Last week Herman was invited to be the keynote speaker for the Nauvoo Stake youth conference. So neat! I love to hear him talk, and I especially love to hear him talk to the youth. I really do think that he has a special gift with words that just make his words travel straight to my heart and inspire me to be a better me ... but maybe that's just because I'm in love with the guy. Anyway the Nauvoo Stake leaders saw him give a lesson two years ago at a combined three stake youth conference, and they knew that they wanted him to come to speak to their youth. Last year we were unable to come, but they asked again this year, and this time Herman said yes. We asked if Savannah and Spencer could participate, and they agreed, so the whole family packed up and drove up to the Nauvoo stake so that Savannah and Spencer could have the unique opportunity of participating in a Nauvoo stake activity. Herman was only needed for Saturday afternoon, so while Savannah and Spencer got to enjoy the fun of the youth conference which was actually held in Quincy, Illinois, the rest of us headed to Nauvoo.
After all of our plans were made I realized that the Nauvoo Pageant was going on this month, and I was not exactly excited about it. I love going to Nauvoo. I really do. But the idea of being in Nauvoo with a thousand other people at one time did not appeal to me at all. I'm not a crowd person, and I thought that some of the appeal of Nauvoo would be lost if the town was overrun with people. But we decided to come anyway. We kept our plans flexible, so if things seemed crazy we would just find something else to do.
We've been to Nauvoo before during the pageant, but it was a long, long time ago. I think that Laney might have been a baby at the time. We have the best story from that time, though. At that time the pageant was the City of Joseph pageant, and it focused on Joseph Smith and the early saints of Nauvoo. The Nauvoo Temple was not there at all. It was just a giant hole in the ground with a few of the cornerstones in the ground to designate the original dimensions of the temple. This was before the rebuilding of the temple was announced, so we thought that hole would be there forever. Well, we were at the temple lot reading over the historical markers along with a few other people when we looked over and saw the actors who would be portraying Joseph and Emma Smith. That was pretty cool, but the REALLY cool thing that happened was that as we looked in their direction, "Joseph" looked over at us and said, "Elder H. Blau!!!!" Then he raced over to where we were standing to give Herman a big hug. It turns out that he served his mission in Brazil with Herman. Super, super cool! I've got some fun pictures of that. I'll have to dig them out and throw them on the blog.
But, anyway, that was then. We have never come back to see the pageant since then. I'm not sure why, unless it is my irrational fear of crowds. As we headed to Nauvoo our plan was to skip the pageant and just do the normal historical tours. But then we arrived in town and got absolutely caught up in the magic of the area during the pageant weeks. It was so incredibly fun that we knew that we had to stay for the pageant that night. We didn't want to miss anything, and it ended up being an amazingly moving and fun experience for us. So much to say, but I know that words will not really capture the experience. Maybe pictures might ... a little. I'll try to tell our story with pictures and a few words.
Here you go ...
We had to begin our tours in Nauvoo at the Brick House and the Blacksmith Shop so we could pick up our souvenir Nauvoo brick and prairie diamond ring. I am convinced that I would not have been very good at either one of those jobs as a pioneer since they both seem incredibly hot and dirty.
Here's something you don't see every day when you visit Nauvoo ... The Nauvoo Bagpipe Band. They were playing in one of the open fields, and you could hear them all over the pioneer town. They were AMAZING!! These are special missionaries who volunteer to serve for only a few months of the year in order to be part of the band. There is also a Nauvoo Brass Band, but I was a bit too late to get any good pictures of them. Loved it!
I don't know who this young man is, but he looks absolutely PERFECT for this band!
While we were watching the bagpipe band I noticed this couple in period costume watching politely as well. I figured they were part of the upcoming pageant and were just walking the town. Well, as we turned to walk away after the band finished these two stood up and started singing. Turns out that they are portraying early church apostle, Parley P. Pratt, and his wife. They sang a song written to the words of a poem that Parley P. Pratt wrote to his wife as he left on one of his missions. Super fun!
We headed up to the Nauvoo Temple grounds to feel the wonderful peace there. You can see that JoJo is holding a giant stick as he walks outside the fence. He spent his money to buy a fancy walking stick that he carried everywhere. His favorite thing to do was to stand guard at our hotel elevator and say, "None shall pass!" over and over. Too cute!
Hyrum loves to see the temple!
Here is Katie in the shadow of the Nauvoo city water tower. Back in the years before the temple was built the historical markers used to reference this water tower to try and explain just how tall the temple was when it was built by the saints in the 1840s. Now we don't have to imagine it because it is right there for us to enjoy!
I love this temple so much! Every time I see it I think of Laney because she loves it so much as well. I always think of a wonderful post she wrote on her blog about when she became truly converted to the Gospel and became a "Molly Mormon." She talks about an experience that she had as she walked by this temple, and it was just beautiful. You can read her account of a sweet Nauvoo experience she had at her second Nauvoo EFY HERE, and there is also a great blog post about Nauvoo that she wrote about her first EFY in Nauvoo HERE. It seems pretty obvious after reading her posts that she really, REALLY wants to get married in Nauvoo someday. Being on the Nauvoo Temple grounds reminded me of Laney, and I missed her quite a bit as I stood there.
Oh my goodness! I hate the way I look in this picture, but I had to get at least one picture of Herman and me together on the temple grounds.
I love this picture of my Joseph and Hyrum looking up at the statues of their namesakes, Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
Brothers are amazing! I love the tribute to Joseph and Hyrum Smith recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants.
He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated! -- D&C 135:3"In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!" Love that! I hope that my JoJo and Hyrum don't have the same sort of trials that the Smith brothers had in life, but I sure hope that they are just as close to one another as brothers in life.
The Mississippi River was a bit swollen and flooded this week. That was surprising to us because we haven't had a ton of rain in our part of Missouri. The extra water gave the kids a chance to wade just a tiny bit into the river without being in the actual current. Don't worry. It was totally safe. I am a complete worry wart when it comes to water things, and I wasn't nervous at all for them.
Here is Herman doing his modern day reinterpretation of Brigham Young as he points out to the kids where the saints had to move all of their belongings as they crossed the river on their way to Utah.
If we had to load our belongings on a tiny wagon like this, what would we choose to take? It is mind boggling to think of how little material possessions the saints would have been able to bring on their journey west.
Here is the view of the pageant stage before it began. The temple in in the background for now, but as it got dark it disappeared from view for a bit until the spectacular finale.
While Herman sat and saved our seats for us at the pageant, the kids and I headed to the county fair celebration that was set up near the stage. There were tons of pioneer games and activities. I wish we had arrived a bit sooner so that we could have done more.
I tried to help the kids do the stilts, but it was crazy hard to keep their balance. We tried though.
I love this picture!
That's my JoJo! It was neat to see so many people we knew as we walked around the fairgrounds area. There are two families who lived in our area previously who were participating in the pageant, and one of them told me that they highly recommended that every family do the pageant at least once. She made the experience sound wonderful. Who knows? Maybe the Blau family will put on our performing boots and have a go at it sometime in the future.
The sack races were super fun!
I love this picture of Minsy!
And I love this picture of Herman with Hyrum and JoJo as they waited for the pageant to begin.
We had pretty good seats, but Hyrum and JoJo chose to watch the pageant from a little hill near the sound equipment. I wish we thought to bring a blanket for them. Oh well. We'll do better next time!
I had a hard time getting any pictures to look very clear because of the low light, but this gives the gist of what was going on during the pageant. There are actually two pageants now in Nauvoo. One tells the story of the people of Nauvoo during its founding years. The second tells the story of the saints in Great Britain who joined the church and migrated to Nauvoo and Utah, infusing the Church with fresh new life at an important moment in church history. The shows alternate days, and we happened to choose the night of the British pageant. It was so, so good. So good. I loved hearing all the different British/Scottish/Welsh accents. The picture above is from the beginning of the program when the LDS missionaries first arrive in Great Britain during a religious revival. It was really interesting to me that during most of the presentation I was thinking, "Well, this is pretty nice. Nothing spectacular, but pretty nice." But then out of nowhere it is as if the Spirit just erupted, and I was in tears. I don't really cry very easily at things like this, but this story just moved me in so many ways.
This is a not-so-great picture of the super amazing finale of the pageant. The left side of the stage is filled with at least a hundred full-time missionaries, both the senior missionaries serving in Nauvoo and lots and lots of younger Elders and Sisters who are serving in the Nauvoo region as well. As they walked to the stage singing "Called to Serve" it was incredible. I wish I had a good recording of it. As they spoke of the missions of all the missionaries in the world, bringing the world the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I couldn't help but think of Laney and the work she is doing in Chile. It was a truly powerful moment, and I know that many, if not all, of the audience felt many of the same feelings I was feeling at the time. Loved it! And I really love how the temple is lit up in the background. Beautiful! I wish my picture could show it better.
After spending the night in the metropolis of Keokuk, Iowa, we headed back to Nauvoo to see a few more of the sights. Here we are at the printing shop, and Minsy is getting a shot at running the press.
Hyrum got his chance to feel what it was like to ink up the printing plates while Katie and JoJo look on. It would have been crazy hard to put these papers together. All of the tiny, tiny letters had to be placed by hand, backwards into the plates before being ready ink up. We were commenting on what a horrible thing it must have been when the mobs would enter printer's shops and scatter all the type everywhere. It would have been a nightmare to try and put everything back together.
Herman checking out the copies of the Times and Seasons papers.
Come on. Is there any cuter pioneer girl on the planet? Too adorable!
I think that the favorite spot that the kids visited in Nauvoo was the Pioneer Pastimes area where they could dress up and play pioneer games. Normally we wouldn't dress up in church clothes to hang out in Nauvoo, but Herman was going to have to leave and head straight to the church in Quincy to give his presentation to their youth, so he just came dressed up.
They had a cute little one room schoolhouse where the kids could play. Of course, as she tends to do, Minsy just joined up with this other family of girls and played school with them. She is the girl hidden in the middle blue dress.
This stilts here were a little easier to manage than the bigger ones Hyrum tried to use at the fair before the pageant. I think it helped a ton that they were so close to the ground.
This is a game where you use two sticks and toss a hoop between two people. Hyrum is waiting for his hoop to arrive so that he can catch it.
Herman kind of looks like a train conductor with his tiny pioneer hat on his head.
Katie was very concerned that her pioneer dress totally match, and I think she did a nice job putting her outfit together.
I love this picture of the boys pulling sticks. Super cute!
These young men are serving short term missions as singers in Nauvoo. They walked all over the town and stopped occasionally to sing songs for people. Here they stopped to sing "Follow the Prophet" to the kids in a fun way. They were a blast to watch, and their voices were AMAZING.
While the guys were singing their song the girls sat and watched them. Minsy decided to hang on to one of the girls while she watched. I don't think Minsy has ever met a stranger she wasn't willing to hang out with. It kind of freaks me out ... a little.
Here everyone sang together. So much talent. Herman wondered how many eternal couples began with these little singing groups. It looks like tons of fun. I didn't get the chance to take a good picture of the Nauvoo Brass Band, but I really, really think that Savannah should try out for that. She would have so much fun, and it would be a neat little three or four month mission she could do any time between the ages of 18 and 25.
This is the presentation given at the Browning Gun Shop. The presentation was okay, but the best part of the deal was actually that group of brawny looking men sitting behind the Blau kids. They are real life ghost hunters from Keokuk. The guy sitting at the far end of the bench in black is an ordained minister for some interesting sounding church there in Keokuk. Listening to these guys was a total treat and it made me think that it might be especially awesome to serve a mission in Nauvoo where you get visitors like this to come by once in a while. I never knew that actual people take ghost hunting quite so seriously. I wonder if these guys have tried to get a spot on that reality show about ghost hunters? They totally should. They are a riot ... in a good way. Really.
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| View of the Nauvoo Temple from the Browning Gun Shop backyard. I would love to have this view from my garden! |
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