Ancestor Sack


Dear YM/YW Presidencies--

Greetings from the Trek Historical Committee!

As usual with a trek, we want to get youth excited for the trek by helping them identify one of their pioneer ancestors and their ancestor’s journey. For youth who don't have pioneer ancestry, they may wish to learn about one of their ancestors who joined the Church and was thus a "pioneer" for their family. In addition, we are hoping that the following activity will help them get to know their ancestor better and share more of their stories.

Please give the following assignment to each young man or young woman who is participating in the trek:

Each youth will prepare and bring to the trek a lunch-sized paper sack with three to five items in it that tell something about their ancestor. Please do not bring heirlooms or original photos – make a copy or take a photo of them. Suggestions of what to include may be: a map with the place where they were born marked, an item that suggests their occupation,  a picture of them, a war medal, a story about them, etc. The Ma and Pa of each family will collect each person’s sack and store them all together so no one knows which is which. During family time, a sack will be chosen, opened and the items will be shown. After one or two guesses as to whose ancestor it may be, have the owner of the sack explain the items.

In addition, please make the youth aware that they can request a copy of their direct-line ancestors’ patriarchal blessing! This can be done quickly and easily through lds.org. After signing in, click on the "Tools" drop-down box, then "Patriarchal Blessing."  There are a high number of requests, so unfortunately, we don’t think the youth would receive the copies of patriarchal blessings in time for the trek. However they would still be amazing for the youth to receive and read at a later date.

Thanks for all of your hard work!
Terri Andreasen
Trek Historical Committee

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