Our Nauvoo

A Weekend Never to be Forgotten

Adam-ondi-Ahman

We had an incredibly spiritual weekend experience recently.  It all began with a Saturday visit to Adam-ondi-Ahman, which is nearly 4 hours north of Nauvoo.  For those of you unfamiliar with Adam-ondi-Ahman, we believe that this was the valley where Adam and Eve lived after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and where Adam bestowed his final blessings upon his children before his died.  It is also in this valley where we believe the Savior will initially appear at His second coming as foretold by the Old Testament prophet, Daniel.

Main entrance to Adam-onid-Ahman

Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once described Adam-ondi-Ahman as one of the "least known and least understood thing connected with the Second Coming." He added that, "Before the Lord Jesus descends openly and publicly in the clouds of glory, attended by all the hosts of heaven; ... before all flesh shall see him together; before any of His appearances ... . He will come in private" here in Adam-ondi-Ahman.  As we walked about this holy land we reflected not only upon the sacred events that have already occurred here, but also upon the sacred events that are yet to come.  We undeniably felt the sacred nature of Adam-ondi-Ahman and look forward to returning there.

The Church owns approximately 6,500 acres surrounding Adam-ondi-Ahman.

Pictured above and below is what is known as Preacher Rock.  It is where the Prophet Joseph Smith is said to have stood and taught the early Saints.

We conducted an amazing experiment while at the rock.  I walked over to the grove of trees in the background, which I estimated to have been just over the length of a football field, and as I stood there one of the Elders adjacent to Preacher Rock spoke to those around him in a normal voice and I could clearly hear and understood every word he said.  This is not doubt a perfect location for a large conference of people.

Far West

After our visit to Adam-ondi-Ahman we drove to Far West, which from late 1836 to 1839, as many as five thousand Saints established homes in and around the area. It also served as Church headquarters after Joseph Smith arrived in March 1838. During his time in Far West, the Prophet received seven revelations later published in the Doctrine and Covenants. 

The Far West Temple Site is where Latter-day Saints began to build a temple when on July 4, 1838, the Saints placed and dedicated the four cornerstones for a temple in their new city.  Those cornerstones are still in place.

The original cornerstones remain in place under protective glass.

Because of mob violence against the Saints no further work was done on the temple. Mob violence against the Saints in the fall of 1838 quickly grew into a large-scale armed conflict when Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs ordered the state militia to surround Far West and drive the Saints from the state.

One of the revelations Joseph received here instructed the Twelve Apostles to leave Far West on April 26, 1839, for a mission to England. Some opponents of the Church boasted that they had prevented the fulfillment of this divine instruction by driving the Saints out of Far West. However, before the Twelve’s mission to England, Brigham Young and other Apostles returned to the Far West temple site under cover of night to fulfill the revelation on the appointed day.

Imagine they faith, the unwavering testimonies and the courage they in order to return to the temple site even thought it was surrounded by enemies of the Church knowing if they were caught they likely would have been killed. Nevertheless, Joseph's revelation was fulfilled!

Haun’s Mill

After leaving Far West we drove on to Haun’s Mill where on October 30, 1838, as part of the escalating violence that drove early Saints out of the state of Missouri, a company of rogue militiamen attacked the Saints. While women and most children from the settlement hid in the woods, a group of Latter-day Saint men and boys sought shelter in the blacksmith’s shop. The attackers surrounded the shop and shot repeatedly through the gaps between the roughly hewn log walls, killing both those inside the shop and those who attempted to surrender. After the initial attack, they dragged out several young boys who had hidden under the blacksmith’s bellows and shot them execution style. Seventeen Latter-day Saints were killed and another 12 to 15 were wounded.

Though it is a beautiful and peaceful setting now, it was heart wrenching to think of what took place there 183 years ago.

Women and children ran across this stream and into the woods to escape being murdered by the mob. Another future painting.

Nauvoo Temple

The overwhelming and peaceful spirit we felt at Adam-ondi-Ahman at the Far West Temple site and even at Haun's Mill was exactly the same feeling we experienced on Sunday, the very next day, while attending a special devotional in the Assembly Room in the Nauvoo Temple.  It was clear that in all four places we were standing on sacred ground.  It was a powerful spiritual feeling neither of us will ever forget.

We shall never tire of this image from our front yard here in Nauvoo!

Thanksgiving in Nauvoo

We began our Thanksgiving Day with the mission presidency and our wives gathered in Carthage Jail where on June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred by a mob. They sealed their testimonies with their blood as had so many prophets had done anciently.  While in the jail President Rizley recounted Joseph and Hyrum’s experiences in Carthage that lead up to their deaths.  It was a very sobering experience.  We found ourselves again on sacred ground.

The bedroom where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred.

Mission Site Presidency

The rest of the day was a traditional Thanksgiving celebration, but without the family of course! We enjoyed a scrumptious Thanksgiving feast ~ in fact we had two feasts, one with all the missionaries and the other with our neighbors including Sister and President Rizley.  In both instances the food was great, the entertainment was great but the best part was sharing it with great friends.  We even had some karaoke going on!

With the Rizley's.

Thanksgiving dinner at our house with friends!

Christmas in Nauvoo

Carthage Christmas Open House

Not going to lie, being away from family at Christmas was hard.  There is nothing quite as joyful than seeing the excitement of Christmas in the eyes of our grandchildren; nevertheless, we made a go of it!

We started off participating in the Carthage Christmas Open House, which included a bunch of us missionaries singing Christmas carols as we roamed Carthage town square.  The highlight was watching their Parade of Lights.  Only in the heartland of American would you see large farm equipment covered in colorful Christmas lights.  It was, to say the least, a sight to behold!

                       

At our favorite Mexican restaurant in Carthage with the Rizley's.

Nauvoo Christmas Walk

The Christmas Walk is a big annual event here in Nauvoo.  The evening started with a live Nativity in one of our theaters along with a high school jazz band performance and a student choir both held in the lobby of our visitors’ center.

There as also story telling by our missionaries dressed in period clothing.  The stories were told in three of our historic homes.

We did sing alongs with our guests while riding on horse drawn wagons through the streets of Nauvoo.

The evening ended with hot chocolate and cobbler being served in our Family Living Center.

Throughout the night we recognized we were protected  by a miracle even thought we did not fully realize it until the next day.  Let me explain ~ we started the evening with a very heavy rain shower, but it was short lived as the night sky was suddenly cleared of the menacing storm clouds!  We also had tornado warnings all around is ~ in fact they were within 50 miles of us.  It was not until the next morning that we learned it was during our events that our neighbors to the south in Kentucky and other areas suffered devastating tornadoes.

The following week we enjoyed a hearty Christmas feast with all the missionaries. 

Mission presidency Christmas photo.

                     

At home by our tree.

Best friends.

Just Some Fun Pix

Ready to head out for a wagon ride.

Still sweethearts!

Everywhere we go are signs of home.

On Christmas Eve several local families brought homemade goodies to all the missionaries serving in the sites. This is their tenth year of doing it and it was so a special treat as the parents and grandparents watched their two little girls delivery the plates of cookies to us and sing a couple of Christmas songs.

A quick pic at the podium of the Seventies Hall ~ it is a beautiful building!

Elder Alston hamming it up with a young visitor.

Not sure who enjoyed it the most!

Happy New Year

We have already experienced blessings as well as sad times this year here in Nauvoo!

First of all, there was a family from Germany who came to Nauvoo specifically to be sealed (married for time and all eternity) in the Nauvoo Temple.  Sadly, due to Covid none of their family and friends were able to come to the states.  Nevertheless, the bride’s life long dream came true as her and her husband knelt at the altar and were sealed…but wait, there is more to the story!

Six missionary companionships, including us, who had the wonderful opportunity to give this young family tours here in Nauvoo just days before their scheduled sealing, all attended the sealing with them. We even organized a small reception complete with a full meal and a homemade wedding cake! A life long bond of friendship was created that day! There is so much more to the backstory of this family, but you will just have to wait so we can share that in person.  Their's was such a powerful and inspiring journey that lead them to Nauvoo.

We bid farewell to the Rizley’s, our Mission President and Co-Leader.  They have become wonderful friends and we remain in awe of their knowledge!  They will be missed.  We look forward to visiting them in Arizona.  

The chow line.

The chow!

These teamsters make amazing chefs!

They are one of the reasons this is known as a 30-pound mission!

New look for the mission president!

What a blessing to work with the Wessman's!

They did a broadcast of the farewell festivities to a bunch of returned missionaries.

Elder Wessman is the former director of Music and the Spoken Word, several of the Christmas Devotionals and he even played in the orchestra!

Farewell dinner at our house.

The drawing is of the Brigham Young home and has very special meeting to us!

Another story that is too special to put in writing.

We had hoped for a white Christmas, but sadly the snow held off until January 1; nevertheless, it has been beautiful.  Cold, but beautiful.  Did I mention cold?  Forecasted low for today was -25º ... yes its cold, which is something we California kids just aren't used to, but it has slowed us down. 

This is the Cutler Home where we live here in Nauvoo - we are so blessed!

This is the Hunter home.  Its one of my favorite homes to photograph and I have plans to do a number of paintings of it.

The Browning home and gunsmith shop.

Just can't take enough pix of the Nauvoo Temple.

Don't care how cold it was ~ this sleigh ride was was too much fun!

We also welcomed our new Mission President and Co-Leader, the Dalton’s just a few days ago.  The challenge was the 12 days between the Rizley’s departure and the arrival of the Dalton’s.  For me us it was a personal challenge because, as First Counselor in the site presidency, the increased leadership responsibility, although temporary, fell upon my shoulders.  Let’s just say, we were more than thrilled when the Dalton’s arrived!

Lastly, we have been battling Covid for the last eight days.  Yep, I tested positive first.  Chris has all the symptoms and we are awaiting the results of her PCR test.  If that’s not bad enough, Chris has a sinus infection!  Oh yeah, and did we mention that the weather forecast is for it to hit -25º today?

We love serving here in Nauvoo!  We love all of you!