nauvoo

John's family and I went to Nauvoo, Milwaukee, and Chicago last week. It was so fun! I loved going to Nauvoo and learning more about church history.

First, we left the Boise airport at 6 A.M. (early!), but I think most of us slept on the plane. We landed in Chicago, picked up the rental car, and started the drive up to Nauvoo. It was beautiful! And the Mississippi is huge. I had seen it before, but I forgot how big it was. It was drizzly the second day we were there, but we just picked up some umbrellas and walked around anyway. And we had a surprise! The Whitakers, my friends from Nevada, were in Nauvoo the same time we were! We met them for a show, and ran into them at dinner, and a few other places. It was really neat to see some friends.

We did a bunch while we were there. We saw some shows, a bunch of old houses where the Saints used to live before the exodus to Utah, and old stores. We also did some pioneer activities and watched the pageant.

One of the first things we did was a session in the Nauvoo temple. It was beautiful. The original temple was burned down by arsonists shortly after the Saints left. And, a little after that, a tornado came through. After both events, there was only one wall left standing. But, recently, it was rebuilt and re-dedicated in 2002. It looks almost exactly like the old temple. There are beautiful star windows and sun stones. I loved it.


One of the houses we went to was the house and workshop of Jonathan Browning, the man who invented the repeating slider rifle. He and his son and grandson made many of the guns that people use today. It was neat to see where he worked, hear about his history, and see some guns on display. And, of course, the boys loved it.


We also went to the blacksmith shop. We learned how the pioneers built the wagons andwheels, and how much work it took. It's amazing that they made such sturdy ways of transportation out of wood and iron. Then, the missionary there demonstrated how to make a horseshoe, and he gave it to John! It's a tiny little thing, but it was really special being able to take it home. We also went to a little workshop where we did various pioneer activities. We learned how they baked bread, made rugs, spun wool, and made barrels. That's where Beth and I got to help make some rope.

We went to a bakery, the brick yard (where we got to take a souvenir brick that says "Nauvoo" on it), the post office, and the general store. In all of the places we got an explanation about how they all functioned, what life was like in the 1840's, and how they all bought and traded.

We went on a two carriage/wagon rides. I loved them! We rode all around Nauvoo, and the forest outside of it. It was beautiful, and I really liked the horses. We also saw some oxen that were pulling a cart. They were humongous! I had no idea how big and beefy they are.

We took a small drive out to Carthage to visit Carthage jail. I had a hard time seeing it. It was neat, in a sense, to see it, but I don't know if I necessarily liked it. It just had an eerie feeling. I saw the cell downstairs where the men were originally kept, the upstairs cell that was usually used, and the jailer's bedroom where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred. The bullet that killed Hyrum had gone through the door, and the hole was still there. It was hard to see the window that Joseph fell through as he was shot, and to stand on the ground where he laid. But there was a nice statue outside of Joseph and Hyrum that was beautiful.

We toured through the homes of Brigham Young, Lucy Mack Smith, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff. Most of the houses were rebuilt on the existing foundation because they had fallen. Some were restored with what was left of the house after years of disuse. A few had objects that those people had owned, and had other things from that era. We also heard about their life and what they did while in Nauvoo.

The Community of Christ church (formerly known as the Re-organized LDS church) owned all of the Joseph Smith sites. We saw the Mansion house, the Red Brick Store, the Smith family cemetery, and the Nauvoo house with one of their tour guides.

The Mansion house was where Joseph and Emma lived with their children. It was also used as a hotel for people that came through Nauvoo, or those that were moving there and hadn't yet built their own house. Right outside the Mansion House is where Emma said her last goodbyes to Joseph before he was arrested and taken to Carthage jail.
The Mansion House

The Nauvoo House

The Red Brick Store was owned by Joseph Smith, and it was also the main meeting place for church business, since it had the biggest room in all of Nauvoo. That room was where Joseph passed the Keys of the Priesthood to the Twelve Apostles before leaving for Carthage.

I liked going to the cemetery. Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum were all buried together. It was just nice being able to see it, especially after going to Carthage.


A really neat thing I learned while I was there was about my ancestor, Seymour Brunson. He lived and died in Nauvoo, and I got to go visit his grave site in a little cemetery. There was also a place to look up the info about any of the people that lived in Nauvoo in the mid-1800's. Seymour was good friends with Prophet Joseph, and even died in the prophet's home. Joseph spoke at Seymour's funeral, and that was the first time baptisms for the dead had ever been introduced to the church. A sister missionary in the center had researched Seymour Brunson, and knew all about him. It was neat talking to her and hearing what she had learned. She told me that the church recently put up a new monument on his grave and dedicated it, and that she had been there to see it. She told me exactly where the grave was, so we drove over to see it.

At his funeral on August 15, 1840, the Prophet Joseph Smith publicly introduced the doctrine of baptism for the dead. 'Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?' 1 Corinthians 18:39

Seymour Brunson.
Veteran of the War of 1812.
Missionary in Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky.
Captain in the 59th Regiment of the Missouri Militia.
High Councilor in the Commerce-Nauvoo Stake.
'Seymour Brunson I have taken unto myself: no man taketh his priesthood, but another may be appointed unto the same priesthood in his stead.' Doctrine and Covenants 124:132

The sister missionary also helped me find Seymour's plot of land, and we drove over to see it. It was right next to the Mississippi, on the corner of Cherry and Water, and had a beautiful view of the river. One of the craziest thing is that John's ancestor lived right across the street from the Brunsons! And another one of his ancestors, Thomas Grover, served with Seymour on the High Counsel in the church. I know that they're all up there chuckling, because they must have been friends, and the two families have finally joined together.

The land behind us is the 4 acre plot that the Brunsons owned in the late 1830's and early 40's. It now hosts a water treatment plant for the city of Nauvoo.

The view of the Mississippi from the Brunson land

One of my favorite things we did was watch the pageant. It was wonderful. We did some activities they had out for people before the pageant. My favorite was the dancing. John happily did some polka with me, and a waltz, and some other round dances with everyone. We also learned a Scottish dance.

I have no words to describe the pageant. Obviously, it was about the saints in Nauvoo. When they got there, the work that they did, how happy they were, the death of the Prophet Joseph, and the exodus. It was just very touching, and I was sobbing by the end of it. They had a huge replica of the temple that the actors built during the whole pageant. It was really cool.

On the last day we walked the Trail of Hopes, which was the last road the Saints walked in Nauvoo before crossing the Mississippi on their way west. There are plaques lining the road with quotes and stories from the people who left. Some of the missionary actors were there, standing by the plaques, and telling stories from the people they were portraying, and singing hymns. It was a really reverent experience. The Trail as the last activity we did in the city, and after touring through Nauvoo for a few days, I was starting to fall in love with it. It was just very spiritual to be able to walk that road very last before leaving, just like the Saints did.

At the end of Parley Street, the end of the Trail of Hope. Shore of the Mississippi.


Quote:

Jake: "Oh no, I am marriage cooties!"