~The Soul/Sole Journey~ In September of 2010, the Young Women from the Cedar Hills 6 th Ward walked from the Draper Temple to the Salt Lake City Temple. The experience was valuable in so many ways. We gained an appreciation for the temple and what it takes to get there both spiritually and physically. The following is information for any who might be interested in duplicating the walk to the temple. The preparation and completion of the journey was for a group of about 55 young women and approximately 30 adults. The information is divided into spiritual preparations and physical preparations. A historical account of the trip is found in the handout entitled: Journal Entry and Historical Account of the Temple Journey by Mary Miller. ~Physical Preparations Needed for the Temple Journey~ The journey to the temple started in July with a tribute to John Rowe Moyle. We held an activity with the young women and leaders at Moyle Park in Alpine, Utah. At the activity, we learned that brother Moyle was called by the prophet to work on the Salt Lake Temple and that he walked 22 miles to the Salt Lake Temple and 22 miles back to Alpine each week. After a farm accident, Brother Moyle lost a portion of his leg and was not able to walk to the temple. Upon regaining his strength, Brother Moyle carved a wooden leg and then started his weekly walk to the temple once again. A DVD has been produced about Brother Moyle and was shown to the girls at our activity. After the activity, the young women were challenged by young women leaders to walk 22 miles from the Draper Temple to the Salt Lake Temple. Shortly after the challenge was extended, the girls accepted the challenge and thus began the preparation of the temple journey. Summer activities were planned where the young women walked a certain number of miles per activity. We gave each girl a training program that, if followed, would prepare them physically for the 22 mile journey. The longer walks were completed on Saturdays. There are a variety of walking schedules online. You can choose the one that most needs your needs. At each walking activity, we discussed what it takes to prepare spiritually for the temple--for example, during our time of preparation to entering the temple, we must follow a spiritual plan (training plan) that will help prepare us for the temple. What to Wear: Route Preparation: Moisture wicking fabric especially the socks, comfortable shoes, modest shorts to the knee or sport pants, bright colored shirt for easy identification, sunscreen, lip balm, hat if desired, sunglasses, small bag to hold personal items this will go in a support vehicle, jacket for the early morning weather, fanny pack-optional The route is particularly important to plan. The route should be driven before the day of the walk. Maps should be given to every participant, parents, aid station organizers, and support crew. A spot tracker was used so that parents could check the group location on line. (See Soul/Sole Route Map for the actual route)
Permits: Depending upon the number in the walking group, some cities require a permit. We had over 100 people involved in the walk and so we contacted each city to let them know what we were doing and asked what the city needed from us before the day of the walk. Parent Meeting: Lunch: Personal Items: Support Vehicles: Support Bicycle: Walking Groups: Balloon Markers: Hand Held Radios: Aid/Fueling Stations: We organized a parent meeting and covered all of the specifics of the walk. At the meeting, we asked for volunteers to help with different aspects of the walk. We also answered questions and addressed concerns. We asked the parents to sign a permission slip for their daughter. The Church has the permission slips on their website. Each participant brought a lunch in the morning and put it in a support vehicle to be taken to a designated lunch area along the route. Each participant brought their own small bag to be put in a support vehicle. This bag could contain personal items needed along the route. Some things packed: sunscreen, water bottles, toiletries, flashlight, lip balm, extra pair of socks or shoes etc. We asked that no electronic devices be brought on the walk. Manned by the Priesthood--One vehicle designated for minor first aid help-- mostly for those who suffered from blisters. Lots of adhesive bandages and ointment! We found that duct tape was great for blisters as well. Other vehicles carried water and food supplies and stopped as needed. One bicycle support rider to go up and down the line beside the participants to render aid and to ensure the girls followed the course and received help when needed. He also had music playing along the route as he rode by the participants. There was approximately a one mile spread between the first and last walking participant. The girls were told that if they fell behind 3 mph, they needed to get into a support vehicle and ride to the front of the group. Participants could not walk faster than 4 mph due to keeping the girls within the 1 mile spread. (See Soul/Sole Walking Group handout) We assigned 3 leaders to tie a balloon around their waists for the walk. Each balloon was a different color. On each balloon a mile per hour was written on the balloon 3mph, 3.5mph, and 4mph. The person wearing the balloon kept that particular pace throughout the walk. Anyone on the walk could estimate their time by looking for the balloon designated for the particular mph. We had hand held radios distributed in support vehicles and with leaders on the walk. We could all communicate with each other on the same channel. We asked the Primary, former Young Women, and Relief Society presidencies if they would set up an aid/fueling station. The aid stations were set in 90 th, 60 th, and 20 th South. Each station had food for fueling the participants until the next aid station--bagels, energy drinks, and chocolate milk. Water was available all throughout the course to refill water bottles. Each location had restroom facilities. Breaks were about 15 to 20 minutes long.
Restroom Breaks: Public restrooms were available all throughout the route. We required that an adult be with each group using the restroom facility so that we could keep track of all participants. Meeting Time and Location: We asked the young women to be at their church at 3:20am. We loaded the vehicles and left at 3:30am. Parents transported in caravan to the Draper Temple. We had instructions and a prayer at the temple and were on our way around 4:30am. Every parent had a map in case they missed the 3:30am caravan. Fueling: The day before the walk, we encouraged the participants to eat foods high in carbohydrates. Pasta contains carbs and is a good meal to eat the night before. We had the girls hydrate well by drinking water a week before the event. A breakfast with carbs and protein is a good idea before the walk--bagels, muffins, and juices are great for carbs in the morning. We gave the girls a granola bar at the Draper Temple. Completion Time: Young Men: At the Temple: Our goal was/is to make it to the temple! We wanted everyone to be safe and get to the temple however they were comfortable in getting there. We suggested a relay team if there were any who felt they needed to get to the temple with a little help. We had support cars along the way and anyone was welcomed to ride at any time for any reason if needed. We wanted all to participate. The estimated schedule and completion time was: Leave Draper Temple at 4:00am Walk 22 miles @3 mph= 7 hours 20 minutes Breaks=1 hour total Lunch=30 minutes Cushion time=1 hour Arrive at the Salt Lake Temple between 1:00pm and 2:00pm. The young men in our ward were located approximately 1 mile before participants reached the Salt Lake Temple. It was a surprise to the young women! The young men cheered the girls along the last stretch and gave help where needed. Family and friends were invited to meet at the temple to greet the participants at the end of the journey. They were waiting at the East gates on Temple Square. There were some who did not have a relative or friend waiting and leaders made sure that they surrounded those who did not have anyone there.
~Spiritual Preparation for the Temple Journey~ Leaders: Personal Progress: Honoring: Mile of Silence: Mile of Prayer: Prayer Roll: Touch the Temple: As leaders of the young women, we studied a variety of writings about the temple. One recommendation for reading before the journey was: Temples: Where Heaven and Earth Meet. By May of 2010, most of our young women read Jesus the Christ. We encouraged the girls to consider personal progress goals in their preparation and completion of the temple journey. We had each participant choose 2 people to honor on the walk. One person to honor was chosen from the past In Memory Of -- someone who was a good example to the participant in some way. We encouraged the participants to look to ancestors who had sacrificed to help with building the temple or someone who had sacrificed much to get to the temple. The second person was to be someone in the present In Celebration Of -- who is an example to look to in preparing to go to the temple. We made iron on transfers that were pinned or ironed on the back of their shirts. The transfer had pictures and names of the people that were being honored. We dedicated a mile and asked the participants to have a Mile of Silence to think about the commitment and promises it will take to personally make it inside the temple to be endowed. We dedicated a mile and asked the participants to pray for someone who needed prayers at that time. Before we left to start the walk from the Draper Temple, the participants were given the opportunity to put names of people in an envelope and then the names were given to a temple worker. The names were added to the Draper Temple prayer roll. We asked the girls to enter the gates of the temple and go over to the temple and touch it. We asked them to make the commitment to come back to the spot they touched when they are ready to enter the temple and then touch it again. We hope the girls will remember their commitment and we pray that they will make it back soon ready to enter the temple! Example of Walking Times and Groups (This page was handed out to the leaders a week before the walk) The lists below are assignments to the different mile per hour groups based upon requests and creating an even distribution with leaders and girls. Leaders who are also mothers of young women walking will have first choice of the pace they would like to walk with their daughters. 4.0 MPH 3.5MPH 3.0MPH Shanell -pace & daughter Marianne -pace & daughter Diana-pace Chris-daughter Lisa -daughters Liza-daughters Tracy Jenifer Michele-floater Mary-route/pace Andrea -floater & daughter Mary-photographer Beth -floater & daughter
At the beginning of the walk the route is downhill. My suggestion is to walk down the hill as quickly as possible. Based on practice walks, I am told that the girls usually end up separating naturally into groups and so we will not have an official pace separation. After we get down the hill, we will have each pace person start their pace. The pace person will have a balloon that shows the mph that group is walking. For about the first hour to hour and a half, the mph hour groups listed above will be in effect. After about 90 minutes, anyone who wants to move can trade pace groups. If a pace person wants to move groups, they will need to give their watch to someone in the group who will keep the pace. As long as there are 2 to 3 leaders in a group, I think we will be fine. Just pay attention to the size of the group and then evenly distribute. We will have hand held radios so that communication among the different groups can occur. We cannot have anyone fall behind the 3.0mph group. Also, no walkers should be ahead of the 4.0mph pace person. Sometimes a little encouragement to catch up or slow down will be needed. It actually feels good on the feet to run just a little to catch up. Also, for restroom stops, try and have the 3 mph girls think ahead so that they can hurry ahead of the group to get to the restrooms and finish without much lag time. Be aware that we will need to make a couple of road crossings. There will be parts through Draper possibly depending upon traffic. Another crossing will be at 60 th. We will have to avoid some construction and a sidewalk closure. We will then need to cross back to the East side at a location before 45 th. I know the crossing by sight it is not at a light, but it is at a crosswalk. I will radio back to let everyone know in advance. Once we get beyond 21 st, the sidewalks narrow significantly. We will probably have to walk single file in some areas. There will be trees along that area and it does provide the much needed shade! Support cars will probably not be able to ride by us but rather, park and move block by block. Once we are on South Temple it is not far to the church where we will eat lunch. All groups will meet there for lunch and then about 30 minutes later, we will be off to the temple and all walking together. Let s walk, be safe, and have some fun!