Trip to Nauvoo

Daniel had the week off for Thanksgiving, and I had taken it off work because we were planning on going home for Christmas. But, plans changed, and now it was just the two of us. Since we had the time off, we decided to take a little trip to Nauvoo. Daniel and I were married in Nauvoo 5 1/2 years ago, and hadn't been back since. When Daniel told me that's what he wanted to do, I was overly excited.
It's only a 7 hour drive, and we left the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and came back two days later. I wish we could have stayed longer.

We took a ton of temple pictures, so we had to narrow it down to just one. It's hard to capture the beauty in a single shot.
In the Women's Garden. It was in Nauvoo where the Relief Society was organized.

Daniel sharing some words of wisdom in the Nauvoo Grove. A place made to represent the place Joseph Smith preached to the people.

In the Family Living Center making rope.

Daniel in the Printing Shop learning how to print the newspaper.

We learned that this place makes the best sandwiches in Nauvoo. Seriously!

We visited the Smith Family Cemetery. Above are a list of names believed to have been buried there.

This Red Brick store was where the Relief Society was first organised, where people paid their tithing, and where the first endowments were performed.

Joseph and Hyrum Smith

We went to the Rendezvous at Nauvoo play the two nights we were there. It was two different casts, so it was fun to see it both times. It's the story of the people getting ready to leave Nauvoo.

The Trail of Hope is the pathway the saints took when leaving Nauvoo. In all the times I had heard about the Saints leaving Nauvoo, this was the first time that it really hit me how hard it must have been. They had looked for a place to settle, and Quincy was the only place that welcomed them with open arms. They built their homes, their family, their lives there, and then they were told to leave. People didn't want to and were upset. But in the end, they trusted in the Lord and packed what they could, leaving everything behind. It just breaks my heart. I would like to believe that I would have had the faith to leave too.

We left in the pouring rain and 32' weather. Arrived in sunny 74' Memphis. As much fun as it was, it's always good to be home.