By R. Val Johnson

Church Magazines


The Hole-in-the-Rock trail in southern Utah challenged youth and leaders from three stakes both physically and spiritually. The experience changed more than a few lives.

Pushing or pulling, taking a handcart over jagged stone is tough. The rocks slow you down, jar your bones, sap your strength.

But sand is worse. When faced with a hill of it, all you can do is take a deep breath and run. With enough speed, and a little help from others, you make it to the top, where you can rest, drink half a lake of water, and move on.

But what nearly does you in are those long stretches of sand that claw at your feet and handcart wheels. Your only option is to keep pulling and pushing, pulling and pushing, until you have to stop before you collapse. Getting started again takes nearly all your energy. Still, foot after foot, you gather your strength and move ahead. Finally, suddenly, you discover you've left the sand behind.

Your destination is still a long way off, but somehow, having made it through the sand, you know you can finish. You know you can make it to camp or to home—to that place where you will rest and heal and prepare to face with greater confidence the next hard thing you need to do.