US History and LDS Church History Trip…and links to each days blog

This is a National Cemetery were many soldiers are buried from the Battle of Antietam.

Brigham Young’s Mill and Home Site

We visited 218 US History and LDS Church History sites in 47 days.  (That included visiting 54 different cities). Each day is blogged with information about places we visited, maps, photos and highlights of the day.

If you would like more information if you are planning a trip, you can email me at priceless6191@gmail.com.  I kept very detailed records including: budgets, trip plans, and calenders for the trip showing our day by day progress.  I also have tons of brochures and maps for specific places, although I did try to scan the most important details I have onto each blog page.  Below is listed each city we visited, and what we did there.  Click on a city and start exploring.

I made this blog because I realized I would have appreciated a site with more specific information.  I hope this is beneficial to anyone who wants to take a history trip.  It was our families dream trip, and we still refer to it often.

Here is a PDF with a summary of our trip. (If you would like an editable version, I have the spreadsheet version also.)
Trip Itinerary

** Just a side note as you look around the site…no my kids names are not Bazooka, Starburst, Jawbreaker etc…our kids just picked nicknames so they could have some privacy.  Have fun looking!!!!

Alcova, WY
Devils Gate, Church, Trek, Independence Rock

Custer, WY
Custer County Museum, City 4th of July

Crazy Horse, SD

Keystone, SD
Mount Rushmore 4th July Celebrations

Rapid City, SD
Dinosaur Park, Storybook Park

Wall, SD
Wall Drug

Omaha, NE
Winter Quarters Visitors Center, Winters Quarters Temple (E,B), Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, Glenn Cunningham Lake, Pioneer Courage Park

Council Bluffs, Iowa
Kanesville Tabernacle

Nauvoo, IL
Play “High Hopes and Riverboats”, Movie “Remembering Nauvoo”, Play “Sunset by the Mississippi”, Women’s Garden, Riser Boot Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Seventies Hall, Lucy M Smith Home, Brickyard, Heber Kimball and Wilford Woodruff’s homes, Movie “Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration”, Joseph Smith’s Homestead, Mansion House, Nauvoo House, Red Brick Store, Smith Family Cemetery, Trail of Hope, Youth of Zion, Play “Old Anna Amanda” 2xs, Nauvoo Pageant 2xs, Carriage Ride, Pioneer Park Pastimes, Nauvoo Temple (B,E), Frontier Fair 2xs, Play “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo”, Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds, Lands and Records Office, King Follet Discourse, Emma and Josephs Letters Vignette

Carthage, IL
Carthage Jail

Macomb, IL
Dinner with Steve -Guadalupes Restaurant

Petersburg, IL
Lincolns New Salem (camped there)

Springfield, IL
Springfield Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home, Lincolns-Herndon Law Office, Old Capital, Lincoln Library, Lincoln Presidential Museum

Chicago, IL
Chicago Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, Chicago Temple (B,E)

Gary, IN
Just for Gas and Photos

Kirtland OH
Kirtland Ward, Ashery, Isaac Morley Farm, Newel K. Whitney Store, Whitney Home, Sawmill, Schoolhouse, Kirtland Temple RLDS

Parma, OH
Brian and Camilla’s Home

Hiram, OH
John Johnson’s Home

Middlefield, OH
Amish Country, Cheese Factory, Hiram College (where President Garfield attended and taught)

Kenmore, NY
Mags home, Keeners, Lindbergh Elementary, Pam’s Home

Niagra Falls
Niagara Falls, Cave of Winds

Buffalo, NY(2 sites or events)
Downtown Buffalo, Duffs Chicken Wings

Mendon, NY
Home built by Brigham, Early Meeting Home, Phineas Young’s Home, John Young’s Home, Tom Tomlinson Inn, Heber Kimballs home site, Camped at John Young’s Home, Site of Brigham Young’s Mill and Home, Baptismal Site, Tomlinsons Cemetery

Palmyra, NY
Palmyra Visitors Center, Palmyra Temple (B,E), Palmyra Pageant, Sacred Grove, Smith’s Log Cabin and Frame House Alvin built, Hill Cumorah, Martin Harris’s Home, Book of Mormon Publication Site (Grandin Building)

Waterloo, NY
Peter Whitmer home

Oakland, PA
Aaronic Priesthood Monument, Joseph and Emma’s Home Site, Grave of Emmas parents and son Alvin Smith, Susquehanna River

Jersey City, NJ 
Liberty Harbor

New York, NY
PATH Rail System, Site World Trade Center, 911 Memorial and Museum, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, China Town, Little Italy, Noho, Washington Square Park, New York University, Empire State Building, Garment District, Bryant Park, Time’s Square, Theatre District, NBC Studios, Carnegie Hall, Central Park, New York City LDS Temple, Madison Square Gardens

Philadelphia, PA
Independence Visitor Center, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, City Tavern (restaurant), Carpenters Hall, New Hall Military Museum, Benjamin Franklin’s Grave, President’s House Site, Liberty Bell Center”

Hershey, PA
Hershey Amusement Park

Gettysburg, PA
Gettysburg National Park

WashingtonDC
Washington DC Temple (B,E), IKEA, Ford’s Theatre, Petersen House and Center for Education and Leadership, Spy Museum, National Archives, Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Walking Tour, Arlington Cemetery, United States Capital Building, a Session of Congress, a Session of the House of Representatives, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Smithsonian American History Museum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, White House, Holocaust Museum, Nationals Game

Alexandria, Virginia
Mount Vernon

Centreville, VA
Bull Run Regional Park (Camping), visit with Tamara and family, Atlantis Water Park

Manassas, VA
Battle of 1st and 2nd Bull Run (Manassas)

Harpers Ferry, WV
Harpers Ferry

Sharpsburg, MD
Antietem Battle Field

Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, VA Pier and Chick-fil-A

Chantilly, VA
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Annex

Middletown, VA
Cedar Creek Battlefield (2nd Manassas Battle Reenactment)

Charlottesville, VA
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, University of Virginia

Buena Vista, VA
Southern Virginia University

St Louis, MO
St Louis Temple (B,E), St Louis Arch and Musuem, Old Court House (Dred Scott Case), Outside Busch Stadium, Feet in the Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park and Grant Farm, Home Town Buffet, St Louis Cardinals Game, St Louis RV Park

Cottleville, MO
Joel and Christy’s Home

Independence, MO
LDS Visitor’s Center, Harry Truman Presidential Library, Missouri Mormon Walking Tour (things we saw on the tour: Clinton’s Soda Fountain, Jackson County Courthouse, 1827 Log Courthouse, Bingham-Waggoner Estate, Church of Christ Temple Lot, Community of Christ Temple, Gilbert and Whitney Store, Printing Office Site (Evening and Morning Star), Governor Boggs Home Site, and Partridge Home Site and School) , Campus RV Park (next door to the LDS Visitors Center), Vaile Mansion

Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Temple (B)

Liberty, MO
Liberty Jail, Eight Witnesses Monument

Richmond, MO
David Whitmer’s Grave, David Whitmer’s Livery site (marked by with a plaque), Old Richmond Jail Location, Statue of General Alexander W. Doniphan, Pioneer Cemetery (Monument for the Three Witnesses, Grave for Oliver Cowdery, Peter Jr. and Jacob Whitmer’s Graves)

Farwest, MO
Far West Temple Site

Jamesport, MO
Amish Country, Amish Baseball Game, and Shopping

Jameson, MO
Adam-ondi-Ahman , Jameson Town Fair and Parade

Doniphan, NE
Mormon Island

McKinnon, WY
Little America

Boston, MA
11 years later we went back to add Boston to our list or US/church history travels. Here is a link to the beginning of that trip. Yale, Scarburough and Prospect Ave in Hartford, CT, Mark Twain’s Home, Boston Temple, Boston Aquarium, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, Boston Latin School Site, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, New State House, Boston Commons, Harbor Cruise, USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s Home, Old South Meeting House, Union Oyster House, Omni Parker House, Cheers, Prudential Tower Observation Deck, Trinity Church of Boston, Old South Church

Other Valuable Links:
Mormon Pioneer Trail Auto Tour Route Guide
mormontrails.org

Our Families Favorite LDS Historic Sites

You can’t really rank any church or US historical sites, because all of it was amazing!  But since most people don’t have 47 days we thought we’d have our kids rank what they would say were the sites that were a must see.  Our kids were told if they could only visit 3 of the church sites we went to, what would they choose.  So here their choices….some of them surprised me a little…

Jawbreaker (male teenager)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martins Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Spitz (male teenager)
1st Nauvoo Temple, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Martins Cove

Warhead (male teenager)
1st Martin’s Cove, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Palmyra

Bazooka (male pre-teen)
1st Martin’s Cove, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Palmyra

Starburst (female 7yrs old)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martin’s Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Fireball (male 6 yrs old)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martin’s Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Mr. S (adult male)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Palmyra, 3rd Kirtland

Mrs. S (adult female)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Adam-ondi-Ahman, 3rd Palmyra or Martin’s Cove

Favorite thing about Nauvoo:
Jawbreaker: Nauvoo Temple
Spitz: the Nauvoo Pageant and the people
Warhead : the missionaries
Bazooka: the play “Sunset on the Mississippi”
Starburst: the play “High Hopes and Riverboats”
Fireball: the play “Just Plain Anna Amanda”
Mr. and Mrs. S: Celestial Room in the Nauvoo Temple, the Pageant

Favorite thing about Palmyra:
Jawbreaker: Palmyra Temple
Spitz: Palmyra Pageant
Warhead: Palmyra Pageant
Bazooka: Sacred Grove
Starburst: Palmyra Pageant
Fireball: Palmyra Pageant
Mr. S: Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove
Mrs. S: Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove, Pageant

Favorite LDS Site in Missouri:
Jawbreaker: Kansas City Temple
Spitz: Kansas City Temple
Warhead : Kansas City Temple
Bazooka: Adam-ondi-Ahman
Starburst: St Louis and Kansas City Temple
Fireball: Liberty Jail
Mr. S: Kansas City Temple
Mrs. S: Adam-ondi-Ahman

DAY 14 – July 12, 2012 Carthage and New Salem

Notes on Nauvoo:

We saw everything except 2 vignettes, “Go Ye Unto All the World”, and “Women of Nauvoo”.  I do wish we could have seen those, but they didn’t start showing those vignettes until the day we left, and it seemed silly to stay another whole day just for two things.  So we headed on our way.

I also wanted to address another thing we did just by accident, which turned out absolutely perfect.  We came to Nauvoo 3 days before the pageant.  I think beating the pageant is what gave us the personal relationships that we were able to build.  Things were less crowded.  Missionaries giving tours were able to spend more time with us teaching and talking to us.  The day before the pageant our camp only had 2 other RV’s.  But by that night when we drove in from being gone all day, the camp was wall to wall RV’s.  And the town changed like that too.  I’m grateful for the time we had to enjoy Nauvoo on a more personal level.  But you don’t want to miss the pageant and all the special events that occur during it.  So coming early was wonderful, and I would highly recommend it!

Notes on Church History Tours:

Everyone we meet is heading to Missouri from here.  Nauvoo is close to Missouri and geographically it makes sense.  The problem is the way they have set up the pageants.  In order to see both the Nauvoo and the Hill Cumorah Pageant, it just isn’t feasible to go to Missouri.  From Nauvoo, we go to Springfield, then Kirtland, than Niagara Falls, then Palmyra.  We saw the first showing of the Nauvoo Pageant, and we have one week to make it to Palmyra to see the last showing of the Hill Cumorah.  So that is why we made the choice.

We will be able to come through Missouri on our way home and have time to do all the church sites in Missouri, and fit in Hannibal (Mark Twain’s home town), and enjoy St. Louis, and enjoy Amish country, and perhaps fit in Branson.  So we are skipping Missouri, even though it is so close in site, to keep our direction to Palmyra.

BACK TO TODAY:

Barge in the Mississippi River, with American Lotus Flowers all along the shore line.

We woke up this morning and headed to Carthage.  The first part of the drive from Nauvoo to Carthage is along the Mississippi River.  It is a very beautiful drive.  It’s crazy how far out the River is shallow.  All along the river the American Lotus grows.  It grows in the river, but can’t grow in water deeper than 18 inches.  And as you drive along the Mississippi you can see Lotus flowers everywhere, it seems almost a quarter of the way out to the middle of the river.

We thought getting to Carthage early, we would beat the crowds.  But there are so many in Nauvoo, there was no beating the crowds.  By the time we got to Carthage they had only been open an hour and they said they had already had 250 visitors.  So there was some waiting to get in, but well worth it.

While we were waiting for a tour, they asked if anyone could play the piano.  And to my surprise Bazooka raised his hand.  He has never had a day of piano lessons, so we were all a little startled.  Mr. S has been practicing the piano this summer, which has gotten all the little kids to want to practice too.  Bazooka has been trying to teach himself how to play some hymns.  So he tells the tour guide that he knows how to play “The Spirit of God”.  I don’t want to say that I held my breath when he walked up to the grand piano in front of all those people, because that might sound rude.  But I did turn a slight tinge of blue…but he sat down, and played the “Spirit of God” amazingly.  He was so awesome!  Maybe we will get a pianist out of these kids yet.  Go Bazooka!

Some of our friends we met in Nauvoo came a little after we got there, and we were able to tour Carthage with them.   I have been to Carthage before as a child, and I know the story of Joseph’s death.  So the thing that struck me this time was the story of how the jailer took care of Joseph.  I think that says a lot about who Joseph was.  People not of our church might have different beliefs about things, but no one would murder an innocent man.  This jailer knew he was not a hardened criminal, and took all the precautions he could to keep him safe, including in the end giving him his upstairs bedroom to keep Joseph away from the mobs.  But when the Lord numbers the days of our lives, it’s His time reckoning that determines when we leave this earth.  So of all the times the mob was not aloud to hurt him, this time they did.

My favorite part of this story, is knowing he got to leave with his brother.  In the pageant when they talk about Joseph and Hyrum dying, they show both of them walking off the stage into the dark together.  It’s really moving.  If only we all had family that stays with us through it all.

I have added two photos of some paintings that I loved from Carthage.  The first one is of Joseph leaving Nauvoo never to return.  It shows the temple half built in the background.  How sad for him not to see it finished in this life, although I’m sure he had a hand in the finishing of it from the heavens.

The other painting is by a painter with the last name of Gork.  He was asked by President Packer to do a painting of Joseph teaching along the Mississippi, since there are so many stories of him doing just that.  Brother Gork painted himself and the person who converted him into the painting.  Brother Gork is the one holding the hat, and his friend is the one listening to Joseph intently with his hand on his chin.  I do love this painting.

After Carthage we visited with our friends for a while and exchanged information so we could keep in touch.  Mr. S mentioned again on the way out of Carthage how sweet the relationships were that we have made on the trip.  I hope we will keep in touch.

I mentioned on a previous day that Mr. S ran into one of his cousins in Nauvoo.  It was very unexpected, as we did not know he lived in this area.  So after Carthage we went to Macomb, IL to have lunch.  It was great to visit and catch up with family.  After lunch we were on our way to Petersburg, Illinois.  Petersburg has a little rebuilt city called New Salem.  And it’s similar to Nauvoo, in the sense that it’s a rebuilt town similar to something Abraham Lincoln would have seen in his days.  Fireball mentioned the other day, “We sure do like visiting a lot of old things.”  I guess that’s what this trip is about, a lot of old things.

New Salem is a Village that has been reconstructed.  There is a 15 minute video that explains Abraham Lincoln and his time in New Salem.  Then you walk the grounds.  They have 24 places to visit including residences, a cooper shop, blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, 4 stores, a tavern, an archeological walk, a saw and gristmill, and a carding mill and wool house.

The Carding Mill and Wool House is one of only three working animal powered carding mills in the world.  How cool is that!  It was quite a thing to see.  After learning how to card in Nauvoo, seeing this machine that could do it so well, was fun.

They also have a theater here, and live productions are featured June through August.  I didn’t realize that, and we arrived the day before a big production and we are leaving tomorrow.  They also have campgrounds, so you can spend the night when you are visiting.  Just be sure to make it early enough to get in.  I didn’t even think about it closing, and we barely made it…it closes at 5pm.

It was interesting to come here after Nauvoo.  I will say, I think New Salem is the perfect compliment when going to Springfield.  It gives a person an introduction to the younger Abraham Lincoln, preparing the way to see the political Lincoln in Springfield.

But I would say Nauvoo is the perfect complement to New Salem.  Nauvoo and New Salem are cities that existed pretty close to the same time period.  And the differences between Nauvoo and New Salem really complement each other.

In Nauvoo we were constantly taught about how pioneers lived.  My kids learned so much.  When we got to New Salem, it is a personal walking tour, with signs explaining what the buildings are and tells a little about the occupants.  There are no explanations of what is inside the buildings.  There are no tour guides.  (Nauvoo has hundreds of volunteers and tour guides, but New Salem is limited with only 2 staff and a handful of volunteers).  But our children had learned so much about pioneer lifestyle from Nauvoo, they could look in a building at New Salem and pick out everything…the candle molds, the bed warmers, the wooden vice grips…they knew the coopers shop when they saw it, and the blacksmiths shop.  My kids were so excited to see that the school house was a blab school, because they had learned all about that in Nauvoo.  Having learned in Nauvoo really enhanced and was reinforced in New Salem.

The reason it’s worth going to New Salem…first because it did give the kids a chance to re-talk about on their own, all the things they had learned.  But also, it was a different view of that time period.  In Nauvoo they have rebuilt many of the important buildings, which had foundations that they could see, and those tended to be built with brick.  So most of Nauvoo today is made up of brick buildings.  But they tell us that for every brick home in Nauvoo there were three log homes, but there are hardly any log homes to see.  New Salem is all log homes, so you can look at New Salem, and imagine what Nauvoo started like, and fill in the blanks of what the buildings would have looked like that were in between all the old brick buildings we visited.  Nauvoo was also one of the largest cities in Illinois, and New Salem…a smaller one, so our kids could get an idea of what the different cities would have looked like.

I had never heard of New Salem until I was looking up what we could see about Abraham Lincoln in Springfield.  I am so grateful I found it.  It was the perfect bookend to our visit…two “old cities” as Fireball would say.

Taken by my friend at Carthage Jail. The window where Joseph died.

Summary of Day 14

Drove:  124 miles

Places we visited: Carthage Jail, Guadalupe’s Restaurant in Macomb, and New Salem, IL

Favorite thing that happened today:
Fireball: the playground at New Salem campground
Jawbreaker: Carthage and burritos with dad’s cousin
Starburst, Bazooka, Spitz: Carthage
Warhead :  having burritos with dad’s cousin
Mr. and Mrs. S:  Carthage, Bazooka playing the piano and being with friends

DAY 13 – July 11, 2012 – Goodbye Nauvoo

Today is our last day in Nauvoo.  We have done almost everything there is to do here,  but there are two vignettes we hadn’t seen, and we decided to go back to the fair, and the pageant.  So we stayed over today.

This morning we went to the Old Nauvoo Burial grounds.  It was very remote and peaceful.  We walked through the cemetery, and read the names of the people buried there.  I saw a couple of family names and wondered if we had family in Nauvoo, so I started thinking I wanted to check on that.

We left to go sit in the park across the street from the Old Mansion House.  There, the couple that play Emma and Joseph Smith in the pageant came and shared with us old letters that Emma and Joseph had written to each other.  It was so touching, and they did an amazing job.  I wish today we wrote more, and had written records as they did of their love for each other.  It was really beautiful.

We left the park, and I asked Mr. S if he could take us to the Lands and Records Office.  At the Lands and Records Office you can get on the computer and look up family names to see if they lived in Nauvoo.  Not only can you look up names, but if they have any photos or histories, for a dollar they will burn a CD for you.  It was pure luck I just happened to have my computer with all our family history on it, so I brought my computer in and started looking.

If I were to make a recommendation, I think the easiest way to be prepared would be to have family pedigree charts printed.  You will be looking for ancestors that would have been alive during the Nauvoo years (1839-1846).  I spent 2 or 3 hours there, partly because I wasn’t quite prepared, and because I wanted to make sure I checked absolutely every family member I was aware of.   I found between 20-30 names of family that were in Nauvoo.  I have addresses for 6 of them in Nauvoo City.  One of my family members owned the land where the Community of Christ’s Visitor Center is now, just down the street from Joseph and Emma’s Mansion Home.  (Above is a map with some of our family addresses we found, I transposed it onto the historic map so you can see how close they were to things in Nauvoo).  It really made Nauvoo feel a part of us.

Because I got caught up in family history, Mr. S and the kids went to the vignette on the King Follett Discourse.  They met in the Nauvoo Groves, the same place where Joseph Smith used to give outdoor sermons.  Mr. S said it was really great.

They came back to pick me up and we drove around looking at our family’s old homesteads in Nauvoo.  It was such a great way to end the trip, and made the place that we love feel even more like home, if that was even possible.

Then we took our kids back to the Frontier Country Fair.  Fireball told me he thought it was the best day of his life.  Not a bad recommendation for the fair : )   This is what they had going on all at the same time, and all for free: Stilt Walking, Hopps/Graces, The Highland Fling, Tug-o-war, Sack Races, Puppet Shows, Log Saw, Log Branding, Handcarts, Parlor Games, Quilting, Dancing, Rag Tying, Stick Pull, and Stick Ball.

There were also children’s games and crafts: which included prairie doll making, sock puppets, and barretts…And did I mention that at the Stick Pull the actor playing Brigham and the actor playing Joseph where there.  It was such a fun atmosphere.  The funny thing was “Joseph” was beating everyone at stick pull.  It was as authentic as it could possibly be.  Little kids that were in the pageant (so they are dressed in pioneer clothes) where running in and out of the area, while Joseph kept throwing people over his shoulder at Stick pull.  Spitz got in line to challenge Joseph.  How many of us can say that we did stick pull with Joseph Smith?  But right before his turn came they had to leave to start the pageant.

During the fair we ran into all our friends all over again.  I just kept thinking of the section in the Doctrine and Covenants which says, “that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there” (referring to heaven).  I’m so glad, because those “socialities” have been some of the highlights of our trip so far.

We ended the night by watching the Nauvoo Pageant for a second time.  Everyone agreed we liked it even better the second time.  It was amazing.  We will miss Nauvoo…

 

 

 

Summary of Day 13

Places we visited: Old Nauvoo Burial grounds, Lands and Records Office, Frontier Country Fair, and watched the King Follett Discourse, and Emma and Joseph’s Letters Vignette’s and Nauvoo Pageant

Favorite thing about Nauvoo:
Fireball: the play “Just Plain Anna Amanda”
Jawbreaker: Nauvoo Temple
Starburst: the play “High Hopes and Riverboats”
Bazooka: the play “Sunset on the Mississippi”
Spitz: the Nauvoo Pageant and the people
Warhead :  the missionaries
Mr. and Mrs. S:  Celestial Room in the Nauvoo Temple, the Pageant, and all our new friends

 

DAY 12 – July 10, 2012 – Nauvoo, a Beautiful Place

We woke up early again, but this time to do the Carriage Ride.  The carriage ride is a country ride.  They tell lots of pioneer stories as you ride through the country part of town.  It is actually my favorite of the rides.  The wagon ride is informative about the town, but the carriage ride is about the people.  It was one of my favorite things we have done.

After the carriage ride we went to the home of Sarah Granger Kimball.  I have been very excited to go to her home.  I have sometimes heard that some think that women don’t have a place in our church.  Which as an active member, I can hardly even fathom anyone who participates believing that is true.  I have hardly known more strong-willed, influential, intelligent women than I have seen, met, and studied about in the church, and Sarah Kimball is on that list.

Sarah married a man who wasn’t a member of the church.  In those days the money a husband made wasn’t the wife’s, it was the husbands.  So although her husband was wealthy and she was able to buy whatever she needed, she was not able to pay tithing, since it was his money and he was not a member.  This distressed her a great deal.  From her house she has a perfect view of the temple (I have included a photo from one of the many windows she had facing the temple).  She watched the temple being built and knew of the sacrifice that everyone else was making to pay tithing.  Some with money, and many with work or donations.  She felt like she didn’t have a part.  One day her seamstress was at her house and telling her she wished that she had money enough that she could contribute to the temple.  So Sarah proposed that she would buy the material if her seamstress would sew shirts to donate to the temple workers.  They started telling some of the other women in the area, and they got together and decided to form a women’s society.  Eliza R. Snow wrote the bi-laws, and then they presented them to Joseph Smith.

Like most things that happen with the Lord.  He has so many things He wants to give us, but we have to ask first.  So Joseph took the idea to the Lord, and came back and told the women that the Lord wanted them organized officially in the church.  It was the beginning of the Relief Society, one of the oldest women’s organizations in the world.

And Sarah Kimball started it all.  She was a suffragist, an advocate of women’s rights, ward Relief Society president for forty years, and a strong presence in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for much of the nineteenth century.  She saw little discrepancy between her devotion to the Church and her dedication to women’s rights, since Joseph Smith’s “turning of the key” of power to women in 1842 had, in her view, led to the beginnings of the national women’s rights movement.

When Sarah’s home was restored, and dedicated, Barbara Smith, the General President of the Relief Society said, “We want the world to know that something big can come of something small.  We hope women will understand that within their own homes things can happen that can have great significance in the Church and in the world.”   That is what I love about Sarah.  Instead of feeling helpless in her situation, she got an idea, that turned into something that has blessed millions of people all over the world.

After Sarah’s we went to Pioneer Pastimes Park.  Here they have costumes and games for kids to play.  They are all pioneer games, and

This game is known as Fox and Geese, or sometimes known as jumper. I don’t want to brag…but I am phenomenal at this, so are Bazooka and Starburst…guess we should have been pioneers

they were so fun.  All of our kids, older and younger, played for quite a while.  After an hour and a half we left so the boys could get ready to go to the temple.

Today was so amazing.  I think this must be what heaven will feel like.  Tonight we were sitting at the dinner table talking about our favorite plays, and the kids started referring to the actors/missionaries by their names.  It kind of startled me, that we had been here long enough to know the missionaries here.  Then later tonight we were racing to a play, and all the senior missionaries were standing outside of the building waiting to perform, and a couple of them got so excited when they saw us, and started waiving and telling us they were so excited we were there.  Then we sat and watched all these senior missionaries we have visited with as they sang and danced.  It felt like we were just sitting among friends.

Next to us in the audience was a couple that we had met today at the Nauvoo temple.  They grew up near Mr. S’s hometown, and now live near my old home town.  He’s a school teacher and they had been saving to bring their kids to Nauvoo also, before their kids were grown and gone.  We had visited earlier waiting outside the temple, and had fun visiting before and after the show.

Before the evening play we went to called “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo” (which was fabulous), we went to the old-time fair, which was phenomenal.  We will definitely be going back tomorrow.  While we were there we ran into Mr. S’s cousin and one of our good friends from California.  The whole day felt like it was either visiting with new friends, or having reunions with old friends.  It was so much fun!

Before Baptisms in the Nauvoo Temple

We went to the Nauvoo temple today.  The boys did baptisms with Mr. S.  While they were doing baptisms, the little kids loved “Just Plain Anna Amanda” so much we went back to watch it again.  The actors are so talented, they all take turns doing different parts, so it was fun to see the play again with different actors.

The boys came back and said they loved doing baptisms.  They thought it was one of their favorite temples they have been in.

Then Mr. S and I did an endowment session.  Afterwards while we were sitting in the temple, my emotions suddenly surfaced as I realized what a big deal it was to be sitting in the Nauvoo temple.  So many people sacrificed so much, including their lives to build this temple.  To be in this beautiful (I think THE most beautiful) temple, rebuilt that so many people had sacrificed to build.  It just made me so appreciative of what we have been blessed with.  We take for granted being able to build temples, these people didn’t.  What a blessing to have temples near us, and what a blessing to be in this temple.

In the pageant, and the surrounding pageant events, it was apparent that they wanted us to realize that we are a part of this.  These are our relatives, they are a part of us and who we are.  I got the concept, but the impact of it hit me in the temple.  I don’t know how the rest of the trip will go.  I love Washington DC, but I can’t imagine being any happier or enjoying anything more than this time I have spent in Nauvoo.  It’s been beautiful, which I guess is fitting…Nauvoo means “beautiful place”.

Summary of Day 12

Places we visited: Carriage Ride, Pioneer Park Pastimes, Just Plain Anna Amanda, Nauvoo Temple Baptisms and Endowment, Frontier Fair, Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo

DAY 11 – July 9, 2012- More of Nauvoo

Petting horses before the wagon ride

Today we were up by 6am so we could ride the early morning Wagon Ride at 7am.  It’s a free 1 hour tour of Nauvoo, and it’s a must do, and right away.  It is a great introduction to all the city sites.  After the wagon ride we road a short wagon ride with oxen pulling it.  The kids loved it, and we learned the history of why the pioneers used oxen rather than horses to cross the plains.  I was surprised, although I shouldn’t have been about Mr. S’s interest in the oxen.  He sat and talked to the men about raising oxen and using them for a while.

Then we went down to the corner of Main and Kimball to hear the young missionaries do a historical vignette on the Youth of Zion.  I can’t believe how talented they are!  They showed us how the whittling brigade worked, they did a handful of fun pieces, nursery rhymes, primary songs.  They talked about the bravery and faith of the youth in Nauvoo, and talked about how our youth today would be the heroes of tomorrow.  It was very touching.  I don’t know how I can say it was one of my favorite ones, because I like so many.  But I wouldn’t have missed it.

Afterwards the young missionaries talked to us for a while, which they do at most shows.  But since the early morning wasn’t crowded we were able to visit for a while.  One of the sister missionaries is a cousin to the little girl in Fireball’s class at school, that he totally has a crush on.  It always amazes me what a small world it is.

We had tours of the print shop, John Taylor’s home, the Post Office, the Tin Shop, and Brownings Home and Gunsmith Shop.  I love how at each stop they teach you so much about how things worked.  We saw every step of putting a newspaper together, talked about how the mail was delivered, and watched them go through the steps of making a metal cake pan in the tin shop.

The boys have been talking about getting into the Gunsmith Shop since we got here.  They were all beaming from ear to ear.  John Browning who owned the gunsmith shop in Nauvoo is the father of John Moses Browning who is famous worldwide for his guns.  My boys were rattling off all the guns he patented, but I’m sorry it doesn’t mean anything to me, so I can’t repeat it on the blog, but apparently it’s really cool : )  They all insisted of photos throughout the shop.

After the gunsmith shop we had lunch and hurried to the Cultural Hall to watch “Plain Old Anna Amanda”.  It was such a cute play!  They had all the children sit up front, and brought out puppets and sang with the kids in the beginning.  They were so cute with all the children, and they just ate it up.  Then the play started, and it was a play geared to the kids.  But it was very funny, and very fun to see the kids so enthralled.  We liked it so much, I think I will bring the younger kids back to it to watch it again tomorrow.  But if you ask the older boys, don’t let them fool you, they claim it was just alright, but they were laughing pretty hard themselves during the show.

After the play we went to the Family Living Center.  In that building they teach you more pioneer skills.  They showed us how to make rag rugs, candles, bread in a fireplace, pottery, rope making, barrel making (cooperage), weaving and spinning.  They make most of those things in front of you while they talk about it.  They were great hands on demonstrations.

Then we headed out to more tours.  We saw the Bakery, and then headed to Brigham Young’s home.  They said that there is a statue in Washington DC in honor of him being one of the greatest colonizers of the West.  It’s in the Capital Rotunda, so if we get a chance we are going to go see that while we are there.

We walked through a drug and variety store.  They talked a little about bee keeping, and it was very interesting.  I think we got on that topic when we were talking about things they sold there, and they had a contraption that caught bees.  And we ended that part of the day by touring a school room.

After the catchup break of laundry and dinner, we headed back to watch the Nauvoo Pageant.  They have a dress rehearsal the day before the official pageant starts, and that is what we attended tonight.  We had heard it was a much smaller crowd.  But we did like it enough that we will be going back again

You can see the top of the Nauvoo Temple behind the cast of the pageant. It is beautiful to see in the background during the pageant.

on Wednesday.

Alva Benson

Before the pageant they have a whole country fair, which they didn’t have during their dress rehearsal, and we want the kids to be able to go to the fair, so we will be back for that also.  One thing they were working on when we got there was a booth they have, where you tell them your family names and they can look up if you are related to anyone in the pageant.  The man setting up wanted to test it on Mr. S and I.  Turns out Mr. S is Eliza R. Snows 2^nd cousin 5 times removed.  His 4^th great grandpa Alva Benson was 2^nd cousins to Eliza R. Snow.  She is one of the most celebrated LDS women.  A renowned poet, writer and leader.

Isaac Cook

And Joseph and Hyrum Smith are my 4^th cousins 5 times removed.  Isaac Cook, my great great great grandpa was 4^th cousins to Joseph and Hyrum Smith.  Obviously this is very distant.  But our kids were excited to see that.  They gave us a list of a handful of people that are portrayed in the pageant that we are related to.  I guess it’s a new online site.  It’s called NauvooPageantCousins.org.  So anyone that wants to can go through and check it out.  Our family enjoyed seeing the different relations.

(The photos included of our ancestors are my own, not the churches, I am a collector of photos…I love that when I talk about an ancestor I know there faces).

Well it’s a late night.  My kids say I blog too late in the night when they are trying to sleep, so I will write more later.  We are having a great time.  We are running into people all over the place too.  Today we sat near the parents of one of the men Mr. S has worked with at church.  I saw a family from my high school years, and we ran into a family we met when the kids were doing baptisms at the Winter Quarters temple, they met up with us here.  Actually they are going to be in the pageant on Wednesday.

Very fun day.  So until tomorrow…

Summary of Day 11

Places we visited:  Wagon Ride around Nauvoo, Oxen ride, tours of the print shop, John Taylor’s home, the Post Office, the Tin Shop, and Brownings Home and Gunsmith Shop,Family Living Center, the Bakery, Brigham Young’s home, drug and variety store, and the school room

Watched:  Youth of Zion, Plain Old Anna Amanda, Nauvoo Pageant

DAY 10 – July 8, 2012 – Nauvoo is for Everyone

We went to church today in Nauvoo.  It’s a totally different experience from Martin’s Cove.  They encourage those visiting to just go to sacrament, because they don’t have a way to teach everyone Sunday School and Relief Society/Priesthood.  So we went to sacrament.  It was very full with missionaries and visiting families, and it was very nice. We had to get to church earlier than we are used too…8am, so we went home after sacrament to eat breakfast.  You can tour the Nauvoo sites after 11am, so we went back and toured a handful of places.

We went to the Riser Boot and Shoe Shop.  They showed us how the pioneers made shoes; it was very detailed and interesting.  He also told the story about Brother Riser and his conversion.  It was a touching story.

Next we went to the Blacksmith shop.  Our kids really loved being there.  They showed us how they built wagons.  It was very detailed.  Afterwards they did some smithing for us, and took metal and made it into a horseshoe.  Bazooka got to keep it, and was really excited about that.  They also gave everyone prairie rings (rings made out of horse shoe nails).

Then we went to the Seventies Hall.  The history was great, and upstairs they had a small museum of artifacts they have found from digging in the Nauvoo area.  It was very fun to look at.  They also have a library of books upstairs that my kids were dying to look at, but all you can look at are the covers, the books are locked up.

We went to the Lucy Mack Smith home.  Most of the things inside are not hers, but it gives you an idea of the period pieces that would be in the homes at that time.  I love walking through old houses.

At the brickyard, they showed us in great detail how they make bricks.  Then we were given a Nauvoo brick to take home.  Our kids love knowing how things are done, so they really enjoyed the brickyard.

Wilford Woodruffs Home

We went to Heber C. Kimbal’s home and Wilford Woodruff’s.  It’s funny how different people enjoy different things.  I’d say this trip has really deepened my love and interest in Wilford Woodruff.  But I heard Spitz telling Mr. S that he loved Heber C. Kimbal’s home.

After all those visits we went back to the Visitors Center to watch a movie, “Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration”.  It is one of the most thorough movies I have seen explaining Joseph Smith’s life.  It was very well done.

After that we headed to the Community of Christ Visitors Center (RLDS).  They own Joseph Smith’s Homestead, Mansion House, Nauvoo House, Red Brick Store, and the Smith Family Cemetery.  In Nauvoo everything is free that is owned by our church.  But you do have to pay for a tour of the Community of Christ’s sites, but it was minimal.  They showed us a movie about their church and Nauvoo history. Then let us tour the buildings they own.

I was thinking as we have been going through Nauvoo…about the people reading our blog.  I know we have friends and family that are Mormons, and many that are not.  But I will say, even if I wasn’t a member, Nauvoo is worth a stop.  It is so amazing, and everything is free.  The kids are learning so much about that time period and the pioneering lifestyle.   Before we are done we will have gone to 5 free amazing plays, a 1 hour wagon ride, a 45 minute carriage ride, oxen ride, learned to make candles, played games, gone to a country fair, and so much more.  Even the souvenirs are free…free miniature brick, prairie rings, bread tasting, gingerbread cookies…Nauvoo is really an amazing place.

We ended the night by going to “The Trail of Hope”.  That is not the phrase that comes to mind as you begin.  This is the walk down

Trail of Hope

Parley Street to the Mississippi.  The Saints have been kicked out of Kirtland, and Missouri.  By kicked out I mean chased out by mobs, beaten, and sometimes killed.  They come to a swamp infested land, and build a brand new city, Nauvoo.  It becomes one of the largest cities in Illinois.  They build their second temple, a city, and their homes.  Their prophet is killed after the governor had promised his protection, and now they are asking the Saints to leave.  They promise to leave in the Spring, but the mob gets so bad, they realize for the safety of the people they must leave now (February).  So the town starts building wagons, and people are lining Parley Street on their way to cross the Mississippi, to leave everything they have built, all their possessions and their homes.  The “Trail of Hope”…is not what comes to mind.

But we came tonight to hear from their own mouths (journal entries) what the pioneers said.  I couldn’t do it justice to explain it, but it was beautiful.  And in the end it was a trail of hope…It was a beautiful way to end the night.

Summary of Day 10
Places we visited:
Riser Boot and Shoe Shop, Blacksmith shop, Seventies Hall, Lucy Mack Smith home, Brickyard, Heber C. Kimbal’s and Wilford Woodruff’s home.  Watched a movie, “Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration”.  Joseph Smith’s Homestead, Mansion House, Nauvoo House, Red Brick Store, and the Smith Family Cemetery.  Trail of Hope.

DAY 9 – July 7, 2012 – Nauvoo Play Day

Mr. S, acting as Superman always, woke up at 5am this morning to whisk us all away in our sleep to Nauvoo.  We made it there before lunch.  It was a super hot day.  One of the patrons said that the bank said 105 degrees, and with humidity…oh my goodness.  But we heard its supposed to drop to the 80’s this next week.  So today we opted to stay inside as much as possible.

We started by watching the play “High Hopes and Riverboats”.  It was so good.  But the best part was watching Starbursts face.  She was totally enthralled with the biggest grin from ear to ear.

When that was done we watched a 20 minute movie called “Remembering Nauvoo”, and then headed out to dinner.

After dinner we walked through the Women’s Garden, and then up to the temple.  It is very beautiful, and from the temple there is a gorgeous view of the Mississippi.  We went into the temple arrival center and visited with some local Nauvoo temple workers.  It was very interesting to talk with them about Nauvoo.

We came back to the Visitors Center to watch, “Sunset by the Mississippi”.  It was just a montage of skits, with the actor missionaries and the older couple missionaries…very cute.  They had a skit about eggs that my kids couldn’t quit talking about afterwards.

Both times Starburst went to talk to all the actors and actresses to tell them how great they did.  They are all on 3 month missions to be in Nauvoo.  Starburst was asking all the questions to figure it all out.  She was sooo cute.  She had 2 sister missionaries that she stuck to like glue in between the plays.  She can tell us their life history, and I’m afraid they know hers.  At one point she sat and talked about the gospel and their missions with them for almost an hour.

If there had to be a hot day, today was perfect for that.  The plays were great.  Even though everyone talks about all the things that you can do in Nauvoo, I am still amazed, it was so much more than I expected.  Can’t wait to start again tomorrow.

Summary of Day 9
Drove:  353 miles driven

Things we did in Nauvoo: Watched the play “High Hopes and Riverboats”, Movie “Remembering Nauvoo”, Play “Sunset by the Mississippi”, walked to the outside of the Nauvoo Temple, Visited Women’s Garden