Today is our 47th wedding anniversary. This morning we celebrated by walking to John Pack's cabin site and to Nauvoo State Park.

John Pack owned two acres on the "Flats" at the corner of Main and Sidney Streets where the First Hotel (built in the 1840s) still stands.

Crooked sign at Main and Sidney

First Hotel

The hotel is now owned by the Community of Christ Church (RLDS). The sign in front states: "This is the south wing of First Hotel, one of the earliest hotels in Nauvoo. First Hotel was also referred to as City Hotel, Mill's Tavern (after hotel keeper Alexander Mills), and Masonic Hall Hotel."

According to court records, John and Julia Pack purchased the two acres (and probably the hotel) from Alexander and Ann Mills on 23 July 1845 for $1,600. They then sold the site to S. K. Lawrence and Seth Deckro on 16 January 1846 for $1,000.

Nauvoo State Park

This evening we attended an excellent presentation by R. Lane Wright entitled, "Testament in Stone, Symbols of Nauvoo Temple and Their Meaning." A version of his presentation is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp0XV6aHG8E.

Brother Wright shared the following statement by Roger P. Jackson, principle architect of the Nauvoo Temple reconstruction, regarding the rebuilding of the Nauvoo Temple: "Another reason this building has caught the imagination of the Church is the lesson from Luke 15 about something being lost and then found. When people lose something of significance, they go looking for it; they light a candle and sweep the house and seek it diligently (see vs. 5, 8). When they find it, whether it's the lost sheep, a piece of silver, the wayward son, or, in our case, the Nauvoo Temple, they call together their friends and say, 'Rejoice with me' (vs. 6, 9) because that which was lost is found."