Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

The second day, our ship docked in Nassau, Bahamas.

A little history: Matt and I had been here before on our first cruise back in 2007. In 2007 we happened to be there on a Sunday. Matt and I enjoy going to church wherever are and so we looked up the local branch and got an address for the building. Well, it turns out we decided not to go because our cruise was only 3 days long and we wouldn't have time to go to church and snorkel with the stingrays. So we chose the stingrays...we're on vacation! Here's a picture of us in 2007.

This time, when we first planned this cruise, we were scheduled to be in the Bahamas on a Friday, so church wasn't an option. So, I did a little research and found a beach I really wanted to visit. The plan was to have a nice relaxing beach day at this off-the-beaten-path beach. Well, since our itinerary changed, we would now be stopping in Nassau on Sunday, and we would only be docked there from 8:00am-2:00pm. We decided this time, we would go for the church option.

We got off the boat and did a little shopping and then hunted for a taxi driver to take us to church. No one we asked had heard of the Mormon church, but finally we found a driver that knew the address and would take us there. This is a picture of our driver, Ray.

On our way to church, Ray asked us lots of questions about our church and beliefs. Matt and I did our best to answer his questions. We had a really great discussion. Just before we got to church, Matt asked if Ray had heard of the Book of Mormon. Ray said he hadn't, but would be interested in reading it. Ray said, I don't have a book though. We immediately chimed, "We'll get you one!" We arranged for Ray to pick us up after church.

We walked into church and were immediately greeted by 4 missionaries, 3 of which were from Utah, and the Branch President. Everyone was so friendly! It was awesome! We asked the missionaries if they had a Book of Mormon we could give to our driver and of course they had one!

The fast and testimony Sacrament meeting was one of the best I've ever been in. I don't think I stopped crying the entire meeting. On sister's testimony in particular really touched me. She was from Peru and had survived a major earthquake that hit 18 months ago. She talked about how she had nothing left. Her home, her belongings, all gone. But, that didn't matter, because she had the most important things left: her family. This is when I started feeling a little guilty. She's lost everything, and I'm complaining because my cruise itinerary changed at the last minute! It really put things in perspective for me.

All I can say is that our church is so awesome because anywhere in the world that you may find yourself, you can usually find an LDS church. And it's the same music, same Sacrament meeting. Love this church.

So after church, we got the Book of Mormon and met up with our driver again. We gave him the book and challenged him to read it. I really felt like a missionary! I didn't serve a mission, so I'd never got to do something like that before. It was really fun! Matt said it took him right back to his mission days.

Anyway, we decided to take the taxi and go to the beach I had wanted to see. We didn't have enough time to stay, but we could walk around for a bit. We drove to Love Beach and this was our view...
The beautiful white sand meets crystal clear turquoise water. It was beautiful. We walked around and I took pictures for 30 minutes or so.

I thought these kayak pictures were cool...

And then our time was up. We jumped back in the taxi and headed back to port. We got to see most of the entire island. The church was located toward the center of the island; the beach was at one end, and the cruise port at another. Ray pointed out different structures and historical sites along the way. The craziest part about it all, was they drive on the left side of the street. It was crazy!

We got back to the ship just in time and headed right for the buffet...of course!

This is a picture of our ship and what the port looks like. The famous pink hotel Atlantis, could be seen right from the port.

We spent the rest of the day laying out by the pool and taking a nice, much needed nap. Ahhh...