Illinois

Jane had a fever in the morning, but we fed her some Tylenol and she seemed to be doing better.  She managed just fine through church and fell asleep whenever we got in the car.  Our day was heavily influenced by her sleep schedule since we wanted her to maximize on any shut-eye she could get.  She was asleep when we pulled into Nauvoo so we went to the temple and left her in the car while we took pictures in front of it.  The Nauvoo temple is gorgeous; definitely one of my very favorites now.  We had perfect weather and beautiful sky.

 

 

Pretty soon Chris was ready to break his fast and we decided to look for food.  No good.  There is not a single restaurant open on Sunday in Nauvoo.  We had to drive 25 minutes south to another town in Iowa.  From there we weren’t too far from Carthage, so we decided to do that.  I loved Carthage.  We watched a beautiful movie on the life of Joseph Smith and then went into the jail.  It was interesting, but I was so surprised at how powerfully the spirit came to me when we entered the upstairs room where Joseph was shot.  What an incredible feeling.  I kept wondering if everyone gets to feel this because the spirit is just in this sacred place or if the spirit was testifying to me because I was personally ready to hear it.  I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and I am incredibly grateful for his sacrifice.  He was called of God for a monumental task and he humbly served amid awful opposition.  He is such an inspiration.  I can’t wait to know brother Joseph again.  I’m grateful I was able to have that testimony reconfirmed that day.

 

 

We headed back to Nauvoo and found where Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum were buried.   Then with everything else closed in Nauvoo and our baby asleep again, we went to cemetery just outside of Nauvoo and walked around.  It was so beautiful.

 Dinner back at the hotel.

We packed up and headed back over to Nauvoo this morning.  We went straight to the trail of hope and started there.  It was another gorgeous day.  I can’t believe how beautiful Nauvoo is.  I think I said that a dozen times through the day.  It’s just so pretty.  We put Jane in the stroller and walked down the trail munching on our McDonalds fruit and yogurt parfaits, reading plaques and bawling (ok, only I was bawling).  It’s just incredible the sacrifice made by these early pioneers.  I just kept feeling so much gratitude and the resounding confirmation that I was born in the right time.  At the end of the trail is the dock where so many crossed the Mississippi (which is huge, by the way).  There they have a little barge the size they would have used.  It fits one covered wagon.

Look at that little tooth!

 Back at the start of the trail is the Seventies house, an MTC for new 70s called.  We decided to take a look inside.  At the end of her presentation, the Sister missionary asked if we had any ancestors that we might want to look up.  I said yes and when they found out it was Joseph Bates Nobel, they told me I had to go to the Lucy Mack Smith home, since he built it and his picture was hanging inside.

We toured the tinsmith’s shop, printing press, brickyard, and blacksmith.  We went to Lands and Records and saw John Taylor’s home and of course the Lucy Mack Smith home.  We would have loved to have seen more, but we had to drive to Indianapolis.  It was so quiet both days we were there, that the senior missionaries were overjoyed to have someone to talk to.  They could have chatted all day, I’m sure.  Every one of them listed a few places we MUST see in our limited time and each time it was different.  Hard to choose.    At any rate, we LOVED Nauvoo and hope to go again some time.