The theme for the year was "In the strength of the Lord, I can do hard things" and we challenged the girls to do baptisms four times, memorize the Living Christ and walk to the temple.
The night before the temple walk, I was so anxious... it was like, can we really do this? Can we motivate 27 girls to walk 18.1 miles? We had done several practice walks with the girls, but the anticipation was high. We woke up at 4:30 a.m. and started our walk. The first seven miles flew by in the dark as we walked and talked. And the energy of the day never wore off. Their determination to get to the temple was so inspiring. I felt a strong feeling that all of our ancestors were cheering us on in our quest for the temple. Just as the parents and leaders were physically motivating us to the finish line, those on the other side want us to make it to the temple on earth.
Here's the full article I wrote about for The Church News:
As 27 young women set out at 4:30 a.m. to walk from their chapel to the Dallas Texas temple, leaders were sure the energy and enthusiasm of the goal would wear off.
Instead, the young women embarking on their 18.1-mile walk to get to the temple, “(practically) ran to the temple,” said Sis. Janice Aoyama, second counselor in the Frisco stake young women presidency (and mother of one of the girls on the walk) said. It was an “incredible sight.”
“The energy of the morning never ran out,” Sis Aoyama said. “The biggest challenge of the day for leaders was that we were always way ahead of schedule. We could not hold back the determination of these young women to get to the temple.”
The determination to get to the temple should burn within all of us this strongly as members of the Church.
“The girls were well prepared, they were well taught and they were ready to be at the temple,” Sis. Aoyama said. “These girls were reminded that the road to the temple is not easy, but it is possible in the Lord’s strength.”
A year ago, their ward YW president read an article in the Church News by Sis. Elaine Dalton, Young Women general president, about a group of young women who walked 22 miles from the Draper Utah Temple to the Salt Lake Temple.
“In the strength of the Lord, I can do hard things” was the theme of the temple walk. The article stated that often leaders want to protect youth from experiencing or doing hard things.
The idea of a temple walk challenge with this theme really spoke to Sis. Camden LeeMaster, YW president in the Frisco 1st ward, Frisco, Texas stake.
“It took me four or five weeks to have the nerve to bring this idea up to my counselors for our girls to do the same,” Sis. LeeMaster said. “I knew they would think I was crazy for wanting to follow the temple walk idea in our own ward.”
Sis. LeeMaster, a marathon runner, was worried that the young women and their parents would think she was just pushing a physical fitness program on them. After several promptings that her young women needed to do a temple walk too, Sis. LeeMaster could not ignore the feelings anymore.
As preparations began for the Frisco 1st young women to make the 18.1-mile walk from their chapel to the temple, several parents confessed to feeling that it was a crazy idea. There were complaints from young women and parents about the training, about having to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to begin the journey and questioning the purpose of such an activity.
Sis. LeeMaster felt strongly, however, that there are powerful lessons in doing something hard to get to the temple.
“When you are broken down physically, you have to rely on the Lord’s help,” Sis. LeeMaster said. “You can’t do it alone.”
There are hard sacrifices in life at any stage to arrive at the temple.
She compares the feeling of crossing a finish line after a hard race to the joy you feel when making righteous decisions and feeling the celebratory love of Heavenly Father around you.
There is only so far you can go in the gospel journey without needing the temple to go further. If you hit a spiritual wall or roadblock, the temple is often the answer.
“The temple is our crowning jewel of exaltation,” Sis. LeeMaster said.
The young women prepared both physically and spiritually for the walk. They trained on Saturday mornings by walking together and also attended the temple to do baptisms throughout the year.
The young men in the ward were at the finish line cheering on the young women in their quest to get to the temple. The young men even prepared lunch and served it to each girl as they arrived on the temple grounds.
“Often, it is the young women serving the young men as they end a difficult physical journey or experience, but today’s roles were reversed,” President Dotter, first counselor in the Frisco Stake presidency, said.
President Dotter praised the 27 sisters for uniting in their cause to get to the
temple. He said that as he Googled the path from the chapel to the temple, there were shorter routes. But, none of the routes were as safe as the one the leaders mapped out.
“There are no shortcuts” on your road to the temple, President Dotter said.
We all must obey the commandments, gain a testimony, keep the standards in The Strength of Youth and live worthily to enter the temple.
Ward parents and leaders had set up aide stations, water breaks and cheering places along the path. The girls hardly wanted to stop at any of these breaks, their eye solely on the goal to get to the end.
“As we walked, several of the girls said it was easier than they anticipated,” Sis. Lee Master said. “Getting off the trail or stopping only seemed to make it harder to get back on track.” While veering from the actual path is more difficult than staying on, repentance is always possible as you head to the temple, Sis. LeeMaster said.
While parents, leaders and young men all stood by these girls on their journey to the temple, there are also many on the other side of the veil cheering for each one of us in our quest for temple attendance.
Our ancestors are cheering us on to go to the temple, first for ourselves, and then to bless all who have gone before and all who will yet be born on this earth.
-by Sharisa M. Lewis
Photos by Megan Stilovich
