Nauvoo

I'm back for a minute!! I had to reserve for posterity our trip to Nauvoo!!
What an amazing journey for us.

 It was a 13 hour drive for us.  We arrived close to 11 PM and saw the temple.  Beautiful.  I can't believe how hard the early church members worked for that temple. I could tell from history how grateful they were to be able to attend a temple before they left across the plains to Utah. I love it that we rebuilt this temple. In many ways it is a tribute to them.

Here we are on the front steps of the temple.

This was fun.  The kids didn't think I could do it. But I also love the symbolism.  I go to the pioneers in my mind for examples of women who did hard things with faith and joy.  So this pic is a keeper for me. I can get my kids across the modern day plains.

They have some wonderful plays and theatrical performances up in Nauvoo during July. We saw one at the visitors center called, High Hopes and Riverboats.  We LOVED it.  Beautifully done. Excellent message of love and faith of the early saints in Nauvoo.  The pageant is an outdoor performance every evening during July. It is absolutely amazing.  What a beautiful performance. 

A couple great highlights without pictures:  We were able to see the brick makers, the blacksmith, and the gunsmith. They showed us what life was like in the 1800s. We loved to tour the inside of these old homes. And it was meaningful for us to see the graves of Joseph, Emma, Hyrum and their parents.  The trail of hope down to the waters edge was touching for the kids. And we also were able to visit Carthage jail, the site of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith.  

All throughout Nauvoo is a special feeling of peace and love. The Spirit of the Lord is present in great abundance. It was a great experience for us all. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints has its restoration and beginnings with a boy named Joseph Smith who grew to a man and restored Jesus Christ's gospel to the earth once more, clarifying much of the confusion and differences in religion, translating the wonderful Book of Mormon for us as additional scripture.  He sacrificed all for us to have all these awesome blessings and many more.  I wish more people knew about the happy life of the LDS people.