Keeping With The Trek

1) Try working with the song "Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked and Walked and Walked and Walked" (Children's Songbook p. 214) It was mentioned in the YW meeting that they didn't just walk, they sang. They had a good attitude. A skit could start with several girls on a hike with a leader, complaining about how hard and long their hike is. As they take a break, the leader tells stories about pioneer young women who walked much further and set a great example for others to follow. Flashback to a scene of pioneer young women singing as they crossed the plains. After the modern girls see the struggles the pioneer young women went through, they feel renewed and assured that they can not only finish their hike, but set a good example for others to follow in their branch, school, town or city, and country.

2) "To be a Pioneer" (Children's Songbook p. 218) Have half of the stage be modern and the other half be in the 1840's. Switch from pioneer scene to modern scene. A narrator says, "Our pioneer forebears were great examples of strength, courage, sacrifice, commitment, and faith. Though much has changed since then, much has stayed the same. Our times require a similar show of character." First, show pioneers learning about the Word of Wisdom. Then show a girl refusing a cigarette or beer. Show pioneers leaving their families and friends to join the Church and go out West. Then show a girl who joins the Church. She tries to help her friends understand why she won't watch R-rated movies anymore, or swear, or do what she used to do on Sundays. They do not support her change so she chooses to make new friends that help her uphold her standards. Show a pioneer praying for help on a farm. Then show a girl praying about school. End by singing "Come, Come, Ye Saints" (Hymns #30). (Use Young Women's Meeting talks for ideas--see April General Conference)

When Monica moved from her home,

She missed her friends, She felt alone,

The only Mormon in her school,

She sang these words to keep her cool:

For some must push and some must pull

As I march up to my new school.

But Heav'nly Father's always near

I am a modern pioneer.

Monica is faced with a variety of choices: will she tell anyone that she is a Latter-day Saint? Will she live her religion? Will she tell her new friends about the Church? What if they laugh at her? What if someone wants to her do something that she knows is wrong, but she wants to be friends with them and not have everyone think that she isn't fun to be with? Make up verses in between scenes to the song to match with the action. She decides to follow her pioneer examples and stay true to the faith, no matter what. She gets some true friends that like her and respect her beliefs. They even come to Church. Monica is a modern-day pioneer. (see "Modern Pioneers" by President Janette Hales Beckham and "Pioneers All" by President Thomas S. Monson in the May '97 Ensign.)

4) Change it from a Pioneer Trek to Star Trek. Put pioneering into a futuristic sense.

5) Turn trek into track. Use track and field or trains as an idea springboard. There's the statement that the Church is like a train and it is getting harder and harder to get on and off easily. Soon we'll have to stay on to run very hard to catch up. Or use Paul's declaration at the end of his life, 2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith:"

6) President Thomas S. Monson's talk "They Showed the Way" (May 1997 Ensign, p. 50), could also be a starting point.