City of Joseph!

City the beautiful! City of Joseph...Nauvoo!

I'm back my lovelies! It was a quick trip, but oh so worth it. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Funny that the Mardi Gras vacation fell when it did so that we were in Nauvoo for the anniversary of the exodus of the Saints. We were able to make the walk down to the river in the freezing snow just like the Saints had to. It was so miserably cold. I cannot imagine having to leave my home with a few meager belongings and trek in the nasty, unrelenting weather to a place unknown.

We arrived in Nauvoo, Illinois, on Saturday morning around 8am. The bus ride was hellacious. I do not recommend driving 14 hours on a bus. My body was contorted into pretzel like shapes in vain attempts to get comfortable and get some much needed rest. We got unpacked, napped and then ate lunch. We were able to watch President Hinckley's funeral and after that we went to the Nauvoo temple. It was so incredibly beautiful! I love that temple! We were so rushed though that we didn't get to spend much time there. I want to go back so I can leisurely take pictures and partake of the Spirit.

Our itinerary was jam packed. There was no free time to even breathe!

Sunday we went back to Old Nauvoo and had testimony meeting in The Seventies Hall which was the first School of the Prophets. It was so awesome! The spirit of the Saints and Joseph Smith seems to permeate everywhere you go. When we sang the Spirit of God it sent a thrill through me. After church we toured more of Old Nauvoo IN OUR CHURCH CLOTHES!! I wouldn't recommend it, but I know they did it to help keep us reverent. Right before we left to go to Carthage it started thundering and lightening. I thought, "Oh no! Rain!" Nope. I was wrong. We had a snowstorm. It was literally lightening and thundering and pouring down snow! It was pretty amazing.

Carthage was a somber place as is expected. It gets to me every time I think about our beloved Joseph and Hyrum being martyred by ignorant men. So tragic yet it was the Lord's will. It's funny to me that those men thought they would get rid of the church by killing off the prophet. How wrong they were!

Monday we did the trek also known as The Trail of Hope. I only had my Chuck Taylors and the streets were slush. So, guess what happened? Yep, my shoes got soaked through. My feet were frozen so that I couldn't feel my toes and everytime I walked it was pins and needles. I still was better off than any of the Saints I'm sure. However, I got to stay in cold, wet sneakers all day. Yep. All day. We toured the Joseph Smith properties which was a bit odd due to the fact that the Community of Christ owns the deeds. That was the only spot in Nauvoo that you couldn't feel the Spirit. It felt wrong. Someday I know that our church will be able to buy the property back from the RLDS church and we will be able to restore the home and have the tours for FREE! I toured more of Old Nauvoo with my roommates and then got back to the Visitor's Center. Monday evening we watched the Joseph Smith movie. I love that film! I was able to see it in Utah with AWAE. After that we ate dinner and then went to see a musical called Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo. It was cute. After that we were "blessed" with a one hour monologue of the Prophet Joseph Smith. This would have been a very cool thing to see, but we had already been sitting for 2 hours and he basically recapped everything we'd already learned. We just wanted to get on the bus and head home. Needless to say, we gave him a standing ovation out of politeness.

We arrived back home at 12. We were never so happy to see the Baton Rouge Stake Center! I went home and crashed for 3 hours. Then Wonder Pickle and I went back to Baton Rouge for a BBQ at Nice Guy's condo. It was fun. This trip has allowed me to see how nice the BR people are. So, I'm not so scared about moving now.