Church History Tour - Day Nine

While waiting for two tour members who had slept in, we took the bus down to a marker by the Mississippi river commemorating the arrival of the displaced saints in friendly Quincy.

From the prospering town of Quincy we drove to the rather dismal Warsaw. I gave a reading of a first person account of mobs coming and going to Carthage in front of the inn where the mob met before and after killing the Prophet and Hyrum. The guide reports that no members currently live in Warsaw.

From Warsaw, we drove north along the Mississippi until the temple came in view on the bluff overlooking the river. It was an amazing site. We did a quick drive through Navuoo to see where the hotel was, and then doubled back to the LDS Visitor Center.

At the Visitor Center, we watched a short film, spent some time looking at the exhibits, and spending some time in the Woman's Garden. The flowers were beautiful, but they were scrubbing and waxing the statues, which was a bit odd to see. Apparently they have to do it twice a year, and we just happened to be there at the right time.

We boarded the bus for Nauvoo Park, where we had a catered lunch in the pavilion. This is not too far from where we camped when we visited before.

After lunch, it was time for a temple session. Most of us had been wearing church clothes all day, and the temple provide clothing for the session. There were four people doing baptisms, and Eldon and I helped out there with me doing the baptism and dad doing most of the confirmations. The font is beautiful, and located "with an few feet" of the original. There is a marvelous stain-glass picture of John baptising Christ across from the stairs to the font.

Since the baptism session was quicker than the other group, we went across the street to the Traveler Assistance Center. It is set up with several different lobbies for people to wait or shower after traveling. We watched a few videos before joining the other group. I was a bit jealous to find they had been allowed to climb up to the bell tower, but one sister had gotten permission to photograph both the view and the bell.

We returned to the park for another meal catered by the same company. Buffets seem to be a distance memory, and no one was complaining. Following dinner, we went down to the Cultural Center for a play put on by the missionaries. We made up about 3/4 of the audience, and the missionaries put on a good show for us.

Following the play, it was time to check in to the motel. We got to our room in time enough for the girls to swim with Noah. The internet connection was so poor I was unable to get my video uploaded till the following morning!