Priests and Laurels in my ward went to Nauvoo this week. And it was AMAZING!! Here's the rundown ;)
Tuesday:
We flew into Kansas City, Missouri and went to Liberty and Far West. Liberty Jail was really cool because it was the [mostly] original jail INSIDE. They built a building around it! And Far West was neat too, with the temple cornerstones. And there were fireflies ;)
We then drove to our hotel, planning to get there at around 12-1am, but not arriving until 3:30!!! One car even took a wrong turn and went through Quincy and didn't get there until 5. It took so long because it was raining. HARD. We were driving through super deep water and it just kept pouring and pouring. We even saw lightning strike in the Mississippi River somewhere, probably 50 feet from us. And it was super bright and loud! Super scary...but really cool too ;)
Wednesday:
We saw a play "Anna-Amanda" by the YPMs (Young Performing Missionaries). One I even knew: Jake Packer, he was in my old stake ;) I didn't think he recognized/knew me because he didn't even say anything to me until like the 3rd show we saw of theirs. We then had free time and we went to the Red Brick Store, Blacksmith (got cool nail rings), Browning Gun Shop, Joseph/Hyrum/Emma burial... it was really neat. Cal hung out with us a lot which was cool. And Jonathan too. Both of them are usually really quiet, but this trip got them talking and they're both super hilarious!
We went to a lil video, "Remembering Nauvoo" and even though it was only 20 minutes long, I couldn't help falling asleep... :S oops ;) We attempted to take a nap, but it's hard when you have the opportunity.
Quick dinner, then Baptisms for the Dead in the NAUVOO TEMPLE! It was AMAZING!! It's different than the Mesa one, so it was a little confusing, but it was all the same at the same time. It was a great experience. We got to see the spiral staircase too, which was super legit, we got to go up it to the lobby :)
Change clothes really fast and go to the BYU "Windows of the World" dance concert. It was cool :) My favorite was the few Folk Music Major students that were there for intro and musical numbers. They played "Boondocks" that was stuck in my head the rest of the week ;)
A bunch of kids went swimming, but Bentley and I didn't bring our swimsuits, so we didn't. We just hung out in there and talked. Then after the pool closed we hung out in the hallway with our friends until 11--when we had to be in our rooms. But, we exchanged room numbers and called each other for a while. I must say, some people are REALLY funny!! :D Especially those boys, they would just say the randomest stuff! :)
Thursday:
We woke up a bit early to hang out/eat breakfast with our friends :)
We went to the Nauvoo Cemetery which was really neat, except for I lost a charm on my necklace :( But it's okay. Bishop talked to us about why women don't have the priesthood. It doesn't make us unequal, just different. Men don't get any special privileges from it, we use it together to make it to the Celestial Kingdom. It was a great explanation ;)
We toured Joseph Smith's homes and such, which was all owned by the RLDS guys. They have a strange religion... like ours, just more "worldly". It's odd. There was just a different feeling about it too. Not bad, just not as good as ours has.
Then we found a little grove to sit at and Sis. Brague talked to us. Again about women and the priesthood. :)
We had more freetime, so we went on a carriage ride around Nauvoo, and spirituality was added into it. It was really cool. We went to the brick shop and got the red Nauvoo bricks ;) YAY!
We had dinner at a really nice DELICIOUS buffet ;) It was really really good, especially their cinnamon rolls and strawberries.
We saw the Rendevoux at Nauvoo play, which was like the YPM shows, but with old people ;) It was so cute :) This kid Brandon fell asleep, so Conner poured a little water in his mouth to "make him choke"--but he just swallowed it. A lot dripped down his cheeks, so when he woke up, he thought it was drool and wiped it off ;) it was SO hard not to laugh ;) So we did anyway..silently ;) Then he turned around to Conner and said "I'm thirsty". hahahaha :)
I bought a bottlecap keychain of the temple ;)
We saw the BYU dance show again because they have different songs M/W/F and T/TH. They played "Boondocks" again :D
I'm usually afraid of ANY bug, but I got the urge to catch a lightning bug, so Bentley and I childishly ran around chasing them ;) It was so fun! :D I almost caught one, but I was dumb and left a little opening around my thumbs. :P
Then we ate frozen custard :) YUM
Sis. Brague gave us a box of pizza and a bottle of "wootbeer" ;) So Bentley, Morganne, and I had a little party ;) We called the boys and said "We have pizza!!" then hung up. then "did I mention we have wootbeer!?" and hung up again ;) we were so hyper, it was awesome!
Friday:
We went to Carthage this day. It was absolutely amazing! We watched a short video of Joseph's life from the perspective of others, sang a few hymns (accompanied by me :P haha) then got to do our tour. In the martyrdom room, they played a recording of the events, and I just closed my eyes and could picture the whole thing. It was a great experience.
Then we stopped at the Nauvoo Courthouse, which was cool too. It is an AMAZING building, and Abe Lincoln spoke there once. We went with one of the boy's cars, and those kids are hilarious! Forrest and Chance were climbing trees like crazy people and jumping off from really high, jumping over huge rocks... It was hilarious!!
We saw a fox and chased after it in the car a bit when we got back to Nauvoo.
The play "High Hopes and River Boats" is AMAZING too!! It was by the YPMs and it was super cute! We arrived 40 minutes early for the play, so a Hawaiian missionary there for American Sign Language gave us an ASL tour of the Visitors Center. It was really neat ;) I learned church words like "temple," parts of the Joseph Smith story, and "I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". ITS SO COOL!! :D
We sat in the temple grass and relaxed for a bit. :) I love temple grass! :D
We went down as a ward and walked the "Trail of Hope", plaques of journal entries of those who died in Nauvoo. It's amazing to see the trials they went through and the testimonies they had.
Then we had a ward testimony meeting, which was great! It was neat to see old friends and new friends share their testimonies, especially those I didn't think would ;)
Then we caught more fireflies ;) and I held one for a lil!! :D
Then we called Cal for some..information... :) and Jonathan was getting mad because it was getting late and we had to meet at 5:30 to leave the next morning. He kept unplugging the phone cord and stuff, it was really funny ;)
Saturday: The last day :(
Like I said, we met at 5:30 and drove off. We went to a little Amish town for breakfast. We thought we'd be there by 9, but didn't get there until 10. So breakfast was over, and we ate lunch. That's 10:00 ILLINOIS time, so 8 AZ time. :)
We then drove to Adam-Ondi-Ahman, which was BEAUTIFUL!!! Bro. Alleman spoke, and mentioned how since after Adam and Eve arrived there after not being able to be in the Garden of Eden anymore, it's like the Telestial Kingdom. If TELESTIAL is like that, I definitely want to go to the Celestial! I can't even comprehend how beautiful that would be :)
Apparently we thought the airport was closer than it really was, so we almost missed our flight. That, and we left Adam-Ondi-Ahman later than expected. I was getting impatient and anxious. Our flight left at 2:59 and we didn't get to the airport until 2. Then some of us had to still pick up our boarding passes (including me), and the plane was supposed to load at 2:29. we didn't get out of security until a little after then, but thankfully they were running a bit late ;) And luckily, Bentley and I were right next to each other! :D
I realized how much I really missed the Midwest, and my testimony was strengthened so much. I will never forget this trip. I already want to go back, I love the feeling they have there!!
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