So on the old blogger it used to be that you had to load your pictures last to first so that it would come out in the right order. Apparently not so on this version, and since they are already in perfectly reversed order, you're just going to have to deal with listening to my day in reverse order. Sorry.
What a day we had! Bro. Mautz and I were commenting that it feels like we left Virginia a LONG time ago, when really it was only yesterday. Very strange. We finished the last leg of our voyage today with a 6-hour drive. It didn't feel too long, even though most of that drive was spent driving through Illinois, which is not the most interesting place (I'll give it a one-up on Idaho, however!). But alas, I'm getting ahead of myself; we're supposed to be going in reverse order.
So I'll start here: with the view from my room. Yes, I'm serious. Yes, I have THE best room in Nauvoo right now, hands down. Yes, I am spoiled rotten.
This is the view from our balcony. The Nauvoo temple is just stunning, seriously. We were saying how it's almost dream-like, even just the fact that it exists at all! Since the Mautzes both grew up in Illinois, they can both remember coming here for different activities when it was just a field of weeds and a crumbled foundation. What a blessing it is to have this beautiful temple restored! When it's all lit up like that at night, it's breathtaking.
Another view from our balcony. You can't really get a bad shot from where we are.
After dinner, we headed back to our hotel and popped in Pride and Prejudice. There a nice sitting room with two couches and a TV just off the balcony. Bro. Mautz lasted about 10 minutes into the movie; I lasted a good half an hour. I should have warned them how good of an evening movie watcher I am. Sis. Mautz woke me up when it was over. Good thing I've seen that movie about ten times already :)
We ate dinner tonight at, you guessed it, another buffet! We're all going to gain like 20 pounds from this trip. We didn't know it was a buffet before going in though, just to be fair. It was fun because there was a whole group of french people who had just ridden in on their motorcycles from Louisiana (random, much?) and Bro. Mautz was able to translate for them a bit. So fun. Oh, and the food was so good. I had the best corn I've ever eaten in my whole life. Sis. Mautz said, "well, we are in corn country." I guess it makes sense. She helped herself to some fried chicken livers; I declined. Afterwards we went and got some custard. I got chocolate, and it was delicious. Yeah, welcome back, 20 extra pounds.
Sis. Mautz waiting outside the place where we ate while Bro. Mautz helped one of the Frenchmen deal with some AC problems in his room.
We went on a little (3.5 miles, something like that. Def wore the wrong shoes for that!) walk around historic Nauvoo. It was nice to finally get out of the car and stretch our legs for a while! Plus it was so neat to be able to walk around and just try to imagine how everything must have been like back when.
Along this little pathway that leads right up to the river, they have quotes taken from the journals of the saints who had to leave Nauvoo. It was really touching to read some of their experiences and just know how much they sacrificed and yet how much faith they had that the Lord would lead them. Bro. Mautz was saying how it's really not so much different from the trials we face today--we all have to go through hard things (obviously in much different ways from those early saints), and we just pray to the Lord for the strength to get through it. I have to say though, it's interesting how I find that I would take the trials that I do have over someone else's. We are all tested in different ways, and the Lord obviously knows what He's doing with our lives.
Literally, this is the view from our balcony. Who are we?! We seriously got up to the room, and we were all just giggling incredulously. We definitely have the best room in town. So awesome!! The temple is even more beautiful in real life!
We already know what we're having for breakfast. :)
A little taste of the Mississippi River. It is BEAUTIFUL! I just love water, I guess, and this river is just so majestic! It instantly makes me think of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Random? I never realized before that Nauvoo is literally right on the river. You just follow the river straight up from Carthage to Nauvoo, and you can see the spire of the temple from miles away.
Here we are at Carthage jail. There's a statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith just outside of the jail. To the right here is the little visitor's center where they show a little movie about the prophet's life. We seriously came at the right time of year because we were some of the only people there.
After taking a tour through the jail and seeing the room where the prophet was martyred, you go out into this little courtyard. You can see the jail in this picture, and it was from that second-story window that Joseph Smith fell after being shot. I just thought that it was so fitting that this would be the last little sign. I especially love it because this is a scripture that I have had memorized since going to EFY in 2002 (10 years ago? wow). It just sums up perfectly the entire purpose of that great prophet's life, and the cause for which he gave his life: his testimony of Jesus Christ.
"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing witness that he is the Only Begotten of the Father--
That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."
-D&C 76:22-24
What beautiful words! And what a beautiful testimony. What better testimony can we give than the reality of the Savior? "He lives!"
Cute Sis. Mautz
The front of the jail. What is so crazy is that Carthage is this cute, tiny, peaceful little town. It's almost impossible to imagine that in such a calm place, a black-face-painted mob could appear, storm this little building, and do so much harm. The one thing that our missionary guide said that I thought was interesting was that the men in that mob believed that if they killed Joseph Smith, the Church would wither and die. Well, obviously that wasn't the case, and just as Joseph said, "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing." And so we continue onward! 14-some odd-million members later, and we can see that this is truly the work of the Lord.
The bullet holes in the door and the window that Joseph Smith fell out of. Bro. Mautz said that you used to be able to see the blood stains on the floors, but apparently they've been cleaned.
The first little sign leading up to Carthage jail.
Lisa asked me what Illinois looks like. Here it is:
Basically it's really flat. There are lots of farmlands and barns and silos and it's all very picturesque. I love corn and American flags, so obviously I'm a fan. :) One thing that was funny was that we saw this field of wind... I was about to say wind mills, but is that the word? I'm not sure all of a sudden. Anyway, it was funny because there was literally one that was moving. Otherwise they were all completely motionless. Maybe you had to be there... It was fun to drive past the towns where both Bro. and Sis Mautz grew up (about 35 miles apart from each other) in Illinois. We meditated a bit on how much her life changed after joining the Church, and also the conversion of Bro. Mautz's parents. How grateful I am for all of those missionaries who led these two wonderful people to where they are today!
By the way, I forgot to mention this little treat in my hotel room last night. I'm just not sure it compares with what I have tonight though (remember that view? oh yeah...)!
Tomorrow we have a busy day of wedding festivities (an elder from our mission is getting married tomorrow, hence the whole reason that the Mautzes decided to go on this trip), so I should probably get to bed!
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