ABQ Academy and Nauvoo, Illinois

I did a whole lot of things during this past Summer, but my favorite things were ABQ Academy, Nauvoo, Illinois and Taylorsville, Utah.

I went to ABQ Academy for summer classes.  I took Ceramics, Pixels and Pictures, Steel Drums, Digital Dimensions, Cartoon Relief, the Works and Chess Club.  My favorite teachers were Mrs. Walthall, Mr. Corbin, Mr. Gabe, and Mr. Sedillo.  Mrs. Walthal was my Cartooning Relief teacher.  She was super goofy and crazy like me, and loves art; especially cartooning!  She reminds me a lot of the Quack!  She’s so AWESOME!  Mr. Corbin was my Steel Drum teacher and I loved him!  He played steel drums (duh), regular drums, marimba, and I don’t know what else.  He is so talented, has perfect pitch, and has the enthusiasm of me * 2; and if you know me, that means a lot! 

Mr. Gabe and Mr. Sedillo are my Chess teachers, and they are so awesome.  I have been in their summer class for three years now and I learn so much every time.  They are both REALLY NICE GUYS!  Well, anyway, I had a lot of fun at ABQ Academy and I made a lot of friends. 

Now on to Nauvoo, Illinois.  For those of you who don’t know, I am Mormon (LDS is the proper term).  Nauvoo was the city that the Saints traveled to after being chased out of Missouri by Governor Boggs.  The Prophet of our Church, Joseph Smith, named the town Nauvoo, which is Hebrew for beautiful.  This is ironic because Nauvoo was all swampland.  But, the Saints drained it and built it up in seven years to be one of the most populated, prosperous, beautiful towns in Illinois.  The Saints were so dedicated that they melted down all of their valuable china, and every thing important to them, they gave away freely to aid the building of the Nauvoo Temple.  Now that you have some background information, I am going to talk about when I went there this summer.

I went to Nauvoo, Illinois for something called EFY (Especially for Youth).  EFY is a program for Mormon youth ages 14-18 to come together, feel the spirit together, and grow stronger testimonies together.  EFY Nauvoo is a special session, meaning we get to do things that other EFYs around the world don’t get to do.  We get to go to Carthage Jail, where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred, and we get to walk on the Trail of Hope and Old Nauvoo.  We even get to do baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple.  I went to EFY Nauvoo last year and I went again this year.  This year I was in the Browning Company and they were amazing!  We became a family, and after the first day, I came to love them so much!  The people in my group were Kim, Kat, Kayla, Avery, Aubrey, Mitchell, Austen, Chris, Kaleb, Ben, Jason, Wilson, Jase, Sam, Gretchen, Riley, Meghan, and that is all I can remember. There were a few more.  Oh, and Adrian.  He was my COW (Crush Of the Week)!  Anyway, we got really close and had a lot of fun!  Well, that is a rap for this Blog!  Dingbat out!

 

Nauvoo Temple

Trail of Hope

Browning Home and Gunsmith