Weekly Youth Activities Using

From www.jennyphillips.com

Idea #1: “What is in Your Handcart”

1. Show the video “Handcarts.”
(This video can be purchased on www.jennyphillips.com). Then talk about how the handcart pioneers had to be very careful
about what they put in their carts. If they put too much in their carts, their carts would be heavy and too hard to pull. If
they put in too many non essential things, there wouldn’t be room for the necessities.

2. Play the Game: “What is in Your Handcart?”

Divide the youth or youth & leaders into groups of 4-6 people. Have the youth sit in their groups in one big circle. Give an empty box
to each group (if you want to go to the extra effort, you can decorate each box like a miniature handcart). In the middle of the circle,
have a large box or pile of items such as: scriptures (multiple sets), pots & pans, clothes (pants, shirts, skirts, bonnets or other pio-
neer clothing if you have them), shoes, flashlights or lanterns, tin cups, canteens, candles, and cooking utensils.

Round #1: Explain that the handcart pioneers were only allowed 17 pounds each to put in the handcart. The goal is to see which
group can get closest to 17 pounds. Go around the circle and let each group choose an item from the middle pile to add to their box.
Then go around again and let each group choose 1 item and so on. As soon as a group thinks they are at 17 pounds, they can
“pass.” As soon as all the groups declare they are done, weigh each of the boxes, and the group that was the closest to 17 pounds
wins.

Round #2: Explain that the goal during round #2 of the game is still to see who gets closest to 17 pounds, but the game is played a
little differently. Make a really large dice (out of a cardboard box with the dots painted or drawn on). Have each group (still sitting in a
circle) roll the dice and take the action of the # they roll:

Roll a 1. They get to choose an item to put in their box.

Roll a 2. They get to choose an item to put in any other teams box of their choice.
Roll a 3. The team to their right gets to choose an item to put in their box.
Roll a 4: The team to their left gets to choose an item to put in their box.
Rolla 5: You have to choose 3 items to put in your box.
Roll a 6: Choose to any item to put in your box, or choose any item in your box to put back.
*You may want to make a poster with the dice number instructions or a card for each time.

Go around the circle 6 times, and then have each group weight their items, the group closest to 17 pounds wins.

3.Closing Devotional
Have a leader (you might ask someone in the ym or yw presidency or someone in the bishopric) to talk for 5-10 minutes about mak-
ing more time for things of the spirit in our life and being careful about filling our life with so many things not essential to our journey.
You could also choose to talk about taking sins out of your handcart--how sins can slow down or stop your progress on this journey.
Have the leader end by talking about and bearing their testimony of how important this mortal journey is. Then play or have someone
perform the song “Remember the Journey.”

4.Refreshment Ideas
1. Warm homemade wheat bread (or biscuits) with a choice of honey butters. To make honey butter, just whip real butter with honey
(about 3/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup honey). Blend in any of the following to make different kinds: cinnamon, frozen or fresh raspberries,
blueberries or strawberries (use a blender or food processor).

2. “Handcart Wheels.” You can make these out of round sugar cookies, and use brown frosting to decorate the cookie like a wagon
wheel.

3. Cobbler. Try dutch oven cobbler if you can, or any type of home baked cobbler.
 Weekly Youth Activities Using

From www.jennyphillips.com

Idea #2: “Life Sized Pioneer Trivia”

1.Opening (5 minutes)
Have someone read the following short overview of the handcart pioneers:

Today, members of the church are counseled to stay in their homelands and build up the stakes of Zion in the countries
and cities where they live. But in the early church, the saints needed to gather together. President Brigham Young called
the saints in Europe to gather to the Salt Lake Valley. Many of the saints were poor and couldn’t afford wagons and
teams. So a plan was devised by Brigham Young for the saints to use handcarts. In 1856 five handcart companies were
organized to make the 1,300-mile trip on foot. The first three companies, with 806 people pulling 160 handcarts made it
safely to the Salt Lake Valley. The last two companies during that year, the Martin & Willie handcart companies started
late, encountered delays, and got caught in one of the earliest blizzards on record. Brigham Young and the saints in the
Salt Lake Valley didn’t know that 2 more handcart companies were still out on the plains. When they found out, Brigham
Young immediately organized rescue parties. In a story of love and courage, those rescue parties found the handcart
companies and brought them to the Salt Lake Valley. However, about 145 of the 576 members of those handcart com-
panies died. And others suffered the effects of starvation and frostbite. Six more handcart companies crossed the plains
in following years with much success. A total of 2,962 saints walked to Utah using handcarts.

2. Play “Life Sized Pioneer Trivia” (25 minutes)

Preparation: Make signs for each of the following and hang them up in the order above around the cultural hall walls.

Start: Iowa City

Council Bluffs
Chimney Rock
Fort Laramie
Devil’s Gate
Martin’s Cove
Rocky Ridge
Echo Canyon
End: Salt Lake Valley

To Play: Divide your group into 2-4 teams. Ask each group to assign 1 spokesperson. Have a leader give each team a
trivia question (from the following pages). The whole group can confer (give them a 15 second time limit), and then the
spokesperson gives the answer. If it is correct, they can advance to the next location, and it is the next group’s turn. If
the team gets is wrong, they do not get to advance. The first group to “arrive” in the Salt Lake Valley wins.

3. Closing Devotional (20 minutes)

After the game, have the youth gather around. Explain that the handcart pioneers had to go make it to many places and
keep moving forward to arrive at their destination. Explain that we have to k
Closing Devotional
Youth Reader #1:
Each step of the pioneers was a constant reminder to them of the path they were on, and their trials pushed them towards
greater faith and discipleship. Our test today, in a loud, busy, comfortable, confusing, and distracting world, is to make
sure we are also taking constant, daily steps towards greater discipleship. If we live the gospel partway, we may find, at
the end of our journey, that although we were honorable, we didn’t live with “valiant faith.”

The scriptures remind us that those “who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus” lose the promised crown of glory in
God's kingdom (D&C 76:79). President Ezra Taft Benson explained: "Not to be valiant in one's testimony is a tragedy of
eternal consequence.” (Ensign, May 1982, p. 63.) If we don’t live with valiant faith, we may realize too late that we are like
a pioneer that stopped at Fort Laramie and never continued on through Devil’s Gate, South Pass, and Fort Bridger, to
make it to the Salt Lake Valley.

David O. McKay taught us that this mortal life is a test of how valiant our faith is. He said: “Man's earthly existence is but a
test as to whether he will concentrate his efforts, his mind, his soul upon things which contribute to the comfort and gratifi-
cation of his physical instincts and passions, or whether he will make as his life's end and purpose the acquisition of spiri-
tual qualities.” (Conference Report, April 1958)

Optional Song: Have a youth or leader perform “Valiant Faith” (from the CD Remember the Journey) or play the
song.

Leader:
--Ask the youth to think about how long the pioneers prepared to make their journey. Some prepared for a few weeks,
some a few months, and some a few years.
--Then ask the youth how long they prepare to mak their mortal journey. Explain that they prepared for ages to make this
journey.
--Then ask the youth if there life was compared to the pioneer’s 1300 mile trail and each location along the way symbol-
ized a deeper discipleship, where would they be? How far along the journey are they? Ask them to think about what is
needed in their lives to make it to the next destination. What do they need to give up, or what do they need to start doing
in order to progress further along their individual trail to the Celestial Kingdom.
--Ask the leader to end by bearing their testimony of the plan of salvation.

Play the Song: “Remember the Journey”

 Pioneer Trivia--QUESTIONS
The move West was considered by church leaders as early as: Each child was limited to putting about how many pounds of personal
A. 1842 belongings in the cart?
B. 1846 A. 10 pounds
C. 1850 B. 17 pounds
C. 5 pounds

The handcart trail to the Great Salt Lake Valley was approximately True or False: The Mormon handcart pioneers were the only group of
how many miles long: people in history to extensively use handcarts. (True)
A. 900
B. 1300 The round sleeping tents the handcart pioneers brought housed about
C: 1900 how many people?
A. 5
How many weeks did it take the first two handcart companies to suc- B. 10
cessfully make the trek to the Salt Lake Valley? C. 20
A. 6 weeks
B. 10 weeks True or False: The handcart pioneers usually had some wagons in
C. 16 weeks their company that carried provisions. (True)

How many handcart companies crossed the plains after the tragedy of True or False: Handcart pioneers frequently abandoned personal be-
the Martin & Willie Handcart Companies in 1856? longing along the trail to lighten the carts. (True)
A. 3
B. 6 The handcart pioneers received their handcarts and started walking
C. 24 in:
A. New York City
True or False: Most of the handcart pioneers were from Scandinavia B. Nauvoo
(True) C. Iowa City

The Mormon handcart movement went from: Of the total of 2,962 handcart immigrants, about how many died
A. 1854-1864 along the way?
B. 1856-1860 A. 250
C. 1856-1857 B. 395
C. 520
Approximately how many LDS pioneers came across the plains with
handcarts? True or False: Orson Pratt was one of the first Mormons to see the
A. 900 Salt Lake Valley (true)
B. 3,000
C. 6,500 True or False: The handcart pioneers hired professional guides.
(False)
True or False: The handcart companies could go faster than the
wagon companies (True) True: One of the pioneers successfully brought a piano across the
Mormon trail.
What percentage of Latter-Day Saints immigrated West using hand-
carts?
A. About 2% Handcarts were about how long:
B. About 10% A. 3-5 feet B. 6-7 feet C. 8-9 feet
C. About 24%
True or False: Long segments of the trail can still be seen in
The typical, empty handcart weighed around: Wyoming. (True)
A. 60 pounds
B. 120 pounds The Mormon Trail was used for how many years:
C. 200 pounds A. 12 years B. 23 years C. 35 years

The handcarts were designed to carry between: The pioneers established what was probably the first commercial ferry
A. 100-250 pounds on the Platte River with the view of creating funds to help other pio-
B. 250-500 pounds neer companies. How much did they charge per wagon to use the
C. 500-700 pounds ferry?
A. .35 cents B. .75 cents C. $1.50
How many people were usually assigned to each handcart?
A. 5 Devil’s Gate, which the pioneers had to pass through, is:
B. 8 A. A narrow cut in a large rock made by the sweetwater river.
C. 12 B. A steep and sandy pass between two mountains.
C. The location that marked the half way distance of the trail.
Each adult was limited to putting about how many pounds of personal
belongings in the cart? In 1855, the church purchased Fort Bridger from Jim Bridger and his
A. 17 pounds partner for:
B. 40 pounds A. $5,000 B. $18,000 C. $45,000
C. 60 pounds
True of False: The Mormon trail was an original trail made by the The very first Mormon pioneer company of 149 had how many
Mormons. (False it followed trails blazed by indians, trappers, Women in it:
and traders) A. 59
B. 23
How many wheels did a handcart have? C. 3
A. one Who was appointed camp historian of the first pioneer company?
B. Two A. Levi Savage
C. Four B. William Clayton
C. Heber C. Kimball
True or False: Children could never ride in the handcarts. (False)
After the first pioneer company, the church published a resource
True or False: The handcart companies were highly organized for the pioneers who would follow. The resource was named:
and they had daily routines. (True) A. The Emigrants Guide
B. The Mormon Trail
True or False: As a rule, the pioneers didn’t travel on Sunday. C. Notes from the Mormon Trail
(True)
True of False. Pioneers that traveled with wagons usually drew
True or False: Part of the Mormon Trail followed the Oregon trail. their wagons in a circle each night. (True)
(True)
The pioneers had a daily schedule they held to. What time was
True or False: Pioneers improved the trail and built facilities their usual bed time?
along the way (True) A. 8:00 pm
B. 9:00 pm
The handcart pioneers could travel about how many miles in a C. 10:00 pm
day?
A. 15 miles The pioneers had a daily schedule they held to. What time did
B. 20-25 miles the bugle horn usually blow to wake everyone up in the morning?
C. 25-35 miles A. 5:00 am
B. 6:00 am
True or False: The handcarts almost C. 7:00 am

Wagons could travel about how many miles a day? True of False: Thos who used profane language on the trail were
A. 10-15 miles punished. (True)
B. 20-30 miles
C. 35-40 miles About how many LDS saints came to Salt Lake the first year of
immigration?
True or False: Some of the pioneers planted crops along the way A. 600
for pioneers that would come behind them. (True) B. 2,000
C. 3,500
True or False: The pioneers rarely danced and sang after walk-
ing all day. (False-they danced and sang often around the camp- By 1856, how many church members had emigrated to Utah?
fires at night) A. 25,000
B. 40,000
True of False: Winter Quarters served as the headquarters of the C. 60,000
church for a short time. (True)
True or False: One handcart pioneer carried a teapot on her
The saints built about how many homes in Winter Quarters? apron string all the way to Salt Lake. (True)
A. 50
B. 300 Many saints painted or carved their names in independence rock
C. 700 when they passed by. True or False: Today, some of the names
can still be seen on the rock today. (True. Three names can still
The handcart pioneers food consisted mainly of: be sen)
A. Dried beans
B. Flour How long did it take the Martin Handcart company to travel from
C. Dried beef England to the Salt Lake Valley?
A. 3 months
What following 3 places did the handcart pioneers pass through: B. 4 months
A. Martin’s Cover, Angel Rock, and South Pass C. 6 months
B. Independence Rock, Rocky Ridge, and Echo Canyon
C. Devil’s Gate, South Ranch, and Red Hill True or False: Many pioneers turned back or abandoned the
journey on the way to the Salt Lake Valley. (False)
The very first Mormon pioneer company of 149 had how many
children in it: The Mormon trail crossed the sweetwater river how many times:
A. 37 A. 4
B. 15 B. 9
C. 2 C. 15
In the wagon trains, the wagons were usually pulled by: lived at least the normal lifespan for the 1800s, and many far ex-
a. Horses ceeded it. (True)
B. Oxen
C. Donkeys The Martin handcart company finally arrived in the Salt Lake Val-
ley in:
True or False: Many of the European and British saints used the A. October
Perpetual Emigration Fund to help them come to Zion. (True) B. November
C. December
True or False: The pioneers were expected to pay back or work
for the money they used from the Perpetual Emigration Fund. True or False: Most members of these handcart companies bore
(True) their trials with dignity and faith. (True)

True or False: Brigham Young was the main instigator of the By what year could the immigrants finally make the entire journey
handcart plan. (True) by train:
A. 1860
The wagon companies usually spent an average of how many B. 1869
hours each morning yoking and rounding up their cattle and C. 1892
oxen?
A. 30 minutes True or False: 3/4 of the Martin handcart company was com-
B. 1 hour posed of women, children, and the elderly. (True)
C. 1-2 hours
The Mormon Trail the handcart pioneers took started in Iowa and
A "well-finished, ironed, and painted" handcart cost around:’ ended in Utah. What 2 states did they also travel through? (Ne-
A. $8 B. $20 C. $55 braska & Wyoming)

A "more primitive style handcart, and without iron" cost only: The hymn “Come, Come Ye Saints” was written by:
A. $6 B. $10 C. $15 A. Levi Edgar young
B. William Clayton
To purchase a wagon usually cost around C. George A. Smith
A. $60 B. $115 C. $90
What was the highest point on the pioneer’s trail:
True of False: The work of emigration was nearly as large as the A. Big Mountain
work of finding and baptizing the converts in the first place. B. South Pass
(True) C. Devil’s Gate

The most common reservation about the handcart plan was: How many times a day did the pioneers usually stop and make a
A. The difficulty of walking and pulling a cart so far. fire to cook?
B. The worry that they would face more disease than traveling by A. Once
wagon. B. Twice
C. The worry that handcarts would fall apart before the journey C. Three Times
was through.
The two handcart companies that faced tragedy were:
True or False: It took a lot of preaching and convincing for the A. The Martin & Johnson companies
saints to accept the handcart plan. (False) B. The Jones & Hansen companies
C. The Martin & Willie Handcart companies
Who did Brigham Young appoint to oversee the handcart plan:
A. Franklin D. Richards The Martin & Willie Handcart companies faced tragedy because:
B. George Q. A. They started late in the season
C. William Clayton B. They had breakdowns and delays on the trail
C. They faced earlier than expected snowstorms
Most of the handcart pioneers in 1856 came from which country: D. All of the above
A. Denmark B. England C. Sweden
Joseph Smith prophesied that the saints would go to the Rocky
Although most of the handcart pioneers of 1856 came from Eng- Mountains as early as:
land, they also came from how many other countries: A. 1840
A. 8 B. 14 C. 28 B. 1845
C. 1847
True or False: The saints designed their own handcarts. (True)
Chimney Rock extends how many feet high:
How many handcart designs were used in 1856, partly to see A. 60 B. 150 C. 500
which design would work best?
A. 2 It usually took how many people to pull the handcart (Answer=2)
B. 4
C. 10

True or False: most of those who survived the handcart ordeal