Nauvoo 2009 - Day 3

Saturday - Day 3

Saturday was our last day in Nauvoo. :( We could only spend half a day there so we planned to go to the temple. I do have to say, it was awesome! We were able to do an endowment session and a sealing session! If you haven't figured it out already, I absolutely love this temple. I think its a mixture of how beautiful it is and understanding the sacrifice that it took for the Saints to build it to do their temple work. It's an amazing place and is definitely the Lord's House.

All of the temple workers that we met were all really excited that we were there. They asked us about ourselves, where we were from, why we had come to visit, and such. The sealer was even more excited that we had come to do sealings. I guess they don't get tons of out-of-towners for sealings much.

After we got done, he told us to go to the Mission President's office to see Joseph Smith's sword that he actually used for the Mormon Batallion. It was really neat. He had even etched his name into the blade. Then they took us down to see the Baptismal Font. It's absolutely gorgeous as well. It's actually the largest font in any temple and it was reconstructed to be the same size as the original one. They made it so large so that they could do 2 baptisms at once! Interesting, huh?

Well, enough of the blabbing... after we finished at the temple, we headed out to return home. We made a couple of stops along the way. Once at a sporting goods store and once at the Galleria Mall in St. Louis. Fun Fun! We finally made it home all safe and sound at 7 am on Sunday morning. Needless to say, we definitely took our Sunday naps! ;)

It was a blast and I can't wait to go back and visit again!

Nauvoo 2009 - Day 2

Friday - Day 2

So, Friday we woke up at about 9am and Brandon cooked breakfast for us. Steak and eggs (filet mignon to be exact), toast, and hot chocolate! The room we were in didn't provide a pan (just 2 really small pots) so Brandon was creative and used a cookie sheet to grill the steak and scramble the eggs! It was kinda crazy... but breakfast was pretty awesome, I do have to say!

We were all acting grumpy in the pictures, but we weren't really. :)

It may look kinda gross, but it was actually very good! Good job, my hunny!!! (This boy could cook on anything!)
After we finished our meal, we all got ready to head out to Nauvoo. As you can see, Mike really wanted to look nice for all the elderly missionaries giving the tours!

Nice chops, Mike!

Here are a few pics of the places we visited!

The Pharmacy. It was also the place where they sold fabric, dishes, and bartered food. I suppose it was pretty much a general store.

The Cultural Hall. This place is really cool. It has 3 stories and we actually got to go up and see them all. The top level still has the original floor where Joseph & Emma actually danced together. The band played from the top balcony. It also has an amazing view of the temple from here.

Adi and I on the 1st floor. This is where the saints held all of their plays and entertainment.

There were tons of quilts and stuff on the 2nd Floor.

This is where the Prophet Joseph and his wife, Emma, danced!

This is the view of the temple from the 3rd floor window.

The stairs.

The Browning Gun Store. Brandon and Mike really loved this one. Shocker, right? It was really neat though. It's pretty amazing that one of the men in Nauvoo created guns that are still used today (and are real expensive, which means they must be good)!

We also went to a few other places but I don't have pictures of them. :( But when it got dark, we returned to our nice, warm villa. Adi and I cooked spaghetti for dinner (in the 2 smallest pots EVER). I actually had to cook the noodles in 2 batches... sad. But we had a great night! Day 3 coming soon!

Nauvoo 2009 - Day 1

Thursday - Day 1

We left for Nauvoo on New Year's Eve at about 10pm. The guys said that they wanted to drive through the night so that we could have a bit more time there. Adi and I slept in the back while the guys drove. :) We arrived the next morning (1/1/09) at about noon. We were staying in a 2 bedroom/2 bath villa with a kitchen and living room, so we decided that we'd try to cook most of our meals. We didn't have any room in the car to bring food with us so headed over to the Wal-Mart in Keokuk to load up on some food. On our way there, we saw one of the most beautiful things EVER! There were tons and tons of bald eagles sitting on the frozen Mississippi River! They were everywhere!! Adi got a picture of one sitting on a branch.

Anyway, when we got back to the hotel, we unloaded and then let the guys get some rest. It was a 13 1/2 hour drive so we figured they deserved it. ;) By the time they were up and ready to get going, it was too dark to visit old Nauvoo, so we went to the little theater in Keokuk. We saw Bedtime Stories and loved it!
On our way back, we passed the Temple. It is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! If you've never been, I'd definitley recommend taking a trip at least once!
The night ended with some much needed rest. (Day 2 and 3 to come!)