Nauvoo

We made our way from Tennessee to Nauvoo, Illinois. Some of you may say, where's that? Well, it's barely a name on a road map, but it's a place of honor to us. In the early 1800's, a group of people known as the "Mormons" settled in Nauvoo and made it a thriving new city. They built a temple there. We stayed in Nauvoo for 2 nights and spent all of our time there touring around the different church history markers. It was a great experience to see the places where these early saints lived, worked, and worshiped. About 15 miles from Nauvoo, is Carthage. I never thought it would be a place I would care that much about. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were jailed and killed there. I didn't think it would be any different to visit there than any of the other places. But for me it was different. We visited the jail and saw the rooms they stayed in. There is a bullethole still in the door of the room where these men were held. The bullet that passed through that door, killed Hyrum Smith, the prophet's brother. The place was reverent, quiet, somber, and peaceful. I felt the spirit very strong there. The jail was preserved almost exactly as it stood back then, and I could feel the reverence of it. My testimony of the prophet, the other men and their families, has grown because of Nauvoo and Carthage. In Nauvoo, we visited the Seventies Hall. (See picture) It's the place where the men went to be trained to be missionaries in those days. They have a book with the names of EVERY man who passed through the Hall. I found a name in the book that is one of my ancestors! At the end of our stay we drove, (unlike the early saints, who walked) down Parley street and to the edge of the water where they would've crossed the great river and started their exodus. Humbling, emotional and amazing.