Years ago when I was a boy scout my troop made a little trip to Yuba Lake in Utah. The lake is part of Yuba State Park and is located east of I-15. The lake has an interesting shape due to the fact that it is made by a manmade dam on the Sevier River. The lake takes a long and somewhat windy shape following the river and the valley.
There were a lot of scouts in my troop, troop 866. We had been out on the lake water skiing and enjoying the water. At that time I was a little timid because I had never been water skiing while all the other scouts had been. I lacked the confidence to try in front of my peers for fear of failure and ridicule. There were many things the boys regularly did that I rarely, if ever, had the opportunity to do. Water skiing, not to mention boating, was one of them.
After we had been boating we were on the shore and I challenged the scouts to a swim across the lake. It didn't look like far and I felt that it was something I could do. Only one scout was willing to step up to the challenge and he was a swimmer. I was doomed to lose from the get go but I wanted to say I swam across Yuba Lake. Besides, I couldn't really back down from my challenge now that it had been accepted.
Before we set out our leaders insisted that we wear life jackets. They told us of a man that drowned near an outcropping/island due west from where we were after his boat sank. A life jacket gets in the way a little bit while swimming but because our leaders insisted we put them on.
We began the swim and the other scout got ahead of me. This was no real surprise since his family had a pool in their backyard and he swam on a regular basis. He reached the other shore well ahead of me. He celebrated his win and started swimming back to where our troop was. I knew I had lost but I continued to my goal of crossing the lake.
It got hard to continue swimming but I trod on. Swimming at first seemed quite easy but the difficulty had increased the longer I was at it. About midway across the lake I started having real difficulties. The life vest, which at first was a nuance, was the thing that enabled me to keep my head above water. I could not have survived the crossing without it. The waves that were seemingly small were large when it was just my head above water. From time to time a wave would go over my head enough to cause me to choke and cough up water. At this point a bit of stress began to set in. Not being able to breathe is not a comforting feeling. I was very grateful for my life vest and its buoyancy keeping me afloat and alive.
I had thought of turning back but I continued on since I felt I was at least half way. I did make it to the opposite shore and I was so very glad to stand upon ground and be able to breathe freely. I turned back to see my opponent was arriving back to the shore where our troop was waiting. The anxious feelings of survival which were dulled upon my arrival to the shore were mixed with the feelings of isolation, ineptitude, and the greatness of the task of returning to my troop.
To return back the way I had come would require swimming the same difficult distance but this time starting out tired. I thought of walking around but I didn't know how long the lake was. I knew I was at a short point for crossing and that the lake was quite long. There was no sign that anyone was going to pick me up in a boat and I couldn't see any sign of a road for me to be picked up at on my side of the lake. After thinking about it I decided to swim back across. I figured that even in my current state it would take much less time to swim rather than walking back.
So I began my swim back across Yuba Lake. I kew I was tired and so I took my time on my return trip. If it were not for the buoyancy of the life vest I would not have attempted to return by swimming. Returning was much longer and harder that the initial crossing. I still had issues of waves but because I was pacing myself I was not breathing as hard so I could hold my breath better when a wave did lap over me.
On my return I do not recall being made fun of much seeing how all but one person accepted my challenge. In all I swam a total of one mile. It was a difficult swim which was obvious when I dragged myself out of the water. Yes, I did not win the race and had lost by a great margin but I had finished even when I could have turned back. On my return I did not explain the trials and predicament of that swim. I was exhausted and ready to go home.
I'm sure not many of the boys remember me swimming across the lake and that none of them think on it much, but it is a memorable moment for me. In many ways I feel like it is an example of my life at large. I have aspirations that I think are obtainable but there are other people who are much more adept at them. I am passed up and at times I am floundering and in one my head. Yet, there are things and people who help me in little ways that help me through. At times those things can seem to be a nuance and a restriction but can hold me up and even save my life. One of those life jackets is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have heard people say how the gospel is restrictive and holds them back and they want to be free. Yet, I also know that when trials come the gospel can lift us up. The gospel can help us through this life and keep our heads above the drowning water of mortality around us. Even the best of us need the life jacket of the gospel but it is still up to us to do the swimming.
