It was one of the hardest, yet most spiritual experiences of my life.

At 17 years old, I was the oldest in my family. There were four young women between 12 and 16 and three other young men between 12 and 14 in my family, along with an adult couple that was our "parents".

We pushed our handcarts through loose sand for almost the whole trek. It was 100 degrees everyday. After day one, we had to shorten the trail for safety, due to the heat.

But pushing that handcart made me feel stronger than ever. I'm 5'10", 130 lbs, so I'm not the biggest guy. My family was small as well: I was one of the biggest kids in my family. But we were able to push through the sand and dust together.

On the first day, we had half our kids go to the medical tent. We decided to have a family prayer asking that each of my trek siblings would be ok and that the remainder of the trail would be easier. Our prayer was answered almost immediately. My "pa" even mentioned that it felt like an angel was pushing the cart afterwards.

That night, all of the priests and laurels were taken away, to symbolize a death in the family. I almost refused to go. I was worried sick for my family. So before bed that night, I prayed that my family would be able to push the cart with ease while I was gone.

The next day, the priests and laurels joined back with their families in the middle of the trail. When I saw my family, I noticed something. They were laughing and smiling. They were pushing the cart with ease. We had joined back with them right before the trail became difficult again. The Lord answered my prayers again.

Obviously, they were other moments as well. But those two stuck with my the most. My testimony has grown tremendously in the last four days.

I know that this church is true. I know that the Lord answers our prayers and that with faith, we can do things we normally couldn't do. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.