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.