Saturday, August 28, 2010

Carthage and Nauvoo

Day four was a very busy day! On our way to Nauvoo, we stopped in Carthage to see where Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred. 
The top window is where the prophet Joseph fell from after he was shot by the angry mobs.
Carthage jail was actually a home turned into a jail. This was the (I call it a dungeon because that's what it reminded me of) room that Joseph first stayed in when he arrived. But shortly after, the family that owned the home realized what a kind man Joseph was and that he wasn't a threat like everyone made him out to be. They moved him to one of the rooms downstairs.

This was the room he was moved to which was definitely an upgrade after coming from Liberty jail. It offered light and was much bigger for them to have space to move around. The jail keeper decided to move them into the bedroom upstairs shortly after moving him there because he realized that the mobs could shoot them through the window very easily from this window. I thought it was neat that the jail keeper had enough respect and knew Joseph and his followers to be good men.

Two days after being in Carthage, the angry mobs stormed up the stairs and shot Hyrum through the door and Joseph was shot in the back with two balls and then from the front with two balls before falling out the window. This was the window he fell out of after being shot. There was a special spirit in that room. The man that gave us the tour told us about how Joseph knew he was going to die. He wanted to make it as comfortable as possible for the other men that were there. When they laid on the ground to sleep the night before, he offered his arms for his friends to lay their head on so that they would be more comfortable. That just testified to me of his character and his unselfishness. He was always thinking about how to serve others, even in times of hardship and sorrow. He was truly an amazing prophet.

After Joseph died, the jail eventually was sold and became a home to many owners. But the door was never changed out. This was the original gun shot mark from the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum.

Our next stop was to Navoo... and man was it BEAUTIFUL!!
We went to the classic Red Brick Store.

We didn't have time to tour it, but we drove by Joseph and Emma's "mansion house."

And we toured Brigham Young's beautiful home.

Years after Brigham lived there, bits and pieces of broken china were found in the basement that they were able to put back together. They don't know if it belonged to Brigham's family, but I like to think that it did. Kind of cool huh?
Oh, how did that picture get in there? You knew I had to throw in at least one picture of this cute boy! He was having fun in our hotel room, chilling with his bottle!

My favorite part of Nauvoo was going to the temple. We were able to go through it and do an endowment session. All I have to say is that everyone needs to strive to make it there! That temple was INCREDIBLE! I have many ancestors that helped build the original temple (before it was burned down by the mobs) and they stayed and did work sometimes all through the night before they left Nauvoo. I don't know how they could leave such a beautiful temple that they worked so hard to build. The pioneers faith just astounds me. I could go on for days about this temple. Such a beautiful, wonderful place to be!

God is truly the perfect architect.

I really would like to go back to Nauvoo and spend more time there!

4 comments:

  1. Wow!! These pictures are so great. What an amazing family trip!

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  2. Lovely! I love seeing all the beautiful sites. I hope to see them in person. I love picture of Parker chalaxing.nice word huh? ;)

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  3. Great post, Erin! July 2011. That's when we're planning on our Nauvoo trip... wanna come? We're maybe going to have a very special guide. Keith's mom is trying to go on a special 6 month mission (again,to Nauvoo) there. She will take us all around and give us the tour that most people don't get... tempting, huh? Plus, we'll go for the pageant.

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  4. Love Nauvoo! I want to go sometime! The temple is GORGEOUS!! P.S. Parker looks adorable lounging... :)

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