Sunday August 16, 2020- Goodbye Indiana- Hello Nauvoo, Illinois

                                                                      Nauvoo Temple                                                                                                                                                                                          Today we drove from Knightstown Indiana to Nauvoo Illinois.  By car this would have taken about 5 hours and 45 minutes. But, since we are in a trailer and we drive slow and we have to make stops, it took us a little over 8 hours. We knew that it would take us this long so we left at 5 AM this morning. For some reason when we drive in the morning hours, the time goes way faster then when we drive in the afternoon hours.  I don't know why. So we try to do our heavy traveling in the dawning hours.   We were able to drive until we were about an hour away from Nauvoo before the kids woke up and were hungry for breakfast.   This is a huge perk to driving with a motor home or a trailer.  All we had to do for breakfast was pull over in a safe spot and eat cereal from inside our trailer.  Having our own kitchen on the road and our own bathroom makes traveling so much easier and cleaner.  One thing I was excited about this trip was that we crossed the time zone again which meant that we gained one hour of sleep:)))))).  We arrived in Nauvoo around noonish and checked in to our new campground.                                                                            Our new campground is called Camp Nauvoo and is seriously GREAT. It doesn't have a pool or planned activities for the kids or anything like that.  But, it is surrounded by a forest and has a spiritual feel to it.  We have a cement slab and full hookups.  There are only 8 RV spots and as of today we are the only ones here.  We are surrounded by large trees and green fields.  It is quiet and peaceful.  There is a field right next to us that Asher and I played Frisbee in. We have so much room that we opened our side balcony.   I love it here.         This face 😂    Every time I pull out the camera he makes this face.                                                                                             Around 4 PM all the kids were hungry for dinner so Scotty and I got to it.  I made Chicken Cordon Bleu and Scotty was going to make his famous french fries.  Scotty got the outdoor grill all set up and poured the oil in the pot and turned on the grill to warm up the oil.  Some how from that point we all decided that it was time to do our family Sacrament meeting and Scotty forgot that he had the oil heating.  We did our short meeting and then Scotty went out side to cook his french fries. He opened the door and froze.  Graham went out and froze.  I was asking what happened. No one responded.  So I jumped up to see what was going on.  When I looked outside, I saw the pot with flames about 5 feet high raging a few feet from our patio.  A grease fire.  Yikes!!!!  I yelled at Asher to get the baking soda (I happen to have a Costco size bag under my sink).  We gave it to Scotty and he threw the baking soda on it until it was out.  Oh boy!!!  That could have been bad.  Looking back I am so grateful that we didn't start our trailer on fire or anything else.  Phew.  The pot is destroyed and it was my only one.  :( but it's OK because my trailer didn't burn down.  After the adrenaline from the fire worn down, when we ate dinner we said a family thank you prayer to Heavenly Father that nothing bad happened with the fire.           It was about 6:30 PM at this point and we all wanted to go see the Nauvoo Temple.  The temple is about a mile away from us.  This temple is a replica of the one that Joseph Smith and the early saints built.  Unfortunately,  angry mobs burned down the temple that the early saints built.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints rebuilt this temple and dedicated it on June 27, 2002.  From what I understand they made this one just like the one that the saints and Joseph Smith built.  This temple is stunning.  It faces the Mississippi river.  As with all temples of our church, there is a quiet, reverence that surrounds it.  I felt love and peace while walking around the temple.  

I LOVE THIS PICTURE 

                                             Across from the front gates of the temple is this statue. On the left is Joseph Smith and on the right is his brother Hyrum Smith.  The statue is called "Calm as a Summers Morning".  Joseph Smith was persecuted ever since he had the First Vision.  If you don't know what the First Vision is, click HERE  This statue is of Joseph and Hyrum heading to Carthage Jail where they were unjustly killed by mobs.  Joseph knew they were going to die at Carthage.  Records say that he road away on his horse as calm as a summers morning to his death.  They did nothing to deserve death other than re-establish the church that Christ established when he was here on the earth.  They died martyrs.  I love these two brothers. They are the best examples of how brothers should treat each other.   I love that Hyrum stayed by Joseph's side in all the good and the bad.  Hyrum supported and believed in Joseph.  I teach my two boys about these two men and encourage them to be like Joseph and Hyrum.                                                                                              

Our last stop for today was Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois.  If you don't know the story here is a brief VIDEO    This is the jail that mobs rushed up the stairs and killed Joseph and Hyrum while injuring others.  Joseph was shot and fell out of the second story window that is in the picture below.                                                                               The gates were open so we had the opportunity to walk around the building.  I will forever be grateful for everything that Joseph Smith did to establish the kingdom of God here on earth.  I love him and feel his spirit whenever I study about him.  I know he was a true prophet of God and I sustain him and all his efforts.