Today was a very special day. It is the 168th Anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum in the Carthage Jail. We knew today would be an interesting day to be here. It was also the 10th anniversary of the dedication of the Nauvoo Temple.
We went and found a place to have some breakfast...
Went on an oxen ride... it was really slow but we learned a lot about why the saints used them...
Afterwards, we headed over to the sites owned by the Church of Christ. (Formerly the RLDS) We really wanted to see the graves of the Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith... and decided to take the "tour". I don't want to be disrespectful in any way, as we want others to be respectful of our beliefs, but the tour really lacked the spirit we felt every where else in Nauvoo. It just felt really different and there was a "casualness" that just left us feeling like we needed to move on. We are so grateful for the missionaries and the spirit they bring to Nauvoo and to all of the sites. It didn't matter where we stopped... they always found a way to tie in what we were learning about to the gospel. We decided it was time to move on and headed for Carthage.
We really enjoyed our time in Carthage. One of the wonderful things about the Church is the way places of worship or historical importance are kept up. Every where we went things were so beautiful and you can really see the love and care every detail is given...
We went on a tour of the jail... this is the room they were in when the mob attacked them... There were others in our group, but we stayed after for a moment to really let the feeling settle. It was amazing to get to be here and see the bullet holes and think about what they went through.
Doesn't this picture say it all?...
The prophet fell from the second story window and they continued to shoot him outside...
This is a picture painted by my great-great-great-grandfather, C.C.A. Christensen. It was really fun to see his art in many of the places we visited... as well as every week in our church building!
We had some extra time before the memorial service, at 5:00 pm, so we decided to find somewhere to eat. We found this hole-in-the-wall Mexican place that had REALLY good food! We had heard earlier about Porter Rockwell being accused of the attempted assassination of Governor Boggs in Missouri. There wasn't enough evidence and he was later acquitted, after serving time in jail of course... but he later commented when asked if he had actually done it, that if he had tried, the Governor would be dead. In this picture Courtney blew the end of her straw wrapper at Dan and hit him in the forehead. He told her she had missed his eye, and she replied. "Dad, I'm like Porter Rockwell. If I had been trying to hit you in the eye, I would have hit you in the eye!" It was really funny! Nice face Dan!
We saw this sign and thought of Kenna.... we need one of these for the dinner table...
After lunch we tried to find somewhere we could buy a blanket. We still had a while until the service and we thought it might be nice to get a blanket so we could lay on the grass and relax in the shade. We went in this store and bought one for $5. We didn't know it was a thrift store... but I am pretty sure it was used. Yuck. For those who know me well, the fact that I would buy a used blanket and actually lay on it might rival the "miracle of the quail."
But I did! I chilled out in the shade with the family on it and had to pretend I didn't see the dog hair!!!!!!EWW!!!
Thinking about the significance of the place and day... and trying to stay cool! With the heat index they said it was 116* today...
Courtney had the best seat in the house!
The mission president spoke. His words were so moving and really changed our perspective. We had questioned how the residents must feel now about what happened here. In the newspaper we picked up it mentioned that the death of the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum is what their town is MOST famous for. How sad is that. Your claim to fame is a murderous mob. But his talk was just like everything else we heard, saw, and felt. Positive. Uplifting. He focused on thanking the current residents for their support, and on the positive things that have happened because of the faith of Joseph and Hyrum, and of the other saints who were left to move on. Great life lesson.
It was a long and emotional day, so we headed back to our hotel as soon as this event was over. It really was the perfect way to end today. This has been an incredible journey for our family.
No comments:
Post a Comment