Nauvoo: The City Beautiful

Day Four: A picture of somewhere you've been.

In case you were wondering, this awesome photo was taken by yours truly. I'm cool, I know.

Nauvoo, Illinois, is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I love this place. I love the history of it and the feelings it evokes in me. I love, love, love the temple. It's absolutely amazing. I have yet to go inside or to do any work there, but I will one day. (That wasn't even intended to mimic the song. I am good.)

I was eleven the first time I went to Nauvoo. I was with my parents as we drove across the country to take my grandparents their car. They were serving a mission in Kirtland, Ohio. My parents decided that if we were driving that far anyway, we might as well make it a big trip and hit all the major Church history sites. It was an absolutely incredible vacation for my eleven-year-old self. It was one of the single greatest testimony-building experiences I had ever had, and Nauvoo sat squarely in the middle of it. I was reading the sixth Work and the Glory book at the time, which happens to be set completely in Nauvoo. It really helped me visualize where things happened and what was going on at that time in Church history. That was where I first gained a testimony of Joseph Smith.

Another awesome thing about that trip was that we rolled into Nauvoo on the first Sunday in April, which is General Conference, of course. And it happened to be the conference when President Hinckley announced the rebuilding of the Nauvoo temple. It was pretty amazing.

I didn't get to go back to Nauvoo until seven years later, when my mom, my grandma, and I went to my cousin Dustin's high school graduation. I hadn't seen Cora, Dustin, Blake, and Robyn since the last time we had gone to Nauvoo, so it was super exciting to see them. Cora, Jamie, Robyn, Mom, Grandma, and I spent three days in Nauvoo during that trip, and finally seeing the temple was incredible. As you drive along the Mississippi River, the road takes a curve, and BAM! there's the temple. It seems to loom up out of nowhere. It's no wonder the Saints chose that spot for the House of the Lord.

I love Nauvoo. I love it so much. I want to go back, and I want to do baptisms in the temple. Heck, I'd love to get married in the Nauvoo temple, but unfortunately, all my family is in Utah, so that probably won't happen. 

I'm so grateful for the chances I have had to go to Nauvoo and to feel the incredible spirit of what the Saints left behind. It truly is the City Beautiful.