We gathered at 5pm at the Stake Center in Otter Creek and the buses pulled out a little before 6pm. Let's just say that it was a long drive to Nauvoo. We were on bus 2 under the direction of Bro. Stuckey. We had a "Bee" themed password for getting on and off the bus since he is a bee keeper. We did the Harlem Shake twice on the bus, but all video evidence didn't pan out. The schedule said we were to arrive around 2:30 in the morning. It was in reality a 4:30am arrival. We unloaded the buses, got to our respective houses, found rooms, beds or places for everyone and hit the sack around 5:30am. We had to be up at 7:30am.
Saturday morning they had divided the youth into groups and our first stop was the Visitor Center in old Nauvoo. We looked around for a little bit and then headed out into the freezing cold for a wagon ride out in the country. Brrrr!
One of two Sun stones left from the original Nauvoo Temple
Joseph Smith statue...
Kate, Jordan and Kaylianna
For the wagon ride, thankfully they had lots of blankets to cuddle under. We sat on one, had another on our laps and one over our heads. Despite the cold, I thoroughly enjoyed what the senior missionaries had to say and teach us while riding around for about 45 minutes. We sang a hymn together. This experience set the stage for our whole journey. At the end, they let us see and pet the horse teams. Since it was so muddy and cold, they had two teams pull the wagon, where only one team usually does this.
Jordan with the big, beautiful horses.
Kaylianna, Michelle and Jordan
Next it was time for us to leave the warmth of the visitor's center and venture out into old Nauvoo. They had a bunch of statues as you left the visitor's center depicting different things.
I just had to get in with the lady quilting...
Kaylianna joined this mother and daughter discussing the scriptures...
Lauren joining this family...
A lesson in rope making...
Jordan and Michelle helping to twist the rope that was being made.
A rug that was being woven...
Jonathan Browning (and his wife) made several pattens on guns after he learned from the best.
Some of the old guns (with Sister Flannery's reflection on the glass).
Some old dinner ware...
An example of how they tightened the straw mattress on the ropes tied to the bed.
(Gives new meaning to sleep tight.)
The Blacksmith, where we got our "prairie" diamond rings (a nail curled into a ring).
Then it was time to head back to our house and change to go do baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple. What a glorious experience to be in this beautiful temple! I gained insights from the words of Pres. Spencer J. Condie as he spoke to our youth prior to the baptisms. Some of the leaders were allowed to go up to the celestial room, so we could see that too. We stopped on the main floor and saw a painting we had been told about donated by Pres. Hinckley, from his father's collection. And Pres. Condie let the youth come up and see the assembly room as well before we left. I love the stained glass star windows on this temple. A mini replica of the red, white and blue star was my souvenir.
Jordan, Kate and Kaylianna after being inside this holy temple...
The statue out front of Joseph and Hyrum Smith...
Walking back to our house from the temple, I found Page Street. How fitting for our family!
Some stake leaders came by and helped shuttle us back to our homes. Jordan got stuck in the way back.
That night, we attended a play put on by the senior missionaries called Rendezvous. It was cute. The best line about leaving Nauvoo under the circumstances at the time of being forced out: "We do it willingly, because we have to."
The Nauvoo pictures are marvelous. I enjoyed seeing Kate and Jordan and friends, and it almost felt as if I were there.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dad. I have more pictures to post, it just got too late and I had to go to bed. Stay tuned.
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