We stayed in Springfield, IL Monday and Tuesday nights. Springfield is the home of the Abraham Lincoln Library, Museum, and home. We enjoyed learning more about Lincoln's life.

Lincoln's Home


Lincoln's Street


The US Park Service operates Lincoln's home and neighborhood. One of the rangers appointed Sandy a Junior Park Ranger.


Lincoln's Tomb


Branson - over 100 shows. Very crowded; though only a town of 10,000 residents it took us 45 minutes to get out of town.


A river near Branson, with love padlocks on the fence.


Mission Inn - we stayed for two nights.


Del Coronado Hotel - we stayed for two nights in Coronado, but not at this famous hotel.


Point Lomas lightouse


San Diego Bay from Point Lomas


We spent Thanksgiving week at Seapointe.


Sophia


Presley and Brayden


Our Seapointe love padlock


The view from our San Clemente apartment patio

We left Nauvoo on 7 November and were released by President Davis 16 November. We are living in San Clemente until we leave for the MTC on 7 January.

This powerful statement by Joseph Smith is on a stone monument located on commercial property across the street from the temple. (Use Ctrl[and]+ keys to enlarge the quote, or read it below.)

"The blessings of the Most High will rest upon our tabernacles, and our name will be handed down to future ages; our children will rise up and call us blessed; and generations yet unborn will dwell with peculiar delight upon the scenes that we have passed through; the privations that we have endured; the untiring zeal that we have manifested; the all but insurmountable difficulties that we have overcome in laying the foundation of a work that brought about the glory and blessing which they will realize, a work that God and angels have contemplated with delight for generations past, that fired the souls of the ancient patriarchs and prophets; a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, pp. 231–32).

Ox-drawn wagons take visitors along the streets of lower Nauvoo.

Horse-drawn wagons are also used.

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As mentioned previously we were able to find John Pack's cabin location on the flats of Nauvoo.

John Pack

Grandpa Pack purchased a small hotel in 1845, and according to Lands and Records, built a cabin on the lot where the hotel still stands. Nothing but the hotel is visible on the lot today. The dimensions of the lot, starting in the southeast corner, were 50 feet north and south by 148 feet east and west.

I became interested in trying to find the cabin's foundation. There are two church members in Nauvoo that use metal divining rods to locate foundations, grave sites, Indian burial mounds, etc. I met them at Grandpa Pack's lot today and they located a foundation about 20 feet west of the hotel. The main structure was 18 feet by 15 feet. They found that the cabin had two doors, one on the east side which would have given access to the hotel, and one on the west side. A lean-to was found on the south side of the cabin that measured 9 feet by 15 feet. They also found a small area west of the cabin that was probably the privy.

I have always been skeptical of divining rods but was intrigued as I watched them walk the lot, so I decided to try the rods myself. Amazingly I got the same results they did. I am now a believer, though neither they nor I know how the rods are able to identify ground features.

 

Brothers Christensen and Curry with their divining rods

I talked to Duane and Carrie this afternoon to see if they knew anything about Grandpa Pack being an innkeeper. They told me that he owned an inn in Salt Lake City across the street from where the Conference Center now stands, but they didn't know anything related to Nauvoo. Later in the afternoon Duane called back to let me know that in Grandpa Pack's biography it mentions that he was the Mansion House innkeeper. An interesting side note is that in the fall of 1845 Ruth Mosher went to work as a housekeeper in the Mansion House and worked for Grandpa Pack.They were married shortly thereafter for time, then later sealed in the Nauvoo Temple.

We depart Nauvoo today. As might be expected we have mixed emotions. We have had a marvelous experience, but are looking forward to seeing our family.

A dinner and testimony meeting was held a week ago for the temple missionaries.

P/S Nelson, P/S McArthur, P/S Hansen

Missionary Choir

Yesterday, after attending a multi-stake broadcast from Salt Lake, we enjoyed "The City of Joseph" one more time.

Statue depicting Joseph and Hyrum on their way to Carthage.

Statue of Christ in the Visitor's Center

Sun Stone in Visitor's Center

Nauvoo Temple

Nauvoo sponsors an annual Pumpkin Walk. About 5,000 people come to town to view 500 carved pumpkins.

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This sign says: "From 1840 to 1845 hundreds of men worked in this quarry to provide limestone for the construction of the temple. Work in the quarry was the major industry in historic Nauvoo and offered employment to many who came here.

The quarry is now underwater because of the dam erected down river in Keokuk, IA.

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It was a beautiful day in Nauvoo (79 degrees). After serving in the temple we took the following pictures and gathered some additional information about historic Nauvoo.

 

In the background is the oxen carriage ride. There is a path in front of the ride with journal entries about crossing the plains using ox drawn wagons. There is also some interesting factual information: "Oxen are cattle trained as draft animals. Most often they are castrated adult males. Usually an ox takes over four years to grow to full size and be trained. The term steer is used to describe animals of the same species and gender when raised solely for meat. Steers and cows are sometimes used as oxen when necessity warrants. Today there are almost ten times as many oxen in use as horses. Four out of every ten cattle in the world are kept primarily as draft animals, with most of these being located in Africa dn Asia. Some breeds of oxen can weigh over 2600 pounds and be taller than a man. They can stand idle for relatively long periods with little damage to feet and legs. A coarser diet can be fed to an ox than a horse, they are less apt to shy, and are better to eat. When the pioneers crossed the plains they found that the Indians were less apt to steal an ox than a horse. The art of driving oxen has remained virtually unchanged for centuries. The common commands used for driving oxen include Get up, Whoa, Back up, Gee (turn right), and Ha (turn left). Oxen are driven (actually led) with the use of voice commands and a whip or goad.

1840 Oxen vs. Horses

                   Oxen                                    Horses

Cost $25 per team                        Cost $65 per team

Traveled at 2 to 3 miles per         Traveled at 4 to 5 miles per hour.
hour (The speed of a walking
man)

Did well on native grasses.           Didn't do as well on long
Could graze for a few hours          sustained marches because 

in the evening and process           they need to graze longer and

the food later. They could              more often. Required better

subsist on poorer quality               quality forage and supplements,

forage than horses.                        like oats, to maintain good

                                                       condition.

They could be used for                  Not acceptable as human food.
human food when injured
or became to old to work.

They were not excitable,               More flighty. Usually required
or likely to run away.                     experienced teamsters.
(Children could handle)

A wooden yoke cost $5.00            Leather harnesses cost $100.00
and could be easily repaired.         and were hard to repair.

Could pull heavier loads                Not as large or as strong as
than horses.                                   an ox.

Weighed from 1,000 to 3,000        Weighed between 900 and
pounds.                                          1,200 pounds. (Heavy draft
                                                       horses were not common in
                                                       the United State in the 1840s)

Sunrise

Fall afternoon

Our view at 1:00 PM today as we left the temple. Rain is expected.

The corn field we've been watching was recently harvested. The combine removes the kernels and scatters the cobs and husks on the ground.

 

Every cob was picked clean by the combine. Quite amazing.

An abandoned barn in Nauvoo.

Fall colors are beginning to surround the temple.

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On Monday we had a great time seeing several sites in Iowa. The weather was unseasonably warm (91 degrees). As we drove the roads of rural Iowa we saw several Trump signs, but not a single Clinton sign.

The following photographs are of Bentonsport, IA


A derelict bridge spanning the Des Moines River.

Iron & Lace store (Queen Anne's Lace pottery and metal tools)

Iron & Lace sign

Landscape and buildings

The pioneers passed through this area as they left Nauvoo in February 1846.

Every Iowan community, large or small, has several old churches. This lovely building is a former Presbyterian Church and is now used for parties and wedding receptions.

The next photographs are of Richardson's Point.

Mormon pioneers, as they moved west, spent several days waiting for rainy weather to end. "The company crossing the Des Moines river at Bonaparte, succeeded in reaching a point of timber 20 miles above called Richardson's Point (March 7, 1846). There they were compelled to remain for a time as it rained almost incessantly and the roads were near impassable. As the camp of Israel waited at Richardson's Point for more favorable weather before proceeding, cannon ball, shot, and other artillery hardware were discarded to lighten the wagons....There were three deaths at Richardson's Point....These were the first of approximately 6,000 deaths crossing the trail. (The trail became known as the longest graveyard in the world)." Richardson's Point is owned by Klodt Farms, which allows access to the Point through their property.

A Klodt Farms shed.

Trail head located by the side of the shed.

Path leading to Richardson's Point

Richardson's Point historical site.

Below are other photographs of Iowa.

Corn tied in sheaves on an Amish farm.

An Amish school near Cantril, IA.

This buggy and horse were by the Amish school.

The Dutchman's Store is a popular general store operated by the Mennonites in Cantril, IA.

A Mennonite church parking lot in Cantril, IA. Mennonites drive cars but stress the importance of being conservative, hence black paint. Most of the cars had the chrome painted black as well.

A Restoration Branch chapel in Keosauqua, IA. The following is from Wikipedia: "The Restoration Branches movement is a Christian/Latter Day Saint religious sect which was formed in the 1980s by members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) in a reaction against the events of the RLDS 1984 world conference. The movement holds in the traditional RLDS theology of the 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries and hold that events leading up to and surrounding the 1980s and decades since have introduced sweeping, fundamental changes into RLDS doctrine and practice which are illegitimate because they contradict the long-standing RLDS theological tradition this sect holds as true." Their primary disagreement was the decision by the Community of Christ Church to ordain women to the priesthood.