Today everyone woke up and had a quick breakfast and went on a Wagon Tour of Nauvoo. I wasn’t able to go as I woke up sick and didn’t join the crowd until after Lunch. Clark and my Father In-Law Howard were kind enough to take me on the same tour in the car after the play we went to at the Visitors Center called “High Hopes and Riverboats” put on by 17 & 18 year old Church Member volunteer’s. The tour was AMAZING! It took us to all the reconstructed original homes both Log, Frame & Brick Homes. I was confused by how they were original if they were rebuilt, but Clark explained that they rebuilt these homes & stores from the original foundation still in the ground and by journal descriptions and some pictures & art. They also tried to recreate the same materials as close to as possible & build them in the same fashion as the Pioneer’s would have.
After the tour we all met up for dinner and after dinner we headed over to the Nauvoo Pageant. Before the pageant started there were several events that we could all join in on, such as: Walking on Stilts, Riding in a Handcart, Sawing competition, Dancing & other activities and games that represented the activities that the children & adult pioneer’s would do.
The Pageant was absolutely amazing!!! I learned so much during this pageant that I’ll never forget. I realized that during this life we’re bombarded by deceiving feelings and struggles that it’s a battle to learn to discern the good from the bad. The good feelings from the bad feelings. Before Clark and I left for this Reunion, I was struggling with “Could we afford this trip, should we go? I don’t feel good about this.” What I realized that the feelings that I had, I felt scared. I honestly didn’t know why I was feeling so shaken about the decision because we worked the numbers in our books and realized that we could afford this trip (barely) so – why was I feeling so shaken? Well during the pageant and the Spirit so strong during it I realized the reason why. ‘Someone’ didn’t want me to be here. ‘Someone’ knew that my testimony would grow and *I* would grow stronger spiritually. With this feeling I learned more how to discern the GOOD feelings from the BAD feelings. Feelings from the Spirit (Good) will always be peaceful and you’ll never feel scared. Feelings from the Devil (Bad) will make you feel scared/uneasy.
33
aFear not to do
bgood, my sons, for whatsoever ye
csow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow
dgood ye shall also reap good for your
ereward.
34 Therefore,
fear not, little
aflock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are
bbuilt upon my rock, they cannot prevail.
• • •
I am SO happy that we went. I do hope that Clark’s and My children are watching us from Heaven and learning from our actions as we are trying our best. I hope they see that although we sometimes make mistakes, we try our best to overcome and learn from those mistakes and trials and struggles.
This tour of Nauvoo started off with an amazing foundation of a boost to our testimonies and it only grew stronger from there. 
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Clark and I flew in to the Chicago Midway Airport at Mid-night Monday July 28 (actually EARLY Tuesday 29th) where we were greeted by my Brother In-Law Spencer, my other Brother In-Law Jeff & My Father In-Law Howard. We drove to a nearby Hotel where we slept the night and drove to Nauvoo (4 hours away) around noon the next day. Before we left all the ladies went out to get the groceries to fill the 3 condo’s where we stayed in Nauvoo so we wouldn’t have to drive out of town to get them. To give you an idea how large this group is as of now, there are 14 Adults & 15 Grand-kids. Each condo had 2 bedrooms, 1 with a Queen bed and the other with 2 twin beds. They all had a kitchen and family room and 2 bathrooms. NICE condo’s!
When we arrived it was slightly overcast but the journey there was not what we expected. Everything was calm and sunny until we were 45 min away from Nauvoo. We had no idea the area had been flooded before and in the distance we saw MONSTROUS clouds! Clark and I having been living in LA for a year and half have really missed lightening and thunder storms and this excited us to see this big storm up ahead. Naive me, not knowing how bad mid-west storms can be really didn’t get it until it hit. And BOY did it hit all at once! This storm caught up to us when we were right in between two HUGE bodies of water with little homes with high level watermarks to show where the water was not too long ago. The two bodies of water were about 2 feet away from the road and 1 foot below (not that far away with the heavy rain falling at a rapid speed). We had a semi-truck in front of us so we had no idea how much farther we had until we could get to some higher ground. While waiting as several cars were passing us in the other lane the gusts of wind that accompanied the heavy rain & lightening were shaking the car from side to side. WOAH! It was fun and VERY scary at the same time. We all said a prayer aloud as our hearts were beating at a rapid speed and soon thereafter the semi in front of us started to move and we were led to higher ground but very slippery streets with not much depth of vision with the buckets of rain pouring across our windshield.
The rain lasted all the way until we were about 5 min away from Nauvoo. The heavy rain turned to light rain as we pulled into the parking lot of the lobby of our Condo unit and by the time we unpacked everything the storm had past. BEAUTIFUL Nauvoo — we had arrived.
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Last night we arrived at Clark’s Parents House in Detroit Michigan. That is an 8 hour drive from Nauvoo, and WHEW! We are so relieved to have a few days here to lay back and chill before flying back to LA. This part of the country is so beautiful and normally I really dislike driving, but in the midwest – driving around with all the farmland scenery is so beautiful to look at that it makes the long drive not quite so bad.
I’ve been so thrilled to see all your comments while I’ve been away Thank you all so much!
I have several posts planned and I’ll try to get to all of them soon. Clark is downloading all the pictures as I type this and I’ll try to post those images as soon as I am able. It’s so weird to be out of the rhythm of blogging everyday – but at the same time it’s been an interesting break to not be on the computer as much since being on the computer is my day-job back home. 
I looked at my Google Reader and WOAH! I have 150 blog posts to catch up on. YEESH! You all have been BUSY!
While at Nauvoo we were moving, moving moving non-stop that this Sunday has been full of naps. SO TIRED that I want to write EVERYTHING about our trip all at once- but that’s impossible. This will take at least a week to write everything out. I’ll start with “Nauvoo Part1″ and go from there in order that the events happened.
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I am sitting in the 6ft by 6ft computer room in our Nauvoo Hotel/Condo computer room typing this post from a very old Dell computer still running Windows 2000. Yeesh! At least the internet is fast and the computer is free to use
We have been SO BUSY! Non-stop touring and site seeing! SUCH A TESTIMONY BUILDER! I am so thankful we were able to make it out here and I have been reminded of the true meaning of being with family and why it is so important to stay close. I have missed family and didn’t realize how much until I re-connected with them. This trip has sparked an interest in both Clark and I in moving out in this part of the country. The historic buildings – their beauty and just the richness of history in these parts is so magical and romantic. There is a stirring inside you that just warms your soul and makes you feel like a kid again reading a favorite book about the colonial times. I LOVE it!
I feel different. I feel better – both physically and mentally. I feel happy. REALLY happy, and I think that has a lot to do with being around family again. I am happy with Clark, and I am happy with my friends in CA… but it is a different happy. 
I have been learning so much about Faith, Trust, Love & History while out here – that I think I’ve fallen in love with Nauvoo and what it has been teaching me in the smallest of ways. I’ve learned how to discern feelings, trust in the Lord & those around me and how to be confident in my Faith. Joseph Smith died for what he believed in willingly. He knew exactly what was going to happen to him, whether he was scared or not- he went forward brave and bold. That is a testimony builder right there – knowing that a man who you’re following KNOWS what he saw and will die for his Religion just as he would die for any member of his family or friends. That is amazing.
The sites we’ve seen so far are:
- A brief tour of the city, also drove down what used to be called the ‘Trail of Tears’ but is now the ‘Trail of Hope’ that leads to the Mississippi River where the Saints left Nauvoo on a 4 hour notice. When we drove by I jumped out of the car and ran to the River to put my feet in the water. I wanted to feel that moment and it was breath taking to stand in the very place where one of my ancestors had to leave his & her home in the middle of winter with their family. I picked up a rock for my Mom as she loves to collect rocks from different parts of the world.
- We did an Endowment Session in the Nauvoo Temple (GORGEOUS Temple!)
- Carthage Jail
- Nauvoo Pageant
- About 3 plays/shows
Tomorrow we plan to have an in depth tour of Joseph Smith’s Red Brick Store & Homes. We plan to go and see the Emma Smith movie and see another play and any other sites we may have missed.
There is so much more I want to share with you all, but I need to get going and meet with family for more fun filled events!
OH! And I plan to share the story of our Near Death experience on our way here to Nauvoo!!! WOW!
Also, pictures will come soon…SEVERAL! Clark has been doing a FANTASTIC job in taking pictures! I’ll update again as soon as possible.
I’m having SO MUCH FUN!!!!
p.s. Thank you Claire & Eric for taking care of our kitties while we’re gone!
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Deleted other post.
Thought we weren’t going.
Now we are.
Must run to go to catch the plane now.
Be back in 1 week.
(I’m going to Nauvoo)
I’ll blog as soon as I’m able.
See ya!
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The Pageant was absolutely amazing!!! I learned so much during this pageant that I’ll never forget. I realized that during this life we’re bombarded by deceiving feelings and struggles that it’s a battle to learn to discern the good from the bad. The good feelings from the bad feelings. Before Clark and I left for this Reunion, I was struggling with “Could we afford this trip, should we go? I don’t feel good about this.” What I realized that the feelings that I had, I felt scared. I honestly didn’t know why I was feeling so shaken about the decision because we worked the numbers in our books and realized that we could afford this trip (barely) so – why was I feeling so shaken? Well during the pageant and the Spirit so strong during it I realized the reason why. ‘Someone’ didn’t want me to be here. ‘Someone’ knew that my testimony would grow and *I* would grow stronger spiritually. With this feeling I learned more how to discern the GOOD feelings from the BAD feelings. Feelings from the Spirit (Good) will always be peaceful and you’ll never feel scared. Feelings from the Devil (Bad) will make you feel scared/uneasy.
