Nauvoo Rendezvous: Part 3

Because I've taken too much time to post these, I've forgotten exactly what we did on each day, but I figure the order doesn't really matter as much as the experience itself. So here are some more pictures!

Although they are now serving in Carthage, Grandma and Grandpa M. (AKA Elder and Sister M.) received permission to work in Nauvoo for a couple of days so they could give us some of the tours and presentations. 

I don't think I realized how much there was to see in Nauvoo. There was no way we were going to get to see everything, but I'm grateful for what we did see.

Here is Grandpa first showing the grandkids how bricks were made, and then talking to us about the importance of that trade in Nauvoo:

 Grandma M. was working in the schoolhouse when we received our first tour from her:

 (Some of these buildings are the actual buildings still standing from the early 1840's, and others are replicas built on the original foundations.)
The Browning home! This was one of my favorites, not only because I have a tie to it, but because it was just cool.
Jonathan Browning (the inventor of the repeating rifle) was a prominent Nauvoo citizen and played a big part in this city. He is my uncle way up the line. I come from his brother James, who most likely worked with him in his gun shop pictured. They were the two Mormon converts from their family and both settled in Ogden, Utah after their trek west.

 Browning descendants with many original and period pieces in the gun shop portion of the home/building:

 One of the evenings we walked over to the temple grounds to watch the sun go down. Behind us in this photo is a statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith looking back at Nauvoo as they made their way to Carthage. They knew it would probably be the last time they would see it.

 Matt and Mary and family:

 Kelly and Nathan and family:

The siblings --Matt, Kelly, Jonathan, and Jake:

 The rebuilt Nauvoo temple. For the most part, it has been rebuilt to look just like it did originally. It's really beautiful. We had a chance to attend a temple session while we were in Nauvoo (hooray for family watching the kids!) which was a really blessed opportunity.

We found where another of my ancestors (Robert Harris Jr.) and his family would have lived from the Land and Records office. So cool! This plot of land was subdivided with several homes on it at one time. Jake has an ancestor that lived in Nauvoo that lived somewhere near here too. What an interesting thought that they could have been friendly neighbors.

 We went on a wagon ride to see some other areas of Nauvoo. Here is Kanon meeting one of the horses:

 The little girlies on the wagon ride:

 Me, Mary, and Kelly in front of the Sarah Kimball home. This is where you could say that the Relief Society was born. The ladies wanted to start a female society to aid in the building of the Nauvoo temple. Joseph Smith whole heartedly approved of their efforts but told them that the Lord had "something better" that awaited them. Soon the actual organization of the society took place with the proper authority. The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the oldest female organization in the world --still plugging along to lift and serve.

 Here is Tessa in the Family Living Center helping to make rope:

 I knew life was pretty tough back then, but I was amazed at how much of an art everything had to be. You can't just hammer a barrel together. And I thought making bread is tough now --yeah right! Making rugs? Everything required a skilled and patient hand.
Here is Grandpa (with his print shop editor sleeves on) showing us how wagon wheels were made:

So many fascinating things to see and learn and not enough time.