Would I Have Survived?

It is July and with July comes the annual celebration of the Pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley. I remember July 24 being quite the celebration as a child. We would dress our bicycles up with streamers and dress in pioneer attire and have a parade around the church parking lot and end up having a celebration of pioneer activities. Even last year when I was home my parents ward had a 24th of July celebration and we played our fiddles and had the parade. But this year as the 24th of July nears, my thoughts have been on my ancestors as I have been preparing to attend our stake youth conference for a reenactment of the pioneer trek. In my preparations I have reaquainted myself with my great, great, great, great grandmother Amy Kirby Orme. I believe I first heard her story at a family reunion several years ago given by my Grandpa's brother Leonard. I remember it well as we all sat in lawn chairs and benches at our cabin. A few years later I got my hands on a book with the exact stories that he had told and I read them to Tenielle as she drove us back to Utah. I remember both times I felt such gratitude for what Amy Kirby Orme went through for me to have the gospel today. It wasn't until the past week that I realized that they were in the Marten Handcart company which we hear so much about and stories that I have always loved regarding the faith of these people. I feel even more gratitude as I realize what they must have experienced.
And just this week I came across the story of Sarah Cross and her travels to Utah. I loved her story about how she wanted to give up because it was too hot, but she also made it. The following post about Amy Kirby Orme is a bit long, but I hope you enjoy it and also that you enjoy the story of Sarah Cross. (You meaning my handful of readers.)
As I have read and pondered this week, I have asked myself, would I have been able to have done what they did? Would I have had the faith to keep going when my limbs were cold or when my muscles were cramping from heat exhaustion? Would my testimony of the Book of Mormon, the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel have been strong enough to endure another step? I would hope the answer to these questions without hesitation would have been yes, yes, and yes.