Father's Day in Nauvoo 6/19/2016

This is the litte house/cabin that Laura arranged for us to stay in.

It was right along the Mississippi River and just 3 miles out of Nauvoo.

This is the huge lily pad at the bottom of our lane. There was a full choir of  

frogs singing after sun down, but I never saw a single frog. :(

Big barges were a daily sight as well as small recreational vessels.

This gives you an idea of how big this river is.

The road our cabin was on was a dead end, but it was 

beautiful enough to walk down and see it.

 NOTE: Sunday we attended Church in the Nauvoo 1^st ward on Father’s Day.  

 It was the first time I have ever seen two banquet tables set up in the

 cultural hall of the chapel as additional sacrament tables to accommodate 

the crowd.  It was so wonderful to be there and feel the Spirit and excitement 

of the group.   After our traditional Sunday dinner menu, (baked chicken, potatoes 

and squash…we even had Jello! J ) Karrie had us all gather around to tell one thing 

we loved about our father.  That turned out to be a really sweet experience.  

Malea took care of the heat of the day activities.

This is a doggie pile on Colton...balloon style.

We had a lovely kitchen table center piece from then on.

There was a little bit of "electronics" as well.

 On the way home from church, Andy and Karrie’s van started to steam and smoke.   

There was a major leak in the cooling system, but luckily no damage to their engine.  

 Dad found the problem in no time, but he only had his Leatherman to work with. 

 Colton did some checking and found that many stores are open on Sunday outside 

of Utah, so Dad and Andy went to pick up the part and a pair of pliers to install it.   

The van was up and running in no time. (Ox out of the mire!)

When it cooled off a little we drove into Nauvoo just to look around and 

take in the Spirit of that place. I had to go straight to the Trail of Hope.  

I had longed to be there for so long, that I couldn't wait any longer.

This is a replica of the barges used by the Saints to cross the Mississippi.

This is the Sunday afternoon group.

This memorial lists all those driven from Nauvoo, 

including those who perished along the way.

                      Brigham and Joseph stand over-looking the       Eliza and Jessica
                       spot where the saints crossed the river. 

We took time to skip a few rocks where Parley's Street meets the River.

Our final destination was the Nauvoo temple. It was all I had imagined it would be.

 
I thought of President Hinckley’s statement.
 “Today facing west, on the bluff overlooking the city of Nauvoo…stands Joseph’s temple…In the Salt Lake valley facing east…stands Brigham’s temple, the Salk Lake Temple.  They look toward one another as book ends, between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. “

West end

Following are some details of the temple.

I love the inverted star windows.

Here is one of the famous sunstones.

Is there any question whose house this is?

Angel Moroni sounds his clarion call as he overlooks the Mississippi.

The gardens were lovely.

This is a statue entitled, "The prophet's last ride."

Perhaps the nearly completed temple was his last view of Nauvoo.

Can you name the photo bombers?

This must have been the girl's bench. (Amy, Jessica, Anna and Me.)

Nathan, Aunt Malea, Eliza and Grandpa.

A nice guy took a picture of our whole group!

The Mitchell Family 

Ben, Laura, Jason, Amy. Jessica

Anna and Ethan

Daniel, Josh, Andy, Karrie, Bradley

Nathan and Eliza.

                                  Malea and Colton                         Grandpa and Grandma           

On the way back to our cabin we met some local wild life on the road.

We were more impressed with him than he was of us.

Andy and Josh

We all took a turn on the BIG swing out back.

The swing provided hours of fun for the kids.

That night Aunt Laura and Nathan served us all ice cream.

Then we walked down to the river to watch the sun set.

Joshua

There was a rock skipping competition.

Ben and Malea won!

 

It is hard to describe my feelings as I stood on the banks of the Mississippi 

and watched the sun go down.  I hadn't seen this river until the day before, but I have 

felt drawn to it for years. A deep need felt more satisfied after this moment.

(I got to see my first fire flies that night, too!)