So Richard and I decided to take a drive. We had never been over to the other side of the Mississippi River. That is where a lot of the Saints ended up upon first coming here. It was the Sac and Fox Reservation Land. It was called the Half Breed Tract and Isaac Gilland was the trustee. It was one of the draws for this area, it was cheap land. The old Des Moines Fort was located here and had been vacated. There were old barracks and that is where a lot of the saints lived. It is where Lenora Taylor talks about skunks and snakes coming in at night. It is the location that Mary Ann Young came from to row across the river to Nauvoo to get food to feed her children.. I had never seen the temple from this side of the river. It was beautiful. At night it is like a beacon on a hill.
When the Saints were driven out in that cold February of 1846, this is where the crossed to start their journey West.
I can’t even imagine how difficult the journey was just to leave Nauvoo and get across the river. It was cold enough, that part of the river had frozen over. I am sitting here right now with a migraine. I have suffered from them since I was 15 years old. Miserable, awful, debilitating. Cold makes them so much worse. I cannot even begin to imagine how I would have felt. I would have been a horrible, but probably dead pioneer. I didn’t do pregnancy well either, and would have died with my first child. It makes me think………………………….
So, All Is Well………………………………………I often in my tours tell people how grateful I am for these amazing, resilient, devoted people. I have the Gospel in my life today, because they did not give up when the going was tough. They persevered , but they also tried to do it with joy and optimism. “Hymns are chanted- and the evening prayers ascend.” Forward, onward…………………………………………….
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