We said our final goodbye to beautiful Utah and flew to Kansas City, MO to meet up for the Hart Family Reunion. The reunion was happening in Nauvoo but the closest airport is in Kansas City. Justin's parents & Erin picked us up and we headed to our hotel where a bunch of the family was staying before the trek to Nauvoo.
Had some good Mexican food & an orange sky to end the night.
We stopped in Independence, MO and got to tour Liberty Jail and see the Visitors Center. I love visitors centers!!
The road to the Church Restoration in the beginning was long and had many roadblocks. But I know that the Church is in the name of Jesus Christ. He and Heavenly Father were (and are) directing the work and as long as people were striving to follow their guidance and commandments, the work would move forward.
As we learned more history about Joseph Smith and the Saints, I was inspired by their faith.
They faced a LOT of opposition and hard things. But they trusted in their faith and in what matters most.
President Boyd K. Packer: Faith is a real power, not just an expression of belief.
I had never been to Nauvoo before. I loved seeing the place that holds so much history for our Church. I had heard stories and learned about events that took place in Nauvoo and it was special to walk where those things had happened.
This is where Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum are buried. Behind their headstone is the Smith Family Cemetery.
We went to a couple of pageants & it rained on us one of the nights. :')
We were able to do sealings in the Nauvoo Temple one of the days. The Saints began building the temple in January 1841. They never fully finished the temple but dedicated parts that were finished to perform ordinances there. They were only able to perform ordinances for a few months, before they were forced to leave Nauvoo by the government.
The temple was destroyed by a fire then leveled by a tornado. In 1999, President Hinckley announced that they would rebuild the Nauvoo Temple.
It is beautiful inside and was constructed to match the original as much as possible. This link tells more about the history & rebuilding.
The day after we drove home from Nauvoo was our anniversary. We've been married for two years!! We went and ate where we did before we got engaged and took a little city river tour.
We spent our time in Oklahoma with family, in the pool, eating out with friends, sampling all Costco had to offer, and enjoying being together.
Germany was becoming more and more real. We had our plane tickets. We mailed our marriage license back to UT to get an apostille. We sold our cars, went through boxes of things for Goodwill, and planned out our wardrobe for the next year as we packed suitcases.
Four days before we left we got to go to the Oklahoma City temple for an endowment session. My whole life, I've been blessed to live right by temples. Even while in Brazil and Memphis, I had a temple I could go to whenever I wanted.
Germany is a little different. The nearest temple is over two hours away and we don't have a mode of transportation to get there! (We have a car, but it's electric and we wouldn't be able to charge it along the way...)
I was so grateful for that night we were able to spend inside the temple. I always feel this longing when I'm in the Celestial Room. I can only describe it as a longing to never leave. Never leave God's presence. Never leave that peace.
But I know that because of the covenants I've made with God, after this life, I won't have to leave His presence. We'll live with God in a state of never-ending happiness.
Right now I'm learning to lean on the power of my covenants while I can't go to the temple as often as I'm used to going.
When we were here in April, Justin's mom and I redid this flower bed and planted begonias. They're still beautiful. I was feeling really nostalgic and taking pictures every 5 seconds. I didn't want summer to end!
Mom sent me this picture from the farm <3.
Peach shakes!! Couldn't leave the U.S. without a Chick fil A run. I'm so sad that they're not doing their Autumn Spice shakes anymore!!! They did a trial run on them for two years but I guess they didn't stick. Oh well, I wouldn't have been there to enjoy them anyways!
We said our goodbyes round 3482311028 and it came down to the real deal.
The night before our flight, we tried checking in to see that our first flight of three was delayed 7 hours. That wasn't going to work but thankfully we got all rerouted and were able to sleep in a little bit!
Justin's dad took us to the airport and we headed out. Lots of tender mercies happened leading up to leaving and still are happening now. I was soooo nervous about checking our guitar but the nice guy let us check it for free and it made it all the way to Berlin. Miracle.
I cried walking onto our plane. We were leaving the U.S. and wouldn't be coming back until we had a baby!! Lots of changes. We're hoping to be able to have enough off time to come and visit in February.
That's that. The ending to one of the greatest, most special summers.
Also if anyone comes to visit us, please bring Gushers because it costs $45 for a pack of 20 here. :')