Nauvoo Impressions (Qualifying for the Temple)

My favorite experience in Nauvoo was to see and enter the Nauvoo Temple.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, the temple was nothing more than a grassy depression in the ground (the "footprint" of the building once overlooking the city) when I visited Nauvoo thirty years ago.  To walk the perimeter of the temple grounds on Monday night and look up at the restored majesty of the temple was spiritually thrilling for me.  The feeling I had the night before was multiplied exponentially the next morning when Jennifer and I walked through the front door, showed our temple recommends at the reception desk, and continued to our respective locker rooms to dress in our white clothing and prepare for the endowment ordinance.  My understanding of the process behind rebuilding the temple is the outside is as close to the original architecture as possible (with some variation--the statue of the Angel Moroni, for example) with the inside set up as best as could be gleaned from plans and journal information (in searching the web for further information, I've come across this link and this link as video helps).

Temples are dedicated as "the house of the Lord" and only the best materials are used in their construction--the Nauvoo Temple is no exception.  I was impressed with the meticulous detail used on the décor.  There was a lot of dark wood (either walnut or wood stained in darker colors).  It's not that other temples aren't wonderfully appointed, but it seemed as though much thought and effort was made to make the experience of this particular temple (possibly because of its historical significance) a very special one.  What I liked about the interior was the attention to detail and the specific attempt to make the trappings look like they were designed in 1845 while, at the same time, giving them a modern application.  For example, the light fixtures were designed as if they could have held candles, but light bulbs were used instead (here is a link showing interior photos of the Nauvoo Temple to offer a visual of what I'm trying to describe).  As I sat with Jennifer awaiting the beginning of the session, I opened up the copy of the Doctrine and Covenants placed in the pews and thumbed to Section 109--the dedicatory prayer given for the Kirtland Temple--and read verses 22-24.  Several phrases made an impression on me: "that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power . . . and thine angels have charge over them;" "from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings" and "establish the people that shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house".  I will come back to this last line in a moment.

When the endowment session ended and Jennifer and I sat in the Celestial Room contemplating what had taken place, I found myself very grateful for the opportunity to attend both the Palmyra and Nauvoo Temples and to visit the temple in Kirtland.  As I contemplated the sacrifices of the early Saints, I felt a sense of gratitude for all they had gone through to move the gospel forward to the present day.  I thought of everything the members of who lived in Nauvoo during the time of Joseph and after his martyrdom had done to complete the original temple.  The members wanted to receive their sacred temple blessings--blessings that could only be received in a holy house dedicated to the Lord.  Brigham Young and many other men and women sacrificed so much of their time to offer the endowment and other temple ordinances to as many people as possible in the final weeks before the mobs forced the Saints to leave Nauvoo.  By the time they could no longer stay, over 5000 people had received their temple blessings.  As I considered this, for a brief moment I felt, in a very small way, what it may have been like for those Saints to finally have to vacate the temple, lock the doors and walk away.  It was a very interesting experience--one that I don't think I would have had if we had not attended the temple.

This brings me to a point that has come to me since that experience; it is not a specific Nauvoo impression, but is one that is tied to what I felt.  Jennifer and I recently attended the Redlands Temple.  Our family has been experiencing some trials lately and it was nice to be able to cast our burdens upon the Lord for a time and serve in the temple.  I am grateful to be worthy of a temple recommend and am thankful for the blessings I receive as I strive to live up to the qualifications Heavenly Father asks of me to worthily hold a temple recommend.  Almost 2 months ago, the Desert News website posted a story mentioning the use of a new temple film.  To quote the article directly: "Since the 1970s, a portion of LDS temple instruction has been provided through pre-recorded media, including film” (“LDS Church begins using new temple film,” Desert News website, Aug. 4, 2013).  Occasionally, I will scroll down far enough on the web page to see the reader's comments, but I usually avoid them because 98% of the time I don't find them very enlightening or interesting--especially when the story being commented on happens to be about the LDS Church.  In those cases, the "spirited" debates come from a small group of people making negative comments with the remainder responding to these comments either harshly, lovingly, or somewhere in between.  Because of this I do not recall the entire comment (and I'm not interested in attempting to find it--notice I didn't link to the story above because I didn't have good feelings about the comment debate that ensued), but what I recall of the comment was that if the LDS Church desired to be more "mainstream" it had to be more "transparent" about the temple.  It's difficult to know if the person writing this was being serious or just trying to get a rise out of the members, but the comment has made me think about what it means to "honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house" (D&C 109:24).

While the Lord desires all of us to partake "of the fountain of the water of life freely" (Revelation 21:6), He doesn't drag us to that fountain and push our heads into it, He requires us to make the effort to come unto Him in order to partake of the water of life.  It isn't enough to have faith in Jesus; that faith needs to be put into action.  Moroni understood this.  Consider the action verbs he uses in his challenge at the end of the Book of Mormon.  He "exhorts" (strongly urges or challenges) us to "read," "remember," "ponder" and "ask".  Linked with our effort, however, is the intent motivating our actions.  Moroni also states that we must complete these actions with "a sincere heart, with real intent" to go along with our "faith in Christ" (Moroni 10:3-4, emphasis added).  Notice Moroni doesn't use words like curious or deceptive or transparent to describe what kind of a heart we should have.  I have heard people claim they have read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it and received no answer.  The thought that always comes to my mind when I hear such a claim is was their heart sincere and their intent real when they read and prayed?

The same thing can be said for the temple.  Becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not automatically qualify a person for a temple recommend.  As I stated earlier, temples are dedicated as "the house of the Lord" and this gives God the ability to set the terms of entrance into His house.  I suspect anyone reading this post has an unwritten list of qualifications for people desiring entrance into their homes (or apartements, or condos).  If a person desiring to enter my home meets my unwritten qualifications, I let him or her come inside.  Most of the people who come to my door are people I know who already meet my standard; others may take a while, and rest will have the door politely, yet firmly, closed.  Father and His Son are no different in this regard.  The specific standard they set is a consistent level of gospel living.  If we can affirm to our priesthood leaders (and ourselves since we also sign the recommend) that we are living up to the standard to the best of our ability, then we qualify to enter Their house--the temple.  Being curious about the temple or intending to deceive or wanting to share sacred things for the sake of transparency are not valid reasons to receive a temple recommend.  Yes, I do realize there are those who have deceived priesthood leaders to gain access to the temple for their own selfish reasons, however, knowing the time will come when we will all be required to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and make an accounting of what we did here on the earth (see 2 Corinthians 5:10; Mormon 3:20) makes me not want to be in their shoes.  In the end it is better to "honorably [characterized by your integrity] hold a name [attested by your signing your recommend] and standing [being consistently worthy of that recommend] in [the Lord's] house" (D&C 109:24).

For those who are not members of the LDS Church and want to know more about the temple, this link will give you an overview of what temples are and how we, as Church members, feel about them (as well as what I've said in this post and an earlier post).  If you desire to know more, the way to begin to become qualified to enter the temple is to come unto Christ through faith in Him, repentance, and baptism into His Church--making covenants with Him to prepare yourself for the greater blessings of the temple.  For anyone who is a member of the Church, as President Thomas S. Monson has said, "If you have not yet been to the temple or if you have been but currently do not qualify for a recommend, there is no more important goal for you to work toward than being worthy to go to the temple. . . . Until you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings which await you there, you have not obtained everything the Church has to offer. The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God” (Ensign, May 2011, 92, emphasis in original).  The blessings of the temple are innumerable.  Our Father in Heaven wants to bless us; it is we who keep Him from doing so.  In reality, what He asks of us to qualify to enter the temple really isn't much; only an elevated standard of moral living--an opportunity to use our agency to rise above what the world tells us is the standard.  In my opinion, He asks this of us to show us it is possible to become more than what the world says we can become; to do more than what the world says we should do; and to become closer to Him in order to understand how the temple can help us to rise even higher.  When we hold His name close to us and strive to stand as close to Him as we can, we put ourselves in a position to know that we belong with Him and can, with confidence, be in His presence.  To my mind, true transparency is not to open the temple to anyone and everyone; it is to sincerely raise ourselves closer to God in order to know what is truly real.  That is why the temple is sacred and why I am grateful that my wife and I have consistently made a trip to the temple every month since we were married.

The Great 2013 Vacation: Nauvoo

A lot of stuff to cover in this post, so off we go.  While planning our vacation, I felt one full day would be enough for Nauvoo--I couldn't have been more wrong in my assessment.  Honestly, my impression now is that three days would give a visitor enough time to get a good "flavor" of the area, but a full week might be best.  During the planning stages, I recall reading a comment on some website calling Nauvoo "the Disneyland for Mormons."  I wish I could remember where I saw that quote.  I don't know if I'd go that far (the Church would need to have at least one roller coaster somewhere in town for me to totally get behind the notion--"Get your tickets for the Nauvoo Pioneer; the world's only triple loop coaster!"), but I can't deny the fascination the area has for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because of the history surrounding it.  If I ever have an opportunity to go again, I will plan to stay more days than just one.

 

Jennifer and I had set an appointment at the Nauvoo Temple the week before leaving home.  Sessions began at 8 o'clock in the morning and that seemed like the best session for us--turns out it was the only session still available when Jennifer called to make our reservation; it's a good thing we wanted it.  As we prepared for bed the night before, we told Ben and Isaac they could sleep in as long as they were ready by 10 o'clock--they were very happy with the idea, I think it was they only time they truly got to sleep in the entire trip.  The night before as we walked around the temple grounds the night before, I talked of my visit to the temple site 30 years earlier and mentioned what we saw now was only a grassy hole then (the "footprint" of the temple) with replicas of a sunstone and other smaller pieces nearby (the real stones were housed in the visitor's center).  When President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the rebuilding of the Nauvoo Temple at April conference in 1999; the moment for me was electric (click here: the announcement is at 6:18).  The temple was dedicated on June 27, 2002; the start of the  meeting coinciding with the hour of Prophet Joseph Smith's martyrdom and was broadcast over closed circuit to meetinghouses throughout the world.  We were in Utah visiting my family at the time.  Jen and I were able to participate in the dedication.  It had been an amazing moment for me to see the temple the previous night.  To walk up the front stairs with my wife and enter this sacred edifice was a thrilling spiritual uplift.

 

Afterward, we drove to the Hotel Nauvoo to pay the bill for our stay and returned to the motel to find the boys ready to go (and there was much parental rejoicing).  Instructions in the motel literature told us we could get 15% off the breakfast buffet at Grandpa John's Café if we gave them our room number.  Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the buffet was over and we had to pay full price for our breakfast (easy come, easy go).  From the café, we drove to the visitor's center to plan the rest of our day.  Jennifer wanted to go on the free carriage rides, but it was around 11:30 when we reached the center and all of the rides had been booked.  While we tried to come up with an alternate plan, I realized we had forgotten to bring something (sun block, my hat, cameras--I'm not sure what, but it was important that we have it) from the motel.  I told Jennifer to put a plan together while I fetched the missing item and we would execute her plan when I returned.  Meanwhile, Ben and Isaac met Sister Wood.  They were looking at the 3D replica map of old Nauvoo when she came and struck up a conversation with them.  They told her about their experience in Carthage, our temple scavenger hunt, and the other sites we had seen.  She encouraged them to say personal morning prayer--something they began the next morning and still do--and told them she thought they were someone who would have gone with Joseph to Carthage (they both felt very good about her comment).  Back at the motel, I had secured the forgotten item and returned to the center.  I hurried inside to see what Jennifer had planned . . . and found her completely discombobulated.  I was shocked.  She looked at me with this helpless look and told me how she had talked to a Sister missionary, but she had completely forgotten everything and had no idea what to do.  Frustrated (she normally takes charge of this kind of thing and runs with it), I asked her to go back to the desk and talk to the missionary again while I checked out what the boys were doing.  She started to walk in that direction, but quickly returned and said she wanted me to come with her.  Grumbling, I walked with her to the information desk.

I will readily admit to not really paying attention at first, the senior Sister missionary good naturedly said we probably didn't need her to go over the map and tell us what places to visit, but she would do so anyway.  As she circled the map and gave brief explanations to the different sites she suggested, I found myself hearing something in her voice that sounded familiar.  At some point, I glanced at her name tag and saw "Sister Excell".  That sent a shot through me.  Excell was the last name of my high school principal and I had been friends with his son, Rick.  Sister Excell had been my accompanist on the piano the first time I sang a reception song to one of my siblings (Andrea, in this instance) in Munchkin voice.  The more I surreptitiously looked at her, the greater my inkling became.  When she finished her orientation, I said, "I noticed your name tag; I knew a Sister Excell at one time."  "Oh?" she replied, "Where was that?"  "Cokeville, Wyoming," I said. "I’m Chris Metcalfe."  She took a good look at me and her eyes lit up.  I was correct; she was the Sister Excell I knew from Cokeville.  I introduced my family to her and we talked for a few minutes.  Somewhere in the excitement of seeing a familiar face in a seemingly unlikely place, I misplaced the wherewithal to have someone take a picture of us; didn't even think of it at the time.  She told us Elder Excell would be at the brickyard later in the afternoon and I promised we'd be sure to visit with him; a nice tender mercy from Father in Heaven and I almost missed it because of my pigheadedness.

The first thing we did after leaving the center was to go on a wagon tour of old Nauvoo.  We had two senior Elders, one driving and one narrating, in the front of the wagon and were pulled by two big, white horses named Elder Bob and Elder Bill.  The ride took us into areas that we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise and the narrating Elder told us stories of the area and also detailed some of the lives of people who lived in Nauvoo.  One of the stories he told was about King Follett who died when a bucket of rocks used to line the well he was helping to dig fell off the lip of the well and hit him on the head.  What became known as the "King Follett Sermon" was given by the Prophet Joseph about 2 months or so before he was killed.  There is no way I can do justice to this sermon here in this post, so I will content myself by saying I found this reprint from the Ensign for anyone interested in reading the sermon.  We also saw a view of the Mississippi River that was different than any other we saw during our stay.  The ride gave us a different perspective of Old Nauvoo and was an enjoyable one for all of us.

 

 

From our wagon ride, we drove over to Parley Street first to spend a few moments in the 70's Hall where gospel classes were held for missionaries going into the field (the first MTC?).  Afterward we followed the "Trail of Hope."  When the Saints were forced to leave Nauvoo, this was the road they used to reach the ferry to take them across the Mississippi River--or where they ventured onto the ice thick enough to drive their wagons across to the Iowa Territory.  Signs lined one side of the street with quotations from townspeople detailing their feelings about having to leave their beautiful city.  Our walk down the street terminated at the Mississippi River and gave Ben and Isaac their first opportunity to see it.  Also at the end of the street was a replica of a covered wagon and a statue of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith looking westward.  Plans had already been put in place to journey from Nauvoo into what was then Mexican territory to the west.  This statue was a depiction of Joseph handing those "plans" off to his successor.  Behind the statue was a pavilion with a list of names of people who had lost their lives during the years of pioneer treks.  As I reviewed the names on the wall, I unexpectedly came across the names of Daniel Gadd and Samuel Gadd.  I called everyone over to take a look.  Samuel Sr. and Samuel Jr. both died on the plains in Wyoming.  Seeing just "Samuel Gadd" listed on the wall, I thought maybe father and son had been accidentally lumped together.  I then found another wall tucked behind the mural listing names of people who had been "missed" on the original lists.  At the end of the list was the name Samuel Gadd again.  I guess someone with Gadd ancestry was able to show the mural makers there were two Samuels who died on the plains and not one.

 

 

 

 

 

We decided next to see the Joseph Smith Homestead, Mansion House and Red Brick Store.  Like the Kirtland Temple, the buildings are owned by the Community of Christ (formally RLDS) church.  We again were asked to pay a $3 per person preservation donation and watched another introductory video (different from the one in Kirtland although some information was the same) before taking the tour.  A young man in his early twenties was our guide.  Overall, we liked his tour a little better than the Kirtland tour.  He was very informative and tried to answer all the questions we or others asked (two other families joined us).  Like Kirtland, we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the Homestead or the Mansion House, but we were given permission to take pictures of the second floor of the store.  The second floor meeting room was where the Relief Society was formally organized in 1842.  We also learned that the first temple endowments were given in this room.  I knew this was the case, but was surprised to hear our guide mention it.  After leaving the store, we spent some time in the Smith Family Cemetery.  It was here that the bodies of Joseph, Hyrum and Emma were move to in 1928 by the RLDS church (if you'd like more details about why this was done and the reaction of contemporary LDS Church leaders click this link).

 

A quick check of my watch after this tour told us that Elder Excell would be working at the brickyard.  We drove there to visit with him for a few minutes and receive our "flawed" Nauvoo brick (the lesson behind it is to help us remember we make mistakes and become flawed, but through the Atonement of Christ we can overcome these flaws and become perfected through Him).  With the remaining time we had until the sites closed at 5 o'clock, we tried to see as many of the homes as possible.  We visited the Lucy Mack Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff homes before 5 pm.  We did and saw a lot throughout the day, but there was so much we didn't see.  This is why I think at least several days are needed to do justice to a visit to Nauvoo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before returning to the outdoor stage to see the missionary program (Sunset by the Mississippi) we had briefly watched Monday evening, Ben and Isaac wanted to go back to the temple to get a closer view of it in daylight (sitting on the bluff, it was very prominent throughout our visits to the sites).  We also wanted to go to the LDS bookstore in town to check out its advertised collection of Vocal Point cds, but we found the store closed by the time we arrived.  Returning to the temple, we walked around the grounds while Ben took video (Isaac had do so the during our evening visit).  After a few extra pictures, we piled into the car and drove to the visitor's center parking lot.

 

 

         

 

As we walked to the outdoor stage, we realized we hadn't eaten dinner yet, but we didn't want to miss the program and figured we'd be able to grab a bite to eat after the Vocal Point concert.  The missionary program was good.  I don't know if some of the songs were from that time period, but the lyrics were fun and the missionaries had a good time with it.  There was about a 30 minute or so break between that show and the Vocal Point program.  The boys mildly complained about being hungry (I was shocked beyond reason :)).  Suddenly, someone showed up with four pieces of pizza he said his family didn't eat and would we like them (modern day manna from heaven).  We thanked him for his kindness and eat our slices with gusto.  The Vocal Point show was very good . . . again.  I think they only repeated two songs from their Monday night show (which was a slight bummer; I was hoping they would sing the medley "Noyana / Come, Come Ye Saints"; the first word is a Zulu word meaning "Are you going").  I recorded them singing "I Need Thee Every Hour" instead and then found we had filled the 32 GB chip I bought for the video recorder before our trip began and couldn't record any other songs :(.  During the concert, the lead beat-boxer, Adam, did a 4 minute demonstration of all the different noises he could make.  This exhibition impressed our "in-house" beat-boxer (Ben) enough that he wanted to meet Adam after the show ended.  Ben demonstrated to Adam his own unique technique and asked him some questions.  Jen took a picture of them; Adam gave his "manly man" pose.

 

Hungry again, we searched for a place to eat . . . and found Nauvoo to be one of those towns that "rolls up the sidewalks" at 6 pm.  Everything was closed.  What?!!  No food anywhere?!!  We finally found a gas station/convenience store several blocks past our motel.  Thinking we were stuck buying chips and drinks (I highly nutritious meal, I can assure you), we were pleased to see a pizza counter in the corner of the building with a real live person standing behind it (cue angelic choir again)!  The clerk even threw in a 2 liter bottle of Sun Drop soda for no extra charge--she said it was a promotional thing.  A late night dinner of pepperoni and olive pizza eaten in the motel room ended our fun and full day in Nauvoo.

Carthage Impressions (Joseph Smith)

After the seeming odyssey we experienced to reach Carthage, punctuated with an exclamation point by the downpour, I was happy to finally arrive in the parking lot.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, there was a solemn feeling as we began to walk toward the jail and the visitor's center.  I wish I could remember what the grounds looked like 30 years ago.  It would be interesting (to me at least) to note what, if any, differences were evident between then and now.  Memory being what it is, however, I'll have to content myself with remaining curious.  I did enjoy the plaques with the statements from Joseph culminating with the statue of him and Hyrum.  I also recognized the introductory film we watched (I used to have a copy--received it when I taught early morning seminary--but let someone borrow it and . . . well, never got it back even after several attempts).

It was Monday, June 24 when we arrived--169 years to the day since Joseph and his party left Nauvoo to surrender themselves to the Illinois state militia.  They left at 6:30 that morning.  As they rode past the temple site, Joseph paused to look at the temple and Nauvoo and said, "This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them" (History of the Church, 6:554).  A statue depicting this scene now stands across the street from the Nauvoo Temple.

One of the things Isaac and I had talked about on our Sunday drive (while the Ohio trooper tailed us) was about Governor Thomas Ford and his actions (or inaction) during the days leading up to Joseph and Hyrum's death.  I was reminded of a talk President Gordon B. Hinckley gave at Conference which contrasted Ford and Joseph Smith (you can link to it here).  At Carthage, I couldn't help but wonder again about Governor Ford's role in what culminated in Joseph's martyrdom.  Although Joseph and the others with him started toward Carthage early in the morning on that Monday in 1844, they didn't actually arrive until nearly midnight.  The reason for this was because Ford sent the state militia to take Joseph back to Nauvoo as they confiscated three small cannons and 200 guns from the Nauvoo Legion.  There were other aspects of the Governor's conduct that was less then honorable over the next few days.  I also had to wonder how men could reach a point to want to kill another man.  As we walked up the stairs of the jail toward the bedroom where Joseph and the others stayed, I tried to picture in my mind armed men with faces painted black rushing up the stairs to indiscriminately fire their guns into the room.  I admit, it was a difficult mental exercise.

The day before in Kirtland, we were the only ones in our tour group.  I liked this because we were able to go at our own pace and ask questions of the Sister missionaries and not have to worry about others and their time table (now that I think of it, this was the case at the Whitmer farmhouse and the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center as well).  At Carthage, however, we were lumped into a large group.  I wish it had been otherwise; there were times I felt rushed and wanted to be able to spend a bit more time in the jail.  It was interesting to watch the reaction of my family as we were led from room to room.  We would try to linger in each as long as we could and Ben and Isaac asked me questions.  The tour ended in the bedroom where Joseph, Hyrum, John Taylor and Willard Richards were attacked.  The Sister missionary who served as our tour guide allowed us to have some extra time there after the other people left the room.  I was thankful for her gesture.  Isaac and then Jennifer took a moment to stand at the window Joseph had jumped from while Ben talked with the sister missionary and answered questions she asked him.

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven; William W. Phelps wrote in his anthem to the Prophet after his martyrdom (Hymns, 27).  Sacrifice does bring blessings, I have seen it in my own life time and again, but to stand in that room contemplating the ultimate sacrifice given by Joseph and Hyrum was sobering.  Several weeks have now passed since I stood in the room where "the best blood of the nineteenth century" (D&C 135:6) was spilled.  I have thought about my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and its genesis.  While my biggest mission regret was my less than diligent journal writing (my mission journal covers the first four months of my mission and midway through the 10th and 11th month), my Missionary Training Center (MTC)  experience was something I did cover and it gave me "same day" reaction to the meeting that helped me gain my testimony of the Prophet and his mission.

One of the extra bonuses of the MTC was the Tuesday devotionals when a General Authority would come and speak to us.  Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone of the First Quorum of the Seventy was the first devotional speaker I heard.  His address focused on the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I'm surprised I wasn't more detailed in my journal entry (I don't remember how much time we had before we were supposed to turn the lights out), but that talk had a profound effect upon me.  To help him with his talk, Elder Featherstone invited a young man (I think a returned missionary) with a very good singing voice.  The young man would sing a verse of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" (he didn't sing them in order, as I recall), then Elder Featherstone would relate stories from Joseph's life that reflected the verse.  It was an amazing meeting.  A quote from my May 6, 1986 entry: "Never before have I felt the Spirit so strong throughout an entire meeting as I did in this one.  I felt as if my heart was going to leap from my chest."  I didn't try to describe the feeling other than that, but as I recall I felt as if spiritual waves were gently lapping against my chest; they radiated from the pulpit striking me with regular rapidity.  When the meeting ended and we left for our final class of the evening, I was physically exhausted.  I couldn't focus on what I was doing during that final hour.  Another quote from my journal entry: "Before, I suppose I had always taken for granted that Joseph Smith was a prophet (that was sort of like a set or understood concept), but after that meeting, my attitude has taken a 180° turn.  I am thankful I was able to attend the devotional."

It is interesting for me to relive that moment when I consider that only 2 1/2 weeks earlier I had gained my own testimony.  After 19 years of relying on my parent's testimony of the gospel, I came face to face with the reality that I needed one of my own when my mission call arrived in the mail.  Suddenly instead of remembering the Primary song "I hope they call me on a mission," I was faced with, "I've been called on a mission!"  In that instant as I read I was going to the California San Bernardino Mission, I recognized I couldn't teach a missionary discussion and then say to an investigator, "Be baptized a member of the Church because my parents know it's true!"  I realized the investigator would want to know what I thought--what was my testimony.  I needed to find out for myself.  I received inspiration to know that the way for me to accomplish this new found goal was to read the Book of Mormon.  I finished it from beginning to end for the first time in my life the night before my farewell address in my ward.  After reading the final verse, I took Moroni's challenge, praying sincerely to know if what I had read was true.  The answer I received from the Holy Ghost was unmistakable--for the first time in my life, I didn't think or believe the Church was true; I knew it was true independent of anyone else.  I entered the MTC on Thursday, May 1, 1986 with my missionary clothes, my scriptures and my discussions.  I also had my fledgling testimony of the Book of Mormon and the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ which spiritually armed me in a way I had never been before.  The testimony I gained of Joseph Smith at Elder Featherstone's devotional was the next piece of armor needed to prepare me for the two years ahead and it continues to bless my life now.

Joseph wrote that after introducing himself, the angel Moroni declared "that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people" (JS-H 1:33).  A sobering statement, but one continuing to hold true to this day.  There are those who will try to tear down the testator and his testimony; there are others who may find reasons to doubt him as a person or as a prophet; and there are those who hold fast to their testimony of him and of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the organization he restored to the earth.  Honestly, it has taken me several days to write this post as I have contemplated, relived, and prayed about my testimony of the Prophet.  It has been a reaffirming experience for me to do this and I am grateful for it.  I can say, without hesitation, that I know Joseph Smith was called as a prophet by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  I know through revelation Joseph was able and inspired to restore the gospel of Christ and His Church to the earth.  I know Joseph laid the foundation for so much that I enjoy today as a member of the Church.  I know Jesus Christ manifested Himself to Joseph on more occasions than his first visionary experience.

(D&C 76:22-24)

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that prophet and seer.
(Hymns, 27)

Joseph sealed his testimony with his blood on Thursday, June 27, 1844.  I am thankful for the testimony I have of him and am grateful for the opportunity we had as a family to follow the early Saints on our vacation.

The Great 2013 Vacation: Carthage & Nauvoo

There had been a couple of times during the trip where Ben suggested recording our effort to put up our tent.  With our usual late arrival to the campsites and the amount of time taken to put the tent together, doing so wasn't a good option.  What we finally settled for were several pictures of our tent just to prove we had accomplished this feat of engineering--here are two Jennifer took of the boys Monday morning while I was in the bathroom getting ready.

The boys had to fight the morning sun on this side.





Ah, that's better.

This was going to be the longest day of continual driving we had faced since our four day marathon to reach New Jersey.  Our travels would take us through the remainder of Ohio and across Indiana and most of Illinois to the eastern edge of the Mississippi River.  The drive skirted us along the boarder of Ohio and Michigan.  In Indiana, we passed by South Bend but didn't really catch a glimpse of Notre Dame.  It was a little after 1 o'clock when we reached Gary, Indiana.  Rumbling tummies informed us it was time for lunch, but we decided to hold off for a little while longer because when we crossed into Illinois, we entered the Central time zone and had another shot at the noon hour.  As we approached Joliet, I saw a sign for a Cracker Barrel Store.  We had seen many signs or actual stores during our trip and I was finally intrigued enough to check one out.  The funny thing was when I saw signs advertising the store, it would say "general store," but when Jennifer saw signs they would say "restaurant."  Turns out we weren't crazy, the Cracker Barrel is both.  I have to admit being disappointed in the store side.  I was expecting a lot more food items; instead I got knick-knacks.  We didn't have time for a sit-down lunch, so the restaurant side didn't appeal to us either.  Just as we were about to leave empty handed, I came face to face with a rack of potato chips; a desert oasis (cue heavenly choir and lights)!  Remembering how we had liked the Utz brand chips in Pennsylvania, we tried Cracker Barrel's brand of Buttermilk and Herb and Cheddar chips--if not for Jennifer taking the bag from me, I would have devoured the Buttermilk & Herb flavor; they were very good. :)

 

For the same reasons we had driven to the Whitmer farmhouse first on our way to Palmyra, my itinerary plan was to visit the Carthage Jail (where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred) first before continuing to Nauvoo.  Eventually, we left I-80 and made our way south.  We were doing petty good with following our map until we reached Macomb.  As we drove into town, the road signs disappeared, causing just enough uncertainty that we decided to stop for gas (it was needed) and to make sure we were heading in the correct direction.  At the same time, a light rain began to fall.  While I pumped petrol, Jennifer checked with the guys behind the counter . . . and found they were as clueless about the directions as we were (lovely).  Luckily, a customer overheard the conversation and she told Jen we were correctly motitavin' (Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" was a song on the trip mix) toward our intended destination.  After leaving the gas station and driving another five miles or so, we reached a signal light.  As I waited for the left turn signal to change to green, the wind became stronger; the rain fell harder; and a weird moaning noise sounded above the music inside the car.  As I watched trees and signs blow crazily in the gale, the clouds seemed to drop down in a way that gave me visions of Dorothy, Toto and flying houses.  Instead of sending us to Munchkin Land, Mother Nature popped a gigantic water balloon over us, sending a deluge of rain pouring everywhere.  I made the turn, but about 500 yards later, I could barely see through the curtain of rain.  I've been in a few gully washers in my time, but this was nuts!  Even more crazy was the cars with Illinois licence plates zooming past us as I crawled along at about 30 mph with my hazard lights flashing.  Finally, I decided that I didn't want to drive the road alone; after a pick-up truck zoomed past, I used its tail lights to guide me through the low visibility.  The storm lasted for at least 15 to 20 minutes.  Finally, it abated and we were able to continue the final 10 to 15 miles to Carthage and the historic jail.  After everything we had gone through to make it there, we were happy to arrive in one piece.

I don't know if I can properly describe the feeling, but I will say there is a sacred reverence to the grounds of the jail.  The only other place I have felt this was when we visited Martin's Cove in Wyoming where the Martin handcart company was stranded and eventually rescued in October of 1856.  I remember as we walked along the trail of the cove, we talked in hushed tones as if we had entered a prairie cathedral.  I can't say our voices were necessarily hushed as we left the parking lot, but I did feel that same type of hallowed feeling.  From the parking lot we walked along a paving stone walkway featuring quotations from different times of Joseph's life.  This walkway culminated with a statue of Joseph and Hyrum.  Ben and Isaac wanted to have their pictures taken with the statute.  Afterward, we made our way to the visitor's center where the tour began.

 

 

I will have more to say in my "impressions" post, but throughout the tour, I tried to picture the events of June 27, 1844.  A couple of things I learned: 1) the walls of the jail are so thick and sturdy that it is used by the missionaries as their "safe house" if a tornado was to strike the town; and 2) Willard Richards pulled John Taylor into an adjoining jail cell and threw a mattress over him to protect him in case the mob came back after Hyrum and Joseph were killed.  I have probably read that fact before, but for some reason, over the years, I thought John Taylor continued to hide under the bed in the room where Hyrum was killed and Joseph jumped out of the window.  By the way, if you visit and are over 6 feet tall, be sure to duck down when you go through the doorway of the cell, I didn't (too busy taking video) and barked my head against the top of the door frame.

We spent over an hour at the jail.  When I looked at my watch, it was dinner time.  We had noticed in our travels that the fast food chain Hardees has the "happy star" that we equate with Carl's Jr. here on the left coast.  Curious to find out if the same type of burgers were offered, we decided to eat dinner at the local Hardees which was about a block from the jail.  Sadly, our familiar double western or super star or big carl were no where to be found.  We all settled for the promotional "monster burger"--I think it had some sort of tie in to the new Superman movie--when the food arrived, disappointment was forgotten and the feeding frenzy commenced.  Dinner eaten, we got back in the car and drove the final 25 miles to Nauvoo.

We stayed in the Motel Nauvoo--a quaint little motel on the main street into town.  When we got there, a sign on the door of the office said we needed to go the Hotel Nauvoo to check in and get our keys.  A short walk down the street got us to the hotel, but there were also emergency vehicles and electrical workers on the adjoining street.  From the splintered tree trunk, I guessed that the earlier rain storm had also struck Nauvoo and torn a tree apart, smashing it into a nearby power pole.  The electricity was knocked out at the hotel (I'm glad we weren't staying there, I heard the next day from other people that the power didn't come back on until 11:30 or so that night).  With the electronic equipment not working, we couldn't pay our bill but the lady at the front desk gave us our keys and told us to come back in the morning to take care of it.  After unloading our luggage as much as we wanted at the time, we drove to the visitor's center to see what was available.  The building was closed; the center and the historic houses close at five.  There was an outdoor stage, however, and a program put on by the missionaries was coming to a close.  I had found out that the a cappella group Vocal Point from BYU would be performing on the same stage about an hour later, so we decided to find some seats.  Before leaving on their second mission to France, my parents had given us a Vocal Point cd for Christmas.  We listened to it and thought it was good and had left it at that.  Seeing these nine guys perform live gave us a totally different perspective of them.  We had a very good time at their hour long (or so) show and decided we wanted to come back to see them again the next day.  The final thing we did before calling it a night was to walk down to the Nauvoo Temple that evening to take pictures.  Ben and I got to participate in an abbreviated "temple walk" that Jennifer had put together for the young men and young women of our ward at the beginning of June.