Kayaking and the Nauvoo Pageant: August 2013

Back in August our friends, the McLane's, invited us to go Kayaking with them on a Saturday. The night before we were supposed to go they called and said they were still going kayaking but they also decided last minute to go see the Nauvoo pageant since that night was going to be it's last performance. They invited us to tag along so we said SURE!

The next day we got up early and headed over to a local lake for some kayaking

The kids had a blast playing in the water and fishing. 

Then we loaded up our cars, grabbed some lunch, and headed out on the 4 hour drive to Nauvoo, IL!

We got there about an hour before the pageant started so we got to visit the Nauvoo temple and take some pictures. It was so beautiful!

 Cute Cammer in front of the Joseph and Hyrum Smith statue

The Riggs and the McLanes in front of the temple

 And one more view of the temple because it's so pretty :)

From the temple we walked down to the pageant area where they were having a big pioneer pre-show celebration with folk dancing, tug of war, stick pulling, sack races, and all kinds of fun activities. We also got to meet some of the cast members which was really cool! The McLanes invited their friend Frederick, who was visiting the USA for the first time from Uganda. This was his first introduction to the LDS church and it's history and he was so impressed by the pageant and the atmosphere that he later said it was one of the biggest highlights of his whole trip to the US. 

The pageant was incredible. Wonderful music, singing and dancing with the beautiful story of the early Saints in Nauvoo woven through it. 

It was especially neat to have the Nauvoo temple as a backdrop. The girls were enthralled with the show but since it started pretty late and went way past Cam's nap time he struggled to make it through. Luckily we had the iPhones to keep him entertained. :)

Since we decided to go at the last minute there weren't any hotels available, so we stayed in a boy scout "lodge" which was more of a rustic cabin with hard bunk beds. There was a bunk room for each family and a room with a twin bed for Frederick. It was definitely an adventurous setting but the kids were so tired that they hit the pillow and were out for the night. 

Outside view of the "lodge"

The next morning we went to church in Nauvoo. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there because of all the tourists and cast members so the church was packed! It was fast and testimony meeting and even though there was a massive congregation of hundreds of people we didn't know, Teya decided she needed to bear her testimony. So she made the long walk from the back of the cultural hall all the way up to the pulpit, by herself, and bore the sweetest little testimony. Frederick loved church so much he wanted to stay for all three meetings. By the end of the 3 hour block he had his own Book of Mormon and was excited to contact the missionaries and visit the church when he returned to Uganda. 

After church we did a little site seeing around Nauvoo.

We took the kids to the family living center where they got to see what life was like for the pioneers back in the 1800's.

They got to make rope, sample homemade bread, see how rugs were woven and play on pioneer toys. 

They also got to sample gingerbread cookies at the bakery which were delicious!

After that we said goodbye to Frederick and the McLanes and headed off to visit Carthage Jail where the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred.

We got to Carthage and caught the last tour of the day. It was a sobering experience to see the window where the prophet fell after being shot. Being there filled me with an even greater sense of love and gratitude for the life and work of Joseph Smith and the incredible sacrifices made by him and the early saints. It was such a neat trip and worth the last minute scrambling to make it happen!