HISTORIC NAUVOO

This past weekend, Jake and I drove out to Nauvoo...I have never been there, so we had planned it to be out first trip together after I arrived in the USA. Little did we know that I would be sick all weekend... grrr... so I spent a large part of the weekend with my head in a paper bag or over the toilet. BUT, the experience of being in Nauvoo was still fantastic.

I Love this picture with Joseph and Hyrum on their horses facing the temple... how sad that they never really got to see that beautiful picture... this statue depicts the day that they drove off to Carthage from where they never returned to get to see the completed Nauvoo Temple.

On Friday night, after the 9 hour drive... though I think it might have taken us longer, cos I could barely last an hour without ANOTHER toilet stop... we went down to the temple and took some pics... it was really beautiful when the sun set and the temple was all lit up. The sunset that night was also amazing... pictures can never really give it the full credit... it was a bright, beautiful red sunset.

THE BEAUTIFUL MISSISSIPPI AT SUNSET

I was kinda excited to see the Mississippi River... Even in South Africa, you hear about the great Mississipi, and it was kind cool just to say I had been there... I guess it wasn't that big a deal when I actually saw it... I mean, it's just another large mass of water (I did grow up 10 minutes from the ocean) but I can now officially say that, "I have been to the Mississipi"... and that's really all I wanted. lol. Saturday morning, we went to the Nauvoo temple.. that was pretty awesome. It really is a beautiful building, inside and out. After our visit to the temple, we decided to take a wagon tour of Nauvoo...which was pretty fun... and seeing as I wasn't feeling so peachy, the thought of just chilling in the back of a wagon while someone else does all the talking and pointing and I just have to listen, was great... and besides, who doesn't want a free horse drawn wagon ride??? Lol...

READY FOR OUR WAGON TOUR

The biggest disappointment of the weekend, was the buffet... now, don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the buffet, and Jake made full use of the 'all you can eat' buffet rule... the problem was, I LOVE BUFFET's... I am in all round happy mode when I am at a buffet.... for me it's a huge treat... the problem came with the fact that I wasn't feeling well and doing such a great job of eating... so dinner at the buffet (that we had made reservations for like 2 months ago) was like torture... lots of yummy food, that I couldn't eat too much of... After our buffet dinner, we decided to attend the 'Rendevous in Old Nauvoo', at the cultural hall... that was pretty funny... it's pretty much a little play about Nauvoo, put on by all the senior missionaries serving in the Nauvoo area... needless to say, we had much opportunity at the show to laugh at the old folk... we were pretty well entertained. LOL :)

THE SMITH FAMILY CEMETERY
- GRAVES OF JOSEPH, HYRUM AND EMMA SMITH -

Sunday it was time to head back to Michigan... on our way home, we made a stop in Carthage... that was a great experience. During the weekend, we had the opportunity to go to the place where Joseph Smith was killed and also to the place where he is buried... both were special places. Carthage was wonderful. There were only 4 people on our tour, so it was great... the sister missionary there, let us watch a short video about Joseph Smith and then took us on the tour of Carthage Jail... it was quite the experience to hear all the stories she had to tell about things that happened in Carthage and the impact that the prophet had on the family that lived in the jail house. Nauvoo has some very special history.

CARTHAGE JAIL




THE SECOND FLOOR WINDOW THROUGH WHICH JOSEPH FELL AT HIS DEATH



This is an interesting picture... I took this photo from the hallway, outside of the room where Joseph and Hyrum were killed. The photo of the window through which Joseph fell after being shot by the mobs, is taken through the bullet hole in the door made by the bullet that killed Hyrum.