Trail of Faith Award PRE-TREK ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ACTIVITIES To earn this award, you must complete 3 activities in each of the 5 categories, for a total of 15 activities. Many activities can also be used towards Personal Progress & Duty to God. REMEMBERING THE PIONEERS 1. Visit a cemetery and if possible learn about a pioneer or family member buried there. 2. Learn a pioneer craft, skill or art. (i.e. Dutch oven cooking, knitting, rope making, horse shoeing, weaving a rug, etc. 3. Sew a bonnet, apron or vest to wear on the Trek. 4. Give a talk about a pioneer or ancestor in Sacrament meeting, YM/YW, or FHE. 5. Watch ant of the following movies: Ephraim s Rescue, The Sweetwater Rescue, Legacy, American Prophet, A Legacy More Precious Than Gold 6. Read one of the following books or another pioneer book approved by your parents or leader: Fire of the Covenant by Gerald N. Lund, The Price We Paid by Andrew D. Olsen, Handcarts to Zion by Leroy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen. 7. Go to www.lds.org/pioneers and read about the pioneers. 8. Plant a garden with some of the same things the pioneers planted when they arrived in the valley. Study Alma 32 and record in your journal how faith is like a seed and must be nurtured to grow. For YW this can be a Faith Value Project. 9. Make a list of the qualities the pioneers developed on the trail (i.e. charity, endurance, humility, etc.) Pick one of these qualities and strive to develop it between now and the Trek. Give a FHE lesson on how faith helped the
pioneers develop these qualities, and how faith has helped you as well. For YW, this can apply to Faith Value Experience #3. 10. Use any art form to express your pioneer heritage. Remember that this can include modern-day pioneers who sacrificed for the faith as well as those who crossed the plains! For YW, this can be an Individual Worth Value Project. 11. For YM, complete the Duty to God Spiritual Strength: Pray and Study the Scriptures requirement. 12. For YM, complete the Duty to God Priesthood Duties: Invite All to Come Unto Christ requirement. SERVICE 1. Cook a meal without the use of a modern kitchen. Share it with someone. 2. Teach a FHE lesson about how the Savior has taught us to give meaningful service. 3. Participate in a family, class or ward service project. 4. Volunteer once at a hospital, extended care center, or community food center or Bishops Warehouse. 5. Invite a non-member or less-active person to come with you to a service project or activity. 6. Help clean up a cemetery. If possible, visit and clean up the gravesite of an ancestor. 7. Spend at least 3 hours giving service outside your family. Record your feelings about the experience in your journal. For YW, this can apply to Good Works Value Experience #6. 8. Choose someone at school, in your class, or quorum that you would like to know better. Learn about their interests, goals, and experiences. Begin to develop and strengthen your friendship. 9. For 2 weeks make a special effort to strengthen your relationship with a friend or family member. Think of what you learned and how this can be applied to your family on the Trek, and record your thoughts in your journal. For YW, this can apply to Divine Nature Value Experience #3. For Priests this can be applied to the Duty of God For the Strength of Youth: Family and Friends requirement.
10. For YM, complete the Duty to God Priesthood Duties: Serve Others requirement. FAMILY HISTORY 1. Research the first family member baptized in your family. Find related stories and record what you learn in your journal. 2. Keep a personal journal (writing at least once a week) for three months. Record your thoughts and feelings about the pioneers you study and the related activities you do. Include your feelings about the blessings in your life that come from the result of others sacrifices. 3. Collect stories and learn about your ancestors who have demonstrated faith and sacrificed for the Gospel. Share these stories with your family, class or in a sacrament meeting talk. For YW, this can be a Faith Value Project. 4. Write your life story in at least 500 words. For YW, this can be an Individual Worth Value Project. 5. Visit with your living relatives to learn about your family history. Complete a pedigree chart of your family and list the temple ordinances that have been completed for each person. For YW, this can apply to Individual Worth Value Experience #6. 6. YM - Earn the Genealogy Merit Badge 7. Visit the Family History Library 8. Invite your grandparents or another senior citizen to share their stories with you. Record what your learned in your journal. 9. Spend 3 or more hours indexing records at familysearch.org/indexing/ TEMPLES AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH 1. With the help of your parents, leaders or ward family history specialist, search genealogy records to find an ancestor and submit his or her name for Temple work. 2. Participate in performing baptisms for the dead if possible. If not, discuss with a priesthood leader about the Temple and what it means to be a Latterday Saint.
3. Prepare an FHE lesson on patriarchal blessings. If you have not received yours, begin making plans to do so. For YW, this can apply to Individual Worth Value Experience #2. 4. Think about the sacrifices the pioneers made to build the early Temples. Read some of the pioneer s Temple-building stories and record your feelings in your journal. 5. Read 3 conference talks about the Temple. Discuss them with a parent or leader and record your feelings in your journal. 6. Place a framed picture of a Temple in your room. 7. Read your scriptures daily for a least one month. 8. Mark your favorite scriptures about Christ in your scriptures. 9. Learn more about the sacrament prayers, found in D&C 20:77, 79. Establish a pattern pondering why we partake of the sacrament and how it brings you closer to Christ. After 3 weeks, record your feelings in your journal. For YW, this can apply to Faith Value Experience #4. 10. Pray for a missionary experience. Read Matthew 24:14, 28:19 and D&C 88:81. Invite a non-member or less active friend to a pre-trek activity. For YW, this can apply to Good Works Value Experience #7. 11. Study D&C 4:2 the 2015 Youth Theme and our Trek Theme. Record your feelings in your journal. How can you apply this scripture to your life? PHYSICAL FITNESS 1. Read D&C 89. Improve your health by implementing a regular fitness program. Follow it consistently until the Trek. For YM, this can apply to the Duty to God For the Strength of Youth: Physical Health Requirement. For YW, this can be a Knowledge Value Project. 2. Follow a physical fitness program (with doctor s permission) in order to train for Trek. At minimum, walking 4 to 5 times per week, increasing mileage over time. 3. Build up to be able to run 3 miles without stopping. 4. Train for and participate in a 5K or 10K race. 5. Receive training for First Aid and skills to use in an emergency situation. For YW, this can apply to Knowledge Value Experience #7. 6. Organize a hike for your family or friends.
7. Participate in a pre-trek hike. When you have completed all 15 requirements, have your parent or youth leader sign below. Then return this form to your ward YW or YM president. Remind your Youth Leaders to record your achievement and report it to the Stake YM/YW. Congratulations you are prepared for Trek! Name Ward Signature of Parent/Leader Date