Valley Forge

I can't say that the kids were as moved as I was by Valley Forge.  I loved it.  I studied about it ahead of time and learned that the willingness of the soldiers to stay and stick it out that winter was a large part of our winning of the war.  It wasn't a battle, it was just enduring.  But, what they had to endure was so hard...not enough food, shelter, or clothing.  The British didn't know how run ragged they were.  Washington would send letters that he knew would be intercepted by spies, reporting that they were strong, that their numbers were much greater than they were.  The truth was that they were just trying to survive.  But in surviving they won the war.  As luck would have it, the weather was so cold on the day that we went.  It made it a more poignant...and a shorter trip.  Because the landscape is largely unchanged you can really imagine those soldiers there.  Something happened to me.  I think I felt the Holy Ghost.  I felt so grateful for the sacrifices of my ancestors.  I wondered if I was kind of like them in trying to endure the winters of life in order to eventually win the war.