Pageant season is upon us here in Nauvoo. Every night between now and August 1st, the LDS Church will be putting on an outdoor play that celebrates some aspect of Nauvoo church history. What that means for Community of Christ Nauvoo tour guides is that we will be giving tours pretty much non-stop until pageant season ends. I’m already feeling the effects of it this week, though I think the worst is yet to come. Today, I felt like I had hardly any time between tours, and it was exhausting. But that’s okay. Most of the time, I enjoy what I’m doing.
I continue to be amused by some of the interactions I have with LDS tourists. I know they’re sincere, God bless ‘em, but they can be obnoxious. Yesterday, at the visitor’s center, a guy came up to the counter and started asking me and the woman I was working with about Community of Christ beliefs. “What do you believe about the afterlife?” he asked. The woman I was with did most of the talking because she’s been Community of Christ much longer than I have. Next the man asked, “Do you believe families can be together forever?” What LDS folk don’t realize is that many non-LDS people find this question somewhat absurd. For many non-LDS people, it’s just a given that families will be reunited in the afterlife. The LDS person might then ask, “But will you still be a family?” And again, this will just seem weird to many non-LDS folk. In the context of the afterlife, what does that even mean? Will we still live together under the same roof? Well, that doesn’t happen even in this world with your family. Will you still use the terms “brother” and “sister” and “father” and “mother”? Is that all that the LDS person means? Can we still use family-like labels? Many non-LDS people just find it a weird question to begin with, one that is based on a weird concern. Or at least that’s what I gather. Anyway, the LDS guy eventually asked, “So, have you ever talked with the LDS missionaries?” The woman I was working with said, “Oh yes, they are in here all the time. I have given lots of tours to LDS missionaries.” The LDS man then said, “But have you ever just sat down with the missionaries and had a conversation?” It was now starting to feel very awkward because it was obvious this guy was intent on doing his good deed for the day. My co-worker told the guy she hadn’t, to which he replied, “Oh, you should! They know so much about the gospel!” At this point, I’m thinking two things. One, this guy just implied that we don’t know nearly as much about the gospel—which is kind of rude and also rather silly, given our backgrounds. Two, in what sense do missionaries “know so much about the gospel”? I know missionaries are trained with a very specific set of skills and on a rather specific set of topics, but it’s really quite silly to pretend an 18-year-old boy fresh out of high school “knows so much about the gospel.” They barely know what it means to shave.
Today, someone asked me at the end of one of my tours, “Why didn’t Emma go to Utah with the other Saints? Do we have any historical documents that tell us why?” I then tried to answer in a very mature, honest, and respectful way. I said, “Emma and Brigham Young had quite the falling out after Joseph died. There were squabbles over property and various documents. Were they Joseph’s and thus belonged to the family, or were they the Church’s and thus should stay with the Church? Emma and Brigham didn’t agree on this. But a really big issue, quite frankly, was polygamy. Emma was not fond of polygamy whatsoever and didn’t want to go with Brigham largely because of that.” At this point, a gentleman in the tour group chimed in, “Well, and she was tired.” It felt to me like he was trying to give the more definitive answer. Part of me wanted to toss my hands in the air and say, “If you only want to hear what you already think, don’t ask questions!” Of course, the man who made the “too tired” argument was not the man who had asked the question, so I’m not being entirely fair. But it’s a tiny bit grating when people can’t handle hearing anything but what they already believe, especially when I know it’s just a fairy tale someone made up at some point. It really drills it in just how powerful a religious system can be, that the religion could tell its adherents literally anything and many of them would believe it forever more, never trusting anyone or anything that said something to the contrary. I’m not claiming that something nefarious is going on, but that’s how powerful religion is, and I’m seeing that on a daily basis. It truly is fascinating.
In other news, today was my first “split.” With particularly large tour groups (30+ or so), we cannot fit all of the tourists at once into the Mansion House. (It’s also bad for the second floor of the Mansion House to have so many people on it at once, due to its age.) In order to accommodate such large groups, there is a point on the tour at which the tour group is divided in two. Half of them go with one tour guide into the Mansion House while the other half goes with another tour guide to the Smith Family Cemetery. The two guides then switch their half-groups, repeat their spiel, and the two half-groups then come together and continue on the tour as a unified group once again. On this split, I was not the main tour guide, so my job was merely to tell the Mansion House story twice in a row to two separate half-groups. I wasn’t that concerned about it, but I got more frazzled than expected. For one thing, when I was trading off my first half-group for my second half-group, I was supposed to walk the first half-group partway back to cemetery, where I would meet up with my second half-group. On the way over, however, a guy started asking me about Community of Christ’s stance on same-sex marriage, and this distracted me such that I ended up bypassing my second half-group and taking the first half-group further than needed. I snapped out of it only because the lead tour guide was my boss and he loudly alerted me to take care of my second batch of tourists. Whoops. Because of that, I felt slightly discombobulated as I began my spiel with the second half-group in the Mansion House. I stammered a bit more as a result, but quickly recovered. All in all, I don’t think anything was too terrible or noticeable for the tourists themselves, but I wish it had gone better. Oh well.
The big news this week is the arrival of Seth and Jenn, our very good friends from Utah. Seth is the associate pastor at our Salt Lake City congregation of Community of Christ, and he and his family are out here so Jenn can do a horticultural internship in Nauvoo. During their time here, both Jenn and Seth will be giving some tours, and Melanie will be spending some time watching their children. It’s really a great thing for us, not only because Melanie and I will have some friends around, but because our kids will too. Jenn and Seth have three children of their own, and they’ve already sparked some life into our kids’ daily routine. It’s really great to have them around. (It was also very therapeutic for me to have them over for dinner last night and be able to talk to some Community of Christ members who have an LDS background, like I do. There are things you can only understand if that’s been your own journey, and aside from having Melanie, I’ve lacked that type of camaraderie while out here.)
I think that about does it for today. I’ll conclude with yet another “fun fact” from church history. It appears that the current LDS method of presidential/prophetic succession, where the senior apostle by default becomes the next president, was not firmly established until at least Lorenzo Snow, fifth president of the LDS Church. Over three years passed between Joseph Smith’s death and Brigham Young’s becoming president, as also between Brigham Young’s death and John Taylor’s becoming president. Nearly two years passed between the death of John Taylor and Taylor’s successor, Wilford Woodruff. Interestingly, some members of the Quorum of the Twelve were initially opposed to Woodruff becoming the next president of the LDS Church. Among the apostles who did not feel Woodruff was cut out to be the next leader of the Church was future LDS President Heber J. Grant.
Formerly Benj (& Purge); formerly Sucking on Oranges
Thursday, July 09, 2015
Tuesday, July 07, 2015
Eddie Turns 9!
Edison celebrated his ninth birthday here in Nauvoo. Although we celebrated with family and friends before heading to Illinois, we didn’t skimp much on the celebrations here. We started the day by opening presents, then at Eddie’s request took to Grandpa John’s Café for their breakfast buffet. Grandpa John’s is one of only a few places to eat in Nauvoo, but it’s good, so I was happy. With the buffet, I was able to have both pancakes and French toast, so who can complain about that? After breakfast, we swung back home for a few minutes. On our way home, we stopped at the Joseph Smith Historic Site to pick up a package that had arrived from Melanie’s mom. This allowed Eddie to open up even more birthday presents before we headed to the city of Burlington, IA, approximately 35 minutes away.
In Burlington, we spent the bulk of our time at FunCity. FunCity is appended to some hotel casino and offers various forms of entertainment, such as laser tag, a kid-friendly race track, and a large arcade. We hit the race track first. Neither Eddie nor Peter were tall enough to drive one of the faster race cars, but they each took a turn racing around in the slightly smaller cars. Beegy was too nervous to partake of this attraction, so he sat in the stands with Melanie and me. After racing a bit, we headed to “Ballocity” (rhymes with “velocity”), a play land area of sorts with tons of small, not-too-hard balls. There are vacuum tubes that can suck them up and launch them at people, or dump them into a large, overhead basket that eventually tips and spills all over the kids below. It looked kind of cool from what I could tell. After Ballocity, we took the kids to do laser tag. Eddie got nervous about the laser tag being in a darkened room, so he backed out at the last moment. Peter and Beegy played, and then Eddie wished he had. We let them all do another round, but not without first going back to the Ballocity area and letting Beegy do “Sky Tykes,” a kind of obstacle course (sort of) where kids are harnessed in and then make their way across various little bridges. (There is an adult version, too, that is much higher and more likely to result in falls.)
After spending plenty of time at Funcity, we took to Burger King. Eddie requested it for lunch, having noticed it as we passed it shortly before arriving at Funcity. We then returned to Nauvoo, where the kids had “Kindle time” (which more accurately should be called “video game time”). For dinner, Eddie requested pizza from Casey’s, the local convenience store that also sells pretty good pizza pies. (They are chewy and cheesy, but don’t hold up well with multiple toppings.) As we ate the pizza, we watched Charlotte’s Web on Netflix. After the movie and pizza party, all three boys slept on the living room floor.
It was a good birthday for Eddie, and we all enjoyed ourselves. I can’t believe he’s nine years old. It’s old enough to make me a bit sad about how much time has flown and how short the remaining years of Eddie’s childhood will be.
In Burlington, we spent the bulk of our time at FunCity. FunCity is appended to some hotel casino and offers various forms of entertainment, such as laser tag, a kid-friendly race track, and a large arcade. We hit the race track first. Neither Eddie nor Peter were tall enough to drive one of the faster race cars, but they each took a turn racing around in the slightly smaller cars. Beegy was too nervous to partake of this attraction, so he sat in the stands with Melanie and me. After racing a bit, we headed to “Ballocity” (rhymes with “velocity”), a play land area of sorts with tons of small, not-too-hard balls. There are vacuum tubes that can suck them up and launch them at people, or dump them into a large, overhead basket that eventually tips and spills all over the kids below. It looked kind of cool from what I could tell. After Ballocity, we took the kids to do laser tag. Eddie got nervous about the laser tag being in a darkened room, so he backed out at the last moment. Peter and Beegy played, and then Eddie wished he had. We let them all do another round, but not without first going back to the Ballocity area and letting Beegy do “Sky Tykes,” a kind of obstacle course (sort of) where kids are harnessed in and then make their way across various little bridges. (There is an adult version, too, that is much higher and more likely to result in falls.)
After spending plenty of time at Funcity, we took to Burger King. Eddie requested it for lunch, having noticed it as we passed it shortly before arriving at Funcity. We then returned to Nauvoo, where the kids had “Kindle time” (which more accurately should be called “video game time”). For dinner, Eddie requested pizza from Casey’s, the local convenience store that also sells pretty good pizza pies. (They are chewy and cheesy, but don’t hold up well with multiple toppings.) As we ate the pizza, we watched Charlotte’s Web on Netflix. After the movie and pizza party, all three boys slept on the living room floor.
It was a good birthday for Eddie, and we all enjoyed ourselves. I can’t believe he’s nine years old. It’s old enough to make me a bit sad about how much time has flown and how short the remaining years of Eddie’s childhood will be.
Saturday, July 04, 2015
Tales of a Tour Guide, Part 8
Guess who has Internet service and two thumbs poised over the space bar in proper typing position? This guy!
Shortly after I wrote yesterday’s post, my boss called whatever people needed to be called, those people then did whatever thing needed to be done, and voilà—Internet service is restored to the Sidney Rigdon home! It’s a good feeling, and good for the whole family, all of whom were suffering from at least a little bitty bit of Internet withdrawal. Going without it was a bit too 1844 for our tastes.
Yesterday, I had a very interesting tourist among my first tour of the day. The guy was incredibly enthusiastic about everything on the tour and absolutely fascinated by Mormon history in general. The funny thing is, he’s a lifelong Baptist. Despite that, he was familiar with more Mormon history than the average tourist. He mentioned several early Latter Day Saint groups that he had studied, such as the Rigdonites, the Strangites, etc. In between stops on our walking tour, he and I were engaged in constant conversation during which he asked about my own spiritual journey and, as with everything else, was quite taken in by it. He apologized numerous times for asking so many questions, but it was the highlight of my day. It’s enjoyable to talk about these things, and the man’s enthusiasm was amusing in a charming kind of way.
Last night was our Fourth of July celebration here in Nauvoo. Now before you spit your Postum all over your keyboard and scream, “Whhhhaaaaaaaatttt?!?!!?”, let me explain. About 15 or 20 minutes south of Nauvoo is a city called Keokuk. My understanding is that Keokuk puts on a large fireworks show every year. In order to avoid competing with Keokuk, Nauvoo does its fireworks on July 3rd. But it’s not just Nauvoo. Montrose, Iowa is directly across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo. Montrose and Nauvoo take turns setting off the July 3rd fireworks, since no matter which city does it, people on both sides of the river can enjoy the spectacle. This year, Montrose was responsible for the fireworks. Before heading out to watch the fireworks, Melanie, the boys, and I attended a dinner at the Nauvoo Community of Christ. We had hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad, chips, pasta salads, etc. We had a good time. After the dinner, we followed the crowds to park alongside the Mississippi River and wait. We worked our way through the relentless flocks of mayflies coalescing along the water’s edge and ended up in a great spot to watch the fireworks. It was one of the most calm fireworks displays Melanie and I can remember. It probably helps that, being in Nauvoo, we couldn’t hear whatever music Montrose might have been playing as part of the show. It was just the visuals and a bunch of families sitting relatively quietly around us. It was quite pleasant. This is the first year in who knows how long that we didn’t gather up a bunch of treats to have on hand for the show. That’s fine, because we had just had dinner and dessert at the church. But it seems worth noting, since it was a break from our traditional Independence Day shenanigans.
Today happened to be my day off, so we did have some 4th of July fun. We saw a 1:30 PM showing of Terminator Genisys at the movie theater in Keokuk. It’s quite a good deal. Tickets are $8 per person, but all tickets come with an individual-sized popcorn and a fountain drink. If that weren’t exciting enough, they have Diet Mountain Dew on tap! The theater itself is nothing special—it’s old-fashioned, but not in a cool way. They don’t have stadium seating, so if it’s crowded you can have a hard time seeing the screen (so I’ve heard). But we didn’t have that problem today as very few people were in attendance. Which is awesome, considering it’s a holiday and that movie just came out. Here’s to living in small towns!
Another small-town, movie-related part of our day was renting movies from an honest to goodness video rental store. They still exist out here! Perhaps because video rental stores are nearly obsolete, the deals are incredible. For the first 30 days of our membership, we get half-priced movies. On top of that, they always offer “rent 3, get 1 free.” On top of that, many movies are only $1. On top of that, they have a decent-sized selection of kid movies that are 100% free to rent. We actually signed up a few days ago and came home with seven movies, four of which were new releases, for just over $4. Take that, Redbox! The rentals the other day were primarily for the kids, so today Melanie and I stocked up on movies, once again spending under $5. We have five days before we have to worry about returning the videos, so we’re in good shape. It’s quite wonderful.
Tonight, we went to my boss’ house for a 4th of July meal that was extremely similar to last night’s meal—grilled burgers and bratwursts, baked beans, pasta salad, chips, etc. At the behest of my 18-year-old tour guide buddy named Shad, Melanie, Eddie, Creegan (sort of), and I played a round of croquet with him. I won the game but lost to the mosquitoes, who absolutely devoured my ankle by game’s end. At one point I looked down and had maybe five mosquitoes on my ankles all at once, drinking away like a team of thirsty horses stopped at a stream. I enjoyed my time at the party, but I was more than done by the time we left. As I write this, I am less itchy but much more exhausted.
Need I include a “fun fact of the day”? Oh, alright. The stars, moon, and sun symbolism depicted on the Nauvoo and Salt Lake City temples are unlikely to represent the Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial Kingdoms, respectively. No records indicate that such was the thinking among the early Latter Day Saints, and the order in which these symbols occur on the temples (with the sun in the middle and the stars at the top) likewise suggests that they should not be interpreted as representing the three degrees of glory. Instead, these symbols are likely used for their significance in Freemasonry, which Joseph Smith joined a few short weeks before introducing what is known today in the LDS tradition as “the endowment.” As for the order in which these symbols appear on the temples, it is likely based on the relative nearness of each celestial body to the Earth: the moon is closest to us, the sun is the next nearest, and the stars are the furthest away.
Shortly after I wrote yesterday’s post, my boss called whatever people needed to be called, those people then did whatever thing needed to be done, and voilà—Internet service is restored to the Sidney Rigdon home! It’s a good feeling, and good for the whole family, all of whom were suffering from at least a little bitty bit of Internet withdrawal. Going without it was a bit too 1844 for our tastes.
Yesterday, I had a very interesting tourist among my first tour of the day. The guy was incredibly enthusiastic about everything on the tour and absolutely fascinated by Mormon history in general. The funny thing is, he’s a lifelong Baptist. Despite that, he was familiar with more Mormon history than the average tourist. He mentioned several early Latter Day Saint groups that he had studied, such as the Rigdonites, the Strangites, etc. In between stops on our walking tour, he and I were engaged in constant conversation during which he asked about my own spiritual journey and, as with everything else, was quite taken in by it. He apologized numerous times for asking so many questions, but it was the highlight of my day. It’s enjoyable to talk about these things, and the man’s enthusiasm was amusing in a charming kind of way.
Last night was our Fourth of July celebration here in Nauvoo. Now before you spit your Postum all over your keyboard and scream, “Whhhhaaaaaaaatttt?!?!!?”, let me explain. About 15 or 20 minutes south of Nauvoo is a city called Keokuk. My understanding is that Keokuk puts on a large fireworks show every year. In order to avoid competing with Keokuk, Nauvoo does its fireworks on July 3rd. But it’s not just Nauvoo. Montrose, Iowa is directly across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo. Montrose and Nauvoo take turns setting off the July 3rd fireworks, since no matter which city does it, people on both sides of the river can enjoy the spectacle. This year, Montrose was responsible for the fireworks. Before heading out to watch the fireworks, Melanie, the boys, and I attended a dinner at the Nauvoo Community of Christ. We had hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad, chips, pasta salads, etc. We had a good time. After the dinner, we followed the crowds to park alongside the Mississippi River and wait. We worked our way through the relentless flocks of mayflies coalescing along the water’s edge and ended up in a great spot to watch the fireworks. It was one of the most calm fireworks displays Melanie and I can remember. It probably helps that, being in Nauvoo, we couldn’t hear whatever music Montrose might have been playing as part of the show. It was just the visuals and a bunch of families sitting relatively quietly around us. It was quite pleasant. This is the first year in who knows how long that we didn’t gather up a bunch of treats to have on hand for the show. That’s fine, because we had just had dinner and dessert at the church. But it seems worth noting, since it was a break from our traditional Independence Day shenanigans.
Today happened to be my day off, so we did have some 4th of July fun. We saw a 1:30 PM showing of Terminator Genisys at the movie theater in Keokuk. It’s quite a good deal. Tickets are $8 per person, but all tickets come with an individual-sized popcorn and a fountain drink. If that weren’t exciting enough, they have Diet Mountain Dew on tap! The theater itself is nothing special—it’s old-fashioned, but not in a cool way. They don’t have stadium seating, so if it’s crowded you can have a hard time seeing the screen (so I’ve heard). But we didn’t have that problem today as very few people were in attendance. Which is awesome, considering it’s a holiday and that movie just came out. Here’s to living in small towns!
Another small-town, movie-related part of our day was renting movies from an honest to goodness video rental store. They still exist out here! Perhaps because video rental stores are nearly obsolete, the deals are incredible. For the first 30 days of our membership, we get half-priced movies. On top of that, they always offer “rent 3, get 1 free.” On top of that, many movies are only $1. On top of that, they have a decent-sized selection of kid movies that are 100% free to rent. We actually signed up a few days ago and came home with seven movies, four of which were new releases, for just over $4. Take that, Redbox! The rentals the other day were primarily for the kids, so today Melanie and I stocked up on movies, once again spending under $5. We have five days before we have to worry about returning the videos, so we’re in good shape. It’s quite wonderful.
Tonight, we went to my boss’ house for a 4th of July meal that was extremely similar to last night’s meal—grilled burgers and bratwursts, baked beans, pasta salad, chips, etc. At the behest of my 18-year-old tour guide buddy named Shad, Melanie, Eddie, Creegan (sort of), and I played a round of croquet with him. I won the game but lost to the mosquitoes, who absolutely devoured my ankle by game’s end. At one point I looked down and had maybe five mosquitoes on my ankles all at once, drinking away like a team of thirsty horses stopped at a stream. I enjoyed my time at the party, but I was more than done by the time we left. As I write this, I am less itchy but much more exhausted.
Need I include a “fun fact of the day”? Oh, alright. The stars, moon, and sun symbolism depicted on the Nauvoo and Salt Lake City temples are unlikely to represent the Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial Kingdoms, respectively. No records indicate that such was the thinking among the early Latter Day Saints, and the order in which these symbols occur on the temples (with the sun in the middle and the stars at the top) likewise suggests that they should not be interpreted as representing the three degrees of glory. Instead, these symbols are likely used for their significance in Freemasonry, which Joseph Smith joined a few short weeks before introducing what is known today in the LDS tradition as “the endowment.” As for the order in which these symbols appear on the temples, it is likely based on the relative nearness of each celestial body to the Earth: the moon is closest to us, the sun is the next nearest, and the stars are the furthest away.
Friday, July 03, 2015
Tales of a Tour Guide, Part 7
I mentioned in my previous post that Melanie, the boys, and I have moved into the Sidney Rigdon home. Overall, it's been a nice move, but it only takes a day to be well aware of the problems. Most notable among those problems is our lack of Internet service. We're supposed to have a wifi connection, but it hasn't been working. Someone will look into it, but we've now gone nearly two days without access to the web, and it's a bummer. The only reason you're seeing this post is because I've been able to write it during downtime at work using a computer in the back room. Tender mercies.
There are a few other downsides to the Rigdon home. There is much less kitchen counter space, which makes food prep somewhat difficult. The toaster only has two slots instead of four—a petty complaint, perhaps, but our boys eat something toasted almost every morning, so it makes a difference. We also don't have as much drawer space in the home for clothes. A final thing is that I feel way more conspicuous in the Rigdon home. I don't feel like all of the windows get completely covered, and the home isn't quite as out of the way as where we were living previously, so at night I feel very exposed if we have lights on. Nauvoo is incredibly dark at night, so I know if have a light on, we probably stand out as if we were on a drive-in movie screen. There goes my midnight naked aerobics workout.
To be fair, there continue to be things I very much enjoy about the Rigdon home. I am happy with the move, overall. Among the improvements that I hadn't yet noticed the last time I wrote: the fridge is bigger and easier to fit stuff into; the warm/hot water gets heated up within a matter of seconds rather than taking literally several minutes as it did at the Bakery; and it's kind of cool to be living in the more historic part of Nauvoo. The house next to ours is the Mansion House, the last home Joseph Smith ever lived in. I give tours of the Mansion House every day, so you wouldn't think it'd be all that impressive to be living next to it. But there's something almost surreal about it being right outside my kitchen window. It somehow brings it to life to have it be a part of my normal life setting rather than a stop on a guided tour. At night, this effect is particularly poignant to me. It's not a reverential feeling, mind you. But coming home at night, driving past the Mansion House all dark, knowing that's how it would've looked at night back in 1844—I don't know why, but it makes it more real somehow. It feels just a touch more like time travel than it does when I actually tour the building.
Speaking of giving tours...
I mentioned last time that my final tour group of the day was very generous and complimentary. My boss told me the next morning that they had raved about me to him. I'm glad to know I'm doing well with at least some of these tour groups. Sometimes people aren't very enthusiastic, and you can't help but wonder how much of it is your fault.
Yesterday, I gave a tour to a couple who weren't LDS and who didn't seem to know a great deal about the Mormon church or who Community of Christ is. I'm not sure how or what they know about Joseph Smith, and so I'm not sure what in particular compelled them to visit Nauvoo. At the end of the tour, the man attempted to tip me five dollars. That was a first. I refused the tip, for the record.
One of the most awkward questions for me, which I've gotten a couple of times now, is, "Why didn't Emma go to Utah with the rest of the Saints?" It's awkward because I don't know how to answer the question in a way that isn't potentially threatening to LDS visitors. Maybe I'm not giving them enough credit, but I don't think most of them want to hear about polygamy or the fact that Emma absolutely despised the practice, or the fact that she pretty much hated Brigham Young and did not accept his arguments about how the Church should be led after Joseph's death. Each and every one of these items could potentially make LDS visitors uncomfortable. I would think. LDS folklore often cites Emma being "too tired" to head west, which just isn't the case. Sometimes the "too tired" claim is made about Lucy Mack Smith, the widowed mother of Joseph Smith. The idea is that Lucy couldn't handle moving west, so they all stayed behind to take care of her. Again, that's not really the case. Lucy would've been old and frail, yes, but that's not why they stayed put. As I understand it, Lucy would've just done whatever her remaining family decided to do. Plenty of people hauled their older family members across the plains. Lucy's age and frailty had nothing to do with Emma and her family remaining in Nauvoo.
Let me end with another fun fact from Mormon history. Since I've mentioned the schism between Brigham Young and Emma's side of the family, let's talk for a moment about Joseph Smith III. It appears that Joseph Smith III was ordained and/or blessed to succeed his father as leader of the church on at least four occasions. The first was in the patriarchal blessing he received from his grandfather, Joseph Smith, Sr. (From what I've seen, I think there is room to debate what precisely the blessing meant in terms of leading the church—I think you could argue that it doesn't explicitly make that claim, but anyway.) The last blessing would've been at the hands of Joseph Smith himself right before Joseph heads to Carthage, where he is killed. Contrary to what some might expect, the idea that Joseph III could and/or should lead the church was recognized by many, including Brigham Young. Brigham thought Joseph III had gone astray in his rejection of polygamy but claimed that Joseph III could take his rightful place as the leader of the Saints if only he would repent of his ways, embrace polygamy, move out to Utah, and claim his due authority. Brigham made remarks like this even during his time as president of the LDS Church, a seldom recognized fact among LDS Mormons today.
There are a few other downsides to the Rigdon home. There is much less kitchen counter space, which makes food prep somewhat difficult. The toaster only has two slots instead of four—a petty complaint, perhaps, but our boys eat something toasted almost every morning, so it makes a difference. We also don't have as much drawer space in the home for clothes. A final thing is that I feel way more conspicuous in the Rigdon home. I don't feel like all of the windows get completely covered, and the home isn't quite as out of the way as where we were living previously, so at night I feel very exposed if we have lights on. Nauvoo is incredibly dark at night, so I know if have a light on, we probably stand out as if we were on a drive-in movie screen. There goes my midnight naked aerobics workout.
To be fair, there continue to be things I very much enjoy about the Rigdon home. I am happy with the move, overall. Among the improvements that I hadn't yet noticed the last time I wrote: the fridge is bigger and easier to fit stuff into; the warm/hot water gets heated up within a matter of seconds rather than taking literally several minutes as it did at the Bakery; and it's kind of cool to be living in the more historic part of Nauvoo. The house next to ours is the Mansion House, the last home Joseph Smith ever lived in. I give tours of the Mansion House every day, so you wouldn't think it'd be all that impressive to be living next to it. But there's something almost surreal about it being right outside my kitchen window. It somehow brings it to life to have it be a part of my normal life setting rather than a stop on a guided tour. At night, this effect is particularly poignant to me. It's not a reverential feeling, mind you. But coming home at night, driving past the Mansion House all dark, knowing that's how it would've looked at night back in 1844—I don't know why, but it makes it more real somehow. It feels just a touch more like time travel than it does when I actually tour the building.
Speaking of giving tours...
I mentioned last time that my final tour group of the day was very generous and complimentary. My boss told me the next morning that they had raved about me to him. I'm glad to know I'm doing well with at least some of these tour groups. Sometimes people aren't very enthusiastic, and you can't help but wonder how much of it is your fault.
Yesterday, I gave a tour to a couple who weren't LDS and who didn't seem to know a great deal about the Mormon church or who Community of Christ is. I'm not sure how or what they know about Joseph Smith, and so I'm not sure what in particular compelled them to visit Nauvoo. At the end of the tour, the man attempted to tip me five dollars. That was a first. I refused the tip, for the record.
One of the most awkward questions for me, which I've gotten a couple of times now, is, "Why didn't Emma go to Utah with the rest of the Saints?" It's awkward because I don't know how to answer the question in a way that isn't potentially threatening to LDS visitors. Maybe I'm not giving them enough credit, but I don't think most of them want to hear about polygamy or the fact that Emma absolutely despised the practice, or the fact that she pretty much hated Brigham Young and did not accept his arguments about how the Church should be led after Joseph's death. Each and every one of these items could potentially make LDS visitors uncomfortable. I would think. LDS folklore often cites Emma being "too tired" to head west, which just isn't the case. Sometimes the "too tired" claim is made about Lucy Mack Smith, the widowed mother of Joseph Smith. The idea is that Lucy couldn't handle moving west, so they all stayed behind to take care of her. Again, that's not really the case. Lucy would've been old and frail, yes, but that's not why they stayed put. As I understand it, Lucy would've just done whatever her remaining family decided to do. Plenty of people hauled their older family members across the plains. Lucy's age and frailty had nothing to do with Emma and her family remaining in Nauvoo.
Let me end with another fun fact from Mormon history. Since I've mentioned the schism between Brigham Young and Emma's side of the family, let's talk for a moment about Joseph Smith III. It appears that Joseph Smith III was ordained and/or blessed to succeed his father as leader of the church on at least four occasions. The first was in the patriarchal blessing he received from his grandfather, Joseph Smith, Sr. (From what I've seen, I think there is room to debate what precisely the blessing meant in terms of leading the church—I think you could argue that it doesn't explicitly make that claim, but anyway.) The last blessing would've been at the hands of Joseph Smith himself right before Joseph heads to Carthage, where he is killed. Contrary to what some might expect, the idea that Joseph III could and/or should lead the church was recognized by many, including Brigham Young. Brigham thought Joseph III had gone astray in his rejection of polygamy but claimed that Joseph III could take his rightful place as the leader of the Saints if only he would repent of his ways, embrace polygamy, move out to Utah, and claim his due authority. Brigham made remarks like this even during his time as president of the LDS Church, a seldom recognized fact among LDS Mormons today.
Thursday, July 02, 2015
Tales of a Tour Guide, Part 6
I am writing this on Wednesday night, but won’t be publishing it on my blog until Thursday (at best). This is the first blog entry I’m writing from the Sidney Rigdon home. Melanie and I moved in today (meaning Wednesday), and this is where we will be staying for the remainder of our time here in Nauvoo. We were quite comfortable in our previous residence, known as “the Bakery” because it was a bakery many years ago, but the Rigdon home is much nicer for a variety of reasons. One reason is that it’s not attached to someone else’s home. Thus, it feels more private and like our own house than did the previous location. Not that we ever had problems at the Bakery, but still. Another reason is that Rigdon’s home is a bit more posh. There’s a carpeted dining room, a couple of nice rocking chairs, and then (like the Bakery) a sofa and a recliner. Actually, the carpeted dining room might be a reason for anxiety when you have three kids, but it does indeed look nice for now. A final reason is that, unlike the Bakery, which featured six twin-sized beds (four of which comprised two bunk beds), the Rigdon home features two queen beds. Melanie and I can actually be in the same bed! Call us romantics, but we’re happy about that.
To bring you up to speed on tour guiding, we’re currently going through something of a lull before pageant season starts. The LDS Church will be putting on nightly pageants starting next week, and that’s apparently when we’ll become crazy busy. But today, we went nearly four hours without anyone requesting a tour. As luck (good or bad, I’ll leave to you to decide) would have it, a decent-sized batch of people came in for a 4:30 tour. 4:30 is the latest tour time we offer, and it was my turn to go, so I took the 15 tourists through the sites. They were a very pleasant, friendly, and inquisitive group. Somehow it came out at some point that I had been in Nauvoo for only a couple of weeks. At one point, one of the guys on the tour pulled me to the side and said, “You’re doing amazing for only being here two weeks!” It was kind. I actually really enjoyed giving them the tour, and not just because I was complimented.
Because I didn’t write yesterday (by which I mean Tuesday), I’ll mention that I got an awkward question at the very end of one of my tours. It was awkward primarily because it was a kid asking, and I didn’t know how I should respond to a kid. The kid was only about 11 (I’d guess), and the tour group consisted only of the boy and his father. They had already self-identified as LDS. But at the very end of the tour, the boy asks, “How did they decide who was the next prophet?” In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been a big deal that he asked that, and I should’ve been able to give a decent answer that wouldn’t have been controversial. But it took me by surprise and I wasn’t sure what to say, mostly because I didn’t want to undermine the dad in some way. Knowing the boy and his father were LDS, I tried to keep things geared toward them. I said something like, “I think everybody agrees that it wasn’t entirely clear what should happen after Joseph was killed. Some thought it should be Joseph Smith III. Some thought it should be Brigham Young. Most of them followed Brigham Young.” That’s not really a helpful answer, but I think it was sufficient for the audience. I know, it’s not a very interesting story for anyone reading this blog. But it was a moment where I felt a bit flustered and uncertain.
I’ll mention a couple of other minor things. Tonight was the last night of the class I’ve been participating in during my time in Nauvoo. As a reminder, my being a tour guide is part of an internship that involves taking a class for college credit. Only a couple of the tour guides are actually doing this for college credit, but we’ve all been asked to participate in the class. It’s been a good class, so I’ve been happy to be a part of it. That said, I’m also happy it’s over. 12 hours of classes per week made me feel incredibly busy on top of my full-time tour-guide job. Family time has felt incredibly sparse, so I’m grateful for a chance to feel more connected to them.
Melanie and the boys stopped by the visitor’s center today and bought some stuffed animals. From his first visit to the visitor’s center, Peter had fallen in love with a little stuffed fox that was on display. We sell both larger and smaller plush foxes, but Peter really wanted one of the smaller ones. The other day, I noticed that there weren’t any small ones on the shelf anymore, presumably because they had been sold. I was devastated, because I wasn’t certain the visitor center would get any more of them. I had planned on making sure Peter got a fox before we left Nauvoo, but I had intended to save it for the very end of our time here, so it could be something fun and new to keep by his side on the way back to Utah. Well, fortunately, I was able to find a single small fox in a drawer where we had some extra stuff not on the shelves. I decided to leave it hidden so I could eventually buy it for Peter. Then, today, Peter comes in and himself notices that there are no more small foxes on the shelf. He’s very saddened by this. And at that point, I couldn’t resist pulling out the fox from the drawer and purchasing it for him then and there. So as not to leave Eddie and Creegan out, they each chose a plush bird. Eddie had wanted a bird from his first visit, but Creegan had originally wanted a fox, too. Rather than think of sharing with Peter, however, he chose a bird. I suggested to Melanie that we buy ourselves a plush cardinal because we loved them so much in Florida and have missed seeing them since moving back to Utah. (Melanie says she’s seen cardinals here in Nauvoo, but I haven’t yet.) Melanie was pleased to hear this as she had been thinking the same thing. And so, with a discount that made such a purchase rather cost-effective, Melanie and the boys went home with three birds and a fox. A good day.
A cute anecdote: the family went to dinner tonight at the Nauvoo Mill and Bakery. (Side note: the Nauvoo Mill and Bakery ultimately has its origins in the home in which we were previously staying, which is why the latter is still referred to as “the Bakery.) On our way out, we were saying goodbye to the people who worked there. Creegan chimed in, “Bye, I love you!” He kept saying it, too, until he was certain he had been heard.
I didn’t do a “fun fact of the day” in my previous entry, so I’ll share one now. When the bulk of the Saints were leaving Nauvoo in February 1846, they were leaving a bit earlier than originally planned. They had worked out a deal with the State of Illinois in which they had promised to leave in the spring. They left in the wintertime instead, however, because charges of counterfeiting were being brought against Brigham Young, something Brigham wanted to avoid facing.
To bring you up to speed on tour guiding, we’re currently going through something of a lull before pageant season starts. The LDS Church will be putting on nightly pageants starting next week, and that’s apparently when we’ll become crazy busy. But today, we went nearly four hours without anyone requesting a tour. As luck (good or bad, I’ll leave to you to decide) would have it, a decent-sized batch of people came in for a 4:30 tour. 4:30 is the latest tour time we offer, and it was my turn to go, so I took the 15 tourists through the sites. They were a very pleasant, friendly, and inquisitive group. Somehow it came out at some point that I had been in Nauvoo for only a couple of weeks. At one point, one of the guys on the tour pulled me to the side and said, “You’re doing amazing for only being here two weeks!” It was kind. I actually really enjoyed giving them the tour, and not just because I was complimented.
Because I didn’t write yesterday (by which I mean Tuesday), I’ll mention that I got an awkward question at the very end of one of my tours. It was awkward primarily because it was a kid asking, and I didn’t know how I should respond to a kid. The kid was only about 11 (I’d guess), and the tour group consisted only of the boy and his father. They had already self-identified as LDS. But at the very end of the tour, the boy asks, “How did they decide who was the next prophet?” In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been a big deal that he asked that, and I should’ve been able to give a decent answer that wouldn’t have been controversial. But it took me by surprise and I wasn’t sure what to say, mostly because I didn’t want to undermine the dad in some way. Knowing the boy and his father were LDS, I tried to keep things geared toward them. I said something like, “I think everybody agrees that it wasn’t entirely clear what should happen after Joseph was killed. Some thought it should be Joseph Smith III. Some thought it should be Brigham Young. Most of them followed Brigham Young.” That’s not really a helpful answer, but I think it was sufficient for the audience. I know, it’s not a very interesting story for anyone reading this blog. But it was a moment where I felt a bit flustered and uncertain.
I’ll mention a couple of other minor things. Tonight was the last night of the class I’ve been participating in during my time in Nauvoo. As a reminder, my being a tour guide is part of an internship that involves taking a class for college credit. Only a couple of the tour guides are actually doing this for college credit, but we’ve all been asked to participate in the class. It’s been a good class, so I’ve been happy to be a part of it. That said, I’m also happy it’s over. 12 hours of classes per week made me feel incredibly busy on top of my full-time tour-guide job. Family time has felt incredibly sparse, so I’m grateful for a chance to feel more connected to them.
Melanie and the boys stopped by the visitor’s center today and bought some stuffed animals. From his first visit to the visitor’s center, Peter had fallen in love with a little stuffed fox that was on display. We sell both larger and smaller plush foxes, but Peter really wanted one of the smaller ones. The other day, I noticed that there weren’t any small ones on the shelf anymore, presumably because they had been sold. I was devastated, because I wasn’t certain the visitor center would get any more of them. I had planned on making sure Peter got a fox before we left Nauvoo, but I had intended to save it for the very end of our time here, so it could be something fun and new to keep by his side on the way back to Utah. Well, fortunately, I was able to find a single small fox in a drawer where we had some extra stuff not on the shelves. I decided to leave it hidden so I could eventually buy it for Peter. Then, today, Peter comes in and himself notices that there are no more small foxes on the shelf. He’s very saddened by this. And at that point, I couldn’t resist pulling out the fox from the drawer and purchasing it for him then and there. So as not to leave Eddie and Creegan out, they each chose a plush bird. Eddie had wanted a bird from his first visit, but Creegan had originally wanted a fox, too. Rather than think of sharing with Peter, however, he chose a bird. I suggested to Melanie that we buy ourselves a plush cardinal because we loved them so much in Florida and have missed seeing them since moving back to Utah. (Melanie says she’s seen cardinals here in Nauvoo, but I haven’t yet.) Melanie was pleased to hear this as she had been thinking the same thing. And so, with a discount that made such a purchase rather cost-effective, Melanie and the boys went home with three birds and a fox. A good day.
A cute anecdote: the family went to dinner tonight at the Nauvoo Mill and Bakery. (Side note: the Nauvoo Mill and Bakery ultimately has its origins in the home in which we were previously staying, which is why the latter is still referred to as “the Bakery.) On our way out, we were saying goodbye to the people who worked there. Creegan chimed in, “Bye, I love you!” He kept saying it, too, until he was certain he had been heard.
I didn’t do a “fun fact of the day” in my previous entry, so I’ll share one now. When the bulk of the Saints were leaving Nauvoo in February 1846, they were leaving a bit earlier than originally planned. They had worked out a deal with the State of Illinois in which they had promised to leave in the spring. They left in the wintertime instead, however, because charges of counterfeiting were being brought against Brigham Young, something Brigham wanted to avoid facing.
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