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Joseph,
Joseph, Joseph
The Temple Has Returned to Nauvoo
A Photographic
Essay by Scot Facer Proctor
How long, oh
Joseph, mighty Prophet of the Restoration, for this House to return
to the earth? Over 57,000 sunsets have passed and the temple has
been, as it were, resurrected on the brow of the hill overlooking
the horseshoe bend of the gentle Mississippi River. 'Dear Lord,'
you would pray during your mortal sojourn, 'let thy servant Joseph
see this House completed, and thy servant shall be happy.' Now,
Joseph, you whom all of us call brother: The Temple rests once again
upon the hill and you may gaze upon it in happiness as we do.
This past Tuesday,
April 30, 2002, Maurine and I were blessed to be able to go to Nauvoo
for the press briefing and open house of the Nauvoo Temple. This
is something I never dreamed (five years ago) would ever happen.
It was, for me, simply a coming home. I have loved Nauvoo all my
life. I have studied her streets and houses, her people, her history
and her temple fair for the past 35 years.
The temple has
returned and I felt to cry out: Joseph! Joseph! Joseph! As if to
shout to the heavens and to this Prophet of the Restoration that
this was a watermark of faith of this people—a sign to the
heavens. We as a people were driven into the wilderness 156 years
ago from this very place. And we lost the temple to the enemies
of the Church—then to fire and tornado and stone pickers.
But the Temple
has been rebuilt. This people have returned from the wilderness
and have come out of obscurity and into the light.
In my humble
way, I shall attempt in the next few days to display a few of the
hundreds of photographs I took while in Nauvoo for those brief days.
I want you, our precious Meridian reader, to come to Nauvoo and
experience what we experienced. In days to follow I will walk you
around the temple, take you inside, go down to the flats and view
the temple from every angle of the community of Nauvoo. I hope it
will lift you and bless you as it has Maurine and me.
Photo Essay
One: Western Façade, Entry and Moonstone Details
Click
to Enlarge
Looking upon
the western façade of the temple from just above "the grove"
where Joseph used to preach. Taken in the early morning as the sun
was about to rise and begin to burn off the cloud cover, the temple
crowns the brow of the hill in all her glory. I have been to Nauvoo
three separate occasions since the structure has been in place and
my heart takes a leap afresh every time I see this glorious Temple
on the hill.
Click
to Enlarge
A close up view
of the southwest corner of the temple reveals some of the details
of the steps and the moonstones and the beautiful, meticulous landscaping.
I can't help but think about the early Saints who toiled and strained
to build the Nauvoo Temple of yesteryear. I believe similar sacrifices
were required of the workers on this temple. According to all with
whom I have spoken, this is probably the best-built temple in this
dispensation. It feels like the heavens rejoice in the return of
this temple.
Click
to Enlarge
I wanted you
to walk up the steps with me and feel the texture and smoothness
of the experience. The Nauvoo Temple stands again. I say it again
and again and I weep with joy as I do so. I can feel the invitation
of these steps for the faithful to come: "Come, come up to the house
of the Lord."
Click
to Enlarge
Each of the
moonstones has been cut and shaped a little different from each
other. At first pass they all look the same unless one looks upon
them very carefully. There are thirty each of these large moonstones
at the base of the pilasters, thirty sunstones at the top of the
pilasters, and thirty starstones just above.
Click
to Enlarge
Here you can
see ten of the thirty moonstones in a row on the southern exposure
of the Temple. This temple is majestic and stately and noble. Though
it measures only 90 x 130 feet and has a total square footage of
about 54,000 (compared, for example to the Salt Lake Temple which
measure 119 x 181 feet and has 253,000 square feet), this temple
is unique and bold as it once again crowns the brow of this special
hill in Nauvoo.
Click
to Enlarge
I wanted to
back up and show you the lower stairs at the west entrance of the
temple so you could get some perspective. I like the Raymond Clark
store (which was the construction office of the temple project)
in the background. It gives the authentic look and feel of Nauvoo.
When the landscaping folks came in to the temple lot they removed
all but two of the trees that had been here for years. It took me
a while to get over that, but I realize that many were old and sick
and the landscaping had been planned around a hole in the ground,
not an edifice jutting into the sky. The subtle and stately landscaping
is careful and nearly perfect.
Click
to Enlarge
Here is the
main entrance into the temple. The doors were hand made by Chuck
Allen of Nauvoo (the same main who did all the windows). The light
fixtures without are reminiscent of the times. The whole entrance
to the temple is so amazingly inviting—and of course, it must
be remembered—all of this is according to "the vision" that
was given the Prophet Joseph in the early days of Nauvoo.
Click
to Enlarge
Here is the
southeast corner of the temple—'the point of greatest light,'
as the Prophet Joseph called it. Here, as you can see, is the place
where the final ceremonial cornerstone or capstone will be layed
to seal the temple. A time capsule of some kind will be placed in
the open space that you can see here. President Hinckley has always
invited the children to participate in this part of the ceremony
so they can tell their children and their children's children that
they were there—and that the word and witness can go down for
generation upon generation.
Click
to Enlarge
Here you can
not only see the moonstone at the southwest corner of the temple,
but you can begin to see the intricate cuts on each of the stones
for the façade of the temple. When we were talking to the
builders of the temple I asked if anything significant had been
found in the deep excavation of the temple lot. I was told that
there was not much found except they did find one large, lone block
of limestone that had been a part of the temple and perfectly preserved
the special 'basket-weave' pattern for carving the outside temple
stones in the original Nauvoo Temple. So, the same pattern was used
for all of the stones on the re-built Nauvoo Temple. Yes, that was
one significant find. I will show you more detail in a future photo
essay.
Click
to Enlarge
I will close
with this photo looking from "the grove" where Joseph preached.
Now, Joseph preached from a number of outdoor groves in Nauvoo but
this western grove was perhaps the most famous as from here, just
weeks before he would be killed, he preached the now-famous King
Follett Discourse before an estimated crowd of nearly 20,000. The
temple was not nearly so finished in Joseph's life—perhaps
the walls were up only 9 or 10 feet before Joseph was taken from
us—but the vision of Joseph was every bit as evident and bold
in his mind as the view of the temple is here and now.
Coming Temple
Photo Essays will include:
*The Nauvoo
Temple at Night
*The Interior
Furnishings and Decorations of the Nauvoo Temple
*The Interior
Rooms of the Temple
*The Nauvoo
Temple from 'The Flats'—Views from Old Nauvoo
*The Nauvoo
Temple from The Modern Community of Nauvoo—New Views
*The Nauvoo
Temple in All Her Glory
*The Press
Conference Introducing the Nauvoo Temple
*Details and
Close Ups of the Nauvoo Temple
*Downloadable
Images of the Nauvoo Temple (limited use permitted) for Your Sunday
School Programs
*The Tower
and the Angel Moroni
(All
photographs Copyright 2002 Scot Facer Proctor)
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