"Another trip?" you say...
"Of course!" says I...
But it's the last one before I leave on my mission....really, I promise. Would you like to hear a bit about it?
...
Well, too bad (or tad, as Jenae would say), cuz you're gonna! :)
After I drove home to beautiful, colorful Colorado, I had approximately 15 hours before I headed out once again in the car...this time, my parents and I were headed for NAUVOO, IL!!
There is a Nauvoo pageant every summer put on by the LDS church and my great uncle, David (well, he's not my great-uncle, but he is GREAT!), and 3 of my wonderful cousins, Sarah, Hollie, & Michael, were part of the cast - so we wanted to go out and see them perform!
On the drive we met up with my brother, Nate, and his family. Oh, and I found some interesting signs along the road...and I thought they only had cool signs in England! ;)
I also learned that when you are driving on the freeway at night in the east, and a firefly happens to smash into your windshield, you will have a little blob of guts that glows for about 5 minutes...its pretty cool.
The next two days were filled with loads of pioneer fun - making a rope...
learning how to make bricks (and learning the origin of the phrase, "you can't hack it!")... gunny sack races...
stilt walking...
(and being the competitive King's we are, of course that was a race too)...
and seeing the sights and history of Nauvoo (including the cemetery where Joseph, Hyrum and Emma Smith (and many others) are buried).
(me at the cemetery with my nephew (Morgan) and niece (Emma))
One day, Emma decided she didn't want to let me out of her sight, so instead of holding my hand, she just stuck her hand in my pocket all day... reminded me a bit of myself ;)
We also got to go to the beautiful Nauvoo temple!
What a place! I just can't explain how wonderful it was!
And the reason that we went in the first place....
THE NAUVOO PAGEANT!
We got to see it both Friday and Saturday nights and it was absolutely amazing both times!
And my uncle got us front row seats! It was perfect! Besides getting to see my wonderful family as actors, I also got to see a friend from England that I met this spring. He was one of the main characters (professional actor) and performed amazingly! He played a Scottish man whose wife joined the LDS church and came over to Nauvoo, so he came with her...As he lives among the people and helps build the temple, he gains a testimony for himself of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. It was so fun to see you again, Darren!
"Of course!" says I...
But it's the last one before I leave on my mission....really, I promise. Would you like to hear a bit about it?
...
Well, too bad (or tad, as Jenae would say), cuz you're gonna! :)
After I drove home to beautiful, colorful Colorado, I had approximately 15 hours before I headed out once again in the car...this time, my parents and I were headed for NAUVOO, IL!!
There is a Nauvoo pageant every summer put on by the LDS church and my great uncle, David (well, he's not my great-uncle, but he is GREAT!), and 3 of my wonderful cousins, Sarah, Hollie, & Michael, were part of the cast - so we wanted to go out and see them perform!
On the drive we met up with my brother, Nate, and his family. Oh, and I found some interesting signs along the road...and I thought they only had cool signs in England! ;)
I also learned that when you are driving on the freeway at night in the east, and a firefly happens to smash into your windshield, you will have a little blob of guts that glows for about 5 minutes...its pretty cool.We then went to Carthage to see the Carthage Jail, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred. What an amazing place!
We ate at a cute little pizza shop with homestyle cookin' and service, then headed up to Nauvoo. Just driving into that city is...well, magical. I loved the feeling! And you know what we did first thing?! Yep, we ran around catching fireflies! Boy, Morgan is a PRO at that! Aww, the little joys in life... :DThe next two days were filled with loads of pioneer fun - making a rope...
learning how to make bricks (and learning the origin of the phrase, "you can't hack it!")... gunny sack races...
stilt walking...
(and being the competitive King's we are, of course that was a race too)...and seeing the sights and history of Nauvoo (including the cemetery where Joseph, Hyrum and Emma Smith (and many others) are buried).
(me at the cemetery with my nephew (Morgan) and niece (Emma))One day, Emma decided she didn't want to let me out of her sight, so instead of holding my hand, she just stuck her hand in my pocket all day... reminded me a bit of myself ;)
We also got to go to the beautiful Nauvoo temple!
What a place! I just can't explain how wonderful it was!And the reason that we went in the first place....
THE NAUVOO PAGEANT!
We got to see it both Friday and Saturday nights and it was absolutely amazing both times!
And my uncle got us front row seats! It was perfect! Besides getting to see my wonderful family as actors, I also got to see a friend from England that I met this spring. He was one of the main characters (professional actor) and performed amazingly! He played a Scottish man whose wife joined the LDS church and came over to Nauvoo, so he came with her...As he lives among the people and helps build the temple, he gains a testimony for himself of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. It was so fun to see you again, Darren!
(David, me, Hollie, Michael, Sarah, my mum, dad, & Darren in front)WELL DONE to all! And thanks for letting us enjoy your performances!
I can't say exactly how much I enjoyed being able to take this trip before I leave on my mission - what a power and spirit is in that city! I feel my testimony of Joseph Smith and the faith of the early saints of the church strengthened so much! I feel closer to them and I gain strength from their legacy of faith.
I'm so happy that you were able to visit Nauvoo! It is one of my favorite cities in America. And the pageant is amazing! Please say they still do the "City Beautiful" song ("City of Joseph, City Beautiful, City of Joseph *clap* Nauvoo!)
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