1 files changed, 158 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/src/md/16_Survival_Journal_Week3.md b/src/md/16_Survival_Journal_Week3.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5802b18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/md/16_Survival_Journal_Week3.md
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+---
+title: Survival Journal - Week 3
+---
+
+_This week was no picnic because it is called
+Survival Week. It is one week of actually eating only what we could find
+on the trail. In the desert of southern Utah, there isn't much to eat,
+so it was nearly about 5 days of fasting._
+
+## Sunday, August 5
+Sundays in the wild are always special. Priesthood was at
+nine and Sacrament meeting right after. I spent most of the afternoon
+reading. That night at 7:30 we had a fireside. Our family sang a song
+with a couple of made-up verses to the tune of "Where Oh Where Are You
+Tonight". Chuck and Sharon are a married couple, accompanying our group
+as instructors. See the made-up verses below.
+
+> Old Chuck was a desert rat, grubby and smelly.\
+> For some crazy reason the desert he'd roam.\
+> He crawled through the sand on his chin and his belly.\
+> The canyons and badlands, he called them his home.
+
+> Chorus:\
+> Where, oh where are you tonight?\
+> Why did you leave me here all alone?\
+> I searched the world over and thought I found true love.\
+> You found another and phphttt!! you was gone.
+
+> Now Sharon, his sweetheart, was orn'ry and lanky.\
+> Just like a tough snake she was wiry and lean.\
+> She'd blow her big nose on her sleeve or her hanky.\
+> She was tougher than any guy you've ever seen.
+
+> Chorus:\
+> Where, oh where are you tonight?\
+> Why did you leave me here all alone?\
+> I searched the world over and thought I found true love.\
+> You found another and phphttt!! you was gone.
+
+## Monday, August 6
+Monday was the prelude to Survival Week where we live off of the land
+for the whole week. We left our camp near Bull Mountain at noon and
+hiked about 7 miles into the Henry Mountains. It was a steady climb all
+the way and our campsite was at well over 9000 ft. All along the way
+Sharon showed us what was edible and what was not. We found such things
+as pinion nuts, wild onion, elder berries, currents, raspberries,
+dandelions and yaro. Some of it tasted good, but most of it tasted
+bitter or tasteless. That night was the coldest one I have had to endure
+out here yet.
+
+## Tuesday, August 7
+Tuesday morning, we ate the last of the food that we had in our food
+packs. It consisted of unsweetened oatmeal, boiled grain and fried
+jerky. We hiked about three miles that day to Crescent Creek for our
+next campsite. The leaders give us trap making and map reading lessons
+along the way. We also gathered all the food we could find for dinner
+and breakfast the next morning. We ended up with hordes of wild onion
+and only a few handfuls of currents and service berries. I also spent
+several hours roasting pinion pinecones over a fire to extract the seeds
+from them. My effort yielded about 2 pop cans full of green tasteless
+pinion seeds.
+
+That afternoon a Sister Nina Robinson was driven out from her home in
+Hanksville to speak to us. She was an expert naturalist and told us much
+about what plants we could eat. That night we had a short fireside, and
+I ended the day by calling a family prayer.
+
+## Wednesday, August 8
+Wednesday, we rose early for a sunrise service with all of our staff
+leaders. They each took their turn to talk to us about temple marriage
+and the family unit. It was a very spiritual meeting and I enjoyed it
+immensely. After the meeting the entire staff left us, not to rejoin us
+until we reached base camp on Saturday. We now had to function on our
+own as a united group. Before they left, the staff told us that very
+few groups came in after survival week united and together. They
+felt we had the strength to do it and felt the weight of the challenge.
+Before breaking camp, we cooked our morning meal of wild onion soup,
+service berry tea and pennyroyal tea. The onion soup, which we had had
+the night before also was not very nourishing. The broth was good, but
+the onions were like chewing on old hey. I liked the berry broth quite
+well, but the pennyroyal was nasty.
+
+We hiked about three miles that day to our next campsite, gathering
+pinion cones, onions, dandelions, and a few more berries. Already the
+lack of nourishing food was beginning to zap my strength. I found myself
+drawing within not eager to socialize but only wanting to suffer alone.
+I was not pleased with my performance as part of the group that day.
+When we got to camp, we all sat around the fire and roasted pinion
+cones while someone read talks from the April Conference. It did
+much to bring us together and function efficiently as a group. That
+night after dinner of nuts, berries, and tea, we had a short fireside
+and retired to bed early. Before going to sleep I prayed that the Lord
+would lift my spirits and give me the strength to endure this trial.
+
+## Thursday, August 9
+Thursday morning, I felt nauseated and weak, but the spirits of the
+group were high and helped to cheer me up. My suffering was not as great
+as some of the others, for I helped to give a blessing to one of the
+girls who had been a family mother with me in the previous week.
+Breakfast was a handful of green pinion nuts and a little berry tea. We
+hiked seven miles that day to Box Springs. We are still in the Henry
+Mountains and the scenery was beautiful. Our attitudes were good, and it
+was a great experience to feel the love of the group that day as we
+hiked. All were helping one another and cheering each other up. The
+going was slow and laborious. I would pant as if I were running, from a
+slow walk up a slight uphill grade. Once I sat down it was a terrific
+effort to get up again. We collected quite a bit of food that day
+compared to the others. We had pinion cones, currents and elder berries.
+After arriving at the Springs we again listened to conference talks
+as we roasted pinion cones. We were then given an hour of time to
+ourselves at which time I am now caught up with my journal.
+The flies are driving me crazy, but I am too
+tired to brush them off. Actually, I can still count my blessings. Most
+of my feet troubles are gone and with luck we may reach camp tomorrow
+night. I sure do miss my parents, family and the comforts home though.
+
+## Friday, August 10
+Last night we had another short fireside in which we
+read the account of the birth of Christ and acted it out. I was a wise
+man.
+
+The Revenge has finally hit me. I have to run into the bushes frequently
+now. All I had for breakfast was some elder berries and hot water. We
+broke camp early today because our goal is to reach base camp before
+dark. Our destination is Cass Peak Reservoir which is 16 miles away.
+This distance seems an impossibility to me in my present state of being.
+Our group is still united though and together with the Lord's help, I
+know we can make it. We started hiking at 8:15 and I felt sick and weak
+most of the morning. At about the halfway point we found a little creek
+where we stopped to rest for an hour and eat some currents and elder
+berries we had found. It ended up being nearly two hours before we left
+again. We trudged on through the heat of the day and I concentrated on
+putting one foot in front of the other. Finally, we crossed Stanton pass
+and as we descended into the valley, we spied the reservoir in the
+distance. I think I know how the pioneers must have felt when they had
+their first glimpse of the Salt Lake Valley. I nearly came to tears of
+happiness. There were shouts of joy and many burst into singing. We
+still had three miles to go, but our spirits were high, and our tired
+bodies strengthened from the sight. As we rounded the last bend, united
+and together, we sang "Shall the Youth of Zion Falter". We had done it
+and we were grateful. Immediately, we knelt in prayer to offer our
+thanks. It was 7 o'clock when we arrived. It had taken us about 9 hours
+of hiking to cover those 16 miles.
+
+My first action was to unroll my bedroll and collapse into sleep. I had
+to get up and head for the bushes 3 times during the night to avoid
+disaster. When I awoke the next morning on Saturday, I felt incredibly
+weak. I dosed until 11:30 when we held a short service on fasting and
+its purpose. I now know or have a deeper understanding of what true
+humility is. I have never felt so humbled before in my life. The rest of
+the day and tomorrow until fast and testimony meeting will be spent in
+prayer and scripture reading. Saturday afternoon seemed very long. Most
+of us were just waiting it out until the staff came with food. I read
+parts of the D & C and Jonathon Livingston Seagull. My case of Revenge
+has dried up, mainly because it has emptied me completely out. I have
+never had such a hollow feeling before. Saturday night was long too.
+It's like waiting all night for Christmas morning. I often indulged in
+dreams of all the good foods I've ever eaten.