Nauvoo!!!!

In August, Nathan started his 3rd year of medical school and his rotations. We hear that this is the best year and so far it has proven just that! He is home a lot more, and that makes the boys and I so happy!! On one of his days off, we decided to drive to Nauvoo for the day. It is a 4 hour drive, and the kids did awesome!

We stopped at Carthage first, and toured the jail. This is the visitors center with the jail in the background.

They have these plaques all the way down the walkway with different pictures and quotes. Carter wanted to read them...

So we did! And they were awesome!

Joseph and Hyrum...

The brick building is the jail...

We watched a short video and then the sisters took us on a tour of the jail. We learned a lot of cool things. I didn't know, but the jail was actually a house too. There was a family that lived on the main level with the jail cells upstairs...

This is the first cell where the prisoners were kept... This is also where Willard Richards took John Taylor after he had been shot. He dragged him in here and threw the mattresses over him to hide him from the mob...

When the mob came, they shot through door. This is the actual door with the bullet hole that killed Joseph's brother Hyrum..

This is the room where the prisoners were when the mob attacked...

And this is the window Joseph Smith fell out of after he was shot...

This is the well Joseph landed on after he fell out of the window...

Visiting this jail was one the more spiritual experiences I have had. As you sit in the room upstairs where the mob attacked, they play an audio reenactment of what happened. I was watching Carter's face as this was playing, and he started to cry. He said he was crying because he didn't want Joseph Smith to die. I know he felt the spirit, and it reminded me how close children are to it.

After Carthage, we went to Nauvoo. This is an amazing place!! It's streets of old buildings and homes from when the Saints settled there. A lot of the buildings and artifacts in them are actually from those days... We stopped at the visitors center first to see what to do! They have a lot for kids to see too!

 

Our first stop was the Brickyard, where they taught us how they made the bricks to build their homes and other buildings. And let me tell you what, it is quite the process!

They give each family a brick to take home...

A view to the Mississippi River...

Next we went to the Blacksmith...

They showed us how they make wagon wheels and tools and other things...

They demonstrated how they would heat and pound the iron into the right shape for whatever they were making...

He made a little horse shoe...

Then they give each kid a ring to take home..

Next we went and checked out the family center. In here they show you how they made bread, candles, barrels, ropes, and demonstrated weaving.

The boys got to make a rope...

Some of the little buildings on the "main street'... This is Brigham Young's home...

We went and took a tour inside John Taylor's home. They told us his story and showed us some of his actual possessions... This is a rocking horse he made for his daughter that after they were driven from Nauvoo by the mob, he crossed back over the river and risked getting caught to get it for her...

We also went to the gun shop and they showed us how to make guns... This is Jonathan Browning's home. He was famous for inventing different guns and his son John Moses Browning was even more famous inventing and patenting things such as automatic and semi-automatic guns...

This is the Smith home where Joseph lived with his family...

Another view of the Mississippi...

After that, we went to the Smith family cemetery...

The graves of Joseph and his wife Lucy, and his brother Hyrum...

Graves of Joseph's parents and some of his children that he lost while they were young...

Our last stop was the Nauvoo temple. Carter was in awe of this temple, and I have to say it may now be my favorite. It is beautiful!!!!! And the hill on which it sits has the most gorgeous view. It was really amazing.

Joseph and Hyrum...

We had such amazing time in Nauvoo and Carthage. We learned a lot and it was incredible to see how the Saints lived and to listen to their stories and learn what they had to endure. I am so grateful for their faith and sacrifice. I don't care what religion you are, no human being or group of human beings deserves to be treated how they were treated. Yet they pressed on and had such incredible faith. I am so thankful for them. The church is true.