Monument Of Women

Next stop, monument to women.

Now this I remember from our first visit here.

Joseph and Emma, he loved her so much.

"Women in Prayer"

"Talents"

This is such a tribute to women, makes me proud to be a part.

"Courtship"

"First Steps"

A mother preparing her son for a mission, for life.

"Joyful Moment"

"In Her Mother's Footstep's"

"Teaching With Love"

And my personal favorite, quilting.  I love the way the quilt looks

so real, even made out of bronze.

"Fulfillment"

These trumpet flowers are huge, I feel like I'm a tiny creature
 in a land of giants.

"Woman Learning"

They have their own Christus.

And this marvelous statue of Joseph Smith and 

the "first vision".

Back In Time

Breakfast was ready and served every morning.  We didn't even

get that when we stayed at the hotels in the past.

They served waffles one morning, breakfast casserole and pancakes.

The tables nicely set each morning.

After our morning training, we stepped back in time.

First we stopped by the blacksmith's, he told us all about how

they made the wagons and their wheels and what they were 

allowed to take along on the journey.

We loved this guy, he was quite a character.  He was also in the

review last night, but he taught us all kinds of things.

 The wheels were made out of wood and then the metal heated and bent 

to form around the wheel to make it strong and last the trip.

He was full of knowledge and he shared it with us in a 

very fun way.

Then he made us a mini horse shoe, to show how they heat the

iron and bend it, cool it, then stamp it.  Then he asked who had a

birthday in August and several of us raised our hands, then he asked

what day of the month and mine was closest to his and so I got the

horseshoe.  We all received one at dinner last night so I gave it

to President Rasband's granddaughter.  She was very excited.

Then we moved on to Brigham's house, I love this rocking bench.

I wonder if we could figure out how to make one, it would be 

great for our grand babies.

They even had a marble game, just like ours.  They called

the game,  duck, duck, goose.

These dishes were restored.  They were found in pieces, but a 

gentleman put them back together piece by piece, then reglazed 

them to full restoration.

Brigham Young didn't like the wood that was in the home

 so he had it repainted to look like a different kind of wood.

This is the room where the brethren would meet,
discussing matters of the church.

This portrait was painted of Brigham and he insisted that the

bust of Joseph Smith be painted in the background.

The well and cellar were from the original homestead.

Our next stop was the printing press.  We learned so many interesting 

things there.  This is where they published the Nauvoo Neighbor.

We learned all about the way they placed the letters and put in the fillers.

This is the actual press.  The missionaries demonstrated how it worked.

All the letters are placed upside down and backward, so they
had to be very careful about what letters they pulled and how they
placed them.  That's how they got the saying, "mind your p's and q's".

Ding bats are decorative fillers for the paper.  They told us that 

"ding bats" are pretty and take up space.  So if someone calls you a 

ding bat, well, there you go.

We were on our way to the car when we saw this coming

up the street.  A horse drawn wagon with two funny missionaries

driving the team from last night's Nauvoo Rendezvous. 

Nauvoo Review

Tonight we were treated to a rousing rendition of

"Nauvoo Rendezvous"

It was very entertaining

even more so, when you realize these are just simple, humble missionaries.

Serving in a very different way.

Many of them can't sing, but they do it anyway.

They have sickness and ailments, but they plug along.

They can't act, but they learn their lines and do their best.

Even the men, so cute.  You learn to love them, all in a short

60 minutes.  Now that's some kind of mission.

Nauvoo Temple Session

We had meetings in the morning and then walked over

to the temple for a very special session.

I snatched this picture on the way over to the temple, 

I love it, it really tells a story.

The temple president is from Salt Lake, President Condie,

he was the seventy that set me apart as a full time missionary.

He took us to a room next to the baptistry and talked about the

way the temple was built and all the sacrifices that were made.

There is a beautiful spiral staircase that goes from the main floor 

to the top floor, lots and lots of stairs.  I walked them twice by the time

I went down to the baptistry and up to get my temple clothes on, 

then down to the session, then back up to get dressed again.

We rode the elevator to meet up with our husbands in the chapel 

and when the doors opened a wonderful group of siblings got

off.  They were on their way to be sealed to their parents.

That got me started, then when we met up in the chapel, there

we were with all the mission presidents and their wives, dressed in

white and President Condie shared with us another story about 

Joseph Smith and that was it, I cried throughout the entire session.

It was very special, a once in a lifetime experience.

That night we were treated to another wonderful meal, very professional,

and all done by the members and senior missionaries.