The Nauvoo Temple
As I sat in church today, pondering the study of Joseph Smith we are going to be doing in Relief Society and priesthood, I remembered this picture I took of the Mississippi River, 2 years ago when we went to Nauvoo to see the pagant. I just finished reading a novel of a woman in the 1800's that found a "Book of Mormon" in England, and her quest to find the people who are a part of this new religion. When she finally found someone, it was on the banks of this mighty Mississippi. It was on a spot like this one, that her dream of finding religion she knew to be true was realized.
It's hard to explain the beauty and majesty of this river without seeing it in person for yourself. No picture could do it proper justice. When you look at my picture you see lots of green behind the lavendar. The green is all lilly pads floating on the river. The River itself was as wide as to the hills in the distance. What a gift to be given to the early saints who had suffered so much, and had been moved on from so many places. Although Nauvoo was a swamp when they arrived, it soon grew into a beautiful city, with the most gorgeous view across the river, just down from the temple. It's also amazing to me to think that this huge river actually froze over, just as the saints were being driven from Nauvoo, which gave them the opportunity to walk across the vast and mighty river. This beautiful river, placed in the middle of the promised land gave God's children a means of transportation through river boats, it gave life to the land around it, and when the saints needed an escape, it turned to solid ground to assist great numbers of people to cross it. If you ever have the opportunity to gaze out at the Mississippi River, take advantage of it, and give yourself time to really enjoy.
