June 25, 2009 Thursday COUNCIL BLUFFS (KANESVILLE), IOWA AND WINTER QUARTERS (FLORENCE), SD
Today here in Council Bluffs we visited more pioneer sites. You really get a sense of who these pioneers were when you visit these places. They were so faithful and so strong. I’m sure I could not have done what they did. First, we went to the Kanesville Tabernacle (it’s a large wood building used for church meetings and other community gatherings such as voting, dances, etc.) It could accommodate about 1000 people. It is the building in which the announcement was made that Brigham Young would be the next Prophet and President of the Church after having a “Council of the Twelve type Presidency” for several years. His Councilors were Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards. This is also where the first “penned” revelation was given to Brigham Young (see section 136 of the D&C, thank you Steve Harper! Your book has been a valuable resource during this trip!) The building we visited today was actually a replica of the original tabernacle, but they built it like they did in 1847, using green wood from freshly cut cottonwood trees. The original building was unwittingly built over a spring and eventually flooded and was torn down. This replica was built in 1996 about 600 feet away on dryer land. Even today as the wood dries and shrinks, they are tightening screws and allowing for the shrinkage.
Kanesville is also the place where the government (which had so recently and illegally sent the Saints packing) came and asked for 500 men to fight in the Mexican-American war. The governments of Missouri and Illinois treated the Saints so horribly. They left their beautiful cities which they had built by hand and couldn’t even sell their stores or houses, took whatever they could fit in a wagon or hand cart and were forced out, but these same Saints still sent men to fight a battle for the US Government. Kanesville became a major outfitting place as pioneers continued to move west.
We then drove to the Nebraska side of the Missouri River to see the Winter Quarters Temple. It is a beautiful temple, located amid many trees and lush green lawns. It is also next to the pioneer graveyard. As we toured the Visitor’s Center a sweet sister missionary from Layton, UT told us a story of a family that was crossing the plains. The husband and father was paralyzed from a gunshot wound during the massacre inflicted on the Saints at Haun’s Mill. They had a young daughter and a teenage son. The mother prayed about sending her son to fight the war. It was revealed to her that she should and she was heartbroken, but the Lord promised her that he would return unharmed, which he did. It was also revealed to the Saint’s that it was important to the future of the church that they fight in the war against Mexico. Such faith these people had, and to be as noble as to as to fight for a government that had treated them so poorly. The graveyard next to the temple is on a beautiful hill, but most of the markers are gone and you can’t really read the ones that are left, just a date here and there. The missionaries gave us lists of the pioneers buried there. Ralph and Mike recognized a name of one of their ancestors. I found a “Weeks” and a “Thompson” on the list. May be relatives, don’t know yet! Today the temperature was 96 and the humidity was like 98! I don’t mind the humidity, but they can keep the heat! We ate lunch at a little Mom and Pop diner and the food was great. Then we headed back to the Park. Mike and Ralph had to go to Camping World because Ralph needed an extension cord. Betty and I had a good visit.
One other thing I might mention…Today we were almost in a car accident. I have felt that we would be safe on this trip and it’s interesting how faith works. Mike was in the process of running a red light when he slammed on the brakes and stopped just before T-boning the car coming across the intersection. It’s hard to drive and watch for directional signs and watch for the traffic and lights, etc. But when it happened I was totally calm. At the time I was looking down at the map and I looked up, saw the car we were about to hit and the shocked expression on the lady’s face that was in the passenger’s seat, and I simply looked down at the map again. My heart didn’t even skip a beat or race. I just knew it was going to be alright and we weren’t going to hit them and we hadn’t even stopped yet. It was an amazing feeling I just had to share here, not because Mike made a mistake, but because of the amazing feeling I had. I love you all very much!
Today here in Council Bluffs we visited more pioneer sites. You really get a sense of who these pioneers were when you visit these places. They were so faithful and so strong. I’m sure I could not have done what they did. First, we went to the Kanesville Tabernacle (it’s a large wood building used for church meetings and other community gatherings such as voting, dances, etc.) It could accommodate about 1000 people. It is the building in which the announcement was made that Brigham Young would be the next Prophet and President of the Church after having a “Council of the Twelve type Presidency” for several years. His Councilors were Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards. This is also where the first “penned” revelation was given to Brigham Young (see section 136 of the D&C, thank you Steve Harper! Your book has been a valuable resource during this trip!) The building we visited today was actually a replica of the original tabernacle, but they built it like they did in 1847, using green wood from freshly cut cottonwood trees. The original building was unwittingly built over a spring and eventually flooded and was torn down. This replica was built in 1996 about 600 feet away on dryer land. Even today as the wood dries and shrinks, they are tightening screws and allowing for the shrinkage.
Kanesville is also the place where the government (which had so recently and illegally sent the Saints packing) came and asked for 500 men to fight in the Mexican-American war. The governments of Missouri and Illinois treated the Saints so horribly. They left their beautiful cities which they had built by hand and couldn’t even sell their stores or houses, took whatever they could fit in a wagon or hand cart and were forced out, but these same Saints still sent men to fight a battle for the US Government. Kanesville became a major outfitting place as pioneers continued to move west.
We then drove to the Nebraska side of the Missouri River to see the Winter Quarters Temple. It is a beautiful temple, located amid many trees and lush green lawns. It is also next to the pioneer graveyard. As we toured the Visitor’s Center a sweet sister missionary from Layton, UT told us a story of a family that was crossing the plains. The husband and father was paralyzed from a gunshot wound during the massacre inflicted on the Saints at Haun’s Mill. They had a young daughter and a teenage son. The mother prayed about sending her son to fight the war. It was revealed to her that she should and she was heartbroken, but the Lord promised her that he would return unharmed, which he did. It was also revealed to the Saint’s that it was important to the future of the church that they fight in the war against Mexico. Such faith these people had, and to be as noble as to as to fight for a government that had treated them so poorly. The graveyard next to the temple is on a beautiful hill, but most of the markers are gone and you can’t really read the ones that are left, just a date here and there. The missionaries gave us lists of the pioneers buried there. Ralph and Mike recognized a name of one of their ancestors. I found a “Weeks” and a “Thompson” on the list. May be relatives, don’t know yet! Today the temperature was 96 and the humidity was like 98! I don’t mind the humidity, but they can keep the heat! We ate lunch at a little Mom and Pop diner and the food was great. Then we headed back to the Park. Mike and Ralph had to go to Camping World because Ralph needed an extension cord. Betty and I had a good visit.
One other thing I might mention…Today we were almost in a car accident. I have felt that we would be safe on this trip and it’s interesting how faith works. Mike was in the process of running a red light when he slammed on the brakes and stopped just before T-boning the car coming across the intersection. It’s hard to drive and watch for directional signs and watch for the traffic and lights, etc. But when it happened I was totally calm. At the time I was looking down at the map and I looked up, saw the car we were about to hit and the shocked expression on the lady’s face that was in the passenger’s seat, and I simply looked down at the map again. My heart didn’t even skip a beat or race. I just knew it was going to be alright and we weren’t going to hit them and we hadn’t even stopped yet. It was an amazing feeling I just had to share here, not because Mike made a mistake, but because of the amazing feeling I had. I love you all very much!
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