Missouri 2015

We got to StLouis Thursday evening in the pouring rain, got the rental car and set off for Nauvoo. The road was totally black, rain was falling in buckets and we got to the hotel at 3am. Friday's weather was not much better but we pushed on. Attended a Temple  session in the morning if you call 11 am morning ( Had to get some sleep). Decided to drive down to Carthage because everything there is inside. 

We met an interesting family having a destination wedding. The young couple had met on a church history site tour and wanted to come back to Nauvoo to get married. Had about 30 people and were touring the sites. We saw them again Friday evening when we were all at the "Return to Nauvoo" musical put on by Nauvoo senior missionaries. Great evening.  

Saturday we started off the day with the wagon tour of old Nauvoo. We met a nice couple who were driving a motor home that they were "transporting". They flew in to Chicago to pick it up and with no cost except gas, they had 17 days to get it to Los Angeles. Sounds like a great idea for next summer. 

We took the Church of Christ tour of the Smith properties. The Smith family remained in Nauvoo after the majority of Saints left with Brigham Young for Salt Lake. Emma was pregnant and in three years had married again. The family never joined the Salt Lake group and started the Reformed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This church has continued but has made many changes, including their name, and is very different than the LDS church. But, they still own the properties in Nauvoo and you have to take their tour to see them. The tour has a strange flavor, a more earthy view of Joseph Smith, but was still interesting. The houses are beautiful. 

The entire site is similar to Williamsburg but not commercial. The LDS part sells nothing and charges nothing. The missionaries are great and having a lot of fun. We closed the site at 5 o'clock. 

Sunday we attended the Missionary and Visitors Ward. Lots of people. If it weren't for the wedding group with two children, there would have been none. Last week we attended a ward in Mesa Arizona and attended a ward that was filled with children. Quite a difference. The Young Performing Missionaries who are training to be in the summer shows, including the pageant, sang one hymn and were unbeleavibly good. We really wanted to applaud. Some day we will come in the summer. 

We left Sunday after Church for St. Louis.