more photography: nauvoo edition

Hello, dear readers. :) I want to share some more photography today from my amazing trip. I didn't get pictures from New Mexico since I was backpacking and didn't take a camera (a fact for which I am now cursing myself!) But I did get some pictures of Nauvoo, where we went afterwards, so I'm sharing some of those. (I also decided to take another tentative step into the world of becoming Hip and Cool or Whatever the Kids Are Calling It These Days TM, and I got an Instagram. My username is anna_marie919, so as Philippa Gordon would say-"What are your handles?" In other words, leave your usernames in the comments if you want me to follow you! I've tried to find a few people I know on there, but I haven't been able to find everyone. And as a side note: don't you just love it when old slang terms come back? I smile every time I hear someone say "handles" now.)

Before the pictures, I want to try to give a little explanation about Nauvoo for my friends of other faiths, since it's a really important place in the history of my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka the LDS church, aka Mormons). If you don't care about that part, go ahead and scroll down; I won't be offended. :) I'll try not to ramble, but I do want to attempt to explain part of why this trip was so special for me. The difficulty with explaining is that the history and significance of Nauvoo is very much interconnected with our beliefs and faith in God, the facts of which aren't necessarily common knowledge. I want to explain enough that you're not confused, but not so much that this next paragraph becomes a hopeless fog. Sometimes I feel awkward and inarticulate writing about my faith, since it's so important to me-I'm afraid I'll mess it up. So thank you for being patient with me, and please ask me questions in the comments if you have any! I'm a little nervous that I won't explain it well, so go ahead and ask if something doesn't make sense or isn't clear, or if you're just curious about something. :) Here we go!

In the early 1800s, most members of the church lived in Missouri. However, there was a lot of persecution against members. After events came to a head with Governer Boggs' extermination order and the Haun's Mill Massacre, the church members tried to relocate to several different places in Missouri. They were driven out each time, and eventually Nauvoo, Illinois became the new gathering place for the church members. It was originally 800 acres of swampland, swarming with malaria-carrying mosquitoes which resulted in many deaths. However, members of the church drained the swamp and built a beautiful, prosperous city! One of the most important things there is the Nauvoo temple. (A quick word of explanation on temples-an integral part of our faith is the belief that the features of the original church as we read about it in the Bible are still essential parts of the true church today. Some of these features are prophets (like Abraham and Moses), the gift of the Holy Spirit (like in John 14:26), temples (like the temple of Solomon), and all the rest! :) The temple is an extremely sacred place for us to worship God-ask me in the comments if you have more questions.) Anyway, prejudice and persecution continued even during this period of relative peace, and eventually Joseph Smith, the church's prophet, was murdered alongside his brother Hiram by a mob. Not long after this tragedy, persecution from anti-Mormon groups continued to intensify. Despite the fact that it was still winter, the LDS population of Nauvoo was uprooted and forced to leave their homes. Under the direction of Brigham Young, the new prophet, they began the long journey westward and out of the country as it existed at the time in what is sometimes called the "Mormon Exodus". There's more, but I think this covers it pretty well.

Now, on to the pictures!

Some kind family friends who routinely helps with the Nauvoo pageant allowed us to stay in their home while we were there. It was such a lovely old house with lots of personality and "scope for the imagination".

Old radiator

Experimenting with framing techniques 

We got to visit the Trail of Hope, which is the path the church members followed out of Nauvoo to cross the Mississippi. It is lined with quotes from the people who left, taken from their journals, letters, etc.

(The Mormon Battalion was a group of LDS men who were enlisted by the government to fight in the Mexican-American war early on in the journey west. For more information, check out this link.) 

Near the Trail of Hope.

The Mighty Mississippi! 

At Carthage, where Joseph and Hiram Smith were murdered, there are these displays with quotes on them. I liked these two especially. 

The beautiful Nauvoo temple!

Trying to take artsy photos is HARD.