I feel badly. Alice and Ken are such morning people. I am not a morning person. I'm better than I used to be, but I move very slowly in the morning. I can't remember what time we woke up this morning but we got dressed, (well, except Fiona) and went to the Buffet breakfast in the hotel - extra money, but it was food and after having cereal in baggies for dinner last night, everyone was very hungry.
We checked out and were off to explore Nauvoo. The first stop was the temple. I wanted some pictures, and I wanted to look at the statue. It took my breath away - the statue. It was of Joseph and Hyrum, as they stopped on the bluff to look out at Nauvoo before they rode off to Carthage, and off to their deaths.
The view of the Mississippi River was gorgeous. I really get why they call it Nauvoo the Beautiful. It was really beautiful. The weather was perfect today, not too hot with a beautiful breeze. The only problem was the bright sun. Taking pics of the girls in front of the temple was not enjoyable.
Fiona was in heaven walking around the temple. She sang the temple a little song about God and Jesus and happiness, it was so adorable. Sadly Kate didn't find it adorable, but she eventually got over the offence of the cuteness of her sister... Next was the visitor's center.
One of the original sun stones was on display in the visitor's center. The Saints mostly left Nauvoo in 1846, the inside of the temple was burned by fire in 1848, and a tornado knocked down three of the walls in 1850, so it was pretty much completely destroyed. It was cool to see one of the original sun stones though. I wasn't sure of the symbolism of the sun stones, but thankfully there was an explanation! "The sun and the trumpets breaking through the clouds announce the restoration of the Kingdom of God on the earth and anticipate its promised heavenly glories."
Fiona hopped up on the edge of every single display and said "Mom, take my picture!" I'm a terrible person, so instead of telling her that she wasn't allowed to sit on the display, I just kept taking her picture. She literally sat on the little sign that said "don't sit on the display". Like I said, I'm a terrible person... I actually do feel a little guilty.
We watched the film "Only a Stonecutter". The girls and I saw this in Winter Quarters, but the girls really wanted their Dad to see it. I need to not forgot this film. The message, and the man - John Rowe Moyle, what an incredible human, so inspiring!
After the movie and after looking at the displays, we walked around in the Woman's Garden. It was really lovely. I'm so grateful that I'm a wife and a mother. My heart aches for the women that aren't wives and mothers. They too can and do have mother hearts and they do amazing things, they are important too, I want there to be a statue in the garden representing that. But still, the garden was lovely. I don't like the current sentiment in society that the time for women is now, and men suck. Kate was sharing a bit of that attitude. Ken and I pointed out the statue to her that accompanied the scripture "Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord."
Next up was the homes and businesses and hands on fun. We stopped at Pioneer Pastimes first. It was awesome. Dress-up, games galore, and the Nauvoo Brass Band drove up while we were there. The members of the band came and spoke to everyone. They were cute talking to the girls. The band members are on a service mission. They serve for 3.5 months, and they have to audition to be in the band. The girl I spoke to plays trombone and is currently studying at BYU-I and this is her second summer doing this special service mission.
Next up we went to the Gunsmith's, then the Printing Press, John Taylor's home, and the Brickworks. The gunsmith - Jonathan Browning, was an inventor. He lived in the Quincy area, the missionaries found him, he was baptized and settled in Nauvoo. He made guns in Nauvoo. His son was also an inventor - the business stayed in the family for four generations. I have such weird feelings about guns, it was weird and interesting listening to the talk about guns. But we stopped in the back garden, where the Brownings buried their daughter Ella that died in infancy. They buried her in a place where they could see the temple. It made the weird gun history stuff spiritual!
Next the printing press. Goodness the work that went into printing things. The copy editor, the type setting, the inking one side of one page at a time, the drying, on and on and on, week after week. Amazing!
John Taylor was the editor of the paper. His house was next door. He was a good and humble man.
The Brick Works and the message shared there, that was the one that moved me the most. The senior missionary, Elder Hill, he spoke about the process of creating the bricks. He spoke about collecting the sand, sifting the sand, baking the sand, then firing the bricks after they'd dried out. The different types of bricks - too hot, too cold and just right. He showed us what happens if a rock gets into a brick, and what happens if it isn't caught and the brick is fired with a rock in it. He spoke about the defects, the rocks we have in ourselves. He spoke about the Savior, turning to him, getting baptized and getting rid of those rocks. Then spoke about the scratches on our smooth surfaces, and how we need the sacrament every week to polish us.
The girls were pretty done at this point, so after each receiving their own Nauvoo brick, we walked to the van and drove back up the hill to get lunch. After a far too long trip to a souvenir store, a trip back to the visitor center to use the facilities and fill up water bottles, we set off for points unknown in the north and east!
Ken started driving and I kept trying to use the map on my phone but the cell service in and around Nauvoo was not good. We drove blind and then I finally got a map, and then it finally loaded with directions and we were really off! We made one pit stop at a rest stop on the 74.
We stopped for dinner - Subway, picked up a few supplies and then after Ken decided to pay for some cell service we were able to find a hotel. The Illinois sunset, the cornfields, the rising moon. It was a pretty night.
And just over the border in Munster, Indiana, we stopped for the night. I love the message on the back of the bathroom door. I think I need a positive life message in my bathroom.
The last day tomorrow. This has been such an amazing trip. I'm so thankful for being able to take my girls to so many amazing places. I'm not quite ready for this to be over, but I am ready to stop driving!
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