NAUVOO

We left Winter Quarters and drove toward Nauvoo.  We kept saying we weren't going to drive after dark, but it seemed life every night we were driving after dark.  This night was no exception.  We were driving to Keokuk with is 10 miles south of Nauvoo so we could cross the river.  While we were driving we looked across the river and we could see the  Temple in the dark.  It was a thrill to see it for the first time even if it was across the river.  When we came around the bend in Nauvoo, we saw the Temple.  It looked beautiful with all of the lights on it.

On February 11 and 12, we stayed at the Nauvoo Hotel.  It was a quaint little hotel.  The rooms were small, but decorated very nice.  We were the only ones staying there along with Elder and Sister Huff who we met at the MTC.  The owner left the keys for us in a basket by the front door.  There were only two places to eat in town.  I guess the town pretty much shuts down during January and February.

The morning after we arrived in Nauvoo, we went to the Temple.  It is a beautiful temple and we felt the spirit there.  After the session, the Temple President took us on a tour of the temple.  It was wonderful.  We saw the baptismal font, the Priesthood room and the spiral staircase and the rectangular staircase as well as the offices and bride room.  We felt very blessed to have this experience.

 Family History note.
Henry Mower Sr. and Mary Amick received their endowment on December 31, 1845 in the Nauvoo Temple.  Mary Amick died and was buried in Council Bluff,  Iowa

This Statue of Joseph and Hyrum is across the street from the front door of the temple. The Mississippi River is in the background.  The top picture was taken just as we left the temple and the one at the left was taken just at sunset the same day.

Preaching from the pulpit of the Seventy House

We went on a tour of the Seventy Building.  It is the first MTC because that is where the early missionaries received their training before they left Nauvoo to preach the Gospel.  We were able to look up and see if any of our ancestors were Seventies in Nauvoo.  I fount out that Henry Mower Sr., George Tucker and Otis Lysander Terry were all on the register.  I was able to sign a book that said I had ancestors that were Seventies.

Seventy House

The Red Brick Store where the Relief Society was organized

The Brigham Young Home

Pioneer Cemetery

We looked on the records and found out that George Tucker,
my GGG Grandfather, owned this piece of land.
We also found that Otis Lysander Terry, my GGG Grandfather, owned land in Nauvoo.  

Joseph and Emma Smith 

Trail of  Hope down Parley's Street where the Saints walked as they left Nauvoo.  This is their view of the Temple as they left Nauvoo.

The edge of the Mississippi River where the Trail of Hope Ends.

WINTER QUARTERS

Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters

We drove from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Council Bluffs, Iowa on Feb. 10.  We tried hard not to drive at night, but we arrived after dark.  We found our hotel and then had some dinner.  The driving weather was fine all the way.  The countryside was kind of boring because there was nothing green.  I'm sure it is pretty in the summer.  The road was fairly straight and a few rolling hills.  It was cool to think we were staying in Council Bluffs.  The next morning we went to Florence, Nebraska, which was near Omaha.  All three cities kind of run together.  Winter Quarters Temple, the Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters, and the Cemetery are in the same place.  We went into the Visitors center and took a tour.  The missionaries showed a new video that the Church just put out.  I can't remember what the name was, but it was about the family and how families are eternal.  It was a "tear jerker"  especially since we were missing the family.  The Winter Quarters Center was very interesting and sad, really to see how much the saints suffered.  The cemetery has the graves of many children.  It made me think about how much the saints were willing to sacrifice for the Gospel.  We decided we could sacrifice one year for the Gospel.  We then drove about 20 min. to the Kanesville Tabernacle at Council Bluffs.      They talked a lot about the Mormon Battalion which left from here.  There was a movie about it which was informative.  Also, this building is where Brigham Young was sustained as the Prophet of the church in 1847.  I learned quite a bit here.

Cemetery at Winter Quarters

We looked at some records and found that James Rigby and Jane Lavina Littlewood Rigby lived in Winter Quarters.  James died during this time, but we could not find where he was buried.  They are my GGGG Grandparents.

Brigham Young, Heber C Kimball, Willard Richards and Brent Dyches

Kanesville Tabernacle at Council Bluffs
Brigham Young was sustained as President of the Church in this Building

LEAVING ON OUR JOURNEY

Leaving Home  February 9, 2013

We packed the car with everything that I thought we needed and much more than Brent thought we needed and left home in a snow storm.  We debated whether we should leave but the snow was predicted to last for a while and we needed to get going, so we left.  I felt a little sad to leave town and think we would be gone for a year.  We stopped to say" Bye" to Colton which seemed strange since he is going with us on our mission.

We wanted to get to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to stay.  We were fine until we got to Rawlins, Wyoming.  It started to snow off and on and I80 was snowpacked most of the way to Cheyenne.  There was nothing but big trucks most of the way.  I guess people in cars decided it was a good day to stay home.  We listened to some talks on CDs, munched on snacks to calm our nerves and drove about 40 miles an hour.  It was a long day but we finally arrived in Cheyenne at about 9:00 pm  in one piece.  Brent was a Champ driving because it wasn't much fun.

Our view of Wyoming for miles and miles.  Glad I wasn't pulling a Handcart

SAYING GOOD BYE

Elder and Sister Dyches

While we were in the MTC we met the kids and grandkids at Chuck a Rama.  We wanted to be able to say Goodbye.  It was harder than I thought it would be.  The grandkids will all change while we are gone.  I hope they remember us.  This is how they all looked on the day we told them Goodbye.

Adam,Trevor, Nick and Grandma and Grandpa

Marianne, Matt, Lily, Lukas and Grandma and Grandpa

Eric, Emily, Jace, Addie, Kolby, Macie and Grandma and Grandpa

Jan, Rob, Ian, Ella and Grandma and Grandpa

Melanie and Mom and Dad

MTC EXPERIENCE

Leaving for the MTC

We entered the MTC on Feb. 4, 2013.  When we arrived we were given a room at the Marriott Hotel because the MTC was so full.  We waited in line for everything we needed and then went to the church for our orientation meeting.  The MTC Pres. spoke to us and welcomed us there.  It was fun to meet so many new people.  They were all so friendly and interested in us.  They were from all over and they were going to so many different places and serving in so many different ways.  We were assigned to a district.  We had all of our classes with these four couples.  They were very fun people and we learned much from them.  We studied Preach My Gospel and prepared and presented lessons to volunteers.  It was hard and we had to study and get out of our comfort zone, but we did it and felt really good about it. On Wed. when we were there 840 new missionaries arrived.  This was the most missionaries to arrive in one day.  It is wonderful to see how much the work is going to progress with all of the new missionaries.

                              L-R  Elder and Sister Taylor,  Elder and Sister Dyches, Elder and Sister Manseus,
                                                      Elder and Sister Cribben, One of our teachers Elder Pace

OUR "FAREWELL' SACRAMENT MEETING

My first post was anything but pretty, and not even very informative.  It even contained some misinformation.  The Mission we were called to is the New Hampshire Manchester Mission and we will be serving at the Joseph Smith Memorial Historic Site in Sharon, Vermont, as Facilities Management Specialists.  Our Mission President is David Wilkey.  He was raised in Mt. Pleasant, and was a friend of
Karl Mower and George Dyches.  He spent a lot of time in our home when he was in middle school.  He and Karl used to go fishing and hiking around.

The next event in our journey was when we spoke in Sacrament Meeting January 27.  It was a fun meeting because so many of our family and friends were there.  I spoke first and took a little too much time so Elder Dyches didn't have much time.  At the dinner Uncle Boone told me that when we come home maybe Brent could speak first.  You gotta love Uncle Boone.  It was so fun to have all of the kids and grandkids there.  They all stayed late so they could be there when we were set apart.  The Stake Presidency came to our home and set us apart. They gave us some wonderful blessings.   The Stake Presidency is President Gene Peckham, First Counselor Craig Hilton and Second Counselor Kay Nelson.   Mick Michie is the Executive Sec. and Brent Bailey is the clerk.  Our Bishopric is Bishop Todd Robinson, First Counselor Greg Morley and Second Counselor Neal Bilboa.
This is our family at the dinner following Sacrament meeting.

THE MISSION CALL

       I decided to enter the world of blogging.  I want to share our mission journey with our friends and family.  I don't think it will be fancy, but I will try to make it interesting.  Writing is not my best thing, it isn't even in the top 10 things that I am at least able to do somewhat,  but I will give it a try.   SO HERE GOES.

        It all began when we opened our Mission Call on Sept. 20, 2012.  We arranged for all of the family to meet in a park in Provo to see the opening.  We let each of the grandkids guess where they thought we would go.  I can't remember who won, but we gave each of them a roll of quarters that Grandpa had been saving.  We want each of them to put the money in their Mission Funds.  This is one reason we chose to go on a mission is to show our grandchildren that is family We Serve Missions.

We were called to the New Hampshire Manchester Mission as Facilities Management Specialists.