May 12- Visiting Winter Quarters & the Kanesville Tabernacle

We were planning on getting up early today so we could get to Nauvoo before dark. I guess we were really tired because we didn't wake up until 9 am. Oh well, it did feel good to sleep in.

We visited Winter Quarters first. The sister m

issionary there gave us our own little tour around the visitor's center. We were the only people there, another perk of going during off-season. It took the Saints about 130 days just to cross Iowa. It took them around 100 days to make the rest of the trip! The Saints left in the winter and weren't prepared for the weather and terrain they faced. They did forge the trail for the rest of the people moving west and made it easier for all to follow.   

Then we went around and took pictures outside. 

 Ja is standing next to a statue of the Saints pushing the handcart. This is a picture of me with the statue of a mother and father who just buried their child. The statue is in the cemetery next to the visitor's center and temple.

     

This is the Winter Quarters Temple. I wanted a better picture of it, but it was Monday so the temple was closed. 

Our next stop was at the Kanesville Tabernacle which is in Council Bluffs. Ja is discussing the tabernacle with Brigham Young.

The original building was made with cottonwood trees because they are very tall trees. Cottonwood trees shrink width wise over time, so in a few years the roof was connected to the walls anymore. When the church rebuilt the building they also used cottonwood  trees. With modern technology they build the roof on jacks so when the walls start to shrink the whole roof will lower too. Clever huh?

This is the inside of the building. The columns are on the jacks. The huge fire place in the back is made with dirt and sod. 

  

This is the stage where Brigham Young was sustained as the second president of the Church on December 27 1847. During the years 1847 and 1848 Kanesville was the headquarters of the church.