The Official Gary Bunker Holiday Report Part I

Yep that's right, after that tantilizing teaser that like 3 people read, it is time for the official holiday report.  So according to the school website, the last day of finals at Butler this past Fall was Dec. 18th.  I found, much to my delight, that my last test would take place the morning of the 15th.

The afternoon of the 15th, there was much rejoicing in all the apartment (okay mostly just my room) as I set off for Chicago.  But...wait..."Gary, your parents live in Leavenworth, KS, why Chicago?"  It turns out my friend Elizabeth was going to be coming home from BYU the same day I was leaving Indy for the break.  So, in our awesomeness we concocted a plan by which we could both savor delicious Chicago deep-dish pizza and bask in the Windy City Winter Wonderland (yeah, it's alliteration, keep up folks) that is downtown Chicago in December.  So I drove up to Chicago and picked up Elizabeth from the airport.  From there, we went downtown and ate pizza at an awesome place called Giordano's.  Then we went to the Christkindlmarket, which is a German Christmas market.  I must say that based on my memories of childhood and the Netherlands it was pretty authentic, plus they had one of my favorite treats from my mission to the Baltics, a Nestle Lion bar.  Good Times! 

After walking downtown and such, we headed to Aurora just to say I've been to Aurora, Illinois.  But...wait..."Gary, what is so special about Aurora, Illinois?"  If you were born in the decade between the mid 70s and mid 80s you should probably see where I'm going with this.  If you don't, then you are ignorant of one of the iconic films that shaped American culture.  Okay not really, but still, Aurora, IL is the setting of none other than Wayne's World.  If you haven't seen that movie, then you've missed such classic lines as, "If she were a president, she'd be Babe-raham Lincoln."  and "I'm having fun...not...".  Anyhow, party on Wayne and Party on Garth and I will move on to the next adventure.
   

The day after my Chicago adventure, as well as dropping like $20 in tolls on I-80 and I-88, I headed down to the Kansas homestead.  I spent a relaxing weekend just undwinding from tests and such.  Then a couple days later Brittany and Dane got into town. 


  

This would have been my favorite building had I lived in Old Nauvoo...the bakery



We decided to take a trip to Nauvoo since Brittany and I are the only immediate family members who hadn't yet been there.  Don't spread this around too much or it won't be our little secret any more, but I think Christmas time is actually the best time to go there.  But...wait..."Gary, why would everyone go there in the summer if Christmas time is the best?"  Let me explain.  First of all, there are no crowds!  You can see whatever you want at any time.  The senior missionaries in each of the historic buildings were so happy to have people to talk to! 

 

Ye Olde Apothecary Shop

 

Note the lack of cars and people



Since there are no crowds, you can just show up to "the Rendezvous" that they put on each night.  Apparently in the summer they do multiple showings and you have to have a ticket.  They practically begged us to come even though we had just randomly showed up the day that we were there.  For me another highlight was the old pharmacy/apothecary shop.  Being the pharmacy student that I am, of course I got all excited when we went to that building and heard about my future profession-old school style.  I get the feeling though that had I done it back then the training would have cost me slightly less...oh well. 

The things in the window signified that this was indeed the place to buy your drugs, the blue part represented blood in your veins, the red, your blood no longer in your veins but spurting out of you. 

Also, and on a more serious note, it was very striking to stand at the edge of a frozen Mississippi River and think that that is probably similar to the scene that lay ahead of those early Saints as they departed from their homes and into an uncharted wilderness.  As I stood and took it in, I tried to imagine what it must have felt like to leave warm homes and give up so many of their earthly possessions to embark on a journey that had so many unknowns at the outset.  I don't think I can quite describe here the newfound appreciation that I gained for what my ancestors and many others endured to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience.  While in Nauvoo we also attended the Nauvoo temple.  If you haven't been, it alone is worth the trip.  I realized after being home for a while, that we actually visited old Nauvoo and went through a Temple session on the prophet Joseph Smith's birthday.  How cool is that! 



Nauvoo Temple 12/23/2010










Brother Joseph and his brother, Hyrum



 And speaking of Joseph Smith, I gained a new appreciation for his divine calling and work in the early days of the LDS Church.  The morning of Christmas Eve, before we hit the road for home I took a jog.  I passed the temple and ended up back in historic Nauvoo.  Eventually I came to the Smith family cemetary.  It was a frosty morning, but as I stood there in front of his gravesite, the cold seemed to dissipate.  I had a hymn sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir playing on my ipod (I thought jogging in old Nauvoo, church music would be best).  There was not a sould in sight so other than the music there was no sound from anywhere else.  As I read the placque that has been placed at the site to commemorate the life of Joseph Smith I felt the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit.  I knew at that point that this truly was the resting place of the Prophet of the Restoration.  After meeting back up with Mom, Britt, and Dane we had breakfast and went to the old Nauvoo cemetary, where one of our ancestors on Mom's side is buried.  That place further bore witness to some of the hardships the early Saints endured to believe and worship in the way that they chose.

We hit snowy weather headed back across Missouri.  Other than one little spinout we made it back without much incidence...although, it must be said that I feel that we were watched over when the spinout happened, for as far as we skidded it is amazing we didn't end up in the median or worse.  Despite that and the weather we made it back within 5 hours.  I wonder how long it took the pioneers to get across Missouri?  Christmas Eve dinner was our traditional Chimichangas.  But...wait..."Gary, why chimichangas?"  Because that's all I can remember doing for Christmas Eve and to deviate from them would just feel unnatural.  Also because chimichangas are delicious!!!

Christmas morning was fun, I think I've mentioned before that I get more of a kick out of giving than receiving presents and that held true.  We draw a name each year and get stuff for that person in the family, I had Brittany this year.  Plus I got a couple of things for my parents.  And just like always, I got excited when someone picked up what I got for them to open it.  (Maybe if I start giftwrapping my homework before turning it in I'll get more excited about doing it first...just a thought.)

And that takes us through Christmas morning.  Since this post is getting pretty epically long, we'll add another part or two to cover the rest of the break.  You know, since this was just the highlights from week one of four.