Cory and I drove to Chicago in 3 days so we could visit Nauvoo on our way. The visit was short but wonderful! We were first blown away with how wide the Mississippi river was (pictured to the left) and could not imagine crossing it.
We took a quick self guided tour of the little replica town of the original Nauvoo of the early saints. As we only had a little bit of time, so we focused on just a few buildings. Two of our favorites are shown below. The Jonathan Browning Gunsmith building was Cory's favorite building! We were able to learn about Jonathan Browning, an early convert to the L.D.S church. He began making the famous Browning guns (too bad Cory is not writing this part because he could supply more information!) that are still used widely today. We were able to see a museum of his guns inside the building and the equipment and tools they used to make the guns in pioneer times. Another favorite spot was the brick yard. It was actually really interesting to see how they use to make bricks! It use to take weeks and it was hard work! It made me appreciate all the hard work the early saints put into making all those bricks to build their homes. Most of them actually lived in log cabins so they could dedicate their time and resources to building church buildings and most importantly the temple. It made me sad to think they had to leave it all behind, but also very grateful for their example of selflessness and dedication to what they believed in.
Pictured below was my favorite building, the Blacksmith Shop. We were able to watch how they made wagon wheels and nails. Even just making simple nails seemed like a lot of work! The pioneers had to work so hard to get ready to cross the plains. The were sure asked to do a lot. We heard a cool story about a pioneer boy who really liked one of the most beautiful pioneer girls. She was sought after by many of the boys and her father didn't want to give her away to just anyone! He told each suitor that the only way that he could receive her hand was to give her a diamond ring. This father knew that finding a diamond ring would be impossible for any pioneer boy. However, this clever boy knew what to do. He made a ring out of a nail, which happened to be not just any nail, but a Diamond brand nail! So he was able to win the girl's hand by a nail! Each visitor to the blacksmith receives a 'Diamond ring"
Last but not least, we were able to do a session at the Nauvoo temple, which was awesome! The Nauvoo temple is restored exactly as the original. It was beautiful inside! What a great way to end our trip to Nauvoo. We felt really connected to the early saints who walked those halls. We thought about how lucky we are to be sealed in the temple together, especially thinking about those early saints who dedicated their lives to making this possible, some of whom were unable to partake of their dream themselves.
