Nauvoo - The Cornerstone of Zion

Nauvoo - The Cornerstone of Zion

Nauvoo is the cornerstone of Zion as reveled in D&C 124.  It says:  "Build a house unto my name…(Why?) For therein are the keys of the holy priesthood ordained …(For what purpose) that they may bless you and crown you with honor, immortality and eternal life."

Wow.  I’ve always thought that this is the key thing that happened here in Nauvoo, that of the temple endowment and sealing.  I hadn’t realized how it was there in D&C.  This is the main purpose we have Nauvoo.  This is why it is called the Cornerstone of Zion.  

What a blessing.  

So we see a lot of construction going on just west of the temple down off the hill.  Here is what it is looking like as of late.

 Here is a photo of the plan of the new sites coming in 2020.  I'll explain a little about some of them.  Where it says Jones property there will be a display of carving the temple stones.  The Weeks home will represent William Weeks the architect for the temple.  The Hunter house is where Joseph Smith was in hiding for awhile from the Missouri officials and where he received sections 127 & 128 of the Doctrine & Covenants.  The Hyde home is Orson Hyde's home, he dedicated the temple.  The Markham property is where Eliza R. Snow was living when she wrote O My Father.  So all this will be called the temple district.

This week I learned more about the Sunstones on the temple here.  So I'm sharing what I learned.

Nauvoo Temple Sunstones

To early Church members, the sun breaking through clouds symbolized the dawning of the Restoration and the coming of gospel light to illuminate a dark earth. It is little wonder, then, that sunstones were featured prominently on the Nauvoo Temple. Above each sun are two hands holding trumpets, heralding the dawning of the gospel in this dispensation. 

The beautiful inverted stained glass stars that adorn the Nauvoo Temple have a very meaningful history dating back to the early Christian Church.  Known as the "Morning Star" in Rev 22:16 it is a symbol of Jesus Christ.  When the actual morning star's (Venus) orbit is tracked each morning it creates a mathematically perfect inverted five-point star.  Unlike the large, intricate stained glass inverted stars found in famous Cathedrals, the early Latter-Day Saints had only the means to gather enough materials for a humble three color star window of red, white and blue.  

So many new things to learn about here in Nauvoo.  This is an osage orange.  The grow on trees and look like an orange.  They are just a giant seed pod.  They are falling off the trees now.

This is a black walnut.  It has this green covering.  

And here is what it looks like without the covering.  A black walnut.

The last of the sisters we had for Sunday dinner.  Sister Eaton on the left is from Sandy and she is going outbound to Gilbert, Arizona.  Sister Babcock is from Blackfoot, Idaho and she is going outbound to Richmond, Virginia.   

And this was a special week because it was my dear husband's birthday.  We had a little party here.  Invited some couples over for dinner of Creamy White Chili and scones.  Then we played Cover Your Assets.   We had fun and laughed loads.