It was fun to notice a few words that are different in the UK. Carts are called trolleys. Detours are diversions. Which made me chuckle. After all, aren't detours just a different way to get to the same place? With a diversion, you might not end up where you want to go, right? For example, when reasoning with a stubborn two-year-old, (or an almost 7 year-old for that matter) you use ‘diversions’ to get involved in something else, NEVER to get where stubbornness wants to go. ‘Diversions’ should NOT be used in place of detour in my way of thinking! Haha. Schedule is pronounced with a soft ‘ch’ sound (but we know that from Mary Poppins..) Take out is ‘take away.’ Entrance is ‘way in’. Exit is ‘way out’. Those were just a few things I discovered just walking around. I discovered LOTS of differences, however, when we went to order groceries online (a GREAT way to go grocery shopping when you don’t have a car and you live on the 3rd floor!) For 3.50 p, they’ll deliver groceries right to your kitchen. I certainly wish that is available in Los Lunas! Anyway, you type in your shopping list, then they bring up your choices. You just need to know the proper term in the Queen’s English. I could not pull up the products I intended after typing in the following from my grocery list:
Diaper Cream is ‘nappie’ cream. Which means diapers are nappies. But napkins were still napkins. Weird.
Paper towels (feminine protection products came up) are kitchen rolls.
Dish soap was ‘washing up’ liquid. Only products under dish soap was hand soap.
Pickles are ‘pickled cucumbers’. Product choices under ‘pickles’ were unidentifiable.
Crib is a ‘cot’
(Those are all I can remember right now.)
It also would have been helpful to know what produce would weigh in metric...
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Scotland Arrival & Apartment
Ben has been accepted into a Masters Program at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In one intense year, he hopes to have a Masters in Theology/History. Who knows where he will be in another year??? Either another Masters or hopefully a PhD program. Having left on September 10, I felt compelled to fly with Ben's wife Catherine and 2 month daughter Sara to Edinburgh. A tough job, but someone has to do it! (heehee). I sent Spencer a letter detailing the trip and thought I'd post parts of it to the blog (since it's been rather neglected) in case others are interested in reading it! Here goes...
Catherine, Sara & I left Thursday, Sept. 17th after lunch. I packed two suitcases—one with Ben & Catherine’s stuff (books, baby blankets, winter coats, etc.) I had only had two medium suitcases—Jared had my big one (I meant to bring it home with me, but forgot!) We had to pay taxes & airport fees for Sara to fly with us, but that also allowed us to check in one piece of luggage for her so we had FIVE pieces of checked luggage, two carry ons each for me and Catherine, and Sara’s car seat and stroller. Grandma helped us take all the suitcases to the check in counter and we were glad to be rid of them until we picked them up in Edinburgh. The flights were uneventful—pleasant even. Of course we were spoiled in first class. Even baby Sara cooperated. She stayed with Catherine in their little cubicle the whole time. Catherine had reclined her chair and put Sara to sleep on a pillow in her lap. I didn’t hear a peep out of her the entire transatlantic flight! We arrived in London, caught the correct shuttle to the correct terminal where we caught our plane to Edinburgh.
We arrived, claimed our luggage and caught a taxi to their new apartment. Edinburgh is beautiful! The ride into town took us through a pretty modern area, but the closer we got to the apartment, the older the buildings. Ben met us outside the building (he’d been anxiously watching for us) and we climbed the three flights of stairs with all our stuff to their apartment.
Their apartment is great! You walk into a hallway which has a utility closet and bathroom on the left side and the two bedrooms on the right side. You come out of the hallway into the living room to the right and the kitchen to the left.
It’s great that it is arranged that way because that puts the living room in the corner of the building so it has two long windows making the corner with the view to the North incredible! You see all the way across the ‘Royal Mile’ to Calton Hill and it’s historical monuments and toward the east you can see the ‘Firth of Fourth’ which is the channel leading to the ocean. You can see ships from their window! Further to the east is ‘Arthur’s Seat’ a green hill where Orson Pratt (or Orson Hyde???) dedicated Scotland for... hmmmm???. Can't remember. We’ll have to ask Ben. Either for a temple or for the coming of the gospel.
These are pictures of the streets in front of Ben's apartment complex. Looking up the hill just past the yellow apartments, you turn left into a parking lot. You'd then be able to see Ben's apartment building as the last one on the right.
In the ceiling just inside the front door is access to an attic that extends the full length of the apartment although the walls are sloped up to a peak in the middle. There is a desk at the end and a clothesline that extend the length to hang up the clothes after washing them in the washing machine that is under the counter in the kitchen.—right where a dishwasher should be! There is no dishwasher, but there is a built-in drain board for the dish drainer which is kinda cool. The window in the kitchen is big and allows a bunch of light in. The fridge is rather small, but the most unusual thing about it, is that it has an upper door to the refrigerator and a lower door to the freezer and the freezer is a third size bigger than the refrigerator. I guess fresh foods doesn’t last very long, so people store more food in the freezer than in the fridge.
What’s really hard to get used to, is, each plug in each outlet has an on/off switch. So after you plug something in you have to remember to turn on the outlet when you want to use it. So each time you want to use the microwave or stove or lamp or heater or even the shower, you need to remember to turn the outlet on. It’s probably o.k. to leave the switch on if you’re going to use whatever is plugged into it often. But there were times when we couldn’t figure out why something wouldn’t work, and then remembered or reminded each other to turn on the outlet switch.
At some point while setting up housekeeping, we realized that we were missing two suitcases. Turns out we just didn’t claim them from the baggage claim. After trying unsuccessfully to call the airport (using one of those cute telephone booths by the old campus) Catherine suggested we just take a taxi to go get them. So I did. I got to the British Airways desk and told the two gentlemen behind the counter that I did not claim two bags earlier that morning. They pointed behind me and exclaimed (imagine a Scottish Brogue) “Are those yours?” “Yes!” I replied. Again the brogue “Well take them, then!” So I did. What a relief. We didn’t want a re-play of Ben and his suitcase nightmare. I had taken a change of clothes in my carry-on just in case. It was awfully embarrassing to have it be our own fault. I think with all the carry on stuff we were allowed because of Sara—and having the suitcases be the first ones off the plane, I just filled my little push trolley (cart to us Americans) and we went on our way. The suitcase with MY clothes was one of the ones I had left!
Catherine, Sara & I left Thursday, Sept. 17th after lunch. I packed two suitcases—one with Ben & Catherine’s stuff (books, baby blankets, winter coats, etc.) I had only had two medium suitcases—Jared had my big one (I meant to bring it home with me, but forgot!) We had to pay taxes & airport fees for Sara to fly with us, but that also allowed us to check in one piece of luggage for her so we had FIVE pieces of checked luggage, two carry ons each for me and Catherine, and Sara’s car seat and stroller. Grandma helped us take all the suitcases to the check in counter and we were glad to be rid of them until we picked them up in Edinburgh. The flights were uneventful—pleasant even. Of course we were spoiled in first class. Even baby Sara cooperated. She stayed with Catherine in their little cubicle the whole time. Catherine had reclined her chair and put Sara to sleep on a pillow in her lap. I didn’t hear a peep out of her the entire transatlantic flight! We arrived in London, caught the correct shuttle to the correct terminal where we caught our plane to Edinburgh.
We arrived, claimed our luggage and caught a taxi to their new apartment. Edinburgh is beautiful! The ride into town took us through a pretty modern area, but the closer we got to the apartment, the older the buildings. Ben met us outside the building (he’d been anxiously watching for us) and we climbed the three flights of stairs with all our stuff to their apartment.
Their apartment is great! You walk into a hallway which has a utility closet and bathroom on the left side and the two bedrooms on the right side. You come out of the hallway into the living room to the right and the kitchen to the left.
It’s great that it is arranged that way because that puts the living room in the corner of the building so it has two long windows making the corner with the view to the North incredible! You see all the way across the ‘Royal Mile’ to Calton Hill and it’s historical monuments and toward the east you can see the ‘Firth of Fourth’ which is the channel leading to the ocean. You can see ships from their window! Further to the east is ‘Arthur’s Seat’ a green hill where Orson Pratt (or Orson Hyde???) dedicated Scotland for... hmmmm???. Can't remember. We’ll have to ask Ben. Either for a temple or for the coming of the gospel.
These are pictures of the streets in front of Ben's apartment complex. Looking up the hill just past the yellow apartments, you turn left into a parking lot. You'd then be able to see Ben's apartment building as the last one on the right.
In the ceiling just inside the front door is access to an attic that extends the full length of the apartment although the walls are sloped up to a peak in the middle. There is a desk at the end and a clothesline that extend the length to hang up the clothes after washing them in the washing machine that is under the counter in the kitchen.—right where a dishwasher should be! There is no dishwasher, but there is a built-in drain board for the dish drainer which is kinda cool. The window in the kitchen is big and allows a bunch of light in. The fridge is rather small, but the most unusual thing about it, is that it has an upper door to the refrigerator and a lower door to the freezer and the freezer is a third size bigger than the refrigerator. I guess fresh foods doesn’t last very long, so people store more food in the freezer than in the fridge.
What’s really hard to get used to, is, each plug in each outlet has an on/off switch. So after you plug something in you have to remember to turn on the outlet when you want to use it. So each time you want to use the microwave or stove or lamp or heater or even the shower, you need to remember to turn the outlet on. It’s probably o.k. to leave the switch on if you’re going to use whatever is plugged into it often. But there were times when we couldn’t figure out why something wouldn’t work, and then remembered or reminded each other to turn on the outlet switch.
At some point while setting up housekeeping, we realized that we were missing two suitcases. Turns out we just didn’t claim them from the baggage claim. After trying unsuccessfully to call the airport (using one of those cute telephone booths by the old campus) Catherine suggested we just take a taxi to go get them. So I did. I got to the British Airways desk and told the two gentlemen behind the counter that I did not claim two bags earlier that morning. They pointed behind me and exclaimed (imagine a Scottish Brogue) “Are those yours?” “Yes!” I replied. Again the brogue “Well take them, then!” So I did. What a relief. We didn’t want a re-play of Ben and his suitcase nightmare. I had taken a change of clothes in my carry-on just in case. It was awfully embarrassing to have it be our own fault. I think with all the carry on stuff we were allowed because of Sara—and having the suitcases be the first ones off the plane, I just filled my little push trolley (cart to us Americans) and we went on our way. The suitcase with MY clothes was one of the ones I had left!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Nauvoo & Carthage
Nauvoo was beautiful! We got there about 11:00 and drove around to get our bearings - Ben was a little disconcerted seeing the building he lived in for his semester at Nauvoo had been torn down and was just an open field.
The temple on the bluff looks out over the flats where most of the saints had built homes. We then drove down there to get our feel for where the saints lived – from the Riverside Mansion, Nauvoo House, and Mansion House where Joseph Smith lived and is buried, to Brigham Young’s home, the 70’s hall, etc. We stopped at the church’s visitor’s center where they were having a dress rehearsal for a play called ‘High Hopes and Riverboats’ - and they let us watch. It was great – I’m sure they audition young people from around the states to come take part – like a mini-mission. I think they enjoyed having an audience for a rehearsal. After that, we grabbed a sandwich at a little restaurant for lunch, then started our tours.
The flats were squared off into one acre lots which were to hold four houses – one on each corner with enough land that each house could have an orchard and a garden. But saints were arriving so quickly that there were as many as 16 houses on one acre. Most of the houses are now gone, but the church has re-built a few on the excavated foundations, trying to restore the homes and buildings to their original plans and furnish them with period pieces.
We popped in to see the Lucy Mack Smith Home, built by Joseph Noble – but she only lived there for about 9 months before moving in with her daughter. Notice the extremely narrow stairs! She eventually with Emma Smith where she stayed until she died at the age of 80.
We went to the Visitors Center for the Community of Christ church sites – formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have a nice visitors center and gift shop. Since we had 30 minutes before the tour began, we drove the two blocks over to the Smith Family Cemetery. I was surprised at the surge of emotion – mostly gratitude for that first latter-day prophet when I approached the site of his mortal remains. That made my heart very tender for the rest of the tour of homes where he lived and the city he founded. The tour (the only historical site we had to pay for in Nauvoo) began with an overview of their church history, beginning with Joseph Smith of course. It was fairly well done, but needed to have ‘Oh How Lovely Was the Morning’ and ‘Praise to the Man’ for their background music instead of music like ‘Jesu, Joy of Men’s Desiring.’ It was interesting to see their history – although it was very brief. We then walked to the properties owned by them starting with the Nauvoo House which was built to be a hotel and finished by Lewis Bidamon after he married Emma. In fact, she lived in it from soon after Joseph’s death until she died. It is now a hostel. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a family reunion there and sleep in the same room Emma slept in and rocked in her rocking chair each evening looking out the window west over the Mississippi?
Then we walked across the street to the Homestead House which was Joseph & Emma’s first home in Nauvoo – living there until they moved into the Mansion House in 1842. It was near the river – nearer than it was in Joseph’s time, because of a dam built in Keokuk which backed up the water about 15-20 feet. In fact, last year, when a hurricane came through, several people – including the BYU Young Ambassadors came down and helped them build up the river bank with sandbags too keep these structures from flooding. Other LDS church groups came to help empty the sandbags. Our guide spoke very highly of the LDS, it was so gratifying to see that our churches have such a good working relationship. From there, we walked kitty-corner across a corner intersection to the Mansion House which was Joseph’s final home. The hotel wing that was added to accommodate all the prophet’s visitors had been removed, so it was just the original structure.
The tour ended at the Red Brick Store, which was a total re-construction on the site of the original. Even though it was a reconstruction, it was still thrilling to be in the mock-up of the 2nd floor where temple ordinances were given as well as the organization of the Relief Society in 1842. Since it was a re-construction, we were able to sit on the chairs and stand in front of the podium, etc. A much more interactive experience than being in a roped off walkway to just view things.
Feeling a little emotionally drained, we then drove to the other side of the flats to see Scovil Bakery. It was a tiny place that had a backyard summer kitchen – but I would imagine the main building was still unbearably hot in the summer. It was right next door to the Cultural Hall, also known as the Masonic Hall which served as a community and cultural center. They would hold plays, concerts, meetings, funerals, and court sessions. When the saints left Nauvoo, the building sold at a sheriff’s auction for a whopping $4.47. The third floor – (this is one of the few buildings that was still standing, which the church re-purchased and restored) is original to the building. It was thrilling to imagine that we were walking on the actual floorboards of those early church leaders!
This is a view of the temple from those 3rd story windows. It was in this building that we watched a performance later that night of ‘Rendezvous’ a musical play presented by the senior missionaries. It was adorable – especially since the cast was made up of people like Grandma & Grandpa – who probably had little or no performance background.
We drug ourselves up to check into the Hotel Nauvoo and had a buffet dinner and checked in. Our room was pretty cute – two rooms with three double beds overlooking the main street in Nauvoo – one block up from the temple. At 6:30 we drove back down to the Cultural Hall to watch ‘Rendezvous’ and got out in time to see the sun set over the Mississippi. Too bad we couldn’t watch the program ‘Sunset on the Mississippi’ but it’s season didn’t start until Saturday. But the sunset itself was pretty impressive.
We drove to the river on a road that took us by Sara Granger Kimball’s house and watched it set so Jared could take pictures. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the temple to see the Joseph and Hyrum Smith Memorial which has the two of them on horseback as if they were leaving Nauvoo for the last time on their way to Carthage Jail. It’s placed between the temple and the river. I think Jared got some great shots of it with the last of the daylight in the background. He also got a great shot of the temple while walking back to our hotel.
Worn out, we turned in for the night but Ben & Catherine and I were up early the next morning to attend the first session at the Temple at 8:00. It was cool – starting out in the creation room and progressing through each stage having the appropriate murals on the walls. When we were done, we asked to see the baptismal font which was built to replicate how it was in the original temple. The main floor had an assembly room, also built to look like the one in the original temple. They had some artifacts framed in the downstairs hallway – like Mary Fielding Smith’s temple apron and slippers and some keys that fit into the original temple doors.
After checking out of the hotel, we made our way down to the flats again and began this day’s tours by going to the Sarah Granger Kimball Home where the young well to do wife took her maid, Sister Cook’s idea of buying material for the maid to sew shirts for the men working at the temple to heart. It was from that idea that she approached Eliza R. Snow about organizing a women’s group and Eliza wrote up the by-laws. When presented to Joseph Smith he said they were good, in fact the best he had ever seen, but that the Lord had something else for them in mind. The women were to be organized under the Priesthood after the order of the priesthood and thus we have the birth of the Relief Society. It’s a tribute to Sarah Granger Kimball that she remained active in the organization, even though it was Emma Smith called to be it’s president and not her.
Now on to the Print Shop, a re-construction of the building where the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor were printed. They had a demonstration of what it took to print a newspaper in those days – it’s a wonder that so many got printed! Next to the Print Shop was John Taylor’s Home – he served as editor to the papers, so that would be convenient for him. They had the rocking horse that belonged to his son John, the toy that John Taylor went back to retrieve amidst dangerous conditions after seeing how distraught his son was to have left it behind. Next to the Print Shop was the Post Office which shared space with the Merryweather Dry Goods store. They had examples of what the mail looked like, and how letters were written to conserve space and utilize the most of one sheet of paper to be the least expensive to send.
We walked up the road a little to see the Pendleton School – a tiny little room tacked on the back of the Pendleton home. They had replicas of the slates used by each student back then, and I was surprised at how heavy those slates were! Up the road a little further was the Brickyard where a missionary explained how bricks were made (there were senior missionaries in each of these sites to explain things and bare their testimonies). We got our own little imprinted brick to take home as a souvenir.
We walked back to the car and drove a couple of streets to the Seventies Hall, which was also a re-construction, meaning that we could sit on the pews and stand at the pulpit. This was the place where the Seventies were taught gospel principles and missionary skills in order to carry the gospel to every state in the Union, to the Indians, Canada, Europe, Palestine, and the Pacific Isles. It was also used for worship, lectures, a school, a library, and a museum. After the saints left, the hall was sold to the Presbyterians and also used by the Catholics and finally as a school, eventually being torn down. Upstairs they have an alphabetized list of all the Seventies who lived in Nauvoo – including your ancestors, Abraham Hunsaker and Curtis Bolton. In fact, the sister missionary that led us on the tour was also a descendant from Abraham Hunsaker – by his second wife Harriet Beckstead – just like us! Small world!
We then went to the Brigham Young Home which was built on land bought by his wife while he was on his mission. She built a log cabin and moved into it before it was finished. When Brigham returned, he finished the cabin and then built the original home.
By this time, it was about 11:00 and we wanted to get to Carthage to look around before getting Ben & Catherine to Springfield to meet up with their friends for the Mormon History Association Conference. Carthage Jail’s setting was beautiful – made so by the church. We started out with a film in the visitors center then went into the jail. I didn’t know that the jailer lived at the jail with his family – seven kids I think! On the main floor, besides the kitchen (where the wife cooked for the inmates) and the parlor, they had a ‘debtor’s prison’ room which was just a room where the door was iron bars. I guess for the non-violent criminals. Upstairs was the ‘dungeon’ where there were no windows – only slots for openings – like you see in castles where they can shoot out arrows. Most of the room was caged off and they had some straw in the corner covered with bedding – it was a dark and dreary room.
Evidently the jailor and his family trusted Joseph & Hyrum (the only inmates) and their guests. The room where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred was the jailer and his wife’s bedroom. The jailor must not have had any knowledge about the mob coming, because the jailor had left for the day, leaving the inmates with his wife who had two kids with her when the mob attacked. Joseph had as many as 7 people with him throughout his stay, but at the time of the mob, only John Taylor and Willard Richard was with him and Hyrum. They had the original parts of the door that had the bullet mark from where Hyrum was shot in the head while holding the door shut against the invaders. The door jam was also busted out. It had been replaced for use after the martyrdom, but the pieces were found and put back for the museum. We were able to sit in that bedroom and listen to the narrator (senior missionary), and look out the window from where Joseph fell after being shot. I guess after Joseph fell out the window, the mob ran outside leaving Willard Richards to drag the wounded John Taylor into the dungeon room where they hoped to hide in case the mob returned. We went outside and saw where they propped Joseph up against the well, and thought about how it was a miracle his body was left so intact – it wouldn’t have been, had the mob not been scared away by something – they thought they heard someone yell, “The Mormon’s are coming!” Anyway, for whatever reason, they dispersed leaving the bodies to be claimed by Mormons and returned to Nauvoo intact.
Some of the quotes on various stone monuments around the jail read, “I never feel to force my doctrine upon any persons; I rejoice to see prejudice give way to truth, and the traditions of men dispersed by the pure principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
And my favorite, the one that I felt especially apropos to this site: “When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain.”
The temple on the bluff looks out over the flats where most of the saints had built homes. We then drove down there to get our feel for where the saints lived – from the Riverside Mansion, Nauvoo House, and Mansion House where Joseph Smith lived and is buried, to Brigham Young’s home, the 70’s hall, etc. We stopped at the church’s visitor’s center where they were having a dress rehearsal for a play called ‘High Hopes and Riverboats’ - and they let us watch. It was great – I’m sure they audition young people from around the states to come take part – like a mini-mission. I think they enjoyed having an audience for a rehearsal. After that, we grabbed a sandwich at a little restaurant for lunch, then started our tours.The flats were squared off into one acre lots which were to hold four houses – one on each corner with enough land that each house could have an orchard and a garden. But saints were arriving so quickly that there were as many as 16 houses on one acre. Most of the houses are now gone, but the church has re-built a few on the excavated foundations, trying to restore the homes and buildings to their original plans and furnish them with period pieces.
We popped in to see the Lucy Mack Smith Home, built by Joseph Noble – but she only lived there for about 9 months before moving in with her daughter. Notice the extremely narrow stairs! She eventually with Emma Smith where she stayed until she died at the age of 80.
We went to the Visitors Center for the Community of Christ church sites – formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have a nice visitors center and gift shop. Since we had 30 minutes before the tour began, we drove the two blocks over to the Smith Family Cemetery. I was surprised at the surge of emotion – mostly gratitude for that first latter-day prophet when I approached the site of his mortal remains. That made my heart very tender for the rest of the tour of homes where he lived and the city he founded. The tour (the only historical site we had to pay for in Nauvoo) began with an overview of their church history, beginning with Joseph Smith of course. It was fairly well done, but needed to have ‘Oh How Lovely Was the Morning’ and ‘Praise to the Man’ for their background music instead of music like ‘Jesu, Joy of Men’s Desiring.’ It was interesting to see their history – although it was very brief. We then walked to the properties owned by them starting with the Nauvoo House which was built to be a hotel and finished by Lewis Bidamon after he married Emma. In fact, she lived in it from soon after Joseph’s death until she died. It is now a hostel. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a family reunion there and sleep in the same room Emma slept in and rocked in her rocking chair each evening looking out the window west over the Mississippi?
Then we walked across the street to the Homestead House which was Joseph & Emma’s first home in Nauvoo – living there until they moved into the Mansion House in 1842. It was near the river – nearer than it was in Joseph’s time, because of a dam built in Keokuk which backed up the water about 15-20 feet. In fact, last year, when a hurricane came through, several people – including the BYU Young Ambassadors came down and helped them build up the river bank with sandbags too keep these structures from flooding. Other LDS church groups came to help empty the sandbags. Our guide spoke very highly of the LDS, it was so gratifying to see that our churches have such a good working relationship. From there, we walked kitty-corner across a corner intersection to the Mansion House which was Joseph’s final home. The hotel wing that was added to accommodate all the prophet’s visitors had been removed, so it was just the original structure.
The tour ended at the Red Brick Store, which was a total re-construction on the site of the original. Even though it was a reconstruction, it was still thrilling to be in the mock-up of the 2nd floor where temple ordinances were given as well as the organization of the Relief Society in 1842. Since it was a re-construction, we were able to sit on the chairs and stand in front of the podium, etc. A much more interactive experience than being in a roped off walkway to just view things.
Feeling a little emotionally drained, we then drove to the other side of the flats to see Scovil Bakery. It was a tiny place that had a backyard summer kitchen – but I would imagine the main building was still unbearably hot in the summer. It was right next door to the Cultural Hall, also known as the Masonic Hall which served as a community and cultural center. They would hold plays, concerts, meetings, funerals, and court sessions. When the saints left Nauvoo, the building sold at a sheriff’s auction for a whopping $4.47. The third floor – (this is one of the few buildings that was still standing, which the church re-purchased and restored) is original to the building. It was thrilling to imagine that we were walking on the actual floorboards of those early church leaders!
This is a view of the temple from those 3rd story windows. It was in this building that we watched a performance later that night of ‘Rendezvous’ a musical play presented by the senior missionaries. It was adorable – especially since the cast was made up of people like Grandma & Grandpa – who probably had little or no performance background.
We drug ourselves up to check into the Hotel Nauvoo and had a buffet dinner and checked in. Our room was pretty cute – two rooms with three double beds overlooking the main street in Nauvoo – one block up from the temple. At 6:30 we drove back down to the Cultural Hall to watch ‘Rendezvous’ and got out in time to see the sun set over the Mississippi. Too bad we couldn’t watch the program ‘Sunset on the Mississippi’ but it’s season didn’t start until Saturday. But the sunset itself was pretty impressive.
We drove to the river on a road that took us by Sara Granger Kimball’s house and watched it set so Jared could take pictures. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the temple to see the Joseph and Hyrum Smith Memorial which has the two of them on horseback as if they were leaving Nauvoo for the last time on their way to Carthage Jail. It’s placed between the temple and the river. I think Jared got some great shots of it with the last of the daylight in the background. He also got a great shot of the temple while walking back to our hotel.
Worn out, we turned in for the night but Ben & Catherine and I were up early the next morning to attend the first session at the Temple at 8:00. It was cool – starting out in the creation room and progressing through each stage having the appropriate murals on the walls. When we were done, we asked to see the baptismal font which was built to replicate how it was in the original temple. The main floor had an assembly room, also built to look like the one in the original temple. They had some artifacts framed in the downstairs hallway – like Mary Fielding Smith’s temple apron and slippers and some keys that fit into the original temple doors.
After checking out of the hotel, we made our way down to the flats again and began this day’s tours by going to the Sarah Granger Kimball Home where the young well to do wife took her maid, Sister Cook’s idea of buying material for the maid to sew shirts for the men working at the temple to heart. It was from that idea that she approached Eliza R. Snow about organizing a women’s group and Eliza wrote up the by-laws. When presented to Joseph Smith he said they were good, in fact the best he had ever seen, but that the Lord had something else for them in mind. The women were to be organized under the Priesthood after the order of the priesthood and thus we have the birth of the Relief Society. It’s a tribute to Sarah Granger Kimball that she remained active in the organization, even though it was Emma Smith called to be it’s president and not her.
Now on to the Print Shop, a re-construction of the building where the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor were printed. They had a demonstration of what it took to print a newspaper in those days – it’s a wonder that so many got printed! Next to the Print Shop was John Taylor’s Home – he served as editor to the papers, so that would be convenient for him. They had the rocking horse that belonged to his son John, the toy that John Taylor went back to retrieve amidst dangerous conditions after seeing how distraught his son was to have left it behind. Next to the Print Shop was the Post Office which shared space with the Merryweather Dry Goods store. They had examples of what the mail looked like, and how letters were written to conserve space and utilize the most of one sheet of paper to be the least expensive to send.
We walked up the road a little to see the Pendleton School – a tiny little room tacked on the back of the Pendleton home. They had replicas of the slates used by each student back then, and I was surprised at how heavy those slates were! Up the road a little further was the Brickyard where a missionary explained how bricks were made (there were senior missionaries in each of these sites to explain things and bare their testimonies). We got our own little imprinted brick to take home as a souvenir.
We walked back to the car and drove a couple of streets to the Seventies Hall, which was also a re-construction, meaning that we could sit on the pews and stand at the pulpit. This was the place where the Seventies were taught gospel principles and missionary skills in order to carry the gospel to every state in the Union, to the Indians, Canada, Europe, Palestine, and the Pacific Isles. It was also used for worship, lectures, a school, a library, and a museum. After the saints left, the hall was sold to the Presbyterians and also used by the Catholics and finally as a school, eventually being torn down. Upstairs they have an alphabetized list of all the Seventies who lived in Nauvoo – including your ancestors, Abraham Hunsaker and Curtis Bolton. In fact, the sister missionary that led us on the tour was also a descendant from Abraham Hunsaker – by his second wife Harriet Beckstead – just like us! Small world!
We then went to the Brigham Young Home which was built on land bought by his wife while he was on his mission. She built a log cabin and moved into it before it was finished. When Brigham returned, he finished the cabin and then built the original home.
By this time, it was about 11:00 and we wanted to get to Carthage to look around before getting Ben & Catherine to Springfield to meet up with their friends for the Mormon History Association Conference. Carthage Jail’s setting was beautiful – made so by the church. We started out with a film in the visitors center then went into the jail. I didn’t know that the jailer lived at the jail with his family – seven kids I think! On the main floor, besides the kitchen (where the wife cooked for the inmates) and the parlor, they had a ‘debtor’s prison’ room which was just a room where the door was iron bars. I guess for the non-violent criminals. Upstairs was the ‘dungeon’ where there were no windows – only slots for openings – like you see in castles where they can shoot out arrows. Most of the room was caged off and they had some straw in the corner covered with bedding – it was a dark and dreary room.
Evidently the jailor and his family trusted Joseph & Hyrum (the only inmates) and their guests. The room where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred was the jailer and his wife’s bedroom. The jailor must not have had any knowledge about the mob coming, because the jailor had left for the day, leaving the inmates with his wife who had two kids with her when the mob attacked. Joseph had as many as 7 people with him throughout his stay, but at the time of the mob, only John Taylor and Willard Richard was with him and Hyrum. They had the original parts of the door that had the bullet mark from where Hyrum was shot in the head while holding the door shut against the invaders. The door jam was also busted out. It had been replaced for use after the martyrdom, but the pieces were found and put back for the museum. We were able to sit in that bedroom and listen to the narrator (senior missionary), and look out the window from where Joseph fell after being shot. I guess after Joseph fell out the window, the mob ran outside leaving Willard Richards to drag the wounded John Taylor into the dungeon room where they hoped to hide in case the mob returned. We went outside and saw where they propped Joseph up against the well, and thought about how it was a miracle his body was left so intact – it wouldn’t have been, had the mob not been scared away by something – they thought they heard someone yell, “The Mormon’s are coming!” Anyway, for whatever reason, they dispersed leaving the bodies to be claimed by Mormons and returned to Nauvoo intact.
Some of the quotes on various stone monuments around the jail read, “I never feel to force my doctrine upon any persons; I rejoice to see prejudice give way to truth, and the traditions of men dispersed by the pure principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
And my favorite, the one that I felt especially apropos to this site: “When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain.”
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Abe's Announcements
Abe has been hilarious, albeit a little annoying. He has discovered the intercom system in the house and takes every opportunity to talk on it. He pulls the stool over to the one in the hallway, or stands on his train table in the living room to reach the one there. Then he’ll call everyone into dinner, or more importantly, will make several “Answers” which I’m sure he means “Announcements.” They go something like this:
“Attention, please. May I have your attention, please.” (Sometimes he’ll start with, “Please excuse this answer” (meaning announcement.) “Our pledge of allegiance will be led today by Mom, Grandma, Zorra, and Jared” (or whoever.) Then he’ll recite the pledge in English, then in Spanish, (if he can see me, he requires that I say it with him), then the character counts pledge which he finally says correctly by inserting ‘to be fair and trustworthy’ to replace his former statement of ‘to be a disappointment’. Then he’ll say something like, “Today there will be a fire drill. Please wait out by the trees until you are called to come back inside. I will be in the office doing work.” And sometimes he’ll add, “Tomorrow will be the fun run.” He’ll carry on with his ‘answers’ for awhile, then will say “Thank you and have a good day.” Then he comes running to me to say, “Did you hear the answers?”
I have learned that when he is in the middle of his announcements, there is no getting him to hurry – he has to finish whatever announcements there are for that time, before he can get in the car, or on the bus, or in the tub, etc. Aggghhhhh. It’s like when he’s ‘landing a plane’ and it has to go through it’s ‘final approach’ and ‘taxi to the gate’ before he can leave it to do whatever it is I need him to do. Which reminds me. He’ll get on the intercom and say, “Attention passengers: For those of you flying to Louisville on Flight B-17 (which was our gate number flying out of Louisville) we will begin boarding in ten minutes.”
Oh - this morning he announced that "Today will be train day. We will make trains, and play with trains, and learn all about trains. Tomorrow will be plane day. Thank you and have a nice day."
Santa Fe to meet Ben & Catherine
After a ride on the Rail Runner from Los Lunas to Santa Fe...
We met Ben & Catherine who were driving from Denver. The next morning, we explored the Roundhouse - New Mexico's Capital building.
We saw the House & Senate Auditoriums
Enjoyed the round architecture and dome...
And played with the statues.
We were supposed to go with Ben & Catherine to Bandalier, but Abe preferred riding the Rail Runner home. He was worried about missing his friend Cody's birthday party. We all have our priorities!
We met Ben & Catherine who were driving from Denver. The next morning, we explored the Roundhouse - New Mexico's Capital building.
We saw the House & Senate Auditoriums
Enjoyed the round architecture and dome...
And played with the statues.
We were supposed to go with Ben & Catherine to Bandalier, but Abe preferred riding the Rail Runner home. He was worried about missing his friend Cody's birthday party. We all have our priorities!
Easter Fun with the Pirkeys
After decorating Easter eggs with Jared...
And seeing what the Easter Bunny left in the Living Room...
We had our sweet Pirkey friends over for breakfast and some fun and games.
And got done in plenty of time to celebrate our Savior's resurrection at church!
And seeing what the Easter Bunny left in the Living Room...
We had our sweet Pirkey friends over for breakfast and some fun and games.
And got done in plenty of time to celebrate our Savior's resurrection at church!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Exploring Atlanta
Seeing downtown Atlanta on a Segway - way fun!
Touring CNN Headquarters
Stone Mountain in the back - The Southern version of Mt. Rushmore.
Top of Stone Mountain
Touring CNN Headquarters
Stone Mountain in the back - The Southern version of Mt. Rushmore.
Top of Stone Mountain
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