Catch Up...

Well, we are now in Nauvoo. A lot has happened since we last posted. This is the second time I have taken this trip. The first I was 13 or 14, with Dad, Mom, sister. The second was with Dad, Mom and Kristin. When I left for this trip I thought this would be the same kind...it is not. These kids are amazing/crazy/awesome.

For instance, while in the N. K. Whitney store standing in the kitchen the sisters asked if we had any questions. Steve said, "Ya, how come the plates are so small? Have we gotten bigger appetites? Have we become a selfish society?" Now the horses have left the barn. An impromptu conversation began about the growth of plates and society (totally a Paradigm thing), which ended with the advent of the burrito in the American diet being the driving factor of the increased size of flatware. This conversation continued for several minutes. Meanwhile the sisters looked on with stunned amazement...well it was mostly confusion. They had never seen anything like this. Throughout the history site visits the kids have never respond to the "call and response" approach of the sisters; meaning: lecture/info/download, then "now tell me how do you feel about what I just told you/do you have any questions". The room is silent. They seem to have no interest in giving the "right" answers, but when lecture time is over these kids begin discussions so fast and varied the sisters have a hard time keeping up. Everything is amazing to them and it isn't always whats on the tour schedule. I think we offended Sis. Packer (Pres. Packers niece) when we told her the best guide we had had up to that point was "Prison Tat" Jim at the Kirtland Temple (owned by The Community of Christ Church). Yep, thats right, he had a tattoo on his neck. Jim was amazing. It was like he was channeling Joseph or Sidney in the KT. He loved the building, Joseph, the history, and the saints. We asked him what his feelings about the building were and he related his story of first seeing the temple and how he was drawn to it. He said every time he enters it feels like the first time. "PT" Jim is not a member of our church and seemed to love our history more than any we have met.

So, I tell you this as a preface for the rest of the posts. They will not always be exactly what you would expect of a from a Church History Tour Group. For that we will have to refer you to the old curmudgeons we ran into at "The Hill". They were the quintessential BYU ball cap, bad floral blouse, tennis shoes with velcro tour group. We felt so bad for them. The forty something Murdock Travel tour guide
seemed so patronizing. With that we begin...