Nauvoo Report

Our family reported a week ago on our experiences in Nauvoo for our church meeting.  It was seriously so great to hear from every member of the family, and to hear which experiences seemed to stick with them. We also sang as a family "The Spirit of God", just one verse a cappella.  I knew it would be special to sing together, but I was unprepared for the emotional feelings that took over and made me sing all warbly. Everyone was touched by Jessica's tears that flowed freely while she sang and if I had seen that I would have been done in.

The kids were worried that the meeting might come off as braggy. I hadn't thought of that and realized it was good to check ourselves since it's not absolutely necessary to go to Nauvoo to have these experiences. We had an unbelievable experience, but Sacrament Meeting isn't the place to sell people on going to Nauvoo, but to testify of Christ. At least that helped me narrow down and focus for my talk.

I used an outline for my talk and filled in the rest for my journal.  I wish you could have heard all the talks, though. I am so proud of the people my children are becoming and the testimonies that they've developed independent of Michael and I.

Nauvoo Report for Sacrament Meeting
Great Miracles follow Great Sacrifice
Emily Rice

It’s like EFY for families... that’s what keeps running through my head.

We were spiritually fed, we grew in our testimonies, and it was a trip we’ll remember all our lives.  

Why did we want to go to Nauvoo in the first place? I really wanted to do something together as a family that was our last hoo ha before Benson leaves and everything starts changing.  But I started thinking, we could have gone anywhere, right?  Why trek 3300+ miles to go work really hard in humid temperatures?

It might be the McCann’s fault.  After hearing their experiences in Nauvoo, my heart flipped because I just knew it was something for the family bucket list. We applied last October/November and as soon as we were notified that we had been accepted I felt there was a reason for us to be there and that the way would open for us to make it happen.

Some people at the pageant said they felt Satan making it difficult for them to get to Nauvoo.  It wasn't that way for us.  It was like the way just kept opening up as we faced every obstacle.  Like when you roll 6's over and over in a game of Sorry and you are speeding toward winning! I even started to wonder if Satan DID want us to go to Nauvoo thinking that he could create misery between fighting and boredom, but if that were so, it backfired.

I had always wanted to do a church history tour with our kids, especially once they were old enough to remember doing it.  It’s risky taking teens to history sites, I know!  Our first stop was the Winter Quarters visitor center and temple then the newly dedicated Kansas City Temple where we got to do baptisms for the dead.  In Independence there is a beautiful visitor’s center where we learned so much about the saints’ struggles and eventual departure for Nauvoo. Along the way we also visited the Liberty Jail, where Joseph Smith’s life began to feel very real to me.

Once we arrived in Nauvoo, we checked into our lodging which was a church camp run by the Community of Christ.  Our family had our own air conditioned bunk house much like the cabins at the ward campout only twice as big.  I had planned our trip so we would arrive on Saturday night in time to go see the pageant and what it was like before we registered on Monday.

As we entered the pageant grounds we were immediately welcomed.  I looked back and there was a man walking with his arm around my older boys suggesting they have an official program for the pageant instead of the anti-mormon literature that had just been given to them. The material they had been handed looked identical to the pageant material as an 1840 style newspaper.  Every night there were was a group trying to protest in all different ways-- sometimes they would try to blend in and pass out material, like they had to my boys, and sometimes they would protest loudly with signs and other distracting clothing.  I was so grateful that once you were inside the pageant grounds there was only a feeling of joy and welcoming and that someone had specifically watched out for my boys so they would not be deceived by the literature handed to them.

An interesting thought I heard in one of our devotionals a few days later:  Do you think we suddenly were going to be a “chosen people” because we were at the pageant?  When our time in Nauvoo was over were we going to be blessed less -back to normal? No, it’s just that when you are looking for opportunities and miracles they just seem to be more obvious. I really believe that now. I’m sure the Lord is always showing his hand in our lives if we will simply look for it and expect it.

On the first night we were putting on the country fair, Jessica and I were fiddling and having a great time.  I had the distinct physical feeling of someone putting their hands on my waist while I was playing.  I turned around thinking maybe it was Michael but there was nothing.  My first thought was I had imagined it.  But a couple of days later Jessica turned to me and said, “Mom, I just had the feeling that someone had placed their hands on my waist while I was playing!” I told her I had had the same feeling a few days before.  It was an emotional moment for both of us.  It was a physical touch of tenderness and love from someone on the other side of the veil, I’m sure.

 



I loved fiddling with Jessica and watching my boys courageously asking people to join them on the pioneer dance floor dong waltzes and polkas and round dancing.  Even Alex stole the show with his do-si-do-ing.  It was like a big party every night.  You could easily feel like you had stepped back in time to Old Nauvoo.

 


Another small miracle happened later in the week.  Our cast had a little talent show, and since our family hadn’t prepared anything, I decided just to fiddle and then play something slower.  On the way to the program that morning I was trying to remember a particular slow tune that I love to play and had played for 20 years regularly... but I could not remember the tune for the life of me so I decided instead to play a medley that I had played for Easter this year in our ward.  At the conclusion of the program, a woman came up to me and expressed appreciation for my number and asked if it was a published medley. I said yes, that it was from a particular arranger.  She said she recognized because it was played a year ago that very day at her infant son’s funeral, and she felt like it was a message of comfort that day for her. I couldn’t believe of all the music, and especially since I couldn’t remember my favorite piece so randomly... I was unquestionably an instrument in the Lord’s hands on that particular day for someone.

Several other times I felt the spirit bearing witness to me-
    Aubrey and I always went on stage holding hands, and I felt so connected.
    As we sang The Spirit of God as a family and cast every night.
    After the pageant, when I’d see my boys talking to individuals and families, bearing testimony... I caught a glimpse of them as future missionaries. What a tender mercy.
    Carthage Jail was particularly powerful for all of us.  The spirit testified strongly that Joseph Smith was a real prophet and you could feel the great loss of his martyrdom.  We held a special family meeting at the visitor center where we shared with each other what experiences of the week had impacted us the most and I was humbled by the things my children shared. 

 

One other thought that impacted me.  The pageant directors often expressed appreciation for the sacrifices we had all made to be there.  But they emphasized that “no sacrifice would be worth anything less than bringing souls to Christ”, and I would add: “if even only our own.”

Yes, getting referrals for the missionaries was important work and was a big focus.  But I especially appreciated our district leader’s encouragement to just bear testimony to every person we spoke with. It was hard at first but I realized it was easier than I thought when I spoke from my heart with no intention of convincing.

We met many new great friends, some actually from right here in Bountiful!  

Our crazy bus idea, truly an untested theory, was another miracle. I still can’t believe we made it there and back with no problems, but that bus was prayed over A LOT. The bus is it’s own miracle on many levels.

 

I am so grateful we were able to experience this together and I hope that the impact on all of us is never forgotten.  It kind of feels like a dream now.  Part of the mission of the pageant was to come home and further testify.  Our testimonies were strengthened and we grew closer as a family and to our Heavenly Father.

 

I know my Savior lives and that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet.  I’m proud of the testimonies of my ancestors who were willing to follow him through all kinds of hardship so that I can have the gospel in my life now.  Each of them, each of us, has to constantly nourish our testimonies because no sacrifice would be worth anything less.

I love my Savior and felt the Spirit constantly testifying, as often as I was willing to listen and hope to keep that channel open always. I never want to lose the feeling of companionship of the Spirit and the access it gives me to my Heavenly Father. I testify that I have felt His love work miracles in my life, many many times because He knows we are weak and forget and need strengthening... if we'll only turn to Him.  It's that simple.