The City Beautiful

We went to Nauvoo today and I was finally blessed to walk down Parley street, something I had hoped to do with Matthew.  It was so sweet and I thought about him the whole time.  Parley Street was all I had hoped it would be .  The spirit was strong as we walked and read the places along the way.  Standing and looking out over the Mississippi River invoked a bit of melancholy and pride that these before us had such courage, faith, and hope.  We returned in the evening to see the performing missionaries share different stories.  The evening was beautiful and sweet but the personal family experience was far more spiritual.

Before the Trail of Hope We went to Brigham Young’s home and heard stories of his family and saw where they met for the twelve to lead the church.  From there we went to the Wainwright to learn how wagon wheels were made, the Blacksmith and Farrier to learn about smithing and horseshoeing.  This wasn’t really new to me I have seen my father and brothers do it many times.  

 

We also went to the Seventy Hall where we were given callings to dispel rumors and raise money for the trip west.  This hall would have had a cultural hall on the ground floor and a meeting hall upstairs.

 

We had a second tour Thursday afternoon.  It was interesting but not as spiritual as the first and i could have been finished after Parley Street so everything else was a bonus.  We toured the bakery and the home of  the gunsmith Browning,  Both were interesting but not particularly spiritual.  The bakery had one of two remaining plates commissioned to raise funds for the church.

We finished the day with a program from the performing missionaries, an evening trip down Parley Street and a stop at the temple.   the temple was beautiful at night but we had no idea what we missed at night until we returned the next day to look out over the river.  As we walked down Parley Street looking back at the temple was bittersweet as we were reminded how much they had left behind.

I didn’t write Wednesday because we spent 8 hours in the car driving from Columbus to Nauvoo.  Becca, Brent and the kids spent the morning visiting Brent’s Aunt and Uncle.  We drove with the triplets and listened to the book “Dad is Fat”.  It was a good time.