We don’t say going on drive or going on hike.

You do if you are a Russian.

I don’t know when it all got started but I do know that it was in full swing in the late 70’s and into the 80’s. It abruptly ended in the 90’s. The offical reason from BYU was the expense and time involved. The un-official reason was because of lawsuits involving some injured kids and the death of one leader.

I sincerely agree with all of your concerns. The cost is absurd. If the stake is intent on manufacturing emotional experiences and calling it the Spirit, they can do that on an overnighter close to home (just don’t send my kids). Save the cash, and instead have the kids donate money to a good cause and see if they then feel the actual Spirit.

I think this is a cause worth fighting for.

Am I the only one who is slightly irritated by the phrase going on trek? Shouldn’t it be going on a trek? We don’t say going on drive or going on hike. What is it about a trek that requires dropping the article?

And yeah, $50,000 is an abomination.

Just for some perspective, I looked at at my stake’s budget for the year. The entire amount allotted for the year for all wards and branches in the stake totals up to just under $55,000.00. That’s for everything – primary, YW, YM, RS, ward activities, annual order from the distribution cener for manuals, everything.

It’s easy to go overboard with youth stuff, I’ve done it with my own kids. But we ought to resist it and try to do better.

That is way excessive to me.

Our neighboring stake just came home from Martin’s Cove and had two dozen kids hooked to IV’s because of dehydration. That does not seem like a worthwhile activity to me…

Honestly, I would cave to counter-arguments against your other objections. But FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS?????????!!!!!!!!

That’s an abomination.

I am a member of a Stake YM Presidency in Northern Utah. Our stake is planning to do Pioneer Trek next summer at Martin’s Cove. They have done this four times prior and have a ‘tradition’ associated with it.

I have never been on Trek, it always seemed rather manipulative to me, and it really didn’t seem to have a long lasting effect on the people I knew who did go. Still I am trying to have an objective opinion as I go into this.

Still I have some very serious concerns going into this venture.

1) Cost: with rising gas prices it is going to cost nearly $50,000 to put this on. I have to ask, is it really worth that? I’ve heard lots of tales of kids whose lives have been turned around by going on trek and how that is worth any cost, but what about the kids whose experience was terrible, was it worth it to them?

2) Safety: no matter how many prepared adults there are on the trail, it still seems that someone gets sick, hurt or has to drop out. I’ve heard several tales of near death experience on several Trek efforts. It does not seem right to put people in peril like that.

3) Cultism: as I read more about some of the methodoligies used on Trek, it reads more and more like cult practices, behavior modification techniques and serious manipulation of tender young minds. I seems more like a wilderness therapy program with costumes than a gospel oriented adventure. This aspect really bothers me.

The whole experience seems designed to manipulate emotions with the use of contrived, falsified, extreme experiences than to encourage spiritual growth. This is a serious concern.

I have expressed some of this concern and seem to merely get brushed aside since I am the young guy with the least amount of experience. After reading the posts here, it seems that I am not the only one who believes that Trek isn’t all it is cracked up to be…especially considering how expensive it is.

Finally, I feel like we are doing the Youth a dis-service by teaching them that they have to go out into the wilderness to have spiritual experiences rather than taking the time in our regular activities to teach them that they can have spiritual, testimony building experiences right here, right now…