NAUVOO.... (part two)

I was amazed at every town we went to there was a water tower.

Very different from Utah, there are none of those here.

This my high school friend Gwen...she so generously invited us to

stay at her home as we visited in Nauvoo. She has a beautiful home

and it was so much fun to just sit in the evening and visit with her.

We stayed with them two nights and then moved on before we

wore out our welcome. They were so good, kind and giving to us.

Another wagon ride around Nauvoo, a great way

to see it all up close and personal. One of these horses

was a good puller and the other one was a bit lazy!

Quite a feeling all over Old Nauvoo...I really felt a

such strong spirit as we rode past Hyrum Smith and

Joseph and Emma Smith's graves, so peaceful and still.

The beautiful Mississippi river in the Fall, full of lily

pads gone to sleep for the coming winter.

All the homes and shops that have been restored. The saints left

them standing, not able to sell them for anything. Many were burned or

destroyed by mobs, or just taken over, many sat for and years, abandoned.

In the sixty's the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and family

members came back for them, and lovingly restored many of them. One is

now able to get an idea of the beautiful and prosperous place Nauvoo once was.

A picture depicting the members of the church at that time

building the first Nauvoo temple. My great great grand father

helped with this work. He loved the Lord and loved to give of his

skills to the work of the Lord.

They had nothing but gave their

all to build this sacred temple unto the Lord. How sad they must

have felt as they were driven out and their temple destroyed and

burned by mobs. Never to see their temple or their beloved Nauvoo

again in their life time.

But is was rebuilt...by their ancestors and by their church.

In 1999 it was announced that the temple was to be rebuilt and

on June 27th, 2002 the new Nauvoo Temple was dedicated

to the Lord and it stands as a witness of a people who gave their all.

It stands today as a witness to the world, that God's work will go forth
and Satan and all of his evil's will not triumph in the end. There is a
great plan of happiness for all of God's children on this earth and
He loves each one of us and has prepare the way for our happiness.

A replica of the great hand carved sun stones

Ron and I attended a temple session while we were in Nauvoo.

It was the high light of out visit there. As I walked up the steps

of the temple, I suddenly felt such a warm feeling come over me,

it brought instant tears to my eyes as I felt the sacredness of God's

holy house. The temple is so very beautiful inside with expert

craftsmanship all through it. It was such a joy to spend time there.

As we came out and I looked out over the great Mississippi...

those early saints and my ancestors came to my mind...about

how they had once stood on stairs like this and looked out over

this beautiful river and how much they loved their Nauvoo and

their temple and how hard it must have been for them to leave it.

Tears filled my eyes again, tears of love and respect for them,

and tears of gratitude that their great temple stood again.

This beautiful statue of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith

stands in front of the temple. It is so stunning and I just couldn't get enough

pictures of it. It is life size and every detail is perfect and it looks different
from every angle. I felt like I was right there with them.

This is right under the statue and explains about it.

The front of the temple... it has been built just like the original temple.

It was financed by contributions from the church members through out

the world and was completely paid for when dedicated in June of 2002.

~It is beautiful from every angle~

~Beautiful at night~

This stained glass work was done by a good man

who has a handicap... his contribution to the Lord.

All of our temples are a spiritual haven where we can feel a special closeness to our God.

We visit the temples to find the peaceful serenity the Savior promised His followers in the

New Testament: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world

giveth, give I unto you." (John 14:27

In the temple, through lecture and video presentation, we learn that life on earth is part of an

eternal journey that began long before we were born, when we lived with God as His spirit

sons and daughters. We are able to express our commitment to live according to the

principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We visited this old but peaceful cemetery, an old wooden fence

outlines it and marks the the old road that Joseph and Hyrum

rode on their way to Carthage. It felt kind of sad to me, yet sacred

and peaceful. We walked all through it looking at the remaining headstones,

looking for a family name. I didn't find any that I could make out as family

but there was a list of all those buried there.

A quiet path lead into the woods and into the old cemetery...

It felt like a place unknown to the world,

a sacred place of peace for those buried there.

It was so quiet, only us and the birds and
they were singing their sweet heavenly songs.

~These are names of my family members who are buried there.~

A beautiful statue representing the families who

buried their babies and young children there.

This is one of my great great grand fathers who lived in Nauvoo

and his wife Harriet, a little blue eyed gal from England. His name

was Charles A. Harper and he had a carriage shop there.

He was asked

by the church leaders to be the wheelwright for the first company of pioneers

who set out to find the great Salt Lake Valley, now ( Salt Lake City, Utah).

He was a wealthy man and he gave it all to help the saints find a place where

they could worship in peace. He brought many companies of people to the West.

While I was in Nauvoo, I went to the Lands and Records building and

found out where his property was that he had a carriage shop on. It

is now part of the State Park, right there off the highway as you come

into Nauvoo. It was quite the feeling to stand on what was his property.

~I loved the giant trees there all arrayed so beautifully for Fall~

We went to see where those gorgeous Belgium horses

were kept and I loved petting and talking to them all.

I loved their huge bridles...

And their sweet natures...

and their big old harnesses...just awesome!

Many of the peoples dishes have been found and many

have been lovingly restored to what they once were.

Many women gave their nice China to be crushed up and
put into the temple walls to make the temple as beautiful
as they could possibly make it.

Sweet little pioneer dolls, I could just image some little

girl at the store with her mom, wanting a doll like these.

The little "Scovil Bakery"...As you visit here you get a

tiny gingerbread cookie. I got a little gingerbread cookie

cutter here 22 years ago when I first visited Nauvoo,

I still have it and love it and use it every Christmas.

Well thats enough for this visit...next post will
be more of our wonderful visit to Nauvoo, Illinois.

OUR VACATION TO NAUVOO, IL. 2010

Nauvoo, (Hebrew for Beautiful) is an experience that took us back to a remarkable

century of faith, determination, and sacrifice. It is a place where my ancestors were,

where their faith was tried and tested.

Where a greater testimony was gained for them, that gave them the

strength to push westward as they were driven out of Nauvoo. It is a place filled with

inspiring stories of those early people who established Nauvoo. Their homes still stand as

a witness of an unforgettable time in Mormon history. In Nauvoo, we discovered the lives

of those who had lived there for the good of Zion, and guided the early church into a

restoration of everything under heaven.

I love to sit by the window when we fly, as I looked down upon the clouds,

I couldn't help but think how organized they looked...like little cotton balls

all laid in rows. I know that God organized and created the world, and it is so

beautiful. I know that he loves order in all things, that equals peace and beauty.

As were waiting for our car to be brought around, we saw this on the

very spot we were to wait. It wasn't for me but it was funny that my

name was written there, as if we were being expected and welcomed.

I loved all the big old bridges that spanned the

Mississippi river, they were fun to cross.

The Mississippi river was beautiful from every side.

We saw this big beautiful Oak and had to circle back to

take it's picture. It was so fun to be there in the Autumn

of the year and see all the gorgeous Fall colors. I had fun
gathering a big bag of acorns to bring home as a remembrance.

Joseph and Emma

Behind the L.D.S. Church's visitor center there are all these beautiful

statues. When we were there 22 years ago, it was just the new statues and

cement and now it was a magnificent garden, filled with trees and all kinds of

beautiful, fragrant flowers and the whole area inside and out is so clean and peaceful.

Woman in Prayer

Mother and those who follow her lead.

Mothers, teachers of their children

The trust of a child in her parents

The Joy of Motherhood and Joy in Family

The beauty of the work in woman's hands

A Statue depicting God the Father and his son Jesus Christ

appearing to the boy Joseph Smith in the sacred grove.

A bust of Joseph Smith as an adult

A pioneer oxen yoke

Many painting are in the visitors center, this one is of

the saints being driven out of their beautiful Nauvoo

in the middle of a cold, icy February, crossing the great

Mississippi on ice. A time of sadness but great strength.

They were driven from their homes and drove out of Nauvoo.

Life had to go on, babies were born and babies died.

Nauvoo was nothing but a mosquito infested swamp when the saints got there.

They dug trenches that diverted the springs and drained the swamps. They built

their homes and they built a Temple. They prospered...maybe too much, because

before long people got afraid that they might take over, troubles arose and before

long they were driven out to find another place that they could dwell in peace.

A beautiful statue of Jesus Christ in the visitors center

Many painting depicting Jesus Christ who is the very core of our belief.

The Savior teaching...

Jesus Christ...he is my personal Savior, oh how I love him.

Big red barns everywhere, this one belongs to our church and

houses the big Belgium horse teams, I loved visiting them too.

We went on wagon rides around the old part of Nauvoo...

I loved this so much. I loved the horses and I loved seeing

Nauvoo as it once was. And I would have loved to be sitting
on this big guys back!

Down beautiful dirt roads we went, roads that were there back then.

This is Rick and Rod..they are a team of Belgium horses that we rode with.

They were so sweet and pulled so well together, I wanted to bring them home.

I loved their great big old feet..as big as pie
plates and they are such gentle giants!

And I love this picture of Ron and I with Rick and Rod.

Everywhere we drove in Illinois, we saw so many old cars all

fixed up nice just scooting down the freeways..loved them!

The flowers at the church's visitors center smelled SO good!

And were so beautiful.

Well thats enough for today, I will share more tomorrow.
This was such a great vacation, best one we have ever
taken. I took 300 pictures and developed a bunch of 5x7's
and 8x10's to put up in our home, to keep Nauvoo in our
home and in our hearts.