coStA riCa!

peace out land folk. I'll be in Costa Rica for the next week. I'll see you when I get back. Have a good weekend and Go Cougars!

The City Beaufitul: Nauvoo Trip day 3 and 4 and 5

The singles' ward field trip continues its story in Nauvoo. Our group went to the temple that morning and then had a few more hours to wander around old Nauvoo. We caught a couple more of the historical sites and then decided to take a horse/wagon ride through the rest of the town. We went back to the hotel for dinner and then came back to Old Nauvoo for the show "Rendezvous". It was pretty awesome. The senior missionaries put on a silly musical in a small theater. I LOVED it. The men would forget their lines or sing the wrong lyrics--it was very charming. We had another late night with the girls and talked about how we can accesorize more because apparently, that is the reason we're all still single. (this was an actual comment made to one of us--a little ridiculous) Sunday morning, we met for church in a grove of trees with benches. The atmosphere was nice but the bugs and woodpeckers were not. I ended up with a number of bites and am convinced I slept with a spider one night. We walked back up the hill for a group shot at the temple and then packed up camp. We walked the trail of hope on the way out of town and this was another favorite for me. The trail of hope is the trail the Saints walked as they left Nauvoo. They've posted signs with journal entries every few feet along the trail until the Mississippi River. There were some very moving and faith-promoting entries. We jumped on the bus and were in for a long drive to Iowa. We ended up stopping at a place called Mt. Pisgah--never heard of it. It was a Mormon settlement for a number of years between Nauvoo and Winter Quarters. A non-member named Bob is the owner of the land and has committed himself to learning about and preserving the land. He even showed us how to find where old structures were using metal wires--it was very cool. He could point out where every gravesite, cabin, window, door, etc...had been all over his land. It was very impressive. There were no restaurants where we were and on an earlier suggestion from Bob, he pointed us to the Methodist church in town. They were very gracious and offered to feed us that night. It was by far the best meal of the whole trip. We joined their pastor in their sanctuary and sung hymns. It was a very lovely Sunday evening. We then drove to Omaha and attemped to call it a night. As Molly and I were heading back to our room, we were greeted by the tour director and asked if we had seen two girls who were on our trip. This started a 4 hour exhaustive search that stretched into the wee hours of the early morning. At last they were found--they were in the hotel all along: accidentally given a master key and asleep in a room number that just happened to be empty and not assigned to our group. What a crazy night. However, I did not cry that I didn't get to enjoy the lovely accommodations in Omaha at the Super 8: was very glad to check out of that joint :) Monday morning I was a little past the point and really ready to get home. We had two more stops in Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters and then finally back to the airport to head home. I had an abosolutely fantastic time on this trip and was so glad to be a part of it. A big shout out to Molly without whom this trip would not have been half of what it was and another shout out to Bus #2 for keepin' it real. Until our field trip to Jerusalem.... :)

Nauvoo Wagon Ride
Nauvoo Temple
Gravestone of Emma, Joseph and Hyrum
Mississippi River (view from the Smith home)

Rendezvous! Rendezvous cast
sunset through the Illinois cornfieldsthe gang Molly, Lizzie and me
quote from Trail of Hope
Trail of Hope (temple in the background)

Mt. Pisgah
Bob and Mt. Pisgah
Mt. Pisgah
Mt. Pisgah
John Deere girls!

the sweetest little ladies and token gentlmen at the Afton, Iowa Methodist Church
getting a little loopy on the long bus rides
Council Bluffs-statue of Brigham Young, Heber C Kimball and Willard Richards. They were sustained as the First Presidency 3 years after the death of Joseph Smith
Winter Quarters Temple-Lizzie, me and Molly
Winter Quarters Temple

RISE and SHOUT!

Take that UCLA. 59-0. Pac-10 who? Welcome to the Mountain West--this is Cougar Territory.

siNgLes WaRd fiELd TriP: DaY 1 and 2

My ward, the Cottonwood 17th ward, decided to take a field trip to the church history sites in the Midwest. We all (about 85) loaded up on United flight 526 headed for Kansas City, MO. It really should be no surprise that I (and Molly and Mark) checked in last but were still there in plenty of time. We had a layover in Denver, where to my dismay, discovered that the McDonald's at the airport does not serve ice cream. What? Very dissapointing. Anyway, we all landed and no one had really thought about the fact that the hotel shuttle was just a van and fit about 6 people at a time. Molly and I and Camille and Rachel (the two girls we roomed with for the trip) took control of the situation and called a taxi. The accomodations were fair. We woke up early the next day and headed for Independence Missouri. There in Independence we visited the LDS Visitor's Center as well as the RLDS Temple. The RLDS Temple was a very interesting experience. Although our church roots are the same, our doctrines and teachings are VERY different. From Independence, we went to Liberty Jail, where Joseph and 5 others were held unjustly for a number of months. The Church has built a visitor center literally around the original site with a replica of the jail inside. The floor is still the original floor. We had lunch and then drove toward an Amish community called Jamesport. Unfortunately, the rains came down and put a damper on that tour. We did see a few buggies though. After Jamesport, was Adam-Ondi-Ahman. It was absolutely gorgeous--especially after the newly fallen rain. This was one of my favorite stops. After Adam-Ondi-Ahman, we met up with the other bus at Ma and Pa's Kettle in Cameron, MO for a little dinner and then we settled into the next location of subpar accomodations. Molly and I stayed up late chatting and giggling with some of the other girls. There were moments I laughed so hard, I was crying and could not breathe. These girls are some of the greatest and funniest girls I know. Day 2 started out in Far West. This was a Mormon stop between Nauvoo and Winter Quarters on the trek westward. The land is beautiful and seemingly neverending there. There is a nice monument as well as the four cornerstones of the temple that were placed although the temple was never built. After Far West, we had a long drive to Nauvoo. Dalton dropped his phone in the toilet and shoved it in an air vent on the bus--it now works. We got into Nauvoo and immediately went into "Old Nauvoo". This is where many of the original buildings still stand and serve as tour spots. We went to the brickyard, got our complimentary bricks (which they have been handing out for at least 20 years or more), saw the printing shop and a few of the early saints' homes. Molly and I got a little goofy and took a picture of us in the reflection of John Taylor's shaving stand mirror. Our bus then went to Carthage Jail--where the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith were martyred. There was an overwhelming feeling here and we were overcome with emotion as we toured the building and listened to a recording of the last days of Joseph and Hyrum as told by Willard Richards who was with them. The bullet holes still remain in the door. We went to dinner at the Plum Tree Supper Club and then went back to the hotel. This hotel was the best of where we stayed by far and it was nice to be there two nights. We decided to close out a very spiritual and reflective day with none other than...a few rounds of Texas Hold 'Em. Very appropriate I know. I'd be a terrible gambler--I can't bluff and I'd most likely go "all in" every round. I was almost out, only 25 cents left, made a miraculous comeback but ending up losing in the last round. Thanks Brad and Greg for showing us how to play.

waiting for the shuttle van at the airport

RLDS Temple-Independence, MO


inside/upward view of the RLDS Temple spiral

RLDS Temple


Liberty Jail, Liberty, MO



Liberty Jail replica

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Far West

Far West

Far West

Far West

Far West
Far West and the Arrow Bus Line

Dalton and drying cell phone

John Taylor's shaving stand, Molly and me :)

oh, the famous Nauvoo Brickyard--can't leave Nauvoo without one

Old Nauvoo Printing House-home of the Navoo Neighbor and the Times and Seasons

the Brickyard

Carthage Jail

the door of the upstairs room. The bullet hole in the middle is from the bullet that killed Hyrum. There are other bullet holes by the doorknob between the frame and the door-a little hard to see

monument of Joseph and Hyrum

the window from where Joseph fell after he was shot

momument bearing Joseph Smith's testimony: "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” D&C 76:22-24

no explanation needed