Visitors to Nauvoo

We were so blessed to have Valerie, Aidan and Autumn come to visit us.  

We did it all, well almost all of it.  Luckily they were here long enough to enjoy lots of Nauvoo.

 Molasses cookies, bricks, wagon ride, rope making, stilt walking, dressing up, oxen ride,
Nauvoo Temple, Nauvoo Brass Band parade, Sunset by the Mississippi again and again,
Vocal Point, Legacy, Mississippi River, bee boxes, Browning gun, post office, tin maker, Just Plain Anna Amanda, puppet show, blacksmith, The Promise, Carthage Jail, candle making, 

bread eating, visitors center, woman's garden, log school, quarry, Wilford Woodruff home,
print shop, Red Brick Store, fudge shop, carriage ride, John Taylor home, fireflies,
 Nauvoo Inn buffet, Pioneer Pastimes, Riser Boot, deer, root beer, Sister Bright, playing Sushi Go and whatever else we could squeeze in.  

Here is the photographic proof.  The greatest part of it all was how much they enjoyed 

learning about Nauvoo and how things were done here from 1839 to 1844.

This is pioneer Pastimes.  Autumn would have been here 24/7 if it was open.

 

We took the wagon ride around town with Nephi and Lehi pulling us. 

It was fun listening to the Brass Band play as they rode around on their wagon.

Just Plain Anna Amanda is such a fun show for the kids.

 Aidan and Autumn learned about how a bee box works with Sister Queensbury.

  

This is the brickyard where we learned how they made bricks.

The carriage ride is one of our favorites.  It goes to Inspiration Point and through the countryside.  The narration tells lots of wonderful stories about some of the people who lived in Nauvoo.

We had never taken the oxen ride.  It was fun!  The oxen are so sweet.

Then it was back to Pioneer Pastimes because there was housekeeping to do, 

and a school to run, and a parade to march in and horses to ride and the 

stilts to master. ;) 

Autumn's impression of the angel Moroni.

We love that you can see the temple from just about everywhere in Historic Nauvoo. 

 We love what is represents and love to have our picture taken in front of this beautiful temple.

This statue is of Joseph and Hyrum Smith riding to Carthage.

At the blacksmith shop we got a lesson in making wagon wheels and 

horseshoes and prairie diamonds. 

We got to make our own rope at the family living center and learn about 

how we should work to keep our families tied together.  We are blessed 

to have temples that do just that.  It is such a blessing to have our family

sealed together for all time and eternity.  

BYU's Vocal Point has been in town for two weeks and we enjoyed

their concert one night after seeing Sunset by the Mississippi.

The Women's Garden has some pretty amazing plants right now.

It was so great to have Val, Aidan and Autumn visit us. 

We love them and will miss them.

Last week the Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith family reunion was held here in Nauvoo.  

Elder M Russell Ballard came to be at that reunion.  He called a special meeting for all the missionaries. It was great to be in that meeting with him, to feel the spirit and to receive that assurance that we know he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ.

He said we have the appreciation of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve for our faithful service.  He said he had the privilege of assigning some of us to this wonderful mission. Everyone wants to come serve in the temple here, not everyone gets to have that opportunity.  

Missionaries are chosen to come here long before, none of us come here by accident.

It is here Joseph and Hyrum solidified their faith and trust in the Lord.  He said consequences lie ahead if the world continues to ignore Jesus Christ and pushes Him from the public square.  We are slipping into being a secular society.  We must anchor our lives in Jesus Christ especially as it becomes more and more unpopular to be religious.

Richard Holzapfel, PhD was also with him.  He spoke about his favorite story of Nauvoo.  He said when Wilford Woodruff was asked to make a recording of his voice in 1897 of all the things that he had witnessed and experienced in his life, he chose to speak of an event that happened in Nauvoo.

This is part of that testimony, all of it can be read at this link.

I bear my testimony that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God — ordained of God to lay the foundation of his church and kingdom in the last dispensation of the fullness of times.

I bear my testimony that in the early spring of 1844, in Nauvoo, the Prophet Joseph Smith called the Twelve Apostles together and he delivered unto them the ordinances of the church and kingdom of God; and all the keys and powers that God had bestowed upon him, he sealed upon our heads, and he told us that we must round up our shoulders and bear off this kingdom, or we would be damned. I am the only man now living in the flesh who heard that testimony from his mouth, and I know that it was true by the power God manifest to him. At that meeting he stood on his feet for about three hours and taught us the things of the kingdom. His face was as clear as amber, (end of first cylinder) and he was covered with a power that I had never seen in any man in the flesh before.

This is my testimony, spoken by myself into a talking machine on this the 19th day of March, 1897, in the 91st year of my age. Wilford Woodruff.

We must follow the living prophet.

After the meeting we went to the buffet for dinner.  While we were waiting for our table, Elder Ballard was dropped off and went to the buffet as well!  

We also went to Carthage and visited the jail.  We love visiting there.  It is such a 

sacred place to visit.  Before touring the jail, this video is played.  

Elder Holland bears a beautiful testimony of The Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith.

It was a very busy week for us as we visited sites and kept up with our
temple responsibilities.  We are so glad Val, Aidan and Autumn were able to visit.
We love them so much, and it was so good to see them.

We hope they never forget what a wonderful place this is, how much fun 

it was and how this place made them feel.