First Time to Nauvoo

On Friday and Saturday, I was able to visit Nauvoo, Illinois. For those who are unaware of why that place is so cool to visit, let me explain to you. Joseph Smith and the other Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints travelled across the United States with Salt Lake as the final destination. Nauvoo, IL was one of the stopping points for the entire group of members. While there, a lot of events occurred. The Nauvoo Temple was built, the city was built up with homes for the Saints even though they left a few short months later, and the death of Hyrum and Joseph Smith.

I was very excited to go and it was a lot of fun. I went with the Young Single Adult group from the Wausau Area. We arrived Friday afternoon after an eight hour drive. We watched a performance, "High Hopes and River Boats," which portrayed the time period and the mentalities of the Saints in the 1830's and 40's. Then we walked around Historic Nauvoo and saw the burial place of Hyrum and Joseph Smith. It was an eerie feeling to be in the place where the Lord's Prophet is buried. Then we went to the Joseph Smith Pageant, which is a production put on by many people from the country who serve in Nauvoo. It tells the story of the pioneers in Nauvoo and the challenges and happiness they had. It was really cool to see the story unfold. On Saturday, I went to the Nauvoo Temple and did baptisms for the dead. This was the second time I went to a temple and it was a very cool experience. Being in the temple is such a good feeling and the temples are a great blessing. After that, we had some down time to walk about the historical sites in Nauvoo. I went to the Blacksmith Ship and the Brickyard and learned all about building up the city in the 1800's. Then we went to Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was killed. There was a weird feeling there, thinking that the Prophet died there. It was, however, educational to hear about the events that took place there.

Due to time restraints, we didn't get to see a whole lot or experience parts of the city. I am really excited to go back some year and take my time going throughout all the buildings and sites. However, for the first time, it was nice and overwhelming. The city is full of Church history and I tried so hard to remember it all. It is a place where a person can always learn something new about the Church.