This is a cicada on the trunk of a tree next to our apartment. These insects live under ground for 13 years, then emerge for a few weeks to mate. After the eggs hatch, the young cicadas drop to the ground and burrow down where they remain until the cycle repeats itself.

I got a call today from Jason Kerr (my brother Rolfe's son) letting me know that his wife, Kristen, and seven of their eight children were coming to Nauvoo today so that the oldest three children could do baptisms in the temple. We met them at the Arrival Center, then Sandy and I took Katie, Jordyn, and Christian to the temple. I baptized and confirmed them, and had a wonderful experience. We all then attended the Nauvoo Brass Band and "Sunset by the Mississippi" performances. We then had a late dinner together before they drove to St. Louis for the night.

The Church sponsors several fine performances during the summer. During July, two large outdoor productions are presented: the Nauvoo Pageant and the British Pageant.

Last night we attended the production of "Our Story Goes On." The performance was stopped before it finished due to an approaching thunderstorm. Soon after we got home winds and rain started. A tree limb came down next to our apartment.

"Our Story Goes On"

Facts About the Nauvoo Illinois Temple

• Plans to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple were announced on April 4, 1999, by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, and ground was broken on October 24, 1999.
  
  "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." (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May, 1999)

• The 54,000 square-foot temple is situated on the original 3.3-acre temple block. As in the original temple, there are five floors and a basement level. (The Redlands Temple is 17,300 square-feet.)
• The temple's exterior is a near duplicate of the original temple exterior.
• The limestone, quarried in Alabama, is indistinguishable from the stone used on the original temple.
• The sun, moon, and star stones were modeled after the originals by craftsmen in Canada, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Idaho, and Utah.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The height of the temple, to the top of the angel Moroni statue, is 162 feet 5 inches.
• Interior staircases are situated in each of the temple's four corners. The circular staircase in the southwest corner is a close replica of one in the original temple.
  
  

  
• The window glass, made in France and Germany, is the same type of glass made in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
• Each circular window on the fourth floor contains a large star made of red, white, and blue colored glass, as did the original windows.
  
  

  
• Doors and window frames replicating the originals were handcrafted in Nauvoo.
• The temple was financed by contributions from Church members throughout the world and was completely paid for when dedicated on June 27, 2002.

Nauvoo is very green and park-like, with over 400 acres of grass that has to be mowed regularly. Below is a photograph of Nauvoo when the Saints lived here in the mid 1800s. Though it is a black & white photograph, you can tell it was not a park then.

Corn field - 23 July 2016

Our daughter, Robyn, visited us July 13-19. The best airport was Moline, IL; about a 2 hour and 10 minute drive from Nauvoo.

Below are pictures taken during her time here.

Main Street, Nauvoo

Lotus blossoms, Mississippi shore line

Carthage Jail

Carthage Jail

Carthage Jail

Nauvoo Illinois Temple

Our apartment, 930 Munson Ave #2, Nauvoo, IL

Nauvoo is humid during the summer. At 12:30 today, as we stepped out of an air conditioned space, our glasses got foggy from the humidity.

Last week I was serving at the Recommend Desk. As I was speaking with a couple who had just arrived I noticed out of the corner of my eye two men walk past the desk without stopping. I quickly said, "Brethren, I need to see your recommends." One of the brothers said that they had already been in the temple and had just turned around by the desk to do one last thing. I thanked them and excused myself. A few minutes later, as they left the temple, I apologized for stopping them earlier and wished them a nice afternoon. We started talking and one of the brothers looked at my name tag and asked if I was related to Clifton G. M. Kerr. I said yes, then I recognized him. I even remembered his last name, Warner. Brother Warner was serving in the Mission Office in London when my parents were released in 1958 from presiding over the British Mission. As a parting gift the office staff gave me a triple combination. Brother Warner wrote a message on the flyleaf in behalf of the staff. I remember two things about the message: 1) his penmanship was excellent; and, 2) he wrote that I would return to Great Britain as a missionary and use those scriptures. Six years later I was called to serve in Scotland. I took those scriptures on my mission, and still have them today.

In Nauvoo, on Parley Street, next to the Mississippi River stands the Pioneer Memorial. Here is a description of what the memorial represents:

"In a quiet park near the Mississippi River stands the Pioneer Memorial, and inside it is the 'Exodus to Greatness' monument. Upon the walls of the Pioneer Memorial are the names of over 2,000 Latter-day Saints who died along the Mormon Trail. The memorial serves as a silent testament of the faithfulness of the many pioneers who died before their journey was through."

When we visited the Memorial I looked for pioneers with the last name of Kerr or Pack (my mother's maiden name):

• I found one man, George Mercer Kerr. My great grandfather's name is George Mercer Kerr. However, he died in 1904. So, the listing of his name is either a mistake, or there was another George Mercer Kerr. I double checked the names of his children to see if he and his wife, Jane Affleck, named one of their children George Mercer, but no child by that name is listed.
• I found two women, Eleanor Ellen Pack and Mrs. Rufus Pack. I found nothing in Family Search regarding Eleanor. My great grandfather, John Pack, was a polygamist and had eight wives. My line comes through his wife, Ruth Mosher. John and one of his other wives had a son they named Rufus Pack. Rufus' wife died in 1846 and is buried in Iowa. Rufus died in 1866 and is also buried in Iowa.

Below are pictures from the Memorial.

This is a picture of the Nauvoo Temple cornerstone.

This morning we walked through a park near our apartment.

Last week I did the proxy sealing of a child born in 1610. The birth place was Salem, Massachusetts. Salem was settled in 1626. It's possible that the birth year was a typographical error. However, I have seen instances where researchers have pushed their ancestral history back with questionable results. For example, listing only the first name ("Elizabeth") with a qualified birth year ("about 1576"). Such inconclusive information casts doubt in my mind that these individuals have been properly identified. Our downstairs neighbor believes he has one of his ancestral lines back to Adam.

About 10 miles north of Nauvoo is a toll bridge over the Mississippi. It's free when crossing from Illinois to Iowa; the toll is $2.00 when crossing in the opposite direction. We use it for shopping trips and when we go to church on Sunday. Its design is known as a "swinging truss bridge," and opens by pivoting on its axis. Last week we had to wait about 15 minutes for a towboat to push a barge upstream. Below is a picture of a Mississippi towboat with its barges, and a picture of the Ft. Madison swinging truss bridge.

As we drove to the temple this morning a whitetail deer crossed the road in front of us, then stopped next to a home.

It has rained several times this past week and the corn is doing better. We took another photograph of the corn field today. Compare this photograph to the one posted on June 27. Note that the leaves are open now.

July is pageant month, and Nauvoo is bustling with visiting families and youth conference groups. This morning, Sandy and I got up at 3:15 A.M. so we could be at the temple to assist a youth group coming to do baptisms at 5:00 A.M. Tomorrow we go to the temple an hour early so we can officiate the 7:00 A.M. endowment session. This Saturday a group of ordinance workers (excluding us) will be at the temple ready for a youth group coming at 4:00 A.M. to perform baptisms. It is our understanding that this busy schedule will be the norm for the next six weeks.

Yesterday, as I was anticipating our early schedule, it occurred to me that youth group leaders will get up earlier than we will in order to get the kids up, dressed, fed, and to the temple on time. I am in awe of these groups who travel great distances (California, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, etc.) to experience Nauvoo, its history, and the temple.