I love to see the Temple (a.k.a. Auvoo)

If you have ever once lacked a testimony of the restoration of the gospel or the Prophet Joseph; If you've ever wondered what it would be like to leave all your posessions; If you want a greater respect for our ancestors, visit Nauvoo.
We arrived in Nauvoo at dusk. After following the winding road along the Mississippi, the temple was the first thing we saw. What an amazing site!! I've been fortunate to see a few new temples recently, but this one took my breath away! The kids could not wait to get out of the car to see it (it had nothing to do with the four hour drive we took to get there ;) It's on a hill overlooking the Mississippi in the center of town. I found this interesting since recently I learned in Anthropology that the people of the Ancient Near East, (Egypt, Iran, etc.) built their temples on the highest mound in the desert and actually built their foundations higher to show greater respect for the temple. Sage fell in love with the temple and although her pronunciation of words is quite good, she chose to call it "Auvoo".
I was surprised by how quaint the town remains. There is no major grocery store, a few mom and pop restaurants, two gas stations and some gift shops. On a side note if you ever travel to Nauvoo with children bring plenty of pull ups and children's tylenol. Apparently they've never heard of pull ups and when Sage got sick at 2 o'clock in the morning the nearest pharmacy open past nine was 45 miles away.

To be continued...