“The Church is True, The book is Blue,I love Nauvoo. “ I had to laugh at the tons of blue shirts we saw running around with that little saying. I guess a family reunion or a youth group with a creative shirt designer was visiting Nauvoo. But Nauvoo was wonderful. Hands down the best part of our trip and the best part of that is that the kids came up with that. I loved Nauvoo but even more I loved that my kids loved Nauvoo.
We pulled into the beautiful city a little before 10:00. We were pretty nervous about finding a place to camp. We had called around and most everything was booked up. 4th of July weekend and the Nauvoo pageant did a pretty good job of filling the place up. We called the Nauvoo Rv Park and the guy said he had an open spot he asked our name and said he would save it for us. So we were hopeful but with only the name Carter, no cc #, we weren’t sure he would really hold it all night. It was kind of hard to find but after taking a late night drive through an old cemetery, and a call to the place, we finally found the place. The camp host came out on the road and waved us in with a flash light. A little gravel lot with a few trees, and about 20 spots for RV’s. But the host was really nice and helpful, the electricity powered our ac, fridge and computers and there was a bathroom with warm showers and relatively little dirt and bugs. We called the place home for three days. The guy must have thought us crazy because we initially told him we would be there 1 night, but we ended up adding 1 more and then one more night. We just didn’t want to leave.
We went to the 11:00 church. I have been to meeting where the gym was filled and people were sitting on the stage and spilling into the halls but it has always been a conference not a sacrament meeting. They said that visitors outnumbered members more than 2 to 1. They had to have 2 sacrament tables set up, one in the front and one in the gym. Even with that it took a long time and about 20 deacons to pass the sacrament to so many people. It was quite a site and quite a feeling to stand with them all and sing the patriot hymns and hear the testimonies that Nauvoo has such a special way of strengthening. We thought we would do the primary and Sunday school a favor by not staying and adding to the already overwhelming numbers. So did many visitors it looked like. Rachel especially had a hard time sitting still during sacrament meeting and two different people came up to me afterwards and commented on how much energy she has. I know they were trying to be nice and she is amusing to watch but pretty much they are just saying “your daughter causes so much commotion we just couldn’t help but be distracted by her the whole meeting” Which is unfortunately the truth. It is a good thing she is so cute so at least people are generally amused and not annoyed with her distractions. We also had a couple people ask Rick if he was there to be in the pageant, I guess his scruffy beards lead them to that conclusion. So we left the church went to the temple and took pictures. The temple is beautiful and powerful. I would have loved a painting of it that we saw in one of the shops but at 700 I decided to pass it up although Rick offered to get it for me.
We decided to spend the day touring Carthage. We stopped for lunch at a roadside picnic area on the banks of the Mississippi. The kids were scared of the bugs shoved a few bites in and ran for the protection of the rv. No wonder so many of the saints died- “ mosquito infested swamps”, could still be used to describe that rest area.
To walk across the lawn where Jospeh lay dead, to see the bullet hole in the door and to think of the blood shed and sacrifice made was an extremely sombering experience. I learned a lot about the events of the day and understood more the significance of it all. We are all so blessed to have such a legacy.
Sunday evening we went to a Sunday Sociable which I really enjoyed. Ryan and Rachel enjoyed running around in the field behind us and coming up into our row disturbing our neighbors countless times during the performance. I told they kids it was a play – I wasn’t so sure what it was- I was a musical. It was Broadway type songs tied together with a little story of life. I loved the music the kids did to for about the first 2 songs then it was, “is this only going to be singing”.
Monday morning was the 4th. I woke up early anxious to get over to the visitors center and stand in line for tickets. I wanted to be there before it opened so I could be first in line. I waited around till about 6:45 and then ran over. I didn’t want to wake the kids that early and figured I needed a like jog anyway so I ran the 1.5 miles to the visitors center. It was a nice little run except for the fact it felt like 1000 degrees outside. Doesn’t it ever cool off in the Midwest. By the time I got there I was number 10 in line. We waited about 15 minutes and they opened the door. I was able to get tickets to everything I wanted.
We started the day in historic Nauvoo with listening to the brass band which the kids loved. I was surprised by how much Rachel liked it and cried to follow them around. We watched the play “Just Plain Anna-Amanda” in the cultural hall. The kids were pretty leery of this since I said they would like the Sunday sociable and it didn’t turn out to be their favorite thing. But this they LOVED. It was really good. Rachel got called up on stage at the end, she adored the attention. She loved the actors dressed in period costumes and afterwards went up to give them all a hug and get her picture taken with them. It was fun that several of them remembered her name and even remembered her later that evening when we ran into them again at the next play we went to. I guess Rachel is pretty unforgettable with her deep blue eyes and fiery personality.
After the play we went and saw some of the houses and shops, learned how to make rope, bread and barrels. We watched them weave flax into linen and learned to make boots, bricks and wagon wheels. Then with our souvenir brick and rope and our prairie diamonds on our finger we headed over to take a carriage ride.
Max and King two huge Belgium horses took us for a pretty bumpy ride through the Nauvoo countryside while a teamster told us stories of the early saints and testified of the contributions their lives made. He mentioned Edmund Nelson in one of his stories, I leaned over and whispered to the kids that I thought Edmund Nelson was one of our Great Grandpa’s. I guess Ryan didn’t hear me that well because he kept saying “that is our great grandpa” pointing to the teamster telling the story. Rachel and Anna picked it up and the whole wagon heard the kids discussing our Great Grandpa, I tried to correct them a couple times but I think they left really believing our Great Grandpa took us for a carriage ride.
We also went to the play “High Hopes and Riverboats” another excellent performance put on by the performing missionaries. The kids were really excited for this program and weren’t disappointed. The church does a spectacular job putting these kind of things on.
We went to the Hotel Nauvoo for some dinner. I really enjoyed being in an old hotel and having a delicious meal surrounded by so much history. The kids liked the food and loved that it was buffet but I don’t think the staff liked us to well. At least I am sure they weren't’ too happy with the mess we left behind. There was a missionary couple we came over to chat with us they commented several times on their way in and out of the buffet how well behaved and cute our children where. They must have either been being sarcastic, or they were deaf and blind and missing their grandchildren because our kids are anything but well mannered. But it was a really nice meal.
When we arrived in town and learned the Pageant started Tuesday we were pretty disappointed we would miss it. We discussed staying till Wednesday morning but were planning on leaving Monday night and just didn’t think we could make it home on time if we did. Then we found out that Monday night was the dress rehearsal which worked out wonderfully. We went to that and just left Tuesday morning.
The Pageant was excellent and because it was the dress rehearsal instead of the performance there was a lot less people there. We arrived about 8:20 for the 8:30 performance and were only about 10 rows back. The kids were kind of disappointed we were going to the pageant rather than the fireworks but by the time the pageant was over I believe they were glad they went. The Pageant was spectacular I don’t think Rachel really ever got the fact that they were actors and not the real people. When Jospeh smith was introduced Rachel eyes got real big and she said really loud “I saw Jospeh Smith, I really saw Jospeh Smith” I tried to explain it was just pretend and he was just acting but later when King Follet died she said, again really loud “is that Jesus, THAT’S Jesus” I again tried to explain. A few minutes she again ask “so how did he get here, did he just float down” I think she still really believes Jesus was there.
The pageant also featured some bagpipe players that Taylor and Dallin were fascinated by. They went over and talked to them and have now both moved bagpipes and lessons to number 1 on their birthday wish lists. The bagpipes were impressive especially playing “Praise to the Man” that has become a family favorite – it is such a powerful song.
As we got back to our Rv I had Rick pull around to a dark corner of the lot and I pulled out some sparklers for the kids. They had a great time running around the deserted parking lot waving there sparklers around yelling freedom. I just prayed we wouldn’t been seen and we wouldn’t light any cornfields on fire. But I was so happy to see my kids so happy.
As we were driving back to the Rv park one of the kids said, “How come we didn’t do much to celebrate the 4th of July today”, I laughed and said – we did and started singing the Star Spangled Banner. Rick joined in and then Dallin and then the other kids, as the music started to swell I heard Taylor in the background saying “Nauvoo was my favorite part of the trip” Just then the temple popped up over the hill and it hit me hard how blessed I truly am. I really do have it all.
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