Happy Anniversary to the missionary Lasher's! It was one year ago, today, that mom and I left our family and entered the MTC. At that time we were headed to the Philippines after a 10 day period in the MTC. That was a very interesting 10 days and an equally interesting trip to the Laoag Philippines Mission at the end of our MTC experience. And now, here we are in Nauvoo! The blog has all the details!
We were up early this morning and had our morning prayers and devotional by 5:45am. Our walk took just a little over an hour and then we were out the door and headed to our assignment at the Heber C. Kimball Home, and shared with the Wilford Woodruff Home. It was a nice change of pace for us being away from the Visitors Center, and we still got to work together. We had several tours and in each visit, we took them to the other site. It got us out in the beautiful Fall weather and some wonderful fresh air. Here is a picture of mom in action at the Wilford Woodruff Home:
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| Mom sharing a story in the Wilford Woodruff Home today |
These shared sites give us variety during the day only if we have visitors! Each guest that came in wanted to tour both of the homes. Here are some additional details of the homes we served in;
Nauvoo Temple Sunstones:
To early Church members, the sun breaking through clouds symbolized the dawning of the Restoration and the coming of gospel light to illuminate a dark earth. It is little wonder, then, that sunstones were featured prominently on the Nauvoo Temple. Above each sun are two hands holding trumpets, heralding the dawning of the gospel in this dispensation.
Wilford Woodruff Home
The Wilford Woodruff Home in Nauvoo
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs Division
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs Division
Wilford Woodruff, fourth president of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, began work on this home after
returning from one of his missions to England. He worked intermittently
on the home between his missions abroad. With his attention to detail,
he recorded in his journal that he searched through his entire supply of
bricks to find the best ones for the front wall of the home.1
Aware of the effect of his absences on his family while
he was engaged in missionary service, in 1843 Elder Woodruff wrote, “I
desired to have a house for my family to abide in and be comfortable in
my absence.”2 In an attempt to ensure that his family was comfortable, Elder Woodruff built a working fireplace in each room.3
However, after its completion in 1845, the Woodruff
family was not able to live in the home long because of the Saints’
exodus from Nauvoo. He sold the home in the middle of April 1846 in
order to make preparations to go west.
While leaving Nauvoo, Elder
Woodruff recorded, “I looked upon the Temple and City of Nauvoo as I
retired from it and felt to ask the Lord to preserve it as a monument of
the sacrifice of his Saints".
The Wilford Woodruff home was the first home in Nauvoo to receive architectural renovation, being completed in 1969.5 Today it is open to visits and displays many of Wilford and Phoebe Woodruff’s possessions.
Heber C. Kimball Home
One
of the first homes in Nauvoo to be restored was the Heber C. Kimball
home. Heber, his wife Vilate, and their three children came to Nauvoo
with virtually nothing, having lost everything they owned in Missouri.
Heber built two log homes before finally completing this brick home. The
Kimball family lived here only four months and five days before joining
the exodus from Nauvoo.
Nauvoo Temple Sunstones:
To early Church members, the sun breaking through clouds symbolized the dawning of the Restoration and the coming of gospel light to illuminate a dark earth. It is little wonder, then, that sunstones were featured prominently on the Nauvoo Temple. Above each sun are two hands holding trumpets, heralding the dawning of the gospel in this dispensation.
The walls of the temple featured
30 pilasters, each with a moonstone at the base and a sunstone at the
top. A sunstone served as the capital, or head, of each pilaster. A star
stone was placed above each sunstone. The order of the stones recalled
the woman described in Revelation 12, “clothed with the sun, and the
moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev.
12:1). When the original temple was under construction, the New York Spectator
published the following review of the temple sunstones in an article
about Nauvoo: “On the top, not far from fifty feet high, is an ideal
representation of the rising sun, which is a monstrous prominent stone
face, the features of which are colossal and singularly expressive. . . .
These all stand out on the stone boldly. Their finish is admirable and
as complete as any of the best specimens of chiseling on the Girard
College at Philadelphia.”
The man who carved the first sunstone was Charles Lambert, a skilled stonecutter from Yorkshire, England. After he was baptized in England, he decided to go to Nauvoo. Lambert recorded in his autobiography about the day after he arrived in Nauvoo: “I went up to the Temple [and] saw there was work for me.” He went to those in charge and offered his skills. They told him, “If you can work we can do with your work, but we have nothing to give you.” He replied, “I have not come here to work for pay. I have come to help to build that house,” pointing to the Nauvoo Temple.
He records, “I worked and finished the first capital [sunstone] and part of eleven others. I [committed] with [Brother William] Player that I would stick to the temple pay or no pay until finished and did. I quarried and worked the last stone called the capstone.”
The first sunstone was installed on September 23, 1844. The original sunstones were actually two pieces of stone. The lower, face portion was carved from one piece of limestone, and the trumpets from another. The sunstones were six feet high and six feet six inches wide at the top.
Only two complete original sunstones are known to exist. The first, owned by the state of Illinois, is displayed on the grounds of the Nauvoo Visitors’ Center. The second was purchased by the Smithsonian Institution from the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County. It is currently on display in a prominent position in the Museum of American History and Technology.
We came home after our shift ended at 5:00pm and went into the town of Nauvoo and made some final arrangements for the Thanksgiving Dinner that mom and I have been assigned. Then, we came home and had dinner together and spent a quiet evening at home.
The man who carved the first sunstone was Charles Lambert, a skilled stonecutter from Yorkshire, England. After he was baptized in England, he decided to go to Nauvoo. Lambert recorded in his autobiography about the day after he arrived in Nauvoo: “I went up to the Temple [and] saw there was work for me.” He went to those in charge and offered his skills. They told him, “If you can work we can do with your work, but we have nothing to give you.” He replied, “I have not come here to work for pay. I have come to help to build that house,” pointing to the Nauvoo Temple.
He records, “I worked and finished the first capital [sunstone] and part of eleven others. I [committed] with [Brother William] Player that I would stick to the temple pay or no pay until finished and did. I quarried and worked the last stone called the capstone.”
The first sunstone was installed on September 23, 1844. The original sunstones were actually two pieces of stone. The lower, face portion was carved from one piece of limestone, and the trumpets from another. The sunstones were six feet high and six feet six inches wide at the top.
Only two complete original sunstones are known to exist. The first, owned by the state of Illinois, is displayed on the grounds of the Nauvoo Visitors’ Center. The second was purchased by the Smithsonian Institution from the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County. It is currently on display in a prominent position in the Museum of American History and Technology.
We came home after our shift ended at 5:00pm and went into the town of Nauvoo and made some final arrangements for the Thanksgiving Dinner that mom and I have been assigned. Then, we came home and had dinner together and spent a quiet evening at home.
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