The Month of the Hearts and Sleigh Ride

Monday-Feb. 3, 2014
We are leaving about noon so we could go on the sleigh ride at 1:00 PM.  It was cold but not too bad.  We had a lot of blankets and was warm.  What a fun thing to do.  The horses were pulling the sleigh and we sang Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells.  We had fresh snow the day before and it was a wonderful ride in the country.  Here are some pictures to enjoy.

                                          Elder Mayne is getting ready to leave on our sleigh ride.

 Here we go up the road.  This was a very fun ride. I have always wanted to ride in a sleigh with the horses pulling it.

Elder Harris saying, "Hi"

Scenery we saw as we traveled down the road.

                                               We went past the barn and the farm house.

                                                     

 We went past President and Sister Chynoweth's place where they live here in Nauvoo.  A very nice place but there is another couple that lives in the red part of the home.

                                        These big horses pull us easy up this hill.

We stopped at Inspiration Point and you can look out over the Mississippi River.  This is a beautiful and peaceful spot to be at.

                                                             Here are the beautiful horses.

                         Giving the horses a rest and so all the sleigh riders can take pictures.

                                       Elder Dahle is also a missionary here in Nauvoo.

Here we are moving past these trees and building in the back.

                                                           Here is the sleigh ride.

                                       Sister Harper and Sister Harris waving "Hi, everyone!!!"

We are stopped at Inspiration Point!!!

                                             Sister Campbell, Sister Harris, Sister Harper

                                                   I am so warm with all the blankets on me.

                     Elder Mayne keeping the horse controlled. The horses are saying "lets go!!!"

Here Elder Harris is at Inspiration Point where his Ancestries owned part of this land here.

                                              We are going back to the Visitor Center.

                 Passing the barns again where all the horses are.   They have about 20 horses.

  I took this with the two Steeples -- Nauvoo Temple and Catholic Steeple while on the sleigh ride.

                          Here we are back to the starting point.  They horses know the way.

                                                  Nauvoo Visitor Center

 We are back to the Visitor Center where we started our sleigh ride. The ride was only about one hour.   A wonderful day, Good-Bye!!!!!

Febuary- 4, 2014

Today it is our daughter- Kisti-Jo Christensen's Birthday.  She is 33 years old.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!!  We have been so busy because we have been moving a few things each time we come to Nauvoo to save us gas.  With us being a joint Zion Leader and getting things done that we are to do, has made it hard I haven't had time to write in my Blog.

Saturday Feb. 8, 2014
 I do want to write about our Exodus in Nauvoo.  The Saints did leave Nauvoo this day, Feb. 4, 1846 but we had to celebrate it on Saturday, February 8, 2014.  It was a wonderful day with a little snow falling on us but NO wind.  I dressed really warm so I never got cold.
We all met in the Family Living Center about l hour before we left on the Exodus.  Most the Missionaries had names of their Ancestor's name pinned on their clothing.  I went as Rachal Myers or Mayers.  She was 17 years old when the family left Nauvoo.  Her father George Myers or Mayers lived across the street from Heber C. Kimball and was very good friends.  The Myers family went in Heber C. Kimball's wagon group of 10 wagons.  Heber was sick so he ask George Myers to help with all the other wagons so Rachael drove the family wagon all by herself to Salt Lake City and the Oxson obeyed her command because they knew her voice.  She met George Washington Brimhall in Salt Lake City and they were married and had 13 children. The Exodus was one of the "High Light's" of our Mission.

                        Here are some pictures that I took inside while we had a program.

                                  Elder Harris in the       Nauvoo Legion and Sister Harris dressed up in Pioneer Cloths as Rachael Myers.

This is one of the tables with food for our breakfast before our walk down Parley Street- The Exodus.

This is the Orchestra playing some really fun music as we listened to them before we left on our walk.
They are all Missionaries.                                                                    

To the left is Elder Taye and Elder Ballard is to the right.  Sister Hansen is leading us as we see, "Come, Come ye saints".

Elder and Sister Monney were Brigham Young and his wife Mary Ann.   They rode in the coolest carriage with the horses pulling them.  They are related to Brigham Young.  



Different Missionaries are telling stories about their Ancestors in the program. Left is Elder Jenson and single Sister Hoen.  Next picture to the right is single Sister McCann telling about her Ancestor that she would wear the name tag on her cloths.

This is Single Sister Murray telling a story about the name she wore,left.

                                                                                                   This is a picture of Elder                                                                                          Nuttall telling about a story of his Ancestor.

Here are some missionaries walking around in the Family Living Center.  This is were everyone brought cinnamon rolls and all kinds of breads and breakfast food to eat before our Exodus Walk.

These are some friends- Sister Thurston, Sister Taye, and Sister Boyle, which she will be going home in three weeks.

Sister Taye trained Elder & Sister Harris in Carthage Visitor Center and Jail. They have been in Nauvoo for about 2 1/2 Months, awesome couple. 

This Exodus was amazing because every year many people fly in just to do this walk like the pioneer's did.  It is always done around Feb. 4, which was the date the pioneers left to go out west.  

 To the right are our two missionaries from the DesMoines Missionaries.




We are all watching the program. It is time to start the Exodus walk.

 Elder Harris walked with the Nauvoo Legion so he walked by the horses to keep people from walking too close to the wagon and horses. They didn't want anyone to get hurt.  One of the missionaries that was a Nauvoo Legion did fall and a voice told him to roll into the snow away from the wagon.  He only got a little sore from falling but he would have fallen under the wagon tire if he wouldn't have rolled. This was another Nauvoo Miracle.

                  Here are the Des Moine Missionaries that were here to do the Exodus Walk.

Here is Cory Raiser to do the Exodus walk.  Sister Harris was walking alone so Cory walked with me.  We hurried up and caught up with Elder Harris, boy those horses really walk fast even when they are pulling a wagon.  I am sure Cory was cold he didn't really have a warm coat on or snow boats.

Single Sisters- Hoen and Salcido to the left.  Some of the missionaries got to carry a flag where there family was from.

Elder and Sister Boyle to the right. They were pulling a wagon.

If you didn't want to do the Exodus walk you could get on this wagon and ride to the Mississippi River but we didn't ride we walked the whole way and back.

This was really interesting because they put this bag on the horses to catch there "poop."

                                     Here is what the wagons looked like.  We are really proud of the pioneers that walked down Parley Street at this time of year.  It is cold and snowy. The pioneers endured so much of the cold  weather.

                            Here are the William's driving the horses and pulling the wagon.

                                                                       The Exodus Walk.

The Exodus Walk.

This is at the end of the walk down by the Mississippi River.
We gathered here at the Monument of Joseph & Hyrum Smith by the reader boards. Here are a few of the flags that we're carried in the walk.

                                                       This is at the end of the walk.

Here are the monuments I talked about.

                                              On the way to the Mississippi River.

Here we are at the end of the walk by the Mississippi River.

         These are some really fun single Sister Missionary that come to see us at Carthage.

Here is the back of Elder Harris walking by the wagon and horses.  His horses were very spirited and wanted to move along fast.  I couldn't believe how fast they walked.  It was a wonderful experience to do the Exodus Walk.  We can  really feel for the Ancestors that left Nauvoo.