Trail of Hope

We arrived in Nauvoo Sunday evening. Before we took the time to unload our things we hopped into Uncle Ross & Aunt Peggy’s van and went for a drive. Uncle Ross is full of knowledge, even down the tree’s, birds, plants….as well as all the history & facts of Nauvoo.

(My Aunt & Uncle are Temple Missionaries in Nauvoo…more on that later.)

I was so happy to be there, it was not how I pictured Nauvoo in my mind, but it was sure beautiful. We knew we had a lot to pack into to our day and a half, so we set out that very night before the sun went down and got started. We left Lydia with them and went for a walk down the Trail of Hope.

It is a trail the pioneers walked down and then waited in line to cross the Mississippi and trek into Iowa to begin their journey West. We read exerts from their journals as we we walked.  I tried hard to imagine what they must have felt having to leave their beautiful city of Nauvoo which they loved and to go to unknown territories.

President Hinckley asked all the Members to walk down this trail after her dedicated the temple, you can read about it here.

 

All of the plaques touched my heart. These 3 in particular.

Near the trail is a memorial with names of all those saints that died before reaching the Salt Lake Valley. It was a LONG list! We couldn’t believe it.

   

A few generations ago Tyson’s ancestors changed the family name from Goodridge to Goodrich.

At any given moment on the trail you could turn and see the beautiful temple up on the hill.

I have loved learning about pioneers ever since I was a little child. My love for these saints grew so much as I stood in the same place they stood this night. They will forever be counted as my hero’s.