(written by sadie)
yesterday, my young women's group did a temple triathlon. we had been preparing for this day for a few months: physically and spiritually. it is about 26 miles from midway to the provo temple. my leaders saw this opportunity and have been planning this day for almost two years. they wanted to teach us that you can't just show up to the temple. you have to prepare and have that be your main goal: to be ready to enter into the lord's house. everything about this triathlon went along with this and there was a ton of symbolism behind everything we did.
we started off at 7:30 am with mountain biking 8.5 miles along the back side of deer creek reservoir. along this trail, there are many hills and other obstacles that you must face. we compared the hills to trials and hard things we must face. even though it doesn't seem like there is an end, every hill has a hilltop. as you come down the other side of the hill, you have to cautiously use your breaks. if you get going too fast, you can crash and fall. as we biked over the lake, we saw many water skiers and boaters on the clear lake having so much fun in the cool water. we decided the lake represented the world, and the trail we were on was like the straight and narrow path. we all encouraged each other and cheered others on. as young women came to hills, they would yell "break!" as a warning to the bikers behind them. at one point, my chain fell off my bike and it was stuck. the bishop happened to be right next to me and helped me get started again. this all can relate to our lives in so many ways.
when we finished biking, we were ahead of schedule: it was around 9:30. we all got a snack out and started eating while we waited for the last few to finish up. a little while later, there was one girl who hadn't finished. one of our young women leaders said "okay guys. there are two options: go to the river and start getting ready to raft. or go and cheer them on as they finish biking" a few people wanted to go start rafting, but we all decided to go cheer them on. it was really cool to watch as the last girl rode her bike down the last hill.
at every stop, we had a short little devotional where a parent would teach and encourage us. they all bore testimony of the blessings of the temple. after a short snack stop, we all got our life jackets on and were separated into rafting groups. each raft had about 8 people in it. one captain, four rowers, and two passengers who got to enjoy the ride! we all took turns trading from rower to just relaxing. the captain sat at the back of the boat: he would steer and yell out commands like "left row" or "back paddle". our leaders found comparisons for the river too. the captain is kind of like the holy ghost: always there steering us in the right direction and giving us commands. they said that the river was also kind of like the world. we were in it but above it. our life jackets represented jesus christ and the atonement.
throughout rafting, we had multiple water fights and some people got pulled into the water by other rafts. a few times, we almost hit rocks but at the last second, with teamwork from our captain and the rowers, we would steer away from the rock. by the end of the rafting, we were all soaking wet and pretty cold. but we made it 6 more miles closer to the temple!
we changed out of our wet clothes into our matching triathlon shirts and had lunch and a popsicle followed by a short devotional.
the hardest part came next: enduring to the end! we started off walking the final stretch of 10.5 miles on the provo river trail. it was so cool to see all the girls in matching shirts all walking and laughing and having fun together! at about the 3 mile point, we stopped at a park to use the restroom and refill water bottles. i could feel two blisters coming on. walking made me realize what the pioneers went through. as we continued on, it got harder and harder as we got closer. it reached 105 degrees and the last few blocks were slightly up hill. as we got closer, we had more water breaks. we would all soak our bandannas in ice cold water and tie it on our heads. then we would pour water down our shirts and over each others heads. by the end, my feet hurt and my legs hurt and i was over heating. as soon as we turned onto the road that the provo temple is on, an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment came over me. we had made it 26 miles to the temple. all of our preparation had payed off. the temple had a new beauty to it. our families all were there to walk the last few steps with us. it was so cool. this was definitely a memorable experience and i am so grateful i got to be a part of it!
