More Nauvoo

 The Nauvoo Temple is so pretty.  It was closed for cleaning so we were not able to go inside, but the spirit is still strong on the grounds!

Looking at the Mississippi from the temple.

 We visited a few more sites.  The printing press...

 We also stopped at the seventies hall.  Mike's great great  Grandpa John Spiers was a seventy and lived in Nauvoo.  They had Mike and Jason read a script and John Spiers was mentioned in it!  That was really neat.  We then looked up his name in the book that had a list of those that were members of the seventy.

We then started the long drive up to Chicago.  Lots of car time on this trip so lots of laughs!

Nauvoo

 We happened to be in Nauvoo during General Conference.  It made it a little more tricky to find missionaries around, but we ended up seeing everything we wanted.  The Smith grave yard is always a stop and the mansion house.  We had an amazing tours and most of the time it was just our family on the tours.

 Nauvoo temple stone in the visitors center

 Carthage Jail.

 Carthage has a special place in my heart because it is where my Grandma and Grandpa Young served a mission.  I remember visiting them when I was about 10 on their mission.  We spent a couple of days in Carthage with my grandparents.  It was here that my first testimony of the prophet began.  I am grateful for good Grandparents that set the great example of missionary work and shared their testimonies with us often of the prophet Joseph Smith.

 The grounds by the jail are just beautiful!

Where the saints left Nauvoo to cross the Mississippi River.

 We went through the John Taylor home.  We have a picture of Jay when he was like 2 riding on that rocking horse.  He had to get another picture!

 Lucy in front of Lucy Mack Smith's home

 The Girls in front of the Relief Society Building in Nauvoo!

Mike standing on the plot of land that John Spiers owned

Richmond Missouri, Adam ondi Ahman, and an Amish adventure

 We started our day by visiting the site where Joseph Smith was jailed and he rebuked the guards from talking in such a horrible, offensive way.  It's such a great story and we were glad we could visit these grounds.

                                                 

We then stopped to visit the grave of Oliver Cowdery.  Buried at this cemetery were other pioneers and early church leaders like the Pratt Family.

 Then we made the stop at the beautiful Adam Ondi Ahman.  It was a little rainy this day, but the grounds were amazing!  We are ready for the second coming and this field is ready to have the saints here eventually.  It was while on these grounds we listened to conference and heard the announcement of the new Come Follow Me program for individuals and families.  We felt the spirit ring true to our hearts while on these grounds that we are led by a living prophet today!

 The Fall leaves were so fun to see!  We took lots of pictures because we do not see Fall like this in Arizona!

 We decided to stop in an Amish town and try some of their food and shop around.  We stopped at this house and had some really yummy home cooked food.  We then stopped at a bakery and bought some bread from an Amish lady.  As we were pulling out of her shop our drove into a big hole.  We did not see it because it was covered by grass.  We were stuck in this mud hole.  Immediately a man drove by and asked if we needed help.  He jus happened to have a chain in his truck.  He chained up our car and pulled us out!  We really feel like he was an angel sent to us to help us get out of that crazy problem!  So grateful for good people everywhere!

Liberty Jail and Independence Missouri

 We started out day off by seeing Liberty Jail.  This was a great tour to start our trip on as it explained a lot about church history and why so many were against Joseph Smith.  The spirit was so strong as we went on the tour.

 We then headed over to the visitor center in Independence and walked the temple lot where a temple will be built before the second coming!

After our tours we got an early lunch/dinner at Joe's Kansas City BBQ.  There was a line out the door and we understood why after we ate there!  The best BBQ we have ever had!  We then went back to the Great Wolf Lodge to take advantage of the fun water park.

Fall Break Church History Site Trip

                                             
 We have been so excited for this trip and excited for our kids to experience some church history.  Our flight was in the evening and we took off for Kansas, City Missouri.  The air plane ride was part of the fun!

In Kansas City we stayed at the Great  Wolf Lodge there.  It was decorated so cute for Halloween and the it was all about kids in this place.  They had an awesome water park that we all enjoyed later the next day after seeing some sites!