Beautiful Nauvoo

A week ago today, I left Nauvoo. I loved retracing some of the final footsteps of our beloved prophet, Joseph Smith. I visited his home, his place of business and walked along the same streets he walked. I stood on the bluff overlooking the city where the statue, The Prophet’s Last Ride, now stands facing the Nauvoo Temple, which was still under construction as Joseph and Hyrum rode their horses to Carthage.

The plaque on the statue reads:

The morning of June 24, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum left their families, homes and fellow Saints for the last time. Traveling on horseback, they paused on this bluff. Joseph looked admiringly at the unfinished temple and the city of Nauvoo and declared:

This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heaven; little do they know the trails that await them.

Joseph and Hyrum then continued onto Carthage, Illinois, where they faced legal charges and eventual death at the hands of a mob.

I went to Carthage to see the jail where Joseph and Hyrum were killed.

I walked on Parley Street – the same street the saints walked on when they were forced by angry mobs to leave their city and the temple they built at great sacrifice over a five year period.

I attended a session in the Nauvoo Temple. I love that today – 156 years after the Saints dedicated the original temple and left Nauvoo – a temple stands again. I love that the work goes forward. And I love that I have the opportunity to show my appreciation and respect for the early Saints by doing temple work.

The day after the Nauvoo temple was dedicated, President Gordon B. Hinckley said:

"The past is behind us and the future ahead never looked better than it does today. This is the greatest season in the history of the Church and it will only get better."

Read the full article here.

How blessed I am to live at this day and time. And how blessed I am to have the family I have. I was born to good parents who taught me well the most important things in life. And like Joseph, I was given a loyal sibling to stand by me. I love you Kim.