Nauvoo Trip Part 1

For our big, family trip this summer we decided to go to Nauvoo! I imagined taking our family on this church history trip in a few years when they were a bit older, but Travis's partner, Quin Gardner, is playing Joseph in the Nauvoo pageant and we did not want to miss it! His wife is playing Emma and their two boys are also performing. He was gone for two, whole months over the summer, which was quite an undertaking for Travis and the office, but Travis is just that kind of guy to sacrifice for the benefit of others. 

We flew to Kansas City on Thursday, June 30, arriving late at night. It was Olive's first time on a plane and Tanner's first that he could remember so we had two, very excited children! Tanner pulled out the paper that shows diagrams of people putting on oxygen face masks and asked what they were doing. I said, "Oh that's just in case of an emergency." He paused and thought about it then asked, "Like if someone toots?" 

Haha!

A display in the airport about historic, Weston, Missouri caught someone's eye!

We took a shuttle to the hotel nearby and our rental car got dropped off the next morning. Let's go, minivan!

DAY 1- Friday

Our first stop was Wal-mart to buy water bottles and snacks. Travis was checking out when I remembered something, so Olive went with me and we ended up leaving the store after the boys had all gone to the car. We were walking through the parking lot and a fun Taylor Swift song was playing over the loudspeakers so Olive and I started dancing. A lady walked past and then called out to us, "I want that with my daughter someday!!" It made us both smile. 

First stop, Liberty Jail! The last time I was here, I was about 22, visiting Grandma Ann and Grandpa Jess on their mission! I don't think much has changed. I Facetimed Grandma as we were walking in to show her the front room. We started there with a presentation by the sister missionaries, then were taken into the main room with the jail replica. 

I found my favorite scripture!!

And I recognized this picture from my Grandma's house. 

Then we drove on to the Independence visitor's center. 

It's across the street from the "witches hat"... the Community of Christ's temple. We have funny, family memories of visiting this when I was a teenager. Apparently, I harassed the tour guide about why they give women the priesthood. And little David tried to blow out the eternal flame prayer candle. Mostly, I just remember an emptiness inside. I wanted to take our family, but boo... it wasn't open! I guess since COVID they are only open certain days and you have to apply for a tour and have it scheduled in advance. Plus they charge you now. 

The Independence visitor's center hasn't changed much either. The main floor displays are very similar to some of the bigger temple visitor's centers. Like how the Mesa temple visitor center used to be. Books of Mormon in many different languages, touch screen TV's with trivia quizzes or short videos on gospel principles. We took a short tour downstairs where the sister missionaries talked about pioneer life back then and what the saints went through while living in Missouri. But by far my favorite part... and this was possibly my favorite part of the whole trip.. was a video they showed at the end. It's called Growth of the Church. It starts with scenes from early church history and quickly goes through a timeline of events all through the decades until present day... from temples being built, prophets speaking, missionaries serving, humanitarian volunteers cleaning, etc.all while a hymn is being played in the background. It completely captured my attention. It felt like time stood still and I could barely breathe. The Spirit filled the room and surrounded my heart. It ended with this quote from Joseph Smith, " The truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independent til it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear til the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." I just sat with tears running down my cheeks. I was unprepared what a powerful experience it would be. I learned later that this video is not online or just available to watch. It's only at a select few visitor center's around the world. In my opinion, it's completely worth a flight to Kansas City.

There were a few games for the kids to play and I was DYING when Collin wanted to play checkers then set his board up like this. What in the what?! How does my child not know this?

We walked across the street to meander around the witches hat. I'm telling you, there is even a weird feeling in the parking lot.

We weren't sure what to do for dinner, but I found good reviews for what turned out to be a dive, Mexican restaurant. No complaints. The queso had us all in a good mood!

Then we drove to Richmond to see the Monument of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. 

Couldn't help but notice the interesting symbols on the gravestones.

This monument to Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer was dedicated in 1911. All three of them left the church, but none of them denied their testimonies. Oliver and Martin eventually ended up returning.

Then we drove to the Monument to the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon which is off the beaten path on some private property near the graves of two of the witnesses... Christian and Peter Whitmer. It was dedicated in 2011. We really should have done this after Liberty Jail because it's in Liberty, but oh well. 

An interesting difference in the experiences of all the witnesses is that the three were shown the plates by an angel but were not allowed to touch them. The eight did not get to see an angel... they were shown the gold plates by Joseph Smith, but they were allowed to touch them. I asked the kids which experience they would have preferred to have. 

We had had a somewhat early dinner, so by now we were definitely ready for dessert. We went really foreign and got some Andy's Frozen Custard. :) The temple was visible, just a few minutes away, so we went to walk around the grounds after that. 

Some swimming at the hotel pool ended the night! I think they splashed every drop out of there!

DAY 2- Saturday

There is a Six Flags Amusement Park in Kansas City that I thought would make for a fun day to spice up a week long church history trip. Originally, I had planned on us going to the water park portion but rain was slated for the day... boo. We waited a bit at the hotel to see if it would clear up then decided to just do the rollercoaster part of the park. The bad weather seemed to keep crowds away for the first half of the day which was great!

As we were walking to the next ride, we could hear a live band singing country music on a stage to an empty, outdoor auditorium. Olive and I started b-boppin around to "Piece of My Heart" by Faith Hill as we walked by. I felt bad for the singers so we walked in and danced to a few numbers while they sang. Collin was having NONE of it. I mean, how embarrassing. He kept walking, pretending to not know us, haha. Weston and Tanner didn't disown us, but they sat like lumps on a log on the benches. Hooray for my daughter! We had a great time together and the singers were visibly happy they had an audience! 

Here's Collin eventually making his way back when he realized we weren't coming anytime soon. Teenagers ;)

Splish splash on the log ride!

Might be my favorite picture of the day.

I hate, I mean HATE free fall rides. Really happy they have each other for this. 

They caught sight of the giant, free fall swing that costs extra and I was happy to pay for it if they were willing. They were willing! We were thoroughly entertained watching them! Collin got to pull the rip cord. Woohoo! They are brave!

DAY 3- Sunday

When we were at Andy's on the first day I saw a couple in church clothes I assumed had just come from the temple so I struck up a conversation with them. They were super friendly and we found out they went to the New Mark ward. So on Sunday, we looked it up and it met at 10:30am... perfect! We had breakfast at the hotel and then enjoyed testimony meeting with that ward. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming... I felt bad admitting we were just visiting and not moving in! You could tell they would have loved a new family! 

Driving away we caught sight of this unusual playground! Hahaha! Giant animal statues everywhere. 

Then we drove a little under an hour to the Far West temple historic site. I remember visiting this as a teenager with my family. It looks exactly the same. Even down to the enormous hay rolls in the fields next to it that the kids wanted to climb. Good bathrooms nearby too, fyi! 

In August 1836, Latter-day Saints began to establish a stake of Zion at Far West. By 1838, Far West was home to 4,900 Saints. They began to build a temple in July 1838. They were forced to abandon the place the same year. After they left, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a few others returned and dedicated a temple site there, in obedience to a commandment from the Lord (see Doctrine and Covenants 115:11; 118:5). This was also the location where the Lord revealed the full name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and established the law of tithing.

Everyone thought it was cool to reach under and touch the cornerstones. Hope that's kosher!

This cornerstone represents the Aaronic Priesthood so we had our family rep stand by!

Then it was about 40 minutes to Adam-ondi-ahman. 

Again, I remember this place as a teenager and from when I visited my grandparents on their mission and nothing has changed. 

Spring Hill was named Adam-ondi-Ahman by the Prophet Joseph Smith, as indicated by the Lord in revelation (see Doctrine and Covenants 116). Five weeks later, on June 28, 1838, the third stake of Zion was organized there. An 1835 revelation identified the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman as the place where Adam blessed his posterity after leaving the Garden of Eden (see Doctrine and Covenants 107:53–57).Adam-ondi-Ahman is the site of a future grand council where Jesus Christ will meet with His stewards of all dispensations and receive back the keys of the kingdom in preparation for His Second Coming. Only those called to the meeting will know of its occurrence.

We stopped and took pictures by the fields near the entrance, then drove a little ways to get to Spring Hill and take pictures there. From there we drove the final 3 1/2 hours into Nauvoo, stopping in Quincy at Sam's Club to stock up on some food for dinners during the week. 

The hay bales often had American flags painted on them!

We dropped the food off at our rental house then found the Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds. I remember this cemetery as a teenager because it was the first time I'd seen fireflies. It felt really grown over and in disrepair when we showed up. There were big spiders everywhere that had Olive in a tizzy. 

Then we drove into the heart of Nauvoo right as the sun was setting. The temple was so beautiful to see! We chatted with a few other families strolling around and studied the statue of Joseph and Hyrum. Andddd we found fireflies!! The kids had a great time running through the fields trying to catch them. 

We did it! Time to start Nauvoo!!