Nauvoo-Day 5

We got up and got ready for church. Some of the group as running late. We tried to find the church by the GPS. We thought we followed the directions but we couldn't find it. We went back to the motel to start over. Then we noticed a brown municipal sign across the street that pointed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ugh! a block from the hotel. When we got to the church parking lot we could see out hotel and vice versa. We hurried in and looked for seats. Of course, there were not 15 together. We broke up into small groups and tried not to be noticed. The ward must have had a lot of announcements and ward business because we made it in time for sacrament.

I couldn't help but look around and notice that all wards are basically the same. There are the newlyweds, the young parents with unruly children, the teenagers who don't want to be there, the older couples, and the single parents that look like it took every ounce of energy to get there (which it probably did).

Back in the van, one of the youth asked if we thought the building was weird looking. This one looked like it had been built in the early 70s. I pointed that out. It was also dark and Roxanne and I pointed out that we were already used to our bright beautiful, colorful new building. Roxanne also pointed out that the chapels were built to fit into the local architecture, which is why the temples all look so different. This one also had a beautiful stain glass of the Savior carrying the lost "one". The kids commented about that. Roxanne explained that it was more of an expense now to be able to put them in all of the meeting houses but that a lot of the temples have stained glass.

We went back to the hotel and changed and headed to Carthage. Of course it was a wonderful, powerful tour. We were in quite a large group so I hope that the kids got to hear everything and feel the spirit.

After much deliberation, because of time, distance and things missed in Nauvoo by some of the group we decided to go ahead and go to Adam-ondi-Ahman. I'm soooo glad we did. (It was my vote all along). It's really hard to explain the power of AoA. The spirit was so strong and the feelings so personal. Roxanne had called ahead to her friends Bill and Fran Miller. They had arranged for the Stake Patriarch to come and speak to us. We sat and listened to the explanation of what would happen one day at AoA. I learned a lot. It was absolutely beautiful and pristine landscape. We walked down a path to see Preacher's Rock. It is said that Adam once walked an preached here and maybe even Nephi but, definitely Joseph Smith, Jr. Below Preacher's rock was a valley. Everyone kind of split up and went off to meditate. Some went to take pictures. i had the privilege of sitting by one of the Young Women and listening to her bear one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard. Another one of the Young Women stopped by and did the same thing. It was just absolutely amazing. It's also so reassuring to know that the youth of our ward have such a deep and true understanding of the gospel and the BIG picture. They really get it.

For me, going to AoA was like getting baptized. When I left, I never wanted to sin again. I wanted to make sure that I was righteous enough to return when the Savior does. I felt great strength, like I was ready to fight the adversary. I was disappointed when I woke up Monday morning and it wasn't the millennium.