Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Nauvoo Part 2!

Wednesday July 11th: 
    We woke up around 4 to go to Adam ondi ahman,  we got there and had a lesson overlooking the valley. This is where they say Christ will come when he comes again. We couldn't sit in the grass because of chiggers. We ate breakfast there and talked, had special moments. Then got back on the bus for 5 hours to go to Carthage Jail. That bus ride wasn't so bad. I slept about an hour of it. Once we got to Carthage we watched a video and talked to the missionaries there. Then they brought us into the actual Jail. That place is a very special place. The very last room we went into was where Joseph and Hyrum were killed, and everybody was crying. The spirit was so strong. 
   We ate lunch at Carthage and played some games. Brittany, Kristy, Morgan, and I went across the street to some weird museum that had sharks and stuff preserved in bottles and then ran across the street to get Sherrie Holmes a birthday cake. 
   We got on the buses once again and drove into Nauvoo! We went and ate dinner at the hotel and got our room key. We had 11 girls in our hotel room! But it was a pretty big hotel room :) That night we went and saw Old Nauvoo Rendezvous. That play was super cute. Kristy, Brittany and I walked around Nauvoo that night. I also forgot my temple recommend so at 1 am I got a new one. I think it's safe to say nobody really slept on this trip

Thursday July 12th:
  I had the early morning temple session. Side note--In Nauvoo we walked everywhere. The temple is like the middle of town and our hotel was ten blocks up from the Temple, while everything in town was about 10 blocks down from the temple.  We got to the temple and got dressed. I liked that temple because they let you do everything yourself. So we did everything in the temple. It was such a awesome experience. 
  That day we walked around town and went to all the sights. 
  Thursday night we went to the Nauvoo  Pageant, While walking down we went into a store and met this really cool lady who told us all about the Nauvoo Temple and the town and such. The Pageant was amazing. I did fall asleep in it though...I leaned forward to put my phone away and fell asleep. 

Friday July 13th: 
  The day before when we met the cool lady we really wanted to back to the temple so we did! We didn't baptize but we got to dress in these special dresses....I LOVED IT!! After the temple we went and saw a play at the visitors center, which I fell asleep again. ( I've never been so tired in my whole life) Later that night we went and saw the sunset on Mississippi play. And then we left around 9 PM! The ride home is kinda a blur to me...I slept but I didn't at the same time, we watched lots of movies, ate lots of treats ( we had this laundry basket full of treats and at every stop they would refill it, It was like Christmas day when they did that! haha) played lots of games, and tricks on people. The bus ride home was 24 hours. Everybody's legs were swollen, but I wouldn't trade anything. I loved this trip so much! 
Nauvoo Temple

Redbrick Store House Root beer! 

Me Toni Britany and Crystal at   Adam ondi ahman

Redbrick Store house Root beer! 


After the temple

Smith Family Cemetery

Carthage Jail


The rod kept falling on top of us! 

Ryan Spencer mike Morgan and I! 

This was right behind the temple...I couldn't help it :) 

The Bullet hole that killed Hyrum 


Outside Carthage 

Kristy Jen and I

  I never thought my testimony could grow so much in a week. It was so amazing to walk where the prophets have walked and to see all the hardships that our ancestors did for us. I recommend to everybody to go there...just don't take a bus :) 

Nauvoo! (Part 1)

Alright, I really suck at blogging but I recently went on a trip with my YSA ward to Nauvoo! I LOVED it there, but I just couldn't bring myself to blog it. So I'm going to try really really hard. (FYI Long post with lots of Pictures) 

Sunday July 8th: 
       Church that day was kinda crazy. Everybody was so excited to go and just leave. After church was out I went home, finished packing, and came back to the church. Katie picked me and Morgan up. Once we got there they had tables where we had to sign in. We went inside the church, had a devotional, said a prayer and loaded the buses. We left around 8:45, but once we got to Wyoming our bus started over heating so we sat on the side of the road for a little while to let it cool down. In the mean time Kristy and I started making up raps, and songs. The one we finished was to the tune of "Boyfriend" By Justin Bieber. But our version is "Nauvoo Girlfriend." Bus games were fun, we played iPod karaoke, bingo, phase 10, and other games. Funny Side note- we stopped in Fort Bridger at the TA gas station so everyone could go to the bathroom. Kristy told me to go out of the bus and act like it was leaving me so I had to run after it...it seemed like a good idea, but then again everything seems like a good idea when it's that late. 
Kristy and I before we left 
The Bus leaving me
         




Monday July 9th: 
      Still on the bus...around 2 I think is when people started quieting down so we could try and sleep. But it is pretty impossible to sleep on a bus. I ended up moving to the floor around around 4 but my arms would go completely numb so I ended up moving back up to the chair around 4:30. At this point I looked around and pretty much everyone was awake. I remember texting lexi, "I'm never going to sleep again" and I started crying because I just wanted to sleep so bad!
    In North Platte, Nebraska we stopped and ate breakfast at the Flying J. Everyone looked a little ruff but what do ya expect. MORE BUS.....Finally after 16 hours and 8000 corn fields later we made it to Winter Quarters. We were behind schedule so we didn't stay for to long. But we ate lunch, toured the visitors center, cemetery, and temple grounds. then got back on the bus. I can't remember where we stayed at that night but it was in a Motel 8 near Independence Missouri.
Winter Quarter's Temple
                                     
Tuesday July 10th:
    We woke up at 6:30, got on the bus and drove to the Community of Christ Temple. We went inside it and saw all the different things they have and do. It was weird how they described our church. After we went across to our visitors center. I felt some much more comfortable there. It was weird because I didn't mean to compare the two but I couldn't help but notice how differently I felt being in their Temple compared to ours. Side Note-- Missouri is like stepping back into the 90's. We ate lunch at the visitors center, and somehow I talked the Smith's into letting Kristy and I ride with them. (They rented a car back in Omaha, Nebraska) After lunch we went to the Kansas City Temple for a picture. Very pretty temple. We picked up Morgan and brought her into the car with us. The best thing about the car was it went SO MUCH FASTER than the bus. We stopped at McDonald and got coke, Ice cream, and S more treats. Our next stop was Liberty Jail. We went inside and saw the jail and listened to the presentation about it all. It was a really cool place. 
  Far West was the next destination. We got there and dropped Shelley off to help with dinner while Kristy, Morgan, Bro. Smith, and I went to check into the hotels. Side Note-- In Missouri they don't have mountains, they have hills. And Bro. Smith liked to go fast over these hills. It was like our own little roller coaster :) We also found a dirt road and did a little drifting and such. Super fun little break from the whole group. We went back to Far west where we ate dinner, took pictures and had a talk from the bishop. That place was really really pretty. I felt very comfortable there, almost like I had been there before. We got to the hotels before the bus so we played a little prank on Morgan. Back at lunch we had chicken salad sandwiches, and Kristy and I both happen to Love them. So we put two in my backpack, which sat in the car ALL DAY LONG. Once we got to the hotel I opened my bag and it stunk so bad, and I didn't want them to stink up our room so we ran them across the hall to Morgan's room. She walked back into her room and said it stunk, but by this time my sleep deprived brain forgot all about why it stunk! Haha They all just got used to the smell I guess! haha 
   That night everybody was SUPER hyper. We walked to Walmart and played in the hotel lobby. Played another prank on Morgan haha. Everyone was showering in her room so we told her she could come shower in ours. We were watching friends and Kristy turns to me and says "Wouldn't it be funny if when she turns off the shower we turn off the lights and run out of the room?" So we did...I'll let ya watch the video. The first part we had the camera upside down so just listen to it. (it won't let me upload it so go to my Facebook page and watch it) 
Where the Independence Temple will be 
Outside the Community of Christ Temple
Some Wall art inside the CofC Temple


Inside Liberty Jail
More Wall art

Far West Temple Sit
The Community of Christ Temple









Our Awesome Bishopric! 
Outside the Kansas City Temple
Ready....
JUMP!! 
Playing in the Chrysler 300
Bryan and I 
The Group outside the Kansas City Temple



They all just kept sitting on me!! 

I think Tuesday was one of my favorite days. I was so glad we were able to ride with Shelley and Brian. They pretty much saved my sanity even if we drove them crazy!