SIFE--Chicago and Nauvoo (May 14-19)

My last post was when we were in Palmyra and enjoying all the church history.

On our return, I stopped in Chicago to meet with the BYUH group to attend the SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) conference on May 14-16. I met our delegation of 19 students there who were busily engaged in preparing for the competition and enjoying some of the downtown Chicago sites when I arrived. This was the hardest working group I have advised, lead by an outstanding president, Al Doan. Their presentation and report were phenomenal, the judges were complimentary, and they received First Runnerup in their league, putting them in the top 40 in the country. Actually I think they would be in the top 25 at least, based on some of the other presentations we saw. (pictures to be added later)

From there, we drove to Nauvoo; most of the students hadn't been there before and it's fun to take groups to Nauvoo--much to see and to experience. We left after the awards assembly and arrived safely at about 12:30 a.m., traveling in four separate cars, and pulled right up to the temple for pictures and reflection.

After some sleep, we spent the day on Friday touring Nauvoo and Carthage--the group enjoyed some play time and some serious moments as they walked the "Trail of Hope," attended a session in the temple, and visited the Carthage jail.

Trail of Hope, where the pioneers walked, leaving their Nauvoo homes

Nik and Jordan ready for a ride

Our BYUH SIFE "Pioneers"

This was a quick but memorable trip as we then returned to Chicago (airport) for our 8 a.m. flight. We left Nauvoo about 12:30 a.m. Saturday and arrived in Chicago around 4:30 a.m., in time to check everyone in and to get to our gate. After an all day flight, we were glad to be home and greeted by family and friends.

Next year's officers and members have already begun planning for next year with the hopes of doing even better in Philadelphia in 2009.