Our first tour was the Family Living Center where we were glad we started. It turned out that everything we needed to know - how cotton makes shirts, how many dips in lard wax a candle takes, how to weave and how to make a rope how to make bread - could all be found in this center.
This sister's hand is on the warming box where the bread rises. Reminds me of when Rick put his bread to raise in his steam room
In Nauvoo, the missionaries make almost all the rugs that are in the restored homes:
We made our own rope. It smelled funny, but I'd say we did a great job
Nauvoo Post office - still looks pretty much the same :-)
At the Print Shop we saw the incredibly painstaking process that building a newspaper would have been back in the 1800s
I don't think they had shoe and boot sizes to fit Forrest's foot!
At the Seventy's hall - Of course I had to test out the podium!
At the silversmith we got to see a tiny horseshoe made, as well as a "desert diamond"
This is the exact horse that John Taylor had to go back and fetch for his little boy. It was incredible to see the handmade woodwork in the chairs, fireplaces and even toys
The tinmaker even had a little rotisserie oven!
In the evenings in Nauvoo, there isn't much going on. But they do put on a musical called Rendezvous that tells a bit about the story of Nauvoo...the industrious people, the peace they searched for, and the way they had to leave "willingly, because they have to".
Saturday morning it was raining so we headed out to Carthage. It was highly recommended by everyone so we definitely wanted to see it. The sister missionary who gave us the tour was so great - she was a convert and was able to bare her testimony many times.
Outside Carthage:
The window the prophet fell from:
Door with bullet hole from bullet that killed Hyrum Smith
The last room the Prophet stayed in. I really think he knew it was his time. I can't imagine being in there with him in his last moments. The window straight ahead is the one he fell through after being shot from both the window and the door:
After coming back from Carthage, we decided to tour the sites that are owned by the Community of Christ (formerly the RLDS church). Joseph Smith's first home in Nauvoo was a simple log cabin. For 3 years he lived there - slowly adding rooms and secret getaways.
Outside the home is the final resting place of Joseph, Emma and Hyrum. Elsewhere in the Smith family cemetery are Joseph Smith Sr., Lucy Mack Smith and various children and relatives.
The Mansion House was the final home of the Prohpet. There were 22 room when Joseph lived there. It has since been cut down to save on the cost of maintenance. I believe it was one of Joseph's sons, later in his life, who wanted to preserve what he could but didn't have the money to maintain the entire hotel.
Sarah Granger Kimball was an amazing woman who always seemed to be involved and leading the saints - both in Nauvoo and later when she went to the west.
Fantastic view of the temple from Sarah's home. It's amazing how much of Nauvoo can see the temple.
Later on Saturday we were lucky that the rain sort of let up so we could take a carriage ride:
This is pretty much what Nauvoo would have looked like when each family was given their 1 acre of land to build a home and garden on. I would have stayed on the wagon!
A look at what the barge would have looked like that carried the wagons across the Mississippi River. it would have held 2 wagons and probably took a VERY long time to cross.
A last look at the temple:
I have a gazillion more photos, but you can only put so many on the blog. This was a fantastic trip and really gave us a chance to feel like we'd taken a step back in time for a bit.
