During our little road trip to Texas, we took time to visit some historic sites of our Church. We saw places in Illinois and Missouri. We had originally planned to see more sites, but due to weather--rain and fog--we didn't get to see some of the countryside sites. But we did get to see a lot of things and we were happy with that.
Nauvoo
Our first visit with in Nauvoo. We spent Tuesday the 8th and Wednesday the 9th seeing all we could there. The first day we only saw one other couple, but they were related to one of the missionary couples and mostly stayed with them. We practically had Nauvoo to ourselves!
Because it was January and not a busy time of the year, they had reduced visiting hours. The little shops and homes opened at 10am and closed at 4pm. We did have to squeeze things in because we wanted to see it all in two days. It was really nice going into each little shop or house, having the senior missionaries be excited about having visitors, and getting the full tour of each place. The missionaries all loved Glenn! They loved having a little one around who reminded them of their grandchildren.
The Printing Office
We learned a lot about phrases we use all the time in our language. I knew the one about minding my p's and q's, but I didn't know about cutting to the chase and some of the other ones. Pretty fun to learn about!
John Taylor Home
The little rocking horse is original--it was brought West, handed down the family line, and then donated to the Church to be displayed in his home here. The story they told about it was really moving. John Taylor's family had been forced to leave Nauvoo with the rest of the Saints. After they had traveled for some time and one of his sons just couldn't be consoled. He had been crying the entire time. When he asked what was wrong, he mentioned the rocking horse and how he missed it and wanted it. So John Taylor went back and got the horse. What a sweet and loving father!
And this shaving furniture piece was original to John Taylor.
The Post Office
This Post Office also had some general merchandise. They definitely didn't waste space.
Stoddard Tin Shop
The little bucket that Glenn is looking at is an old-fashioned mouse trap. They had a little ramp up to some cheese on the stick in the middle. When the mouse went to grab the cheese, he would fall in the bucket and couldn't get out.
This was a fly catcher. Since flies can't fly straight down, they were able to capture them. The bottom of the glass turns into a long, narrow channel. Inside they would put some honey to lure them in, but because of the shape, they wouldn't be able to fly out. So they would die, and then when it was full, they would take off the cork and dump them out. Pretty ingenious!
Inside the tin shop we saw how Brother Stoddard made the tin into different objects. I thought the lanterns were really neat, especially because they all had unique designs. I thought that was just to have some variety, but it was actually done on purpose so each family could have their own design and people would come to know it and know that it was the Jensens or the Smiths or whoever. Pretty cool!
Wagon Ride
We went on a wagon ride that took us all around Historic Nauvoo. I was really glad that they had quilts for us to use--and some hats and gloves. It was a pretty chilly day. As we made our way down the street which the Saints took when forced out of the city, the guide told us that it was about 38 or 40 degrees, and just to put it in comparison, the morning they left it was -12 or so. Really cold! But despite the cold it was a neat way to see the city, the river and of course the temple!
The river--or more of a lake right here--was frozen. Not really thick, but still it was frozen.
After the ride we got to meet and pet the horses. Their names were Mike and Ned.
Scovil Bakery
We didn't take pictures inside, but we did eat a yummy gingerbread cookie!
Cultural Hall
The Cultural Hall used to be a Masonic Hall, but then was converted to the cultural hall. Inside they held concert and dances. The first floor was where the missionaries perform Rendez-Vous with Old Nauvoo. The second floor had different quilts and other historic items on display. And the third floor was the dance hall. The floor was pretty squeaky, so I imagine it being pretty loud when they held a dance with an orchestra and all the couples dancing. But I bet they had a great time!
(This was made out of human hair--kind of interesting.)
Family Living Center
Inside the Family Living Center, we learned about several different things the Saints made. The first was how they made rope--and we were able to make one for our family. The Saints used the Sisal plant to make the rope. I was amazed--constantly with the ingenuity they had! Necessity really is the mother of invention!
And here's our family rope that we made ourselves!
Also inside we saw how they made pottery...
...wool and different articles of clothing...
...bread--and we got a sample too...
...candles...
...and barrels.
Jonathan Browning Home and Gun Shop
We didn't take a picture of the structure--we forgot--but we did take pictures of the guns and other items inside. I did not know that this was the famous Browning name. I really don't know anything about guns, so for me it was cool to learn about his skills and genius.
This was original China of Sister Browning's. Beautiful!
Brick Yard
This was just one of many brick yards in Nauvoo. There was a great need for brick in the area and they made a lot! The red brick occurred naturally--the clay in that area had iron oxide in it, giving it the red color.
Brother Munhoz told us about the bricks. He was from Brazil too! Paul was excited to meet him and to talk in Portuguese and to hear about his previous mission presidents. Brother Munhoz knew both of them.
Lucy Mack Smith Home
Sister Munhoz was stationed at the Lucy Mack Smith home. She was even more excited to see Paul! She gave us the tour in Portuguese. I understood it pretty well for not knowing the language. I did have to have Paul explain a few things.
Mother Smith was a very small lady-that was the size of her bed and it was tiny!
Upstairs lived one of her daughters and her little family. They had this cool door in the floor that they could close to have more privacy upstairs and to give Mother Smith peace and quiet downstairs. The staircase was really narrow and steep--kind of like a ladder.
Hosea Stout's Property
Hosea Stout was one of my ancestors and so it was cool to see where his land was.
This was the view that he had of the temple from his property. Beautiful!
Nauvoo Visitor's Center
The Visitor's Center was open until 5pm so we went there after all the other shops and homes were closed.
They had copies of different scriptures...
...an original sun stone from the original temple...
...an artist's rendition of the gold plates and the scripture that led Joseph Smith to pray in the grove...
...a beautiful statue depicting Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith...
...and a place to watch testimonies from the current Apostles.
After that we had dinner at Weber's Kitchen. It was a nice little diner with pretty good food. It was a quiet town--up on the bluff behind the temple. Everything closed by 6pm. We had just a few minutes to walk around The Allyn House to buy a souvenir or two and some pioneer toys. Paul really wanted a Jacob's Ladder so we got one. Glenn liked all the toys--he had a lot of fun with them.
The Temple at Night & The Smith Brothers Statues
That night we went to the Cultural Hall to watch the missionaries perform Rendez-Vous with Old Nauvoo. It was a great show! It was a lot of fun and very entertaining. We talked with some of the missionaries after the show and they told us that they were singing and dancing for Glenn. At their prayer meeting just before the show began, the Brother conducting asked if there were any important visitors that would be there that night. One of the missionaries said, "Yes-Glenn!" The missionaries that we had visited with today were excited and the rest were anxious to see him. Glenn loved the show! He clapped and followed along and paid attention the entire time.
That night as we were driving back to our hotel, Glenn favored us with one of his own songs. (And the video is black--it was dark when I filmed.)
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