I'm home!--- Now what?

Well as you can probably imagine I'm back in HomeTown :D I won't lie the trip was full of good times, weird times, and tired times-- but I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to go. We left Denver at 9 and we arrived at RootTown/CollegeTown and Sporty Spice was home so I went and visited her. She chopped off her hair and dyed it a little darker and she looks cute as a button! Sporty and Devin are done in CollegeTown so they were moving out Friday and I just kind of entertained her while she packed up her clothes and stuff. I miss that girl, but they're moving to Provo/Orem so hopefully I'll see her a little more often than before :D

Yesterday was Mother's Day.. My whole family had to speak in church... yuck. But Oh man I love my mom! She has been SO good to me since I moved home! The ladies at work always tell me that I should never move out of my house because MY MOM IS THE BEST MOM!

Well I'm home so what's the plan?

Well if you haven't noticed-- I was planning on turning in my mission papers on May 6th.. it is now May 10th... (PS Happy Birthday SASS! I really am glad that we were able to go to Nauvoo together and I just want you to know that I love you :D) Well the last couple weeks have been full of changes and decisions. Remember KJo?? Well we've been dating for a month now which has made for craziness in my life because I have dated him long enough to know I really like him, but not long enough to make any super drastic decisions-- So I decided that I don't want to rush either decision and with sister missions it's not a big deal when you turn in your papers, so I'm going to kind of wait out the summer and see what goes down with him and then if all else fails go serve the Lord :D Sound logical?? I sure hope so ha ha ha

Well my family is moving out on the 28th of May.. I can honestly tell you that if I think about it too long then I'll cry. We bought a house on our old street there in RootTown and I'm SO glad to be on that street where my little sisters already have a ton of friends, but the house we bought needs a LOT of work seeing as it's 50+ years old ... yuck, but it'll be home I guess

I am not moving to RootTown. Because the job market is so bad right now I am going to stay in HomeTown and live with Kla's parents (Kla gets married on FRIDAY OMGOSH! so stoked for her :) and continue working for the bank. KJo is from HomeTown, but taking summer classes at BYU (over achiever ;) but we have plans to see each other pretty much every weekend which is fine by me!

Have you ever noticed that my life never quite goes the way I plan it to go?... Oh well.. Such is life!

PS get a load of my room and bathroom... let's just say the only thing worse than packing is unpacking.... :(

Day 7

Today we woke up and went to the sites in Independence Missouri... I was kind of a stormy day to start, but it cleared up. Now for those that might not know the history.. The R.L.D.S. church broke off from the LDS church after Joseph died. They believed that the next prophet should be Joseph's oldest son, so they broke off and started the Reformed Latter Day Saints. A few years ago tho they changed their name to the Community of Christ. Because They believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet and also have faith in the Book of Mormon, but a lot of their doctrines have "evolved" since the 1800's. They knew the prophesy that a temple would be built in Independence, so in 1994 they completed a temple... and it's definitely different than ours..

They're just different. Entering our temple is something you have to earn and work for. They give a tour every hour...
The outside might look a little creepy, but I will totally admit that the inside of the cone in bomb.com!

We also spent time at the visitors center and learned about how Zion doesn't have to be a place.. it's a state of mind you take with you everywhere you go. Being good to those around us. One heart one mind.

Speaking of building relationships... B made all of us bracelets! How great of her! These are all of them!

mine is the one on the right side of the pic :D

Here's a segment dedicated to people on the trip

Luke and B.. Pretty much the cutest couple ever. I hope things work out well for them :D

Becca and Bailey.. I was not really even acquaintances with them before the trip. I knew their names and that was about it, but I was stoked that I got to know them because they are SO awesome!

Bishop and Mother Teresa. Love them.

Stevie and Garrett.. Love them also!

Mostly I was stoked that B came. She was on my Institute Council activities committee and I honestly had never seen or heard about her until I called her to my committee and she was SO awesome to work with. I'm super grateful that she was on this trip so that I would get to know her a lot more and spend a ton of time with her. She always makes everyone feel so included and has such a beautiful smile. Thanks for letting me tag along B! Love ya!

Well tonight is going to be spent in Denver and then tomorrow is the home stretch. I won't lie I'm stoked to go home and relax, but I have really enjoyed this trip.

Day 4 and 5

Day 4

Yesterday was quite a beautiful day. PS take note that so far I've said that almost everyday. It was like 80 degrees and windy, but it was a really warm breeze so it was just awesome!

We woke up and went to the temple... ummm INCREDIBLE.

Usually the baptistry entrance is like off to the side, but in Nauvoo you enter right in front! Through the BIG doors! Like important people!

So honestly it was just beautiful. I was able to play the prelude music in the chapel, which was a priviledge.. and then we did the baptisms and the font is MASSIVE. I went to Nauvoo for the first time when I was like 12 or 13 and was able to do baptisms, but I really don't remember much about the temple except the pretty wood that was throughout. Which was crazy because the font was just spectacular and huge! I dunno words can't describe.. just amazing.

Then, after we finished, the temple worker let us go up the spiral staircase to the lobby level...

... let's just say that there were 4 of us girls.. and all of us were googley-eyed as we stared up that staircase. And then one of them brought up what all of us were thinking--- Can you picture walking up this in your wedding dress??? ha ha oh silly girls :D

Then we went to Carthage. What a special place and spirit. Joseph is a true prophet. Amen.

At around dinner time a group of us began wandering around Nauvoo and the old little shops and we went into this place called the Temple House Gallery

and inside was just all of these beautiful photographs/prints of the Nauvoo and Salt Lake temples, and then just a bunch of other prints of prophets...

So the worker lady came up and started talking to us and she was SO awesome! She started telling us SO many neat little facts about the Temple and also about Joseph Smith's family. I want to share some of what she taught us SO READ THIS!

1- Did you know the reason why the size of the bricks change on the temple?

The temple was only as high as the smaller bricks when Joseph was killed in Carthage and the Saints were in such a state of shock that they stopped working on the temple. Later after Brigham was appointed prophet, he was commanded to finish the temple ASAP. So they started cutting the stones bigger in order to finish before they were driven from Nauvoo. Take note that when they were commanded to finish it they already knew they were going to have to leave it. Talk about tough.

2- The 5 point inverted star. Now yesterday when she told us about the star (see in pic above) I came back to blog and couldn't quite remember all of the symbolism, so I googled it and it brought up all sorts of crap that wasn't at all what she had told me, so today I went back and asked what the different symbols were and then what her sources were because of the stuff I'd read online (keep in mind that this lady is an active member of the church that lived in SLC and then was specially recruited to come and run this gallery. She had such an amazing spirit and I honestly would believe anything she told me.. but I had to check) She replied that the reason she knew was because of the book Temples and Symbols, and she also met the man that constructed the stain glass windows for the Temple... I believed her :)

So this is the star:

The Red=blood and Atonement

The White= the purifying effect of the Atonement

The Blue= His Royal birth

The two top points symbolize the Father and the Son

The bottom is His decent to come to earth.

WAY cool :D

3- There are approx. 1,800 living descendants of Joseph Smith Jr on the Earth today. Of those 132 are baptized members of the church. All of them are converts and she told the MOST amazing story about a lady who now lives in the Nauvoo Stake and how one day she saw a picture of Joseph and Emma and asked her grandmother who they were. She told her it was here great great (etc) grandfather Joseph Smith who founded the Mormon church. She had no clue. She ran into many many problems with family members who would hardly speak his name and was pretty much disowned. But joined anyway. WOW.

Those are 3 of many things that that amazing women shared with us in

her gallery yesterday and I am so grateful for her sweet sweet testimony. If you come to Nauvoo visit her and buy one of the pictures. They are amazing.

Last night concluded with a group of us sitting on the lawn in front of the temple, watching the sunset, and catching fireflies.

DAY 5

Today I woke up eventho I was EXHAUSTED I went to the temple again for baptisms. That font is extraordinary. Then by the time I got back and showered it was noon so we ate lunch and then we went to Old Nauvoo.

Dressed up for the pioneer games

think they had nike shox back then??

Hyrum Joseph and Emma's Graves

The Mansion House (Joseph's house), the graves, and the Red Brick Store are all owned by the Community of Christ (aka RLDS) church. It was interesting to go to their visitors center and the lady was SUPER nice, but honestly she didn't know much about our church at all, or hers for that matter. She couldn't answer a lot of our questions that we had, but it was just interesting to see and feel the difference in our churches.

Then we went to McKee's and watched them make and freeze our ice cream which was pretty freakin sweet!

My boss Margo asked me to look for her ancestor's house and today I saw it! So I took a couple pics for her!!

View of the temple from the Trail of Hope down Parley's Street where the Saints took their wagons over the Mississippi River...

The sunset was phenomenal :D

Well folks that's all for Nauvoo.. we're off to sites like Independence, Adam-ondi-ahmen, and Far West... we're leaving here at 6.. aka way too early.

Day 3

This morning we woke up in Nebraska and drove to Omaha/Winter Quarters. And can I even explain to you what a beautiful day it was!?! It was around 70 degrees with a light breeze blowing through the beautiful green trees. I don't want to go back to cold brown Utah. Do you blame me?

PS the doors of this temple are GORGEOUS!

So Brandt and I were going on the Visitors Center tour with like 40 other people and we couldn't hear or pay much attention so we ditched, went up to the cemetery, and sat on a bench for like an hour while all of the other kids were on the tour so it was just SUPER peaceful to sit and just appreciate the silent beauty of that cemetery and stare at the amazing temple that's built right on the hill.

It was perfect weather all day and then right as we started our devotional the clouds came and it started to pour on us :D So it was just a fun day in the sun/rain!

Then we started through Iowa. It took the pioneers 6 weeks to get through Iowa because of all of the nasty black mudd and rain there which is why they stopped in Nebraska and built Winter Quarters because it had taken them twice as long as they had anticipated to get across Iowa.. so in honor of the black dirt that caused the saints SO much trouble Brandt and I took these pics at a sick nasty rest stop outside Des Moines:

1- notice he looks like a happy little boy. 2- the sunset was SPECTAULAR!

3- Yes I do realize that I look like trash in this pic thank you for noticing ;)

I agree with the saints tho.. Iowa was forever long! Finally we crossed the Mississippi and from there it was still a 30 minute drive south. When we finally go into town we went straight to the hotel and didn't even get to see the temple, so Brandt and I (please note that I am so grateful that he is there to keep me sane. He's such a great friend!) stole (when I say stole I am most definitely exaggerating) aka we borrowed for a time one of the vans that we have here and went to see the temple because we couldn't wait a second longer.

The statue is of Joseph and Hyrum's last ride as the left the city of Nauvoo to their awaited death in Carthage. They turned one last time to look over the city and the unfinished temple.

What a great day :D

Day 2

Day 2 has been amazing! Last night I realized that I left my carry-on bag on the bus-- aka I was without face wash, toothbrush, shampoo, straightener, etc... bad news! ha ha so I had to call down to the lobby and get a toothbrush and use all of my room buddies' stuff, but we got on the bus at about 830 and it was SUPER windy and snowing pretty hard-- The whole time I was thingking WOW WE'RE GOING TO GET A LITTLE TINY TASTE OF WHAT MARTIN'S COVE WAS LIKE... and to an extent we did.

So we got to the Homestead by Devil's gate and went into the Chapel they have there and had Sacrament Meeting with all of the amazing Senior Couples that were there serving missions.

Having Sacrament there was awesome because (if any of you have been there and remember) on the wall behind the pulpit 3 pictures hang. One of a boy carrying a little girl-- I think the little girl's last name was like Mortensen or something like that-- then 2nd was of a young girl, probably carrying her little sister, but the last picture is of a mom in front of Devil's gate with three children bundled in front of a fire with the snow blowing around in the wind. I have a new Kaylen Philosophy. All chapels should have paintings/pictures hanging behind the pulpit.. maybe they could change according to the topic of Sacrament meeting or something cool like that because like 90 percent of the meeting I found myself hearing the words that were spoken, but I was lost in the paintings. As people bore testimony of the pioneers you could feel their strenth and resilience. I stared at that loving Mother, who was probably a widow, with three children. Frozen to the bone and knowing that her children were in pain and suffering from exposure and starvation. I dunno I just thought how awesome that would be if every Sunday there were pictures of the wall to keep you focused..

Anyway so after Sacrament we went up the trail to Dan Jones' Cove and had a quick devotional where they shared a few stories and kind of explained the timeline of things. They talked of the rescue party's diligence and the immortalizing act of kindess as three young men packed almost 500 people across the icy Sweet Water River in chest high water.

The man that took us up the trail told a story about President Hinckley, and said that a couple years back he brought his family up to the cove and sat them down. His son quoted him along the lines of: AS A FAMILY WE HAVE BEEN TO MANY SACRED PLACES. TEMPLE DEDICATIONS, THE SACRED GROVE, ETC. THIS PLACE STANDS AMOUNG THEM. NOT ONLY IS THIS PLACE SACRED AND DEDICATED, BUT IT IS HALLOWED GROUND. WHEN I SPEAK OF HALLOWED GROUND I TELL YOU THAT THIS IS A PLACE WHERE THE SAVIOR HAS WALKED. TRULY HOLY GROUND. Wow! What a cool little story! So going up they reminded to use our "temple voices" and quite steps.

As we rounded the bend into the cove it the weather immediatley changed. Up to that point it had been windy and chilly, but as we entered the safety of the cove the wind was blocked into a slight breeze and the sun peeked through the clouds. I truly felt the Spirit of that Hallowed ground and the relief that the Saints must have felt as they entered this place of refuge. The song Come Come Ye Saints rang through my mind.

"And if we die before our journey's through, happy day all is well. We then are free from toil and sorrow too- with the just we shall dwell. But if our lives are spared again to see the Saints their rest obtain. Oh how we'll make this chorus swell. All is well. All is well."

Then this story was read:

"Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it and Sister Nellie Unthank whom you have cited was there, too. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? …

“I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. ”

He continues: “I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.

“Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.’ ***

If you have never been to Martin's Cove-- GO. I think that people might over look it because they want to travel further East to the big sights like Nauvoo and Independnce, but there is such a unique Spirit of sacrifice and true devotion as some of these people paid the ultimate price to become acquianted with God.

In other good news my good friend Brandt met up with us at Martin's Cove and randomly decided to come on the rest of the trip with us! I'm stoked because we'll have some good times if he's here :D

me and my girl B

Well tonight we're staying somewhere in Nebraska and then Winter Quarters is on the agenda for tomorrow

Day 1

Hola from Rollins Wyoming friends!

So today is day one of my 8 day trip to Nauvoo Illinois :D

But to start the day it was also Commencement, so eventho I have my diploma already and haven't been studying at all for the last 4 months I walked today :)

The last two Women of 311... Sporty was out of town with her hubby and didn't walk.. So here's to Baby and Ginger

My ambassador peeps-- luh them!

The ambassador booth -- hundreds hours spent doing who knows what--

Will-- oh man I love this kid!

Super fun to see everyone.Miss college life. Jr College days are over.

In CollegeTown the College Stake goes to Nauvoo every other year, so about 2 months ago I called the Stake President and I was like HEY!... can I come??? and he was like of course you can! So I immediately called Katie and she was going too-- I was stoked! So about two days ago she called and said that they scheduled state boards for that week and she couldn't come. I was UBBER bummed... but what can you do?! So I am going to try to post every day for this trip (if WIFI is available :)

So tonight we're in Wyoming because tomorrow we're having Sacrament Meeting at Martin's Cove which should be amazing! and maybe even slightly realistic seeing as it snowed there today and could be windy and bitter tomorrow :S --- Sounds fun right?! ha ha well that's all for tonight. Peace Love.