When You Come To Nauvoo

Let me tell you a little bit about the unique traits of Nauvoo.

This is a city where thousands of people of all different creeds and histories have come through at some point seeking refuge from persecution and filled with a hope for a better life.  This had-been swamp is a thriving little town...with a very different feel about it.  A feeling of security.  A feeling that you have jumped out of the normal hustle and bustle of life.  A feeling a friendship.  A feeling that you can restore lost hopes and plans you've had before.  A feeling a peace.

In the part of Nauvoo that we experience most (that owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), there are many reasons for this feeling.  An untold number of miracles have happened in this spot.  This town was built up specifically so the Saints of the Lord could worship Him and learn all that He desired of them and for them.  Every building was built with the intent of serving Christ!  The people here gave everything they had...everything....to establish His Church on the earth again.  They gave no thought for themselves save it were the essential elements that kept them moving and breathing.  Everything else was outward, for their fellow man and for God.  This became a sacred escape from sin...almost a temple made up of a town.  And then, shortly after their proper (and glorious) temple was erected, the prophet given them of God was murdered, and they were driven west, across the entire country, outside the U.S. boundaries, on foot, with handcarts to carry what little they could.  And they did it willingly, because they knew it was a necessary sacrifice for the building up of Christ's Kingdom.

But the past can only transform the feeling of a piece of land so much.

Today, this stretch of historical ground is filled with hundreds of missionaries.  Men and women (almost every one of them senior citizens) that have had hands laid upon their head setting them apart for the service of God in spreading the good news of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in any way they are able.  Hundreds of people here who have dedicated their lives to their Heavenly Father, who understand the blessings and power of obedience and faith and charity and hope and virtue and prayer and the word of God.  Their every action is to draw others closer to Christ.  With that kind of powerful living happening in such a great concentration in this city, it is enshrouded with the Spirit.  We live within what the scriptures often refer to as a "cloud of light."  It is generated by sacrifice and willingness to love God more than oneself.

So, I must warn you:

Do not come to Nauvoo as a tourist.  This is a hard task I charge you with, because that is exactly what this place is set up for.  There are tours you will take, histories you will learn, shows to see, and pamphlets to steal.  We are designed to take in tourists.  But I have learned as I have stayed here that tourists only get about 30% of what is available here, if that.

This city is a sanctuary for the Holy Ghost.  The glass we look through darkly, as Paul describes our experience on earth, is not so dark in Nauvoo.  If there was ever a place you could go to catch a glimpse of a vision the Lord has for you that you cannot now see, it is here.  Rather than walking into our historic sites as a tourist, walk in as a student of Christ.  Rather than coming to learn history and see artifacts, come to learn spiritual truths and see the ministering of angels.  I would strongly encourage you to fast and pray before approaching your visit here.  Ask for guidance, strength, and miracles for yourself and for your family.  You will find it here.  I promise you that there are doctrinal gems that the Spirit can teach you personally, if you will seek them.

As young performing missionaries, our performances are not merely for entertainment, and our songs are not merely to impress.  We are here to testify boldly and clearly that Jesus is the Christ, and that in Him we can find joy.  We are here to proclaim to all who will listen that there is a living oracle on the earth today that receives revelation for the entire world directly from God, and his name is Thomas S. Monson.  We declare with every dance step that in the Book of Mormon are the true and living words of our Savior, that will fill anyone who reads it with more life than they have ever lived.

We will do everything we can to prick the hearts of the tourists....but please, don't you be one of them.