in june i gave a talk in church. it was a three-prong speaking group. three of us women in the congregation were asked to study three consecutive time periods of early lds church history. i was assigned the last portion of the timeline where the early members of the restored church of Jesus Christ settled the area of nauvoo, illinois. i had studied this time period while studying in high school and then again at university and i'd even been on a church history tour of nauvoo. but it had been such a long time ago that i sort of looked forward on reviewing what i knew. more than that i think anytime we restudy something we always bring new eyes to it. i was happy to find things and read accounts of the time i had not before heard or remembered. it was a joy to read of what the women's journals were like. maybe with more life experience behind me as a wife and mother now i relished in learning what they chose to write in their personal diaries. i also enjoyed trying to apply to my life today lessons that i could find to translate from their time period to mine.
sometimes when i have to give a talk i write an outline. other times i just write it out and then when i go to give it from the pulpit i sort of read it and infuse it with comments that come to mind. a friend of mine expressed an interest in reading my talk after i posted about it probably on facebook. so i thought this might be a good place to park it for her to read as well as any others who might be interested. and it will then be able to go into my blub book for my own family to have. so if you have any interest in reading, please feel free. know that i've not fully and properly noted my sources from the articles i used. i should do that technically since this is now the publishing of it written and not shared only verbally. but if anyone is interested i can get the sources to them. keep in mind this was written just as my own copy from which to speak and not as an academic paper. take from it what you like. cheers, lesli
Learning from the Nauvoo Saints examples
I was asked to study the early saints who established the city of Nauvoo, Illinois from 1839 to 1846 and then find from their lives----lessons that could help us today in our lives. I found reading about Nauvoo fascinating! The lessons we can learn from their brief time of only 7-8 years building and thriving in Nauvoo are many. I’ve only chosen a few to share today.
{Here is where I interjected and shared with the audience the experience I had practicing my talk the night before in my family room alone. I read and re-read my talk just to practice and each time I tried to read it tears filled my eyes and my whole soul was full of a wonderful feeling of gratitude. It was as if people of the time were there with me and wanting me to know of their stories. I had the distinct feeling that they want their experiences to be told, that we might not forget all they went through. I hardly made it through with my practicing--just for the wonderful spirit of love and gratitude that I felt.}
Nauvoo was not always a beautiful place. Let me share some of the story of how it came to be. In 1838, Any Latter-day Saints living in Missiouri were forced to leave the state because of an extermination order given by Missouri’s Governor Boggs. These saints crossed the Mississippi River and found land available for purchase in Commerce, Illinois. The prophet, Joseph Smith, had been in Liberty Jail at the same time and when he was able to get out a short time later he came to the area they had found and purchased the properties at Commerce. The saints immediately began to settle there.
Joseph Smith is quoted as describing the place as follows:
The place was literally a wilderness. The land was mostly covered with trees and bushes, and much of it was so wet that it was with the utmost difficulty that a footman could get through, and totally impossible for teams. Commerce was unhealthy, very few could live there; but believing that it might become a healthy place by the blessing of heaven to the saints, and no more eligible place presenting itself, I considered it wisdom to make an attempt to build up a city.”
This was not a coveted location! This was a swamp-land where malaria and other diseases nearly sank the venture before it began. But the saints got to work and drained the swamps, cleared the land for home sites and plowed the prairies. Eliza R. Snow wrote that the believers who streamed into the new city from all directions “seemed to have been held in reserve to meet the occasion, for non but Saints full of faith, and trusting in the power of God could have established that city.” Over the next seven years the population grew to about 20,000, the city at its peak the city rivaled Chicago as the largest city in the state! It was a vibrant and culturally eclectic place and was known as Nauvoo the Beautiful.
The saints who first came to Nauvoo had had their faith tested previously. They had suffered much in following the prophet Joseph up to this point. Their trails had drawn them closer to the Lord and they were entirely committed to this movement that was bigger than themselves. They seemed to have been prepared to take on the challenge of making a swamp and disease ridden land into one of the most beautiful of its day.
Some questions we can pose to ourselves today are: How strong is my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? When trials come to me in my life, do I turn to the Lord for help? Are things I am going through now preparing me for things that will come in the future? Am I sufficiently passing these tests of my faith? Do I have resolve to follow the prophet today? Do I live what he teaches?
Establishing Nauvoo was not easy. Did the saints complain?
One Nauvoo pioneer was Mary Field Garner. She who lost her husband and two children after reaching Nauvoo. She wrote “We were too thankful to be at Nauvoo with the other Saints of God, and to be associated with our Prophet and leader, Joseph Smith, and to listen to his teachings…to complain about our problems.”
Taking from Sister Garner of Nauvoo’s words I am led to ask myself—
Am I “too thankful to be in Henderson, Nevada in the Seven Hills ward, with the other Saints of God? And to be associated with our dear bishop, Bishop Messina? And to be able to live in this age of technology where the use of satellite broadcasting and the internet can bring me so close to the words our dear Prophet and leader, Thomas S. Monson. Yes, am I too thankful for all of these blessings to complain about my problems?
Isn’t it possible that like Sister Mary Field Garner, having gone through great adversity can make us focus on our blessings rather than our problems? I believe this is one test of a faithful saint-- To take the problems that beset our lives and while in them find the things to be grateful for from the hand of the Lord.
Carol Cornwall Madsen, while an associate professor of history at BYU wrote:
Though seemingly preoccupied with the continuous challenge of housing shortages, scarcity of commodities, and ubiquitous diseases, the women’s writings are predominantly religious narratives. It is as though their daily struggles gave testimony to the greater truth that informed their lives. Thus it is that in the presence of so much adversity they wrote accounts remarkably free of self-pity or regret.
I loved learning this fact about the women’s journals—that they contain very little complaint. They are full of testimony, spiritual experiences and gratitude. This made me think of my own journals and if I am writing things that I go through that bolster my faith. Am I writing about my spiritual growth?
For example: Am I only writing things like, “It is Sunday today. I taught the sharing time in primary then I came home and fed my family and took a nap.” Or am I including in that writing how much I felt the spirit guide me in my preparation of my sharing time lesson and how receptive the primary children were to the message? Or how great their questions were? Or how comforted I was that the spirit helped me get through the lesson and how I am praying that the children got some one thing from it! Am I writing about how I sincerely treasure Sunday family meals together? How much I learn from my children about their lives when we take the time to eat as a family? And how grateful I am that the Lord set Sunday as the Sabbath where we try to rest from our normal weekly doings and a short nap is possible some Sundays!
Yes, I need to write more in my journal about things that make my faith strong.
Children in Nauvoo were expected to work. As soon as they were old enough, they helped to care for the animals, gather wood and berries and help make soap and candles. They also went to school and studied hard to learn all they could!
Seven Hills ward primary children, I know you. I know that as soon as you are old enough you get the opportunity to go to school. You can do your best at your schoolwork and learn all you can! Hopefully your mom and dad have you do jobs at home. You can do your best at those jobs! You are just like the children who lived in Nauvoo. They followed the prophet like you do and they obeyed their mothers and fathers and helped make their families happy.
The hard work of the saints in Nauvoo led to the completion of a temple. The temple blessed their lives immeasurably. The saints had worked long and hard to build the temple. They then were able to partake of the saving ordinances within it. This made it possible for so many who crossed the plains to be sustained by the assurances they had received in the temple ordinances.
We all have the same opportunity to attend the temple. We can make ourselves worthy and attend the temple often to remind ourselves of our covenants and the further blessings the Lord has for us. The Nauvoo saints were eventually forced to leave and had to wait until Salt Lake City and wait through another long season of construction to have their next temple. We however, are richly blessed with a temple within a 40 minute drive. Do we take advantage of our opportunity?
It was during the Nauvoo era that the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed in Carthage. What a trying time this must have been for the saints in Nauvoo! He had been living among the saints in Nauvoo with his family and they had heard so many of his sermons. They knew him personally. He was their beloved leader and prophet. The prophet’s death was a rallying point for the faithful saints. There were those who left the church at this point.
Sister Zina Jacob, a member in Nauvoo at the time, wrote that what was left after the turmoil of the prophet’s death was a strong corps of saints more untied than before. Alive, Joseph Smith was the unifying leader for the whole latter-day movement. His death increased the faith of the followers in the authenticity of his mission. Their conviction sustained them in the trying times of the abandonment of his city and their trek westward to Zion.
So much good could be said regarding the saints of Nauvoo. Their accomplishments are astonishing really. This sort of left me wondering if I would ever measure up like they did? It also left me wondering how I could ever thank them enough for their sacrifices and faithfulness for without them I would not enjoy the blessings of the church today.
I’ll leave you with two quotes that helped me address those feelings. One:
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin wrote:
We who have been blessed to know the fullness of the restored gospel owe a debt of gratitude to those who have gone before us, who have given so much to build the kingdom. Our debt of gratitude to our forebears is a debt that can best be paid in service to this great cause.
And President James E. Faust said:
This church does not necessarily attract great people but more often makes ordinary people great.
May all of us ordinary people, no matter our talents, abilities, financial resources, education or experience---just do the best we can in serving in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe that just as with the saints in Nauvoo, Christ will qualify us for the work if we will serve with humility, prayer, diligence and faith.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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