We arrived in Nauvoo on Friday, March 22, 2013.  What a wonderful place to be with wonderful people.  As one Sister put it, we are in Zion where everyone is of one heart and one mind.  The Lord blessed us on the trip here.  Not a snow flake to be seen from Denver to Nauvoo.  However, it started to snow Saturday night and has snowed all day today.  It is a winter wonderland - very beautiful, but very cold.

       Nauvoo is a Hebrew word meaning "beautiful".  Joseph Smith named the town when he and his family moved there in 1839.  The town was called Commerce, but Joseph renamed it "the City Beautiful", or Nauvoo.

Life at the Missionary Training Center

We have been in our missionary training program now for 3 days.  The book "Preach My Gospel" is awesome.  Everyone should read it.  We are learning to preach, and teach, and sing the music for Nauvoo.  We leave for the Illinois Nauvoo mission one week from today.

The Nauvoo area was a swamp on the Mississippi River when the Mormons arrived in 1839, having been driven from Missouri.  When they left in 1846, they left a beautiful city that had been flourishing.  Today, many of the old buildings have been restored, the temple has been rebuilt, and Nauvoo has become a popular tourist attraction for not only the LDS community but for non-LDS as well.

Reporting to the MTC

Elder & Sister Bashaw check into the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on March 9, 2013. Lifelong dream realized!