This website is a place for the youth of the Spokane East Stake, their parents, and leaders.
Location and Dates
Bing Canyon Pioneer Camp in Prosser, WA
June 26-29 (Wed-Sat)
Transportation Information coming soon!
Required Documents
All participants (both young and old) must complete the Registration Form found here or above. Link confirms: Registration, dietary restrictions/special diet requirements/allergies, medications required, and photo release.
Make sure if you have dietary or other restrictions OR have an extended family member or friend coming on the trek with you, write that on the medical form! Please reach out to Sis. Rachel Burgess if you need to make any adjustments to your registration form.
Please submit your $100 registration fee to your Ward Trek Representative
Adult participants must also complete the Protecting Children and Youth Training form. Log into your church account and complete the training.
Youth Ages
All youth who will turn 14 through 18 years of age in 2024 are invited to attend.
Please invite youth of other faiths. Everyone is welcome!
Physical Preparation
Packing List
Make sure to buy a 5 gallon bucket with lid and decorate it ... maybe a youth activity!? A great activity would be to pad the lids because your buckets also serve as your chairs for Trek. Here’s a tutorial on how to do it: Padded Buckets. Remember, the theme is “FINDING STRENGTH IN CHRIST” Philippians 4:13.
Start gathering all other items to pack in your bucket. Click here to download & print a Trek Packing List.
Pioneer Clothing
Start finding your pioneer clothes! Go to second hand stores. Make it a youth activity to make bonnets, aprons, boys pioneer style shirts, possibility bags, etc. (if you don’t end up making a “possibility bag”, a fanny pack will do.
Here are some links to easy, free patterns for pioneer clothing:
Fitness Program
We anticipate that you will hike 4-7 miles per day, over varying terrains, (up and down with some fairly steep hills). With this in mind, may we recommend each person, youth and adults, who plan to participate, begin a walking routine.
We suggest that you begin walking 3 times a week, at least 1-2 miles each time. As your cardiovascular endurance increases, it would be ideal to increase your time and distance. Over the next several months work towards walking 3-5 miles at one time, at least once during the week.
If you do not already have boots, now is the time to start looking to purchase a pair. By May, you should have secured comfortable boots, and also begin wearing them on your walk once per week. This way they will be properly “worn in” by end of June.
As mentioned above the terrain that we will hike over will include up and down hills. We suggest when opportunity permits you vary your walking routine to include different levels of difficulty. This will help to condition your body and heart for any challenge we will face on the trek.
As young men and young women leaders, as well as families please help our youth make a fitness plan and find ways that you might check on their progress and encourage their success. This could include making fitness charts, pairing up with a fitness buddy, and planning some day/evening hikes as the weather improves in the spring. We want everyone to have a positive experience, and being prepared is the first step in that direction.
Spiritual Preparation
When talking with youth who have experienced past youth conferences, they consistently list Trek as the most spiritual and the one where they personally experienced the most spiritual growth. During Trek you will have experiences designed to help you feel the Spirit. The more you are spiritually prepared, the better those experiences will be for you.
To help you prepare spiritually for the trek, review and consider the preparation resources shown here:
Attend your Church Meetings:
Sunday meetings
Seminary
Weekly Youth Activities
Pray Daily & Study the Scriptures
Pray to God asking Him what He wants you to do to best prepare yourself to have a meaningful experience on the trek.
Study with words of God DAILY! Read the Book of Mormon and pioneer stories, and watch pioneer movies!
What were these groups leaving?
What did they hope for in their destination?
What gospel principles were taught and/or learned?
How are your challenges different or similar?
How do their experiences and outcomes encourage you?
Identify the Pioneers in your own Family through Family History
Find an ancestor's name to take to the temple and a story about them to take on the trek. If you can’t find a pioneer ancestor, trek for someone who has gone before you, showing you the way to follow. Who has inspired you in your life and cleared the trail for generations to come.Who is a pioneer to you?
Research and learn about your pioneer ancestors or those who came before you who converted to the gospel and made it possible for you to have the gospel in your life. Take a look at the Youth & Family History website to help you get started. Search, study and learn about your pioneer ancestors.
Attend the Temple
Attend the temple at least once before the Trek and take the name of a personal ancestor or an ancestor of a member in your branch or ward. We have a stake temple day on May 30. Strive to be baptized for your own ancestor on that day.
Keep a Journal
Get a small notebook or journal to write down your thoughts as you prepare for the Trek. Write about your own life, your challenges, and parallels you find to the early Saints.
Take the notebook with you on the Trek, and write your experiences as you go. Include the mundane as well as the spiritual; sketch the scenery; write about your physical challenges, the food, and sleeping arrangements and about the things spoken to your heart.
Learn Hymns
“For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.” – Doctrine & Covenants 25:12
Music was important to those traveling to the Salt Lake Valley. Music has the capacity to lift the spirit, encourage one of failing strength, comfort the mourning, and express delight and joy, no matter the circumstance!
Most of the following hymns were included in the first hymnal put together by Emma Smith. Memorize the lyrics and tunes of some them. You will be amazed how your Trek experience is enriched by your ability to sing along the way. Hymn singing keeps our hearts focused on the spiritually rich experience of a Trek, whether the songs are solemn or exuberant.
Carry On – Hymn #255 (composed for the youth in the Church’s 100th year)