milwaukee

After our last few hours in Nauvoo, we jumped in the car and drove a few hours up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. John served his mission there, and I've always wanted to go with him. We didn't spend much time in Milwaukee, but I loved visiting a few people he taught, and seeing some sites of John's famous mission stories (like the corner where he was mugged at gun point, the salon where he'd get his nose hairs waxed, and the best restaurants.)

When we first got there we visited a sweet lady, Lola. I had heard a lot about her, so I was excited to finally meet her. She was a convert to the church, and the missionaries would go see her regularly. She has a very injured back, so she can't get to church on Sunday very often, so they'll also bring her the Sacrament. She told some stories about her life, and told us how she's feeling lately. She is just the funniest, sweetest lady.


Right after we visited another family. We didn't stay for very long, but long enough that the Sister cooked a bunch of quesadillas, and gave some to us. I'm not exactly sure what she and John talked about... the whole conversation was in Spanish. It was neat to hear him speak it again.


In the morning, we saw John's mission president and his wife at the mission home. We visited for a good hour and a half. It was nice that John could catch up with them, recall memories, see how the mission is continuing, and, of course, they loved meeting me. They had me tell the story of how we met, and all that jazz. They also gave John a mission: getting all his friends married! I was very flattered that they said John did very well marrying me and that they were impressed with me.


After that we had lunch in John's favorite Mexican food place, Artegas. And it was good! They had the best horchata I've ever had. It was delicious, and a really fun place to eat. It's Sister Artega's restaurant, and we got to meet her and say hi breifly.


Then we drove around downtown for a bit. They had some very beautiful buildings, like the Basilica and the public library. It was actually cleaner there, and I felt safer. The other parts we had been in were a little iffy... I didn't leave John's side. But downtown was very nice. The "Repent Mobile" drove by. There is an old guy that drives around with his car blasting fire and brimstone talks out of a speaker, and has scriptures and other do-dads attached to his car. It was funny to see. We also stopped and got the best frozen custard ever. It was amazing!


Our last stop was Lake Michigan. It was a pretty dirty looking lake, but it was neat to see the Milwaukee skyline. It was nice to be out there for a bit.


After our short trip, we headed back down into Illinois to Chicago.