NebrASKa how our trip went!

I've been trying to write this post for awhile, but there's just no way to make our trip to Nebraska seem exciting. We went to Nebraska to go to temple #50, but we thought we should do other things as well. The Mormon Pioneer Museum is literally across the street, so there we went.

I like visiting church history sites because they are generally manned (womanned?) by Sister missionaries and/or senior missionaries, who are very willing to chat and usually think we're pretty interesting.

a model of what the Winter Quarters camp looked like

a model log cabin-- I'm sad we didn't take pictures inside, but we got distracted by the soundtrack

crossing the ole Mississip'

replica wagon

replica front half of the SLC temple

A major thing I liked about this visitor's center is that they talk very frankly about the turmoil the church faced following Joseph Smith's death. Sometimes people gloss over that. We told her about how, when we took the Community of Christ tour in Nauvoo, our tour guide made a big deal out of how much of a jerk Emma Smith thought Brigham Young was. I don't think our sister missionary knew how to respond, so she showed us a video about eternal families (which wasn't quite a punishment, but for a married couple without kids it didn't feel like much of a reward either).

Then we doubled back and went to the pioneer cemetery, which is right next to the temple.

at the entrance gate

There are not many gravestones that still exist, but there is this huge statue of a couple who have buried their child (at least, I'm about 98% certain that this was what the statue meant). 

The statue is surrounded by the names of the people who were buried in the cemetery, scriptures, and song verses.

on the ground around the statue

Then we continued our church history tour by going across the river (on the Mormon Bridge, no less) to the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where Brigham Young was sustained as the second president of the church.

us with the second First Presidency

Inside the visitor's center we got to talk for a long time with the senior missionaries, as well as see a video about the Mormon Battalion and their influence on the move west. 

a replica Mormon Battalion uniform

There are many things I didn't know about the Mormon Battalion, and there are many things I still don't know, but I look forward to learning more.

the replica Kaneville Tabernacle from the outside

the replica tabernacle from the inside

Finally, Josh wanted very badly to get a good Omaha steak, so he did his research and we ended up here:

The history of the restaurant is interesting, but the ambiance was very Italian Family. I can imagine that many of the people who work there are related. The absolute strangest thing, and I have such a hard time getting over the weirdness of it, was that we were seated near-ish to the women's restroom and apparently that was also the unofficial "break room" of the employees. So anyone who wanted to use the restroom had to weave their way through a bunch of servers and busboys who were hanging out, shooting the breeze, and watching us eat. Creepy.

We were only there for one full day. That night, we drove back to Sioux City, Iowa, and started another adventure-- coming soon!

Back in college...

A friend of mine from my days at the Eugene Institute of Religion finally got around to digitizing a video of a sketch we performed for a road show back in 2004. My group wanted to do something lame like a dating game sketch... and I was having none of that. So, I wrote a parody version to the song "Superhero" by Stephen Lynch using characters from The Book of Mormon. Needless to say, we blew away the competition and won the road show.

Emily and I didn't really know each other back then, but she was in the room and distinctly remembers thinking that this sketch was pretty, pretty good. I like to think that it was the first of many things that would eventually make her fall in love with me and marry me... three years later. :)

And, with that... I give you "(If I Could Be) A Book of Mormon Hero."

Rendez-vous in Old Nauvoo

I have to admit that, of all our stops, I was most looking forward to Nauvoo. For those that don't know, my religion was founded in Fayette, NY in 1830. Then the LDS (Mormon) saints moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where they built a temple. For various reasons they moved to Far West, Missouri, where they were violently expelled by locals and the Missouri government. After that, they settled near the Mississippi River in a small town (originally named Commerce) that they renamed Nauvoo.

But FIRST! We visited Carthage jail, site of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith (super morbid, right?) Since it was almost raining, it was a pretty slow day. Our tour guide was still in training so she read her little notecards.

The Jailor's kitchen

The more secure jailroom (thick brick walls, no windows)

The room in which Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed

There is still a bullet hole in the door

More of the room

I would write more about the events that occurred here, but that's not really for this blog. It was a special experience.

When Joseph Smith was shot, he fell out this window

The window from the outside-- the second-floor window facing us

The staircase with the front door to my right

Yes, I do find this entire part of the trip to be morbid, but we also visited Ford's Theater when we were in DC, so I guess it's normal for us.

 Statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith outside of the visitor's center, but behind the jail

Then we were off to the exciting city of Nauvoo!

This model was in the LDS visitor's center

One of the most interesting things, in my opinion, about Nauvoo is that there are both LDS and RLDS-owned tourist spots. The RLDS (or Community of Christ) church owns everything that remained in the Smith family, such as the Nauvoo House where Emma lived after Joseph's death, the mansion house, which was actually a hotel, the Smith homestead, and the red brick store where the Relief Society was organized. Those were the places Josh really wanted to see, so we took a guided walking tour.

The gravestone for Emma, Joseph, and Hyrum Smith

This tour was the source of some of my rage expressed earlier. It also exposed me to a bizarre phenomenon where the tour guide (a 60+ yr old man) gushed over me for being a doctoral student who thought the Kirtland Temple tour was interesting (as though that made a difference). The other people on the tour asked me later what my degree was in, and when I told them they said, "Oh, so it's not in anything relevant." Completely valid. I was confused by the gushing too.

The Nauvoo House-- the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon was placed in a cornerstone. It was found before (too much) damage was done. It's amazing to me that people didn't consider keeping things like that safe from the elements.

The Smith Homestead, where Joseph Smith III (Joseph Smith's son and second prophet of the RLDS church) lived

The mansion house

The red brick store

I pretended like I was present for the first gathering of the Relief Society

The Smith family graveyard. The Mississippi River is in the background.

We never went to any of the LDS touristy stuff (free bricks!) because we were headed to temple #42.

A city set on a hill

Josh has a serious case of Crazy Eyes

The belltower

Sunstones on the exterior

Original sunstone

 From my journal: " The Nauvoo temple is amazingly, shockingly beautiful. I assume that the original plans were used with some modifications. Immediately past the recommend desk there is a meeting room similar to those (1st and 2nd floor) in the Kirtland Temple. To get to the dressing rooms you go up this beautiful spiral staircase. The dressing rooms are the most gorgeous I have ever seen-- with dark wood and beautiful mirrors. It's definitely a departure from all of the others we've seen on this trip. The ordinance rooms have murals (creation, garden, etc) and are progressive. My favorite part is that there are sunstones on the outside of the temple showing off their full faces, but in the Celestial Room the suns are only showing off their eyes. Also there is stained glass on the ceiling of the Celestial Room depicting the phases of the moon. I'm looking forward to coming back here some day."

From the side

The ShepAldery-ist picture of all!

So, when we were in Carthage, the senior missionaries told us that we should go to the musical "Rendez-vous in Old Nauvoo" later that night because it was put on by the senior missionaries in the area. I am so glad we did because I thought it was awesome. And I don't even mean that in a sarcastic way. It was exactly as you could expect-- most people were off-key and terrible actors. Not everyone remembered their lines or knew the choreography. But it was so sweet and heartfelt and I love the idea that these senior missionaries come to Nauvoo and have to do this. If you ever go to Nauvoo, remember to get your tickets for the rendez-vous!

We stayed for one night at the Woodruff Hotel and woke up bright and early the next day for the last leg of our trip-- St. Louis!

Kirtland Temple: Basement to Belltower

On our third day, we made the long drive from Toronto to Kirtland, Ohio (passing Buffalo, NY, where Josh saw a building he admired and I spent an hour on Wikipedia trying to figure out what it was called. (Long story short, it was this one).

Josh signed us up for the "backstage tour" of the temple, but first we went on the regular tour with two other families-- one with four teenagers and the other with three kids. Some background: when I got dressed in the morning, I agonized over whether I should wear a dress. "It's a temple," I told myself. "I should show some respect!" But then I reasoned, "It's no longer used as a temple, just as a meeting house. I would wear jeans to the church (not on Sunday)!" Plus we were driving 4 1/2 hours, etc. etc. So we wore jeans. When we saw the other people on the tour, I was convinced there was no way they could be church members because they were practically wearing pajamas (well, basketball shorts, sweatshirts, flip-flops). There were a few other reasons I was embarrassed that these people are church members: 1. One of the teens fell asleep while our guide was talking, 2. One of the other teens asked a very stupid, very judgmental-sounding question about "What makes RLDS different from LDS?", and 3. The mothers of the same family asked whether a hymnbook that the tour guide was passing around was the actual hymnbook that Joseph Smith used. Um, what?

Here are some things, folks: the idea that "there are no stupid questions" no longer applies when you are 45 and in front of actual adults who actually heard what you just said out loud. Further, just because the Community of Christ is no longer affiliated with your church does not mean that they are dumb enough to be passing around priceless, antique artifacts from the 19th century for you to get your Twinkie fingers all over. Also, if you are going to take time out of your life to drive more than 15 minutes to a location of historic significance to your religion, please, PLEASE educate your kids at least a little bit about the organization that maintains it, especially if it's also of historic significance to your own religion!


Also, put on real clothes in public. I mean, seriously, show some respect. Even if you apparently have no knowledge of the Community of Christ church, you must at least be aware that it's a place of significance and reverence, otherwise you wouldn't have bothered to show up. Spend the 30 seconds it takes to put on some pants over your pjs, brush your hair, and be nice. Obviously, this was a subject about which Josh and I spent a lot of time discussing. And now about the temple...

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but you can see some pictures here. It's pretty amazing to be in any historic building, but to know the history of this temple, the sacrifices people made for it to be built, and then to stand inside (and under and on top) of it was an experience that I think every LDS (and RLDS) person should have. During our "behind-the-scenes" tour, Josh and I were able to stand in the basement and touch the tool marks, see where improvements have been made, see where mistakes were made, and know that we were touching materials that the Prophet and other early members touched. Then we climbed into a crawlspace above the first-floor meeting room and saw how the ceiling was constructed to allow maximum air movement during the summer and heat-containment during the winter (among other architecture-related elements). Finally, we went up into the belltower to peek at the bell and look at the roof. We were allowed to take pictures of the roof.

And the view:

Not much going on in Kirtland. (Shocker).

One of the coolest parts of our tour was in the belltower. I noticed that people had scratched their names into the wood and we asked our tour guide about that. He said that they used to just let people roam the temple, unaccompanied, and so people would deface the wood. When we looked closer, we realized that some of the names had dates, and some of those dates were early 20th century. That was pretty cool. (Of course it also means that people were douchebags who defaced temples even in 1903).

The belltower, safely from the ground

Both of us were showered and not wearing sweatshirts.

Because that's how the ShepAlders roll, temple syle.

I need to say, because we also went to RLDS-run sites in Nauvoo, that the tour guides and people who work at these places must deal with a lot of stupid LDS church members who ask a lot of mean, pointed questions, because it happened on both of our tours. There are a few times where I've been embarrassed about the culture of my church and church members (note that I did not say that I was embarrassed about church doctrine or my membership in the church. The culture and the doctrine are very different things), and these interactions were two major ones. Please, PLEASE, if you go to either of these places (Kirtland or Nauvoo) and take tours, be respectful. I can understand that it would be difficult when you are so self-satisfied and smug, but please don't say things like, "How could you possibly believe that?" or laugh derisively when your 60-year-old tour guide tells you that their church members don't believe that Joseph Smith had multiple wives. Don't snottily refer to websites that "prove" otherwise. Don't roll your eyes when the guide is bearing his heartfelt testimony to you about how Joseph Smith's son, not Brigham Young, was a true prophet. Just because you don't feel the same way does not make their feelings any less valid. Shame on you.

After our pleasant tour, we drove to Cleveland, where I immediately fell in love. But that's for a different blog post...

P.S. I'm sorry that this was so ranty, but I was really bothered by the whole thing, and I've had time to stew.

Oh How Lovely Was the Morning

For Spring Break, Josh and I took a Church History Tour, starting in Palmyra and ending in St. Louis. We took the red-eye from Portland and ended in Rochester, then immediately(!) drove to Peter Whitmer's farm in Fayette, NY.

For those who don't know, my religion was officially organized on this spot in 1830. The real building is no longer standing, but this recreated cabin is on the spot of the original foundation. The first church meeting took place in front of this fireplace:

They now have a meeting house on the farm grounds. Can you imagine your ward meeting on the site where the church was organized? Craziness!

The visiting center and chapel

We got a little shock driving through town when someone was driving ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! Apparently that's the way they do it in upstate NY. 

We then went to the Hill Cumorah, where we saw this christus in the visitor's center:

And we hiked to the top of the hill:

The cool thing about being there was seeing that this hill is super narrow and a great vantage point. Josh said he could imagine watching a battle because you can see forever on both sides.

There was also a statue of what is supposed to be Moroni:

(Even though he has a beard)

Also, the Hill Cumorah is A LOT steeper than you would think. 

Then we went to the E.B. Grandin printing shop, where the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon were published:

I have to say that there were some really lovely sister missionaries at all of these sites, but the girl at the the E.B. Grandin store was pretty awesome. She even lifted up the cloth on the fake plates so Josh could take a picture:

She was my favorite, and I especially loved her owl earrings

Then we went to the site of the Smith family farm, where there is the reconstructed log cabin:

And the reconstructed room where Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith (again):

The Palmyra temple overlooks the farm:

We also went to the Sacred Grove:

Where Josh took these creepy, stalkery pictures:

We then did a session at the Palmyra temple (#38!). It's a smaller temple, similar to Reno, Medford, Kona, etc., so I didn't get lost. The session was ridiculously full and they had to bring in folding chairs for pretty much every possible space.

The major defining feature of this temple is the stained glass of the grove:

It also has a window in the lobby where you can look out onto the grove:

from the outside (we do NOT take pictures inside the temple)

We were pretty severely jet-lagged so, despite wanting to be awake and attentive, Josh and I both fell asleep during the session. It was pretty embarrassing when the woman next to me had to shake me awake. 

After the session, we drove to Niagara Falls, where we stayed in a beautiful hotel overlooking the falls. We're definitely going back there again.