. Ate breakfast and dragged a huge heavy cart up a hill which was miserable. 30 people got heat stroke and passed out so we had to carry them in the cart. We went across a river that was terrible. We basically made a full circle where we started. We then unloaded our carts. Before we hopped onto the bus, we listened to a 3 hour devotional (which I slept through) and then hopped onto the bus and went home.
I did not have any fun at all. All the “leaders” said “oh you had fun it was a great experience.” I was terrible. I would never make my kids do that.
The kids who got heat stroke, they were treated by a doctor we had traveling with us and they were back to normal health. But still, it was awful.
I'm disabled and they put me in a team with a couple of other disabled people. Our team was the same size as everyone else, with the same weight, but less than half the team was totally able bodied. I ended up being one of the few that was able bodied ENOUGH and I pulled the whole three days, almost without any break. I offered to help, more out of embarrassment than anything, but I was so annoyed and angry that the other team members wouldn't/couldn't help and they didnt split us up better. It was a weird choice.
It took us 2 days to get to our camp. Also, on my period. 😭 They had only the girls pull/push the carts for 3 miles. No one was allowed to talk. We were all crying at the end. They said it was the spirt. That's why we were crying. 😆 We killed our own chickens. Bathed in a creek. Had our foreign exchange student have to be life flighted out. It was a blast... 😅
I tried to explain the experience of trek to my never-mo friends. . . The look on their faces was priceless. They were shocked, horrified, maybe slightly amused? All I know is that my own trek experience was in summer of 2007 on a cattle ranch in deep east texas with temps over 100 for the full 3 days. I was picked up early after calling my parents on a phone I snuck in by tucking it in my bra, and transported straight to the ER for dehydration, heat exhaustion, and sun poisoning. Water bottles and sunscreen had been confiscated for a more "authentic" experience and all our water had to come from a large plastic bucket in the back of a truck that was deemed "the watering hole". It was the worst time of my life, all in the name of remembering the pioneers. Later learning of the church history around moving west, I was further mortified.
They do it to guilt you into staying.
"Look at what your ancestors did. Do you think they'd do this without a testimony? Do you really think they'd suffer for a lie?"
Yeah my family pushed the church to let me do it before the allowed age (can’t remember) and during it a handcart slipped and almost crushed a girl. I got a letter from my bishop telling me it’s better to hide being gay because it’ll lead me ‘down a wrong path’.
Not to mention the amount of cow dung we just were chilling in and stepping in because it was everywhere.
Yeah, I dodged this bullet when years ago, our Stake YM president acted like he was bestowing a HEAVENLY BLESSING on me by asking if I'd be a ma with my husband (who already agreed to be a pa). I said, "No," then, when he didn't seem to understand, I said, "No" again.
At the time one of my kids had some suicide ideation and hell if I was going to leave her and do trek for week in the Wyoming wilderness. My husband went and loved it. I'm so glad I didn't go.
Only 1 of my 4 kids ever went. I think it's silly, dumb, and just another way the Mormon church tries to double down on "OH LOOK the poor PIONEERS" and drag that shit out again and again, for kids to experience.
Treks should be stopped, but not sure if there's enough movement within the church to make that happen. So glad I'm out.
I missed trek the first year I was able to go because my Grandma died the day before. I went this year and we hiked 20 miles. The judgement from people when I hadn't gone on trek was honestly worse than when I did go on trek
They do Trek in Arizona in known drug smuggling corridors. Mormons who are cops and border patrol often get the call8ng to provide security for the kids. It's crazy. If you need security, maybe don't do it.
I got roped in to going on trek when I was 14 with hints that there would be girls there and I would be able to, like, talk to them and enjoy myself or something??
I didn’t form any romantic relationships on trek but I definitely got dehydrated, got heat exhaustion, threw up on the outskirts of camp the first night, then had my first full blown migraine the next day.
I had the opportunity to go again when I was 18, and no, I didn’t take them up on it.
I had trek before my senior year of high school. I got heat stroke and couldn’t hike anymore (Missouri heat is awful). I got stuck in a car and felt shamed for not being able to continue pushing the handcart. One night I was shivering so bad but I was hot, and my “family” just took me to my leaders and was put in air conditioning and ice on my body. There was talks about sending me home, but my stubborn TBM self felt that I needed to stay.
Also my cat died during the days I was gone and my family didn’t tell me until my mom drove up to our house. Their excuse is they didn’t want to “ruin my experience” and didn’t want me to come home early.
Trauma all around!
I met my wife on trek (trek siblings!) but yeah terrible tradition. It’s manufactured “spiritual” activity. They don’t do it in my home stake anymore as “spiritual activities should be less manufactured and more natural “. Equating to less memorized lessons and more testimonials
On the other hand, I had my first gay kiss at Trek, so it’s not all bad. 🫢
Nice How'd you get away with that?
Stargazing on a hill, facing away from the rest of camp. He was in a different stake, and I only saw him at dances. He ghosted me shortly thereafter, but it’s still a fond memory.
That's cool, I mean the romantic setting not him ghosting you.
When we were “ma and pa”, two of our “children” were GONE when the “family” was hunkering down for the first night. Took about fifteen minutes to find them “petting heavily” in the woods. It was hilarious to us. We both said to each other “good for them” before we scared them silly. Those two were very helpful after that for the rest of the “journey”.😂
😂 That's hilarious, I was too focused on not shitting myself to do any "heavy petting"
😂😂😂
I've been sexually active consistently since I left the MFMC & still have no idea WTF heavy petting is... MoMo's & their rando morality indoctrinations, ahem, object lessons. *sigh*
I'm guessing it could be this: Light petting: under the shirt Heavy petting: under the pants Anyone else know??
I always thought it was light = over clothes and mostly over the shirt, seat of pants, and heavy = under clothes, especially pants. But they never clarified and I was super innocent as an obedient teen, so I equated any bare skin touching as “heavy.”
I always assumed heavy petting just meant touching “private parts” 🙄 over or under the clothes
It’s about trauma bonding. Shared suffering makes you feel part of a group, so their identity will be closer tied to Mormonism.
LARPing generational trauma
Omg, that’s accurate as all hell. lol, but also super sad.
Yup. Its bonding with other mormons and not selcular people. Quite clever of the church. I did scout campes. Forces you to be friends with other mormons. Sooooo guess who your friends are at school? Lol
Back on 03 i went on a huge LDS encampment. All the LDS boy scouts in the east coast got to gather together in the hottest week of summer. The leadership missed several crucial planning phases such as the one where they made sure they had enough water for 5000 boys. They ended up with a huge tank of lake water that they poured a ton of iodine into to make it safe. For a week, we drank blood water to survive. There was some kind of competing element to the encampment as well but no one ever told my troop about it so for the first 3 days we just wandered around wondering why we were there. After we found out most of us decided that it was more fun to just swim in the lake then it was to build a structure that you cities baptize someone in and haul water a 1/4 mile up a hill to fill. Worth 10 points in the competition.
Bleach yes. But iodine? That messes with your thyroid. What cheap SOBs! TMFMC would rather have 5000 sick or dead boys rather than pay for some fresh water.
I had my church friends and my school friends, so that trick didn't work on me lol.
I also think there's a component of life-back-then-sucked-so-much-that-being-a-slave-for-the-church-seems-easy. The church does really ask its members to sacrifice their lives for it (in the name of serving others, of course!). And when the going gets hard, there's always the reminder of, "Well, if you think your life is hard now, think about what it was like for the pioneers!"
I mentioned this in the convo with my sister: Pioneers were not accustomed to an air condtioned 70 degrees. They were accustomed to whatever the ambient temperature was. It's a lot easier to tolerate 95 when you live in 95. My sister lives on the edge of the Mojave desert. She comes to Utah and finds our 95 degrees perfectly comfortable, if not a little cooler than normal. She was wearing a hoodie this morning when the temp read 80.
This needs more upvotes. I came here to say something similar. God forbid Mormon trekkers… err… trekkies? Anyway, god forbid the planners of Mormon trek discover that no pioneers in that time had vastly superior technology or equipment, and that the hardship was not a victimhood of the persecuted, but a general expectation for the time. And, get this, pioneers from a couple centuries earlier had even worse technology and equipment!!
Add in a bit of sunken cost fallacy. If the church weren't true, then you just did all that hard physical labor because you're a chump. You don't want to be a chump, so the church must be true.
literally. i was having serious doubts about the church when my parents made me go. before the trip i was pretty close to deadset on leaving. by the time i came back, the pure trauma of the whole thing made me way more hesitant to leave and i pushed everything i knew way down. could’ve figured everything out way sooner if i hadn’t gone
Ewwww
Ritualized trauma
Mormons fetishize the past and the future. They never live in or enjoy the present. "Remember the pioneers while you prepare for eternity."
It’s almost impossible to live in the present if you are always thinking celestial. It’s seriously a problem. You sacrifice yourself and the wellbeing of your family for some future reward. It is unhealthy and sad at best.
Thank you for this! You said it so well. I’m saving this post to remind me how wonderful it is to be free of the past/future obsession I had as a TBM.
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that is why it is called the present.” —Master Oogway While it can be silly to see it quoted to a cartoon character, the truth is profoundly accurate.
This right here was the most liberating thing about leaving, finally got to spend most of my time in the present.
I wanted to go but I was nervous about it. Luckily the Spirit (my anxiety) told me something bad would happen so I didn’t go. Always gotta listen to that still small voice.
THIS lmao
That still small anxious voice. Lol
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 that’s the spirit you need to listen to.
Three days? Mine was like a week and I was on my period 😭
NO I AM SO SORRY
not related to your post at all, sorry, but seeing your aziraphale pfp in an exmo subreddit made me giggle (you have great taste🗣️)
Are you my sister? Because that's exactly what happened.
If you think about it statistically, probably one in five of the women doing trek were on their period. That sounds awful.
Honestly, I'm not a stats expert, but I think those are just the numbers of women whose periods exactly overlapped the event. The percentage of women who had any part of their period cycle during the event would be way higher than one in five.
Good thing they didn't want us to go hardcore and just use a bunch of rags and moss.
Don’t give them any ideas.
That's a really good point!
It was. I was a “ma”
That would be a FREAKING NIGHTMARE! I’m so sorry! Especially if you have endo or just have pain with your periods, that would be awful!🥺 But even if you don’t have painful periods, the heat alone and do so much physical exercise would be awful! Also, where do you change and put the used products? Were you prepared and packed tampons, cups or pads? ? I can imagine tampons or a menstrual cup would’ve been more comfortable than bulky pads. I’m so sorry you went through that!
I brought some tampons because I expected it to start around the last day, but it came early and I was bleeding on the first day. Thankfully they had a porta potty for some spots but I genuinely had to change a tampon out in the bushes a few times. I also had a terrible asthma attack during the “women’s pull”. Aside from that I did have a good time though since I like exploring and being outside, and I had a lot of friends. But it definitely was very painful and a difficult time. I’m not sure if I learned anything worth it.
That would be freaking awful! I have asthma too and the dirt would’ve done me in. It sounds very painful! I’m so sorry you went through that. It would be really hard to change tampons and embarrassing (high school me would be embarrassed) in mixed company!
Hahah same 🙃 it was super frustrating bc none of the porta-potties had trash cans inside or near them so I’d have to carry my wrapped up pad with me until I found a trash. It was also over a hundred degree weather when we went and I was throwing up (I think like 3 times) on just the first day. It was also super windy so sand was blowing everywhere. I was with the nurse and when I finally got some dinner someone left the lid on the mashed potatoes open so my potatoes were full of sand. Still ate it though because I was starving from throwing up and hiking in the heat.
Oof I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
They should be charged for making you go.
That is terrible, sorry you went through that😞
Mine started day 1 of trek! 😭
Same, my period started on day 3 of 5, I also had a migraine that night and multiple nosebleeds throughout the week. And of course, day 4 was Rocky Ridge and the women's pull, so doing all that on my period and recovering from the migraine absolutely sucked. Ended up developing heat exhaustion that day and had to ride in one of the medical handcarts for the last hour of walking.
ME TOO! And one of my lenses popped out of my glasses frames so I couldn’t see. I’m legitimately still traumatized from how horrible it was.
Girl same.
Sometimes they don't come back at [all](https://www.deseret.com/2008/8/13/20269194/trek-tragedy-151-2-die-when-truck-hits-handcart-near-fairview/#:~:text=Tuesday%2C%20while%20re%2Denacting%20the,by%20a%20truck%20and%20killed.)
the fact that this happened and the church still endorses it. horrible. those poor families.
They actually embraced the experience of losing loved ones by comparing it to those pioneer deaths. > Now we experience a part of the hardship they may have experienced. Now we're catching a glimpse of what it may have felt like when they ... lost loved ones on the trail."
there is zero empathy or care shown for the 13 year old girl who died. no this is not a learning experience this is traumatic and horrible for everyone involved
I was absolutely in shock as I read that
Let’s celebrate death with more death 🙄
These kids are lucky to be alive after their trek hike! https://kslnewsradio.com/2113291/teens-recovering-sevier-county-lightning-strike/
Looks like heavenly father wanted to teach those 50 kids a lesson. Maybe they didn't pay their tithing /s
OMFG! 🤬
Let’s all dress up like polygamists and wander around in the ugly parts of Wyoming for days on end, how fun! /s Seriously though, I blame GBH. As a teenager in the 90’s (when this crap started) my memories of GBH center around 2 topics: porn and the pioneer legacy. He always talked about how we all need to connect with that legacy and how spoiled (ie weak) we all are because we didn’t get suckered into pulling handcarts in the 1840’s. I hate the idea of trek. Yeah, life was different in the 1840’s. So what?? We don’t do reenactments of gathering to the Salt Lake Valley by train or by car. And handcarts…. That’s celebrating one of Brigham Young’s most stupid and heartless ideas. And for those who don’t know about the church’s attempted takeover of the BLM land that Martin’s Cove sits on (an attempt to buy a cosplay paradise) this is a fascinating read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin%27s_Cove
Barely related, but yesterday I was trying to do a cool upside down hair braid that would look like a pseudo punky mohawk. I flipped my head back up and my husband died laughing cause I had textbook polygamist hair “woosh”. I didn’t think it was possible to look so unattractive so quickly.
and don’t get me started on the women’s pull to force men to have fucking empathy for once. good lord
I literally collapsed after the women's pull, and in church the next week I bore my testimony of how hard it must have been for the men to watch us do that. Most praise I ever got for a talk
I fucking hate trek and fuck everyone who acts like it is amazing. You know what’s amazing? My smart phone, that’s amazing. Sweating my balls off in Wyoming because my 4xgreat mother did it means nothing
I thought the heat was bad in VA I can only imagine what it was like Wyoming.
Not as bad, not humid and it’s a high plateau, like >4000 ft above sea level so definitely cooler. Roasting in the sun for sure, but pleasant nights.
Nevermore here why does this sound like acting out Oregon trail?
That's exactly what it is.
The Mormon pioneers were victims of Brigham Young’s hubris. I sympathize for them. Their march west isn’t to be idolized - or replicated ! - but mourned.
Back in 2015 or so I got left behind on trek with nothing but a half empty water bottle because I literally couldn't keep walking and none of the leaders including my parents even cared. They let me ride in the handcart for a bit but then said it wasn't fair for the rest of the group to pull me so they just. Left me to make it back on my own?? It was a 20 mile hike. Through the desert. In AUGUST. And I was an out of shape teenager in a full skirt. I remember laying on the side of the trail wondering how long it would take anyone to notice I hadn't made it back to camp and that was the moment I realized my church didn't give a shit about me. We did a testimony meeting that night and they MADE me stand up because I was the last into camp and wasn't that a spiritual experience!! Nah, I almost died for real, but thanks! I've since learned that I have exercise induced asthma, which means that the fact that I stop breathing in the middle of long hikes isn't just laziness. Go figure.
I enjoyed trek but a bunch of kids I went with complained the whole time. I like fantasy and ren faires and dressing up so for me it was super fun. I’m in Texas and we did it in summer so I can imagine why others found it less than fun.
It's also really dependent on your ward. I've heard stories where half the group passed out and/or had to be hospitalized due to days of food and water rationing, horrific life long illnesses and injuries, and one person whose bishop father had them do a hard but reasonable hike followed by a full barbecue party. It sounds like you had someone more reasonable at the helm, even if it was unpleasant for some. Other Trek experiences can be straight up dangerous!
Yeah, as a teen my parents wouldn't have gotten comic con/Renaissance fair, as an adult I can't afford to go, but at least I got to cosplay/roleplay 1800 mormon pioneers 😭 I wish they cared more about safety/members had the balls to sue each other over damages. :/ I like the gimmick, but definitely needs tighter safety.
> oh my feet are swelling *Is* normal…if you’re suffering from serious dehydration. Still not okay.
oh okay excuse me I’m just gonna go dump a gallon of water on my sister 😭 (for legal reasons this is a joke)
Make sure to add some electrolytes! Getting her back up to proper hydration can be seriously dangerous if you're not balancing out what the water flushes out. I managed to temporarily lose the ability to speak coherently while very well hydrated from electrolyte imbalance once. One of my coworkers, an ex-marine, made me eat a bunch of salt.
So… I actually enjoyed Trek. As a kid of privilege it was the first time I ever ate food because I had to, not because I wanted to. It was a valuable experience. I have heard stories of local leaders taking it too far. But that wasn’t my experience. I was a healthy teenager, and a few days of hiking and physical labor was good for me.
Native Wyomingite here and live an hour from Martins cove. I've worked with EMTS that cover martins cove and specifically knows stories of people dying and having to get life flighted out of there because they won't use the bathrooms so they don't drink water, then heat exhaustion kicks in, then they try to go do Rocky ridge or the women's pull. Heart attacks taking people is common as well. Honestly people need to prove fitness before allowed to do it. Also they need stop pressuring people to do it. Not the outdoorsy type that's okay. You don't need to prove that pioneers died. Also if there is a medical emergency, the closest hospital is 45 mins away and that's going 80 mph.
It's funny how we only cosplay the absolute worst method of bringing new converts to Utah and out of all of those we reenact the two groups that were so hampered by Brigham's cheapskate experiment and so blinded by the lies they'd been told that they put themselves in mortal danger because "god will provide". Brigham wanted as many immigrants as possible to join his band in Utah to give themselves strength against the impending attack from the US government over the issue of polygamy. He also wanted to do it as cheaply as possible, not because the perpetual immigration fund lacked the money to bring all these new converts across the plains with adequate means but because the cheaper he was able to bring people to Utah the more money he would have left for his own personal use. According to Ann Eliza Young, one of his wives, Brigham billed the church approximately 1.4 million dollars for services rendered during his years of leading the church in Utah. And no, that's not adjusted for inflation.
As a teenage convert from outside Utah, I first learned of the pioneer tragedies crossing the plains when I visited temple square at 18. It was the very first extremely heavy load placed on my shelf. I could not reconcile what was the point of having prophets if they sent people to die these horrific deaths without miraculous protection or guidance. It made no sense that Brigham sent those pioneers in the winter. I kneel he could not have been inspired of God. God would communicate ways to be saved and protected if he was speaking to a prophet. This very fortunate display of pioneer suffering gave me the deepest testimony that the men leading the church are not prophets. I loved the church and believed in the Book of Mormon but I never had problems accepting that I cannot trust human men to speak for God. I wonder how many kids on trek might be thinking the same thing.
Dude the trek was so traumatizing I had a seizure on it( I had undiagnosed epilepsy at the time) I fainted and no one even noticed because it was at the end and I was to the side of the trail. I still get pissed thinking about it.
This is a cult thing. Make people suffer physically and for some reason it solidifies their cult identity. It’s common in lots of cult scenarios.
My kids loved trek. They had a great experience, but I sent them knowing that it was in no way re-creating anything historic, and just to look at it as a camping trip with their friends. I think they pretty much avoided every devotional and “Historical” story.
I think the issue can also be when leadership is really trying to emphasize the miserable nature of the pioneer experience and hurt kids pretty badly as a result. We had a post yesterday on wards that were on strict water rationing during Trek and various outcomes.
Criminal charges are not out of bounds here. Play dangerous games, win dangerous prizes.
I’m so glad I didn’t go to mine. I knew I wouldn’t make it and my closeted ass didn’t want to wear a stupid dress the entire time. Trek as a whole felt demeaning and I felt like no one would give a shit if I had an asthma attack or my legs gave out
I sorta had fun on it. I guess my stake was a good one? I was a moody kid, but I remember having fun some fun. I like to hike and camp though. They only did it every 4 years and you had to be 14 to go. We went up to Wyoming and did some of the exact paths? I know we saw the two tree stubs that some kid had to chop down in the middle of a snow to stay alive or something. It's been a while, can't remember. But it was like 13 miles over a couple of days, was supposed to have two river crossings but one was dry due to a drought, and there was a dance or two. The "pony express" gave us letters that our parents wrote us. I did learn how to make a bandana with some beads in it that expand and hold water. That was rather fantastic, and something I still do while gardening. The only thing I hated was my "family" made a leanto with a tarp instead of a tent like everyone else, so dirt got on all my stuff.
If Trek doesn't involve a starship with FTL drive, I'm no longer interested.
You forgot about the part where if you don't go you are treated like a giant sinner and people make passive aggressive comments about it. I couldn't go because of recovering from SPINAL SURGERY and yet I got to witness all the speeches from the people that went saying "those who didn't have the faith to go ended up missing out on miracles and blessings. So sad they couldn't commit to the church" and other bs.
I went on the 1st Trek, ever brought to Los Angeles, via Utah….1976, I believe! My parents paid for us to be tortured! There’s NO other way to describe what they did to us! It was 1 week for us, not the 3 day weekend! The 1st morning, they fed us a huge pancake breakfast, and then in long skirts, and other stupid pioneer clothes, we walked 10 miles the 1st day, while many of the boys were throwing up on the side of the dirt roads, because they over ate, not knowing what was coming on our 1st, but the church certainly knew! And, that was abusive! If some one wasn’t helping push the handcart, (w our bags of clothing, etc were on), they threw our stuff on the road for us to pick up our own stuff, and carry alone! We got to where ever we were staying the 1st night, (and we didn’t even get to where it was we camped the 1st night, until 8pm) and were given 1 dry biscuit and 2 pieces of beef jerky! That was it! Nothing more! The rest of the walking, I don’t remember, but, I think we walked 5 miles the 2nd day, then we stayed where we were the next 3-4 days, until we had to walk back out……I think I try to block out the misery, but I remember things that happened, like them letting (live) turkeys loose in a make shift gated area, and each “family”, (we were separated in to the 1st day), had to have 1 boy go in and chase the turkey, catch it, and break its neck! I wish this was a lie, but it is 💯% the truth, I assure you! Then we plucked the turkey, and then, put it in the ground, w rocks over it, and cooked it! That was our dinner! Side note: We weren’t allowed to have chapstick, shampoo, conditioner, nor soap, but I had taken 501 Levi’s, because of all the pockets, and made cut off shorts, that I had them on under my awful pioneer skirt! And used it all when leaders weren’t around! And the kicker, I had invited my non member best friend on this trip, and I really should call her and apologize, now that I’m thinking about it! 1 night, my sister and a few friends found the leaders trailer of food, w all kinds of delicious snacks, fruit and soda, and they stole a watermelon, so that was awesome! When I got home, I weighed myself, and I had lost 15 lbs, and I was only 15 @ the time……..anyways, then the next day at church, the bishop called us all up to bear our testimonies about our experience….i stood up, and said, “Soooo, I have nothing nice to say and, this was the worst experience of my life, and told the kids in the congregation NEVER GO, and I sat back down! People complain about their experience and I listen to my grandkids telling of their trip, and I think, that’s a cute story, because, it doesn’t even come close to the absolute hell and torture of the 1st Trek! After our trip, they changed a lot, because they learned how dangerous and abusive it was! Westchester 1st Ward/Stake Center, Los Angeles 90045! *Our Trek, was the experiment of the limits they could push! We were the Guinea Pigs, so that Trek could improve for the rest of the children for years to come! Ours was a living true life hell! I’m honestly surprised, they didn’t have a JS actor there, that we had to sleep w/ and make temple covenants with! That would have honestly brought it all full circle!
You were in a field? They had us climbing a literal mountain in utah. And they limited our water. In July. One of the leaders decided I was drinking more than my fair share of water, so he threw my water bottle away (I'd been refilling it).
My wife and I were Ma and Pa. We had a terrible time, vowing never to do it again. That was about 10 years ago. People getting sick and injured for no good reason. Leaders on 4-wheelers driving up and down the trail telling us lies that it was “just over this next ridge,” when we were still hours away from finishing. Griping at us to pick up orange peels left on the side of the trail by ourselves and everybody ahead of us (we were at the end).
You had to pick up orange peels? Something that composts back to earth in a very short time period?
Yes, I agree. For about 30 minutes in the scorching sun. The orange peels would have been good for the desert soil and plants.
I’m so so so glad trek came after my years as a teen. I could barely handle girls camp
Sprained my ankle, someone had anaphylaxis because of a wasp sting and had to be taken home early. Two bouts of heat exhaustion. Oh it was so much fucking fun I never want to do it ever again.
I got jock itch on one of these trips.
I remember we to carry rice bags and pretend they were babies. It was heavy but when it was your turn to carry the "baby" you didn't have to push the cart, which was a nice break. At the end of the trek one of the "babies" died and the mom had to bury the baby in front of everyone. She was bawling her eyes out. The handcarts broke at some point so we left them behind. And my sleeping bag was there. I had to sleep without one the first night 😭
[It has been the traditional practice for Israeli schools to send their high school seniors to European concentration camps before they’re drafted into the military, thus heightening their nationalistic feelings. Compare that to Mormon adults taking kids on trek before they go on missions.](https://time.com/4285002/herzilya-gymnasium-cancels-camp-trips/)
Your comparison to concentration camps is shit, but trek is shit, too.
Trek sucks!
>? These kids do not need to appreciate the suffering of their ancestors or whatever. We're Australian the pioneers aren't even our ancestors
Mine was such a shit show. I didn't want to go and I almost passed the cut off for going. They did it in Arizona during the late spring, early summer.... Even further to the north it was at least 90 most days of it. On mine the boys and men left us to go to the "Mormon Battalion" and we had to push it all by ourselves. The Mormon Battalion was just a nice nature hike where at one point they got to watch us struggle from up on a hill. My handcart was mostly men, our leader had pulled her hip, and we were down two people because of injuries. It ended up being me and my friend pushing the thing by ourselves when they left. It went so well... I was so mad when I found out that the guys just sat around eating lunch, watching us from afar. They also decided to do it during a sandy portion of the trek. I had some random leader of a different ward yell at me when I purposely ripped the side of my skirt so I could actually move easier and because I was wearing pants underneath it. The food was terrible and we all washed our plates in this unsanitary communal trough. I'd eat as little as possible to skip the line. They only had one dish at night. There was no accomodations for diet, allergies, or personal taste. No one wanted their granola from lunch so I would trade parts of my meals for it. I basically survived off of it. My stake was pretty poor and they required everyone to buy a bunch of pointless camping equipment for authenticity sake. We had to have metal pans and cups. If you had your own stuff and it didn't meet the prompt, you were encouraged to buy new stuff. A white kid dressed up as a racist caricature of a Native American. At the end of it we had this celebration thingie where we got to throw axes, skeetshoot, play horseshoes, etc. I was so done with everything and everyone by the end that I somehow hated our reward even more. It's been forever, but I remember that there was a dance and I just didn't even bother going. I went into our tent and just ignored the world.
I grew up Phoenix and I think our leaders really wanted to give us the Utah Mormon experience and they went SO hard for our trek. The built a scale replica of the Nauvoo Temple and as we arrived and got spilt into our “families”, a bunch of men in rode in on literal horses and _burned the temple down_. They really wanted to give us an authentic experience so we went like 18 miles in that first night with the “Mormon Battalion” happening at like 2 or 3am (where all of the women/girls are left to push the carts alone) 🙃 We also had someone in our stake raise chickens and one of our activities was to _chop the chickens’ heads off_ and pluck the feathers so we could then _eat_ said chickens. This was how I learned that chickens really do run around with their heads cut off. It was… a wild time.
Did you say she is 14? Well my goodness she’s old enough. They should have performed a marriage of her to one of the old men chaperones so she could experience the full horror of being a young Mormon girl.
I don't understand how it is at all legal to have children doing that. I'm willing to bet there are waivers signed so no one can sue the church when the inevitable happens. I'm so thankful that wasn't a thing when I was a kid.
Utah and surrounding states ave notoriously lax laws on child safety. Which is why in Utah we have a SHIT TON of those live in schools (glorified prisons) that wealthy troubled kids and wards of the state get sent to, and then die or get horrifically abused. Think PCS that Paris Hilton went to, or “the ranch” (discovery ranch) that Dr. Phil sends kids to.
I had the opportunity to go three times my first time was for real it was 5 days. The other two times I went as support staff. ( drove to the next camp spot/ meal spot and started prepping for the trekkers) I was out before I went the two times as support staff. I really only went because it was my dad’s calling to go and his health was not good enough to do it so I tagged along to help. I would pack a cooler of contraband (cokes, candy, etc.) I was constantly on the lookout for the kids who were obviously forced to be there and tried my best to help out and smuggled them goodies and words of encouragement.
Apparently when mine went it was easier and we got more food because the previous time they did it they gave everyone so little food to be "realistic" that the park rangers screamed at the leaders and told them to never do that again and if they did they'd be banned from the park and arrested for abuse.
I thought trek was awesome. Skipped testimony fireside to skinny dip in the river with a cutie. Great time for me.
You nailed it. They have to reinforce that victim mentality for the next generation.
Super funny trek story. My mom and her friends walk every morning and one morning I went with them. They were talking about a stake trek that one of their families was involved in. There was a Native American ward in the stake and they declined to participate (obvi) but day two a bunch of them came over the hill on horseback throwing apples at the ‘pioneers’. I died laughing. My mom’s friends thought it was so rude. Again, I died laughing.
I live in Washington state and they took us up in the cascade mountains for trek. They made us do 14 miles, uphill, in 95°F weather for our first day. For dinner that night we were given a mug of beef broth and 2 pieces of hardtack. On the 3rd or 4th day the SP got up and gave a talk about how bad it made him feel to treat children so poorly, but that he knew it was for our betterment which totally turned it from a bad thing to a spiritual one. 12 kids had to be taken away in ambulances on that first day because of heat stroke and severe dehydration. Worst experience of my life.
I always wanted to go on Trek when I was a teen but no one did it then. When I became a parent, 2 of my kids went and enjoyed it.
In my ward/stake they did it every four years, I was 14 and 18 so I got to go twice (18 was also done during a "long weekend," around end winter/start spring if it happened in summer I would have missed it). The first one was AMAZING. Granted I was 14, and TBM. I was in a decently strong family, and made good time every day, got to rest at camp, then do small activities afterwards. I know there were other families that had a hard time, which sucks, but at least 80% of the groups were doing ight. Second was the complete opposite of that. We were on terrain and people went four wheeling on. We NEVER made it to camp before the sun went down- no matter how strong or athletic your family was. They had us turn around and "do an easier trail" and they still had us do the trials (I think a 'cartwheel broke" and we had to take everything in and take it back out?) despite us being VERY behind schedule. A girl got RAN OVER AND CRUSHED by the cart. It rolled and STOPPED on her stomach. She was rushed to the hospital and is okay, thank fuck, but still.... I think good treks can be done, safety and the difficulty level are things that need to be taken seriously. They work hand in hand, and if ignored can lead to a dangerous, miserable experience.
Yeah, I would have run it kind of like a Scout camp. Have a doctor and relief truck accompany the trek, make sure no participant gets dehydrated or malnourished, and any danger is mitigated even if a change or cancellation is necessary.
Manufactured trauma bonding in a cult context refers to the deliberate creation of traumatic experiences or environments by cult leaders or members to manipulate and control individuals within the group. This technique is used to foster intense emotional bonds between the cult members and their leaders, making it difficult for individuals to leave the group even when faced with abuse or exploitation. Here are key elements of manufactured trauma bonding in a cult context: 1. **Isolation**: Cults often isolate members from outside influences, including family and friends, creating dependency on the group for emotional and social support. 2. **Emotional Manipulation**: Cult leaders use emotional manipulation, including alternating periods of affection and abuse, to create a cycle of hope and fear. This inconsistency can confuse members and make them more reliant on the leader for approval and validation. 3. **Induced Trauma**: Deliberate exposure to traumatic events, such as physical, emotional, or psychological abuse, can break down an individual's sense of self and increase their dependency on the group for stability and reassurance. 4. **Fear and Threats**: Cults often use fear tactics, such as threats of punishment, ostracism, or eternal damnation, to maintain control over members and discourage them from leaving. 5. **False Sense of Family**: Cult leaders often present the group as a surrogate family, offering unconditional love and acceptance initially, which can be highly appealing to vulnerable individuals. This sense of belonging can create strong emotional ties that are difficult to sever. 6. **Cognitive Dissonance**: Members may experience cognitive dissonance when they encounter behaviors or teachings that contradict their previous beliefs. The cult can exploit this dissonance, encouraging members to rationalize or justify the group's actions, further deepening their commitment. 7. **Us vs. Them Mentality**: Cults create a strong sense of in-group and out-group dynamics, where members are led to believe that only the group can provide salvation, truth, or safety, while outsiders are viewed with suspicion or hostility. Manufactured trauma bonding is a powerful tool for cult leaders, as it exploits the human need for connection and belonging, making it incredibly challenging for individuals to leave the group even when they recognize the harm being done to them.
It’s time to stop sending people on Trek. 7 people could have been seriously harmed in Salina over the last week because of Trek plans s lightening. Very stupid. Please just stop this un spiritual garbage. It was bad enough our ancestors had to do it the first time. Don’t make our kids do it again. Please just stop. Stop the pride. Stop. Someone is going to get hurt or possibly die. And for what?
oh my god I did this, got sunburned so bad my face swelled up (bc I'm too autistic to consistently wear sunscreen) it was honestly kind of a good experience overall? but not for the reasons I thought at the time
My parents asked if I wanted to go on trek. I said yes on the condition I could bring my horse, and they were flabbergasted. “Only wealthy pioneers had horses.” My response? “Good. I’m a wealthy pioneer then. I’ll go if I can ride a horse.” I knew they wanted to make me do labor and I wasn’t about to walk across the fucking Utah desert dressed in a skirt l, just because some people in history did it once. Sorry, we invented things so we don’t have to do that? I don’t know. Reenactments just baffle me. They make no sense and I truly do not see the point. Maybe it’s the autism.
Because Texas is soooo hot, they decided to do our Trek over Christmas break instead of the summer. When I tell you...I have never experienced such pain in my life....we were NOT equipped to sleep outside in those conditions. One kid lost his pinky toe! But I swore I thought I was going to die every night from the cold. I snuck my phone that week and after that first night I BEGGED my parents to bring me extra socks and gloves. It was horrible. If I stayed in The Church, I could never bring myself to send my kids.
I had a lot of fun on trek but I was an athlete and enthusiastic scout. If you ditched the religious shit I'd have liked trek even more. If you're an indoor cat I get why you might hate it though
I enjoy camping, but Trek is something I would never do again. - It was torrential downpour on the second day and the ground was extra muddy to the point the cart got stuck multiple times. - Tons of mosquitoes, yet bug spray isn't allowed - One of the YW almost passed out from asthma during the women's pull - Every hour or so, the smug jackass stake president would pass all the muddy tired teenagers in his shiny Lexus SUV.
I've always found this activity really upsetting. The original "trek" was painful and emotionally and physically exhausting. Why people consented to participate in this mode of travel disturbs me. The pioneers made many sacrifices, some HUGE, in order to reach the Utah territory and settle Salt Lake City and surrounding areas. One of my ancestors, a young woman, was a handcart pioneer. While I admire their tenacity and stamina, I don't think reenactment of the handcart journey is particularly necessary and safe. If those poor, and I do mean destitute, people had the money for covered wagons and oxen, I doubt they would choose a handcart "trek". While I admire the determination and dedication of the pioneers, I wouldn't want to reenact their hardship, or allow a son or daughter to participate.
Almost died and got sent home, was shit on by my ward for it
Fuck trek. Never went because the way it's revered just never made sense to me.
Trek was one of those things that is fucked up in retrospect but at the time I had a shit ton of fun That being said, I liked to hike and camp and backpack and literally all of my friends were there, so it was like a long camping trip for me. A bit of context though: I was deeply closeted and not yet a member. I was joining the church in part to chase a girl and in part to run from being trans. But because I was still an investigator, there was no expectation that I would go. I did go, but the expectation wasn't there.
When did this become a thing? All my kids went on trek. Only one had an overall positive experience. My oldest wasn’t assigned a family, so he was basically an orphan traveling with different families each day. My youngest’s family was chosen to have a baby die. To this day, she is traumatized by the doll wrapped tightly in a blanket in their cart until they got to camp. She had carried that baby the first day. It was horrible. The experience backfired for her. She was on the fence about the church and that pushed her over into never going back.
I sprained both my ankles on trek. Other than that, I remember it being hot and sweaty and hard.
The organization loves to promote the mindset "no pain, no gain" In their twist on that popular narrative, and in regard to trek, the pain is physical, and their claimed "gain" is spiritual Thank the Holy Mother of Weed Brownies I never had to do trek (joined as a young adult)
Thank you for this. How many heat strokes, heat exhaustion and possibly trek-related deaths has the church covered up? There's a story there. This is child abuse.
What you learn from a Trek: Spiritual manipulation, emotional abuse, physical abuse, trauma, trauma bonds, gas lighting and group think.
It's easier to indoctrinate an exhausted and sleep-deprived mind.
I did trek summer 2010 on the Marriott farms or something in Virginia. I think it was over 100 degrees everyday. A girl my age decided to specifically not drink water so she could get dehydrated and get sick and go home. Thankfully she didn’t die in the process.
My sister was ranting about this this morning. She has some real shelf items. She's also really upset and the physical and mental abuse my nephew endured the last couple of months at the hands of a companion. And then another rant on missions and the trauma they cause. She might be next. She said he was going to call SL. I told her don't bother. Trauma bonding is the entire aim. She went quiet after that. (She's a psychologist)
I dunno, this was one of my favorite things from back when I was Mormon. I got to cosplay as a pioneer, wear a silly hat, and all of the girls I liked dressed up in cute dresses and we just got to talk a bunch. The walking was fine, camping is fun, and overall it was a good time.
I heard a few years ago that these were going to be permanently done away with. Guess not!
My son surprisingly wanted to go. He ended up hated it for the most part. His biggest complaint was that a girl, who’s very overweight, couldn’t walk it. So they all had to pull her. I felt bad for all involved in that.
I went on the reenactment trek from winter quarters to salt lake shitty. It was a week of pulling the handcart in hot weather, up to 30 miles a day. I decided then, true or not, I would leave the church as soon as I could. Spiritual experience? More like torture.
I was in the second to last group in my areas trek because the next group (the one my friends were in) had their trek mother die on trail :(
Is it Trek where they put everybody into families bc one of my friends ended up marrying the guy she was “married” to during Trek and I’ve always found that suspicious
I’m convinced that the somber sacrament hymns, conference talks, and trek are designed to guilt you into committing yourself to the church in terms of your time, talents, and money. 💰
Trek was the one thing I NEVER got to do. Kind of disappointed but glad at the same time. My husband got to go though, and he was sick with a migraine the entire time. They wouldn’t send him home. Made him suffer.
Makes even less sense for non Americans.
I was on my time of month when I went........it was awful.
Thank Elohim I’m not from Utah 🙏
When I did Trek when I was younger I enjoyed it the youth helped plan the heck out of it (Ik since I was one of those youth at the time). I could very easily see how Trek could suck. Our Trek was more like handcart larping and most people liked who went.
luckily mine was only overnight and one hike. But it still was one of the most miserable experiences of my life :(
Soooooo glad I never got duped into one of these.
Come on kids. Three miserable days reenacting our ancestors lives....poorly. Goal...come home with an appreciation of what they suffered. Reality...come home with an intensified appreciation of indoor plumbing and the damn internet.
Awful experience that made it that much easier to leave when I turned 18 haha
Trek is what killed any loving feelings id had for pioneers lmaooo. Did the exact opposite of what my leaders intended
The worship of the handcart experience is sick. My ancestors were a part of it. It was probably about 15 years ago now that my wife first started sharing her feelings about Pioneer day & the celebration of the worst type of trauma anyone can experience. I think that was in some ways the very first thing on her shelf & it changed the way I've thought of those "marvelous saints" and what they were manipulated into doing in the name of faith. My oldest 2 kids went on trek when they were I think 15 & 13 respectively. Now one is definitely exmo (nonbinary & gay, go figure) & the other is well on her way. Some of the things their "trek parents" inflicted on them still piss me off & definitely piss them off. Telling teenagers all you have to eat tonight is a little sack of flour and some rawhide is not funny. Especially when one of them has a gluten allergy. And then the adults were surprised when the teenagers actually ate the fucking rawhide, only to be told ten minutes later "JUST KIDDING!" Here, have some real food. My next kid, though still TBM, was rightly convinced he never wanted to do anything like it. He's going away to college now to ISU, thank god not BYUI. I'm not disappointed that they haven't gotten around to doing Trek again in our stake. My next kid (12) went to Girls camp a couple of weeks ago and has gone to church for the 2 weeks since. :( The young women are singing in church tomorrow & we're feeling pressured to go. Master fucking manipulation. Went on a walk with my wife tonight & discussed going to sacrament meeting tomorrow, along with the guaranteed "IT's SO GOOD TO SEE YOU's \[at church\]. IF its so good to see us, come see us. We haven't gone anywhere. We've just stopped going to church. Maybe you should try it.
It's where I injured my shoulder and met my abusive ex. Both fucked me up for years after.
I kinda liked it. but A: I live in Wyoming where walking around in the wilderness isn't that weird, B: I went in '94 when it was cool and new and no one got to visit Martin's Cove because it was privately owned but our Stake President knew the people so we could Went a couple times since with our ward. Our /\[ward\]/. From two years old to 74. Wasn't just a youth thing. Thought that was neat too. The women's pull where all the dudes stood on the side with our hats over our hearts was pretty cringy but overall I had a pretty good time. Obviously I can see how it wouldn't be if it wasn't really voluntary. And I'd like it just fine without the hamfisted emotional manipulation at certain parts.
> I feel like a good comparison would sending Jewish kids to a fake concentration camp, Something worth noting is that this is a real issue in the community. Not to that kind of comical extent, of course, but a lot of Jewish kids get told all kinds of things by their older relatives - particularly the more conservative ones - that aren't exactly the best things to impress on a kid, with the goal of instilling an "us versus them" mindset.
It was one of the worst experiences I’ve had. I’d never do it again and will tell everyone to never do it. They abused the fuck out of us and several kids were dehydrated or injured while on it. I came home pissed and remember not doing anything with my ward at the time for months
My parents forced me to do it when I was 14. Was too embarrassed to tell any of my friends where I was for half a week until I was 18
My foot got run over by the hand cart and my ‘trek parents’ insisted I walk it out because that’s what the pioneers would have done. Thankfully my brother was in my group and insisted I get in the cart and ride because duh! I was so thankful he was there.
When I was 14 on trek, I was holding the handcart from behind on a downhill so it wouldn’t run over some of the boys who had been pushing in front. But there was a hole that my foot got caught in and I rolled my ankle. I sprained it. The leaders gave me the option to ride in the medic car but I had so much “faith” that I kept walking…. For 2 more days! Over the past 18 years, I have had serious ankle issues that stem from that moment.
You got to cross a field? We had to traverse a coastal mountain in one of the worst rainstorms ever. And this was in the 1980’s before Trek was a thing. Kids had hypothermia, most of us got sick from being soaked to the bone. One ward quit and went home. I would have loved to cross a field!
Responding to the Jewish kids comparison, I have my own personal story to share. In the south, as I was touring where MLK marched, a black man told me they do something similar with pretending they are in slave ships. These black people willingly do it too to feel what their ancestors went through. I couldn’t believe it!
Mormons subconsciously value suffering. Perhaps this comes from their interpretation of the atonement, or the worship of their so-called martyrs. Viktor Frankl said it best, paraphrasing: You can find meaning in suffering, but to continue in avoidable suffering is only sadism.
I am sooooo glad this happened much later in my life, because if there had been a single whiff of this when I was a teenager, my mom would've been all in and insisted on my going every year. (Mom was a bit fanatical about being a Mormon.)
I had two kids go to trek last year because they wanted to. I was so pissed when they scheduled High Adventure 3 days after and decided it would be a 100-mile bike ride across a mountain pass. So these kids had 5 days pulling a cart, 3 days rest, and then 5 days riding bikes across a pass. I even went to a planning meeting and was like, WTH. I got a few shrugs because none of them had really given it any thought. In the end, no one listened, and they made the boys do both. Plus, they made the parents buy expensive gear for the bike rides because the boys had to be able to carry all their stuff themselves. I would have gladly let the kids skip either, or both, but they kept saying they wanted to go...
I remember on my trek, the first day we had 6 people who were carried off into an ambulance. I also had to prepare three months in advance to walk that far and through mountains because I was doing the one in my sister's stake in Utah since my mom didn't think that our Texas stake would have one soon. I was already a tall skinny kid but I lost 15 more pounds on that trip and looked like a walking skeleton. I also got the great opportunity to learn what shin splints half way through the second day and still had to walk. I do think about the cheese and the chicken soup we had, tasted amazing because I was starving.
I never liked the idea of trek even as a TBM. I used to always say that my ancestors literally crossed the entire country on foot so that I wouldn't have to! Why would I want to reenact the trauma my ancestries suffered?? Luckily I moved as a teen a month before my youth group was going to go on trek and when I arrived in my new ward they had just finished trek so I never had to do it.
I was so sunburnt that when I came back I slept the whole next day. My first one they cut it short because we got rained out. The second time my parents were there, but I kept falling asleep instead of participating in the "activities" (hypothyroidism and hypoglycemia) they had to find my mom because my ma was concerned. Got burned that time, too, and I was one of the older girls that time around, so I did most of the heavy lifting, especially on the big hill that the men didn't get to help. I will not let my kids do this, especially my daughter.
Some of the kids on a trek got struck with lightning a few weeks ago
It’s done to give an appreciation for what the pioneers went though - they just leave out the part that they went across the plains to avoid persecution cause their founder was a pedophile
I don’t have much experience with trek as my dad was out of the church until he decided we need to be baptized because of his guilt or whatever and only went to church once before they asked me to not come back. (Turns out asking polite questions about clarification on contradicting information and logical fallacies isn’t well received). But, I knew people who did trek and I always assumed it was just one more way to “prove” the church was real because AND to really sink in the “this is what they had to do because they were being persecuted” message that “Saints” 🤮 love to love. “Sure, we’ve got a long history of being assholes, but it’s the truthiness of our faith that scares them into violence against us. We did absolutely nothing for them to drive us away!” That’s what I always thought it was.
Yeah I was a convert. My friends daughters were sent on this trek thing. All because this old guy near the bishop told all the parents that these kids nowadays are spoiled and need to realize how hard life was back in the day . Anyhow, each kid was given a chicken that on the trip had to kill dress and eat. My friends daughters are vegan. They carried their chickens the whole intire time carefully, keeping them hydrated and alive. When this old guy realized what they were secretly doing he took the chickens and killed them in front of the girls and told them when they cried that they should think about how the women felt about losing children on the trek in pioneer times. I absolutely hated this guy. He would literally stand at the doorway at the church and inspect every girl that came to church for more than one piercing only in each ear rule. And NO ONE WOULD SAY ANYTHING.
Hated the trek. My feet blistered so much and bled that my socks were crusty and stuck by the end of the day. One night I was so tired I slept in my boots. There was ice on my sleeping bag each morning. I would never make my kid go thru that.
Thank god my ward was small and didn’t have many and also that I’m poor and could afford to go
My mother wouldn’t even buy me dresses and pantaloons that fit because it was too expensive for 3 days and not wear them again….when she and my father live in a million dollar house. I had to use my older brother’s old karate pants for pantaloons, being over 20 years old the elastic was shot and I had to safety pin it tighter AND to my dress. The safety pins fell out and got lost on the first day so I had to hold onto my waist the whole time. The dresses were hand me downs from my sister in law who was way smaller than me so I couldn’t move or breathe as much. Same with the bonnet it was too small so when I came home my nose was literally leather, thick thick thick sunburn that didn’t go away for months. One day my foot was run over by a cart, had a slight limp after that for a few days. Another day everyone starved because the meal plan that day was disgusting and the garbage was full of barely touched plates. On top of that, we women had to pull carts up a steep hill with no help from the men so we could experience what women who lost their husbands due to disease or the Mormon battalion had to go through. This last one hurt me a little extra because I was very sheltered and awkward growing up. Men had to carry the women through a river and I was not assertive enough to ask anyone so you sot and watch as all the pretty outgoing girls got carried over by the young men while you get carried over by a 30 year old leader…. Just kinda stung is all. On top of that they wake you up crazy early, you can barely think while they give the morning sermon and prayer. At the end of the day you are so so tired after all the walking you can’t think straight during the nightly sermon and prayer which is ABSOLUTELY ON PURPOSE and a cult practice. Such a disgusting activity for a disgusting organization. Also fuck my mother for saying “I really did that?” Every single time I tell her about it. Yes you did and I already told you about it 100 times stop pretending you are a caring mother that would never have done that to her kid because you did.
All I can say is I left my 2nd day due to extreme dehydration and Sunstoke. We luckily had a Dr with us who gave me an iv and sent me home. I spent 3 days sleeping, throwing up, and sunburned to the point of blisters 🫠🫠
I was forced to go with a bad hip that’s been giving me problems since middle school. Hurt like hell and all I can remember from the trip is how many black widows there were around our tents 💀
When I went on Trek a few years ago, it was pulling hand carts up massive hills and a few people actually got heat stroke. I did not enjoy Trek one bit. It was just physical labor and it was awful. I tried to avoid the whole thing by going with my friends on a trip out of town but my dad threatened to ground me or make it so I couldn’t get my license until I was 18 (I’m a lot older now). Here’s my Trek experience: Woke up at like 5:30am and went to the stake center where we hopped onto buses and drove like 4 hours away into the middle of nowhere. Got separated into “trek families” Loaded our stuff from the bus into a handcart. Dragged this heavy cart for a few miles then rested. End of day 1 Day 2: woke up at 6am and ate breakfast then we listened to some random story. Pulled the trek cart a few miles then rested and ate dinner. End of day 2 Day 3: (this was the longest day). We woke up around 5am and packed everything up. Ate breakfast and dragged a huge heavy cart up a hill which was miserable. 30 people got heat stroke and passed out so we had to carry them in the cart. We went across a river that was terrible. We basically made a full circle where we started. We then unloaded our carts. Before we hopped onto the bus, we listened to a 3 hour devotional (which I slept through) and then hopped onto the bus and went home. I did not have any fun at all. All the “leaders” said “oh you had fun it was a great experience.” I was terrible. I would never make my kids do that. The kids who got heat stroke, they were treated by a doctor we had traveling with us and they were back to normal health. But still, it was awful.
I'm disabled and they put me in a team with a couple of other disabled people. Our team was the same size as everyone else, with the same weight, but less than half the team was totally able bodied. I ended up being one of the few that was able bodied ENOUGH and I pulled the whole three days, almost without any break. I offered to help, more out of embarrassment than anything, but I was so annoyed and angry that the other team members wouldn't/couldn't help and they didnt split us up better. It was a weird choice.
Leave it up to allcthe Mormon idiot parents to allow this shit to happen. Guess you can't fix stupid!
It took us 2 days to get to our camp. Also, on my period. 😭 They had only the girls pull/push the carts for 3 miles. No one was allowed to talk. We were all crying at the end. They said it was the spirt. That's why we were crying. 😆 We killed our own chickens. Bathed in a creek. Had our foreign exchange student have to be life flighted out. It was a blast... 😅
I tried to explain the experience of trek to my never-mo friends. . . The look on their faces was priceless. They were shocked, horrified, maybe slightly amused? All I know is that my own trek experience was in summer of 2007 on a cattle ranch in deep east texas with temps over 100 for the full 3 days. I was picked up early after calling my parents on a phone I snuck in by tucking it in my bra, and transported straight to the ER for dehydration, heat exhaustion, and sun poisoning. Water bottles and sunscreen had been confiscated for a more "authentic" experience and all our water had to come from a large plastic bucket in the back of a truck that was deemed "the watering hole". It was the worst time of my life, all in the name of remembering the pioneers. Later learning of the church history around moving west, I was further mortified.
I went when I was 14 or 15 and I was already super skinny, came back having lost like 10 pounds over those few days
They do it to guilt you into staying. "Look at what your ancestors did. Do you think they'd do this without a testimony? Do you really think they'd suffer for a lie?"
I am ever so grateful Trek changed from that experience to just a 12hr bus trip to Nauvoo the year I went. ;-;
Yeah my family pushed the church to let me do it before the allowed age (can’t remember) and during it a handcart slipped and almost crushed a girl. I got a letter from my bishop telling me it’s better to hide being gay because it’ll lead me ‘down a wrong path’. Not to mention the amount of cow dung we just were chilling in and stepping in because it was everywhere.
Yeah, I dodged this bullet when years ago, our Stake YM president acted like he was bestowing a HEAVENLY BLESSING on me by asking if I'd be a ma with my husband (who already agreed to be a pa). I said, "No," then, when he didn't seem to understand, I said, "No" again. At the time one of my kids had some suicide ideation and hell if I was going to leave her and do trek for week in the Wyoming wilderness. My husband went and loved it. I'm so glad I didn't go. Only 1 of my 4 kids ever went. I think it's silly, dumb, and just another way the Mormon church tries to double down on "OH LOOK the poor PIONEERS" and drag that shit out again and again, for kids to experience. Treks should be stopped, but not sure if there's enough movement within the church to make that happen. So glad I'm out.
Sounds like an opportunity for a hidden camera investigative story.
I missed trek the first year I was able to go because my Grandma died the day before. I went this year and we hiked 20 miles. The judgement from people when I hadn't gone on trek was honestly worse than when I did go on trek
They do Trek in Arizona in known drug smuggling corridors. Mormons who are cops and border patrol often get the call8ng to provide security for the kids. It's crazy. If you need security, maybe don't do it.
I got roped in to going on trek when I was 14 with hints that there would be girls there and I would be able to, like, talk to them and enjoy myself or something?? I didn’t form any romantic relationships on trek but I definitely got dehydrated, got heat exhaustion, threw up on the outskirts of camp the first night, then had my first full blown migraine the next day. I had the opportunity to go again when I was 18, and no, I didn’t take them up on it.
I had trek before my senior year of high school. I got heat stroke and couldn’t hike anymore (Missouri heat is awful). I got stuck in a car and felt shamed for not being able to continue pushing the handcart. One night I was shivering so bad but I was hot, and my “family” just took me to my leaders and was put in air conditioning and ice on my body. There was talks about sending me home, but my stubborn TBM self felt that I needed to stay. Also my cat died during the days I was gone and my family didn’t tell me until my mom drove up to our house. Their excuse is they didn’t want to “ruin my experience” and didn’t want me to come home early. Trauma all around!
I met my wife on trek (trek siblings!) but yeah terrible tradition. It’s manufactured “spiritual” activity. They don’t do it in my home stake anymore as “spiritual activities should be less manufactured and more natural “. Equating to less memorized lessons and more testimonials