This is a picture of the 'winter' temple missionaries with President Russell M Nelson,
Elder Ulisses Soars and his wife, President and Sister Irion, President and Sister Nelson,
Brother Marshall the recorder, and a sprinkling of full-time district workers.
President Irion calls this picture, "Many are cold, but only a few were frozen."
Our past blog posts have been about the things we have been doing when not at the temple.
Because it is a sacred holy place, we cannot share outside of the temple many of the
wonderful spiritual experiences we have had there.
However, we can give you some history of the first Nauvoo Temple,
and the rebuilt second Nauvoo Temple.
and the rebuilt second Nauvoo Temple.
Construction began on the Nauvoo Temple soon after the Latter-day Saints arrived in Nauvoo.
Cornerstones were laid April 6, 1841.
The Saints were willing to sacrifice all that they had to build the temple.
At October 1840 conference, the Prophet called upon all to help.
He explained that the temple would be built by the tithes of the people
and that all male members would perform nearly all the labor.
The brethren generally gave one-tenth part of their time, or one-tenth part of their income.
The sisters knit socks and mittens and sewed clothing for the laborers.
Many sold their china to raise money for the temple.
In September 1842 the Prophet Joseph Smith issued a rallying call
and affirmed the importance of temple ordinances:
"The earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some
kind or other between the fathers and the children. ...
For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect..."
--Doctrine & Covenants 128:18
"Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause?
Go forward and not backward.
Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!
Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad.
Let the earth break forth into singing.
Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel,
who hath ordained, before the world was,
that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison;
for the prisoners shall go free."
--Doctrine & Covenants 128:22
The Saints were willing to sacrifice all that they had to build the temple.
At October 1840 conference, the Prophet called upon all to help.
He explained that the temple would be built by the tithes of the people
and that all male members would perform nearly all the labor.
The brethren generally gave one-tenth part of their time, or one-tenth part of their income.
The sisters knit socks and mittens and sewed clothing for the laborers.
Many sold their china to raise money for the temple.
Mercy Fielding Thompson began the 'penny subscription'.
"At one time after seeking earnestly to know from the Lord if there was anything that
I could do for the building up of the Kingdom of God,
a most pleasant sensation came over me with the following words.
Try to get the Sisters to subscribe one cent per week for the purpose of buying
glass and nails for the Temple.
I went immediately to Brother Joseph, ...
He told me to go ahead and the Lord would bless me."
This soon became a major fund-raising effort.
In September 1842 the Prophet Joseph Smith issued a rallying call
and affirmed the importance of temple ordinances:
"The earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some
kind or other between the fathers and the children. ...
For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect..."
--Doctrine & Covenants 128:18
"Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause?
Go forward and not backward.
Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!
Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad.
Let the earth break forth into singing.
Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel,
who hath ordained, before the world was,
that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison;
for the prisoners shall go free."
--Doctrine & Covenants 128:22
in 1844 of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
Work however continued until it was completed.
The Saints began leaving Nauvoo in February 1846.
The temple was privately dedicated April 30, 1846 with a public dedication the next day.
By September 1846 all the Latter-day Saints had been driven from the city.
“I was in Nauvoo on the 26th day of May 1846 for the last time, and left the city of the Saints feeling that most likely I was taking a final farewell of Nauvoo for this life. I looked upon the temple and City as they receded from view and asked the Lord to remember the sacrifices of his Saints.” — Wilford Woodruff
What was left was later destroyed by a tornado.
For years the temple site looked like this.
A big divot in the ground with the foundation stones marking the perimeter.
The two spiral staircase locations can be seen in the front corners.
"In closing now, I feel impressed to announce that among all of the temples we are constructing, we plan to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple. A member of the church and his family have provided a very substantial contribution to make this possible. We are grateful to him.
It will be a while before it happens, but the architects have begun their work.
This temple will not be busy much of the time; it will be somewhat isolated.
But during the summer months, we anticipate it will be very busy.
And the new building will stand as a memorial to those who built the first
such structure there on the banks of the Mississippi.
"Thanks to the Lord for His blessings" --Pres Hinckley April 1999
When President Russell M. Nelson was here a couple weeks ago,
he said President Hinckley had not shared this news prior to this announcement.
Not with his counselors or the Quorum of the Twelve.
He was prophetic when he said it 'will not be busy much of the time...
but during the summer months, we anticipate it will be very busy.'
It is almost exactly the same size as the original, and sits in it's exact spot.
It is beautiful from every angle.
The following pictures of the interior were published before the dedication.
While these pictures do show what the inside rooms look like,
they do not capture the spirit and feeling that you get when inside this temple.
As we complete our last few weeks serving here,
we are trying to burn in our memories the sights and feelings of this sacred place.
This is the lobby and recommend desk area.
We love looking in here and picturing in our mind
President Hinckley standing at the podium at the dedication.
"Now, Beloved Father, this is Thy house, the gift of Thy thankful Saints.
We pray that Thou wilt visit it. Hallow it with Thy presence and that of Thy Beloved Son.
Let Thy Holy Spirit dwell here at all times.
May Thy work be accomplished here, and Thine eternal purposes brought to
pass in behalf of Thy children, both the living and the dead.
May our hearts reach to Thee as we serve within these walls."
"We pray for the temple presidency and the matron and her assistants.
May they be blessed with strength and energy to carry
forward their heavy responsibilities.
Bless all who serve with them as workers that they may
find great joy in their labors."
--Dedicatory Prayer June 27, 2002
It was a blessing to be in this room on a few occasions.
First for training of the summer missionaries in May 2016 and then
for the temple worker devotional October 2016.
Spiral staircase.
Looking up...
looking down.
The baptistry.
It is humbling to see the youth faithfully come to
provide saving ordinances for their own family members.
Tom Holdman art glass in the baptistry.
The bride's room.
This is a picture inside of the bell tower.
The temple has been busy the last few weeks with families on spring breaks and
for the re-enactment of the organization of the Relief Society.
(Sister Thompson even had a citing of Jenny Doan from
Missouri Star Quilt Company in the lobby of the temple.)
We have had several weeks of youth conferences coming to the baptistry from New Orleans,
several from Texas, Little Rock Arkansas, and locally from Iowa City.
This past Friday a Young Single Adult ward from Atlanta came.
They were so excited to learn all they could about this temple.
They were very observant to the details and symbolism around them.
We were impressed with them and their desire to be there.
We have seen a lot of groups come through, but this group, seemed more
reverent than most. They were soaking up all they could of the experience.
"We pray that this may become a holy site for Thy people across the world
that they may wish to come here and to enter this holy house
and here engage in the ordinances of the gospel and
also reflect on what occurred here in this city of Nauvoo. "
--Gordon B. Hinckley
One young women said to Sister Thompson, how blessed we were to get to work
in the Nauvoo Temple. We agree, we are blessed to work in the Nauvoo Temple.