Nauvoo

The first thing we did in Nauvoo besides shower and sleep was to go on a wagon tour. It was a great way to start our visit cause it gives you an overview of what to do there. But I would recommend taking your map with you and as the lovely senior missionaries tell you about the places you are passing that you star you top choices. It also will help you figure out where things are.

Stacy Mouton and I getting ready for the ride. It was SO cold!!! Okay for those of you used to the freezing temperatures you might not have that it was super cold but to us who had left the 70 degree weather for 32 degrees it is COLD!!! And to have the wind blowing on the wagon ride.. burr!! I'm so glad they had blankets for use to snuggle up in.

Here is our group of wagon riders. The senior missionaries were so nice to get up an hour earlier for so we could go on the wagon ride before we had to be at the temple. Thank you again!

The temple on the hill. So pretty.

This was down by the Mississippi River (which by the way was extra super cold down there, burrrrr). I took this cause I thought this might have been what it looked like when the Saints arrived.

 The monument by the river as they were leaving Nauvoo.

The great four legged missionaries that also got up an hour early for us. Ned and Mike. Ned apparently is not a morrning horse because he wouldn't let me pet him or take his picture. :) Sorry Ned for the early rise I know how you feel! But I appreciate your sacrifice for us.

 

This is the Trail of Hope. This is the road the Saints walked down as they left their homes and most of their belongings behind in the beautiful city of Nauvoo. As the Senior missionaries sang in one of their songs about it, "They went willingly because they had to."

The view of their beautiful temple they were leaving behind.

Along the trail are signs with accounts from journals about leaving Nauvoo. Here are a few of them.

I took this picture because I wondered if this is how it looked when the saints arrived to Nauvoo. It was a swamp. But they turned it into a beautiful place.

This is the end of the Trail of Hope looking back at Nauvoo.

In the evenings the senior missionaries put on a musical about Old Nauvoo in the Assembly Hall. I really enjoyed their little production. And I took a ton of pictures because I could.

And this was the best part. This lady was great! She made me laugh a lot.

Here is Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store. Behind it you can see the River. Joseph smith wrote in his journal that he enjoyed sitting at his desk and being able to look out the window and see the river.

The Community of Christ has a gift shop in the bottom now. For the 1840s the Red Brick store was a big store.

Upstairs they have a big meeting room. This is where the Relief Society was founded March 17, 1842. We visited on March 15 so they had it set up for the reinactment. Pretty cool. They don't usually have it like this.

Then we went to tour the Homestead. This is the home that Joseph and Emma lived in when they first came to Nauvoo. The Log cabin part of the house on the right was the original house that they bought when they came and where they lived. The white part was added by their son Joseph Smith the third when he had a family and needed more space.

This is the back of the Homestead. You can see the kitchen/dining room (the white part) that Joseph added to the home and the summer kitchen. The summer kitchen is a reconstruction but the rest is the original house. It was really neat to see the place that Joseph and Emma lived. It is very small especially for how often they had others staying with them.

This is the Mansion house that Joseph and Emma lived in after the Homestead. What is left is only house part but it was actually much bigger with I believe it was 10 extra rooms that they used as a hotel. One of the really cool things about this house is that in Joseph and Emma's bedroom they had a closet with a false wall. It actually was a door to a ladder that went up into the attic so Joseph and the family if needed could hide. It made me realize how real mob attacks were for the them. They said that as far as they know they never had to use the secret room.

 This was in the Heber C. Kimball Home. Stacy wanted to play that piano so much! This was the first home to be restored in Nauvoo and what started historic Nauvoo. The great grandson or something like that of Heber bought the house and restored it to live in but so many people wanted to tour it that he had the idea to fix up other homes in Nauvoo as well.

 One of the pictures in the house. I quite enjoy my reflection in this picture. These were drawings of the area made by an artist. They were very detailed. Sorry can't remember the specifics anymore.

Here is a one that the same artist did of what was left of the Nauvoo temple.

 

This is Lucy Mack Smith's china that she got I believe when she was married. It was donated to be displayed in her home and only one plate in the set is missing. I think that is amazing.

 

There was a lot more we saw in Nauvoo but I am going to call this good for now. I'm not even sure how many of you are even still reading at this point but if you are thanks for making it to the end. I may post more later but since it took me nearly two weeks to get all this up I'm not making any promises. But if there is something specific that I didn't post that you want to see post it in the comments and maybe I'll do it just for you. :)

 

And if that wasn't enough pictures of Nauvoo for you click here and there is more with less commentary.

Temple

The Nauvoo Temple was my favorite part of the trip. The spirit in the temple was so powerful to me. And to know that this was where temple ordinances started was special.

 

Look at that pretty sky as well. So blue and gorgeous. Also the temple is so pretty, inside and out.

You may wonder why the stars are at the top, the sun in the middle, and the moon at the bottom if you are familiar with the Plan of Salvation and the 3 kingdoms of glory. Well, the reason is that they put them in perspective to the earth. The Moon is the closest thing to us then the sun and the stars.

I also like  how on this temple it is written in 3 places "Holiness to the Lord" and "The house of the Lord". The Saints knew who's house they were building.

 

 

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Here are some pictures of my friends modeling the angry bird pig hat that I made for our fundraiser for our trip. Aren't they just so cute?

Stacy above and Cooper below.

I took these as we were arriving to Adam-Ondi-Ahman. And there's the sign. Don't mind the head in the picture.

It was mentioned when we arrived that I should take lots of pictures here so I did. But I have just selected a few to show you.

The sky was beautiful this day too,

This doesn't quite capture how pretty the sky was. The sun was beaming through the clouds in those pillars that always make me thing that angels or Christ himself is coming down. I thought the sky was very appropriate for this place because this is where Christ will come before He comes in His glory.

Here is a group of us. Sorry I haven't had a chance to crop this yet.

And here is a bigger group though not everyone.

And this is a really cool hollow tree. Great for taking pictures.

 

This was a beautiful place. I would love to see it in the spring when everything is green. But even in the winter I love this place.

And again more pictures can be found here or at the top of the page.

Haun's Mill

After visiting Liberty Jail we drove to a town where there was a monument for Haun's Mill. I don't remember the name of the place at the moment. The actual site of Haun's Mill is now a working farm and private property so we couldn't go there but we came to the monument. It is in a park so we got out our rolls and sandwich meat and ate some lunch.

And some crazy children decided to play in the snow or what was left of it. I however was not foolish enough to participate in these activities. ;)

I like this swing and wood have sat in it had there not been a huge pitt of mud underneath it. So I took a picture instead.

 After we at lunch we talked about what happened at Haun's Mill which the story really hit me because of the importance to follow the prophet. Here is a quote from Henry B. Eyring about Haun's Mill. He gave it in conference April 1997. He can tell the story better than I can.

 

"When tensions ran high in northern Missouri in the fall of 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith called for all the Saints to gather to Far West for protection. Many were on isolated farms or in scattered settlements. He specifically counseled Jacob Haun, founder of a small settlement called Haun’s Mill. A record of that time includes this: “Brother Joseph had sent word by Haun, who owned the mill, to inform the brethren who were living there to leave and come to Far West, but Mr. Haun did not deliver the message.” Later, the Prophet Joseph recorded in his history: “Up to this day God had given me wisdom to save the people who took counsel. None had ever been killed who [had abided] by my counsel”. Then the Prophet recorded the sad truth that innocent lives could have been saved at Haun’s Mill had his counsel been received and followed.

 

"n our own time, we have been warned with counsel of where to find safety from sin and from sorrow. One of the keys to recognizing those warnings is that they are repeated. For instance, more than once in these general conferences, you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third. Each of us who has listened has heard President Kimball give counsel on the importance of a mother in the home and then heard President Benson quote him, and we have heard President Hinckley quote them both. The Apostle Paul wrote that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Cor. 13:1). One of the ways we may know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized witnesses, has been invoked. When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time."

This is a mill stone from Haun's Mill. (Or so they believe.)

Here is the group or most of us anyway. I think we are missing a few people.

So what I learned here is that we need to follow the counsel of the Prophet. That is why we have one.

If you would like to see more pictures check the tab at the top.

Liberty Jail

Our first stop besides food and potty breaks was Liberty Jail in Missouri. The original jail was torn down but they built a replica of it based on some journal entries. Joseph and Hyrum Smith and others were held in this jail for 5 months awaiting trial.

 

 

 Although conditions here were horrible, Joseph received revelations that are important and the jail is nicknamed a "Temple Jail." The revelations he received here are Doctrine and Covenants Sections 121, 122, and 123.

 The walls of the prison were so thick (4 feet thick) and there were only two windows this size. It was very dark inside. This is looking into the jail but imagine looking out a window like this.

If this did not satisfy your desires to look at pictures of Liberty Jail you can go to the tab at the top to see more (a lot more). Or click here.

Nauvoo Teaser

My Young Single Adult (YSA) branch went on a trip to Nauvoo this week for spring break. It was such a wonderful trip. The spirit taught me many things on the trip and I am stronger because of it. I can't do the whole trip justice right nowbecause I am still very sleepy (more on that later) and I took over 800 pictures on the trip so haven't had time to sort through them. So here are two as a teaser of what's to come.

 

 

Stay tuned for more about the trip. It was amazing! I'm so glad I got the chance to go.