11 September 2013 - Temple

Tonight we are staying in Ottumwa, IA, a little town on the Des Moines River.  We decided to attend the Nauvoo Temple this morning.  We arrived about an hour before the session and had the opportunity again to sit in the chapel and consider the blessings we have.  This temple is, like all of those the Church builds, beautiful, but has some special features that are so impressive.  On both sides of the western end of the interior are gorgeous spiral staircases, from the basement to the 5th floor.  As you look both up and down the view is an architectural marvel, with repeated curves, a dark rail and white ballisters.  It is so sweet and leads the eyes upward.  Beautiful stained glass windows, with a colorful star in them, circle the top floor of the building.  The star is an "inverted star", five pointed with a point down.  This is an ancient Christian symbol, reproduced in a clean, attractive fashion. 

We attended an endowment session and again were selected as the witness couple.  There were only a few patrons in the session, I think because the tourist season is waning.  In this temple, the new movie is shown, but you also move from room to room. Each chamber is so artfully decorated and provides added input to the spiritual feeling of the session.  We were so deeply touched by this experience and spent some time in the Celestial Room considering what we experienced and how sweet it was.  We have been truly blessed and our understanding was increased by what we did today.

This was an experience that was so very much worth our time and we feel a deep sense of affection for this magnificent temple.  It is easy to see how the early Saints felt so deeply about what they built, its location and beauty, especially for what the Temple gave to the Saints before they left.

With full and thankful hearts we decided to complete our visit to Old Nauvoo by driving to Carthage and visit the jail.  On the road along the Mississippi, we again were impressed by the size of this spectacular waterway and how much it influences this part of the nation.  Huge barges move  up and down the river and it produces power, food and commerce. It is a marvel to behold.

We left the river to drive east to the city of Carthage.  We took the tour again and were reminded of the events that occurred here so long ago.  Recall that the Prophet and Hyrum were martyred here, John Taylor wounded, yet Willard Richards was surrounded by a hail of bullets and none harmed him, not even a hole in his coat. He only suffered a slight nick on the earlobe.  As we sat in the room where the murder took place, the original door, window frames and much of the original window glass still remain.  In the door is the large, 50 caliber bullet hole, punched through the door, that struck Hyrum, taking his life.

You can see the hole still evident in the door.  After Hyrum fell and John Taylor was struck four times, the Prophet went to the window, was struck twice in the leg and then twice in the chest, falling out of the window to the ground below, landing against the well support.  He was dead before he hit the ground.  As the cowardly mob gathered round, a voice shouted, "The Mormons are coming!", and the evil villains ran in fear.  My testimony of the calling of the Prophet, his greatness and all that he did for the Restoration and for the blessing of the Children of God, was strengthened and my spirit refreshed.  This has been a spiritual, touching day.  Now we will just do the drive home.