Part 3: Nauvoo & Carthage, IL

We spent 3 full days in Nauvoo, and it was perfect. There was just enough time to see & do everything-- if we were there any less I would have felt too rushed. The week we were there was the first week of "summer" for the missionaries in Nauvoo. They had just tripled their number of senior missionaries, in order to accommodate for the large amounts of visitors during the summer months. It was also the first week that the Young Performing missionaries were performing their shows, and they did great!

The first day in Nauvoo we went on a Carriage Ride of the city and explored some of the historical sites, including the temple.

This statue is next to the temple and overlooks the valley of Nauvoo. It is Joseph & Hyrum heading to Carthage.

One of our horses ("Mike" as Brad just reminded me) from our Carriage Ride

As we drove by each building during the Carriage Ride, the missionaries would come out and wave to us.

On the Carriage Ride

This was my favorite home in Nauvoo. It belonged to Heber C. Kimball, the first missionary to England and one of the original 12 apostles in this dispensation.


This picture makes me laugh, because when I see Brad's cheesy smile it reminds me of the time that one of the senior missionaries in Nauvoo asked if he was my son. Haha... true story!


Because the temple sat up on the hill, you could see it from virtually anywhere.

On our second day, we drove to Carthage Jail, which is about 30 minutes from Nauvoo. The drive between Nauvoo & Carthage is very rural-- lots of farmland and open fields-- similar to what it probably looked like as Joseph & Hyrum rode there over 150 years ago. Brad said this was the highlight of the trip for him, and I would have to agree.

One of the farms on the way to Carthage

That is the jail directly behind the statue.

When Joseph was shot, he fell out of the top window

View from inside the window

This is the original door. The bullet hole is the one that hit and killed Hyrum



On our drive back to Nauvoo we found a stop sign that was a just my size!