NAUVOO YOUTH CONFERENCE

Matt and I were so blessed to be able to spend three days with the youth of our church on an amazing trip to Nauvoo, Illinois where we got to be immersed in the early history of our church. We were a parent couple a few years ago at a youth conference and absolutely loved it, so when we were asked to help again this year and told that we would be going to Nauvoo I was immediately on board. Matt took a little convincing, but he ended up agreeing because he knew that I wanted to go. We had such an amazing time, and when we got home Saturday night Matt came over and kissed me and said "Thanks for making me go."

After checking in at 5 am Thursday morning and meeting the kids that would be in our group for the entire trip, we all boarded our buses and departed a little after 6 am. I tried really hard to nap on the bus because we had only gotten three hours of sleep the night before, but I just couldn't manage to doze off. Before we went to Nauvoo, we were able to make a stop at Carthage to see the jail where Joseph Smith and other members of the church were being held at the time a mob broke in and killed him and his brother. We were very fortuante in being able to hear from a direct descendant of Joseph Smith who lives in Omaha, first in a video on the bus and then in person at the Visitor's Center at Carthage. He told about his life growing up in the RLDS church and about how he came to gain a testimony of and join the LDS church. He bore testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet of God and it was a very powerful way to start off our trip. The tour through the jail also brought a very strong spirit, and I could tell that all of the youth were able to feel it. We had a girl in our group who had brought a friend who was not a member of our church, and after we were done with our tour I heard her telling someone about how moved she had been in the jail. It made me happy to know that even though the events that took place there probably don't mean as much to her as they do to members of the church, she still was able to feel the strong spirit that exists there.
After Carthage, we made the short journey to Nauvoo. The boys had to camp at the State Park close by, which made me feel really bad, but we girls got to stay at the Nauvoo house. All the leaders staying in the house got to share a room filled with seven bunkbeds. It was really wierd to sleep on a top bunk and have to share three showers with forty other females, but at least we werent' camping.

I know that Nauvoo isn't humongous, but three days of walking back and forth all across it gets pretty old. Anyway, I was very excited on our first day walking to one of the shows put on by missionary couples who serve in Nauvoo to get my first view of the Nauvoo temple. It is SO beautiful!

Friday we got to spend most of the day with just our little group touring Nauvoo and then in the afternoon we went to the temple to do baptisms. This is a picture of the kids in our group. Matt and I were really nervous about this part of youth conference. We absolutely loved the group of kids we had three years ago, and we figured there was no way we would get that lucky again. Yet once again we were blessed with a great group of kids. They were all so different, and yet they were all kind to each other and got along well and kept us all laughing.

On one of our many walking trips back and forth, we saw this marker and I just had to take a picture with this tribute to our Porter's namesake.

Of allt he activities that were planned, I was most excited to go to the temple. It was even more special for me because my dad had given me names of some of my ancestors that our youth were able to be baptized for. For me it was one of the spiritual highlights of the trip. On Saturday, after the testimony meeting, we got to walk the Trail of Hope. The way that the Saints took as they were forced to leave their beloved city and Temple. It is lined with quotes and thoughts from the members back then. It was very moving as we walked from plaque to plaque and the youth took turns reading the them.........we could all feel the spirit. And as we walked along you could look back and see the Temple in the distance and think how hard it must have been for them to leave it after having worked so hard to finish it. The trail led down to the river where they had to cross with their wagons and the few things they were able to bring with them. It was amazing how postitive the Saints were as they had to abandon almost everything that they had and move on to an unknown future. They had such faith in the Lord. It was a really great way to end our trip. And then we got on the bus and all I could think about was SLEEP. I had gotten very little the whole trip and I was definitely starting to feel it. After we picked up the kids (thanks mom and dad for watching them!!!!) and loved them up a little, we put them to bed and crashed for 12 hours!

This was a VERY abbreviated version of our trip. There are so many things we did or saw, or moments that we had that were all so uplifting and wonderful. It was a truly amazing few days. I feel so refreshed and uplifted and ready to face the world again with renewed faith and hope. I really hope I can hold on to these feelings!