We started out the next morning at the Trail of Hope. Instead of being blistering cold and snowy, it was SO HOT and SO MUGGY. The heat index was at 112 degrees that day and we all felt it. But I was determined that we experience the city and all it had to offer. Despite being so hot, the Trail of Hope was a moving experience as we read each of the accounts of the early Saints leaving Nauvoo in faith and hope of a better place to freely worship God. You can just see in our red faces how incredibly hot it was out, even before we started the trail, so I was so proud of everyone for persevering on and making it to the end. The kids definitely liked finally reaching the Mississippi River and being under the shade. I think it also helped them understand a little better the endurance it took for the Saints to withstand such extreme weather.
Later, we met up with Grandma and Grandpa Starr to walk the old streets of Nauvoo and visit the shops and hear about what life was like when the Saints lived there. We went to the Blacksmith shop, the bakery, the post office, the gun shop, the Visitor's Center, the tabernacle, and to the old homes of the Prophet Joseph Smith and others. It was so nice when we went somewhere with air conditioning! I just prayed and hoped that despite the heat, the kids were feeling what I had felt as a child visiting Nauvoo and that the Spirit was testifying to them that these people were real and that all of these events are true and that the Lord was with them as he is with us today.
How blessed we were to come back to our air conditioned temporary home that afternoon and enjoy a nice, cool drink and rest! We loved having dinner all together and playing games and talking the rest of the day.
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