Part Three of Bean Family Car Trip

The whole reason for going on this vacation was to attend the Nauvoo Pageant, which is a tribute to the life of Joseph Smith and the early saints of The Church. Each night before the pageant there was a fun carnival with pioneer games and crafts. We went every night we were there and still didn't get to every game! We also attended the pageant every night, we loved it so much. 

Here Dallin and I are watching the girls do a sack race.

 Tug-o-war

 Handcart races

 I realize now that I never got a picture of the actual pageant, but it's held at night and might not have made a great picture anyways. But it was very touching and well done. Below Aliza is sporting the braided headband she made the night before at the carnival.

 We also went on a carriage ride around Nauvoo.

 And we made certain to stop at the black smith to get our Prairie Diamond rings. The story goes that when a couple got engaged the boy would give the girl one of these rings, which are really just a bent nail shaped to be a ring. She would wear this until they had the money to buy a real ring.

 David and I took turns attending the temple. It's absolutely beautiful inside, as is every temple. But the significance of this one made it seem more beautiful.  I left the temple that morning with renewed sense of self worth and a renewed testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ. My testimony was strengthened and my gratitude for the early Saints increased. My faithfulness in the Saints of today was also increased. Just like the early Saints who sacrificed so much, had hearts full of gratitude for the gospel and were so diligently faithful in all things, the Saints of today are very much the same way. And I'm grateful to be a part of it!!

 David and I contemplated all week how we could really end our vacation with a spiritual "bang". We never really came to a conclusion of how we would do that but in hindsight, I think we accomplished it.  We started the day by learning how to make rope. The missionary took 6 pieces of twine (one for each family member) and taught us how to spin that twine tighter and tighter until it became a rather strong piece of rope. This is just the way a family should be - intertwined together to make one strong unit.

 Then we headed over to Carthage Jail, where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred. It was a noticeably different feeling from Nauvoo, the joyous happy city to the very somber feeling of Carthage. Here the girls are looking out the window from which Joseph Smith was killed and you can see poor David and Dallin who had to skip out because Dallin was beyond tired. They were napping under the tree again while we took the tour.

 After the jail we headed back to Nauvoo to see the Joseph Smith home, which we still had not seen! But it was late and already closed. We were able to see their grave site though. (my camera we dead by this point, which I'm so sad about!) Then we traveled down the "Trail of Hope", which is the street the Saints lined up on with their wagons full of their most prized and needed possessions as they waited to cross the Mississippi River. They were being forced from their homes by persecution. As the sun was setting we sat on the bank of the river and could only see water ahead of us. We turned and looked over our shoulders just as the early saints would have and could see the majestic temple on the hill in the distance. The only difference was it was standing boldly against the setting sun instead of in flames being destroyed by mobs. (I so wish I had my camera because it was the "golden hour of light" as the sun was setting and it was just so beautiful. Plus I really want to remember that small moment of time as we stood on the banks of the Mississippi River). We reflected on our entire vacation. It was hard and hot and not always exciting. We often found ourselves having to do something we really didn't want to do. We had to support each other in so many different ways. We overcame challenges together and had many triumphs; like Charlotte finally being able to buckle her own seat belt!! Or everyone being able to ride their bikes. Or David finally making it up the hill after his chain broke.... and many others. We likened that to those pioneers who went through such challenging days. Yet they never lost hope and they persevered and supported each other. We definitely had a lot of fighting in the car and a lot of complaining went on, but I sure hope my children learned as much as I did about never giving up and always striving to support one another.