Nauvoo Day 3

Day three in Navuoo was finally our temple day. We arrived at the temple right when it opened. You need to make appointments for temple work in this temple and that is so foreign to me. I was able to do all the ordinances in one day! I have never done that before. I did baptisms (of which Kyle did the baptizing), then inititories, then an endowment session, and then we took a lunch break and then went back later to do sealings. What a great feeling to be able to do all the ordinances, from beginning to end, in one day. I'm so grateful for the temple and for my personal temple blessings.

Kyle & myself
After some temple work and lunch and before we went back to the temple we visited a few more sites in Old Nauvoo. I think it was at Heber C. Kimball's home there was a chair and a drum that was William Clayton's. He wrote "Come, Come Ye Saints" and he is an ancestor of my friends, Bruce and Sheila Clayton, and so I had Kyle take a picture of me pointing to them.

Pee Ewe! Kyle is pointing to a potty chair that was in a bedroom that the pioneers used during the night.

Kyle thought this contraption that shut the gate slowly was quite clever. It's a metal ball on a chain hooked to the gate and a post.

In the Family Living Center is where you can learn about rope making, candle making, bread making, spinning wool, and many more pioneer era crafts.

Kyle and myself with the Nauvoo Temple in the background.

Judy & Debbie

I thought this contraption of storing a quilt at the end of the bed and then rolling it back up when you don't need it was clever.

I've seen a picture of this rocking horse in the Ensign before. It belonged to John Taylor's children. John risked his life in going back and getting it for his children one time when there were mobs around.

Old Nauvoo

The Print Shop, John Taylor's home, and the Post Office.

The Nauvoo House

This is where Joseph and Hyrum's bodies were taken after they had been killed in Carthage.

Mansion Home

Kyle really wanted to go in the Mansion Home, but we didn't for a couple of reasons. This and a few other places are owned by the Community of Christ Church and you "have to" go on their whole tour (for a small fee) in order to go in this home. At this point we were short on time and didn't have enough time to go on the whole tour, so consequently we weren't able to go in the Mansion Home. Sorry Kyle, maybe next time.

Smith Family Cemetery

Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum are buried here.

Many others are buried in the Smith Family Cemetery.

Joseph Smith Sr. and Luck Mack Smith are also buried here.

Nauvoo Temple

Zac and Kyle, as we head back to the temple to perform sealings.

Kyle & myself

A photo of some of the emblems on the Nauvoo Temple.

A statue of Joseph and Hyrum on their "last ride" heading to Carthage Jail. This is just outside of the temple.

The Prophet's Last Ride

Zac, Judy, & Kyle

This is a great night time photo of the Nauvoo Temple, other then I'm in it.

President Hinckley

2002

Today facing west on the high bluff overlooking the city of Nauvoo, thence across the Mississippi and over the plains of Iowa, there stands Joseph's temple, a magnificent house of God. Here in the Salt Lake Valley facing east to the beautiful temple of Nauvoo stands Brigham's temple, the Salt Lake Temple. They face towards one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the death of those who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake.

After the temple we went back to the brick wall with the painting of a bull on it and took a closer picture of just the red brick. We had learned earlier this day that this brick is some of the original brick from the Red Brick Store. Kyle was earlier drawn to this wall for a reason, we now know why.