Today, Nauvoo is operated as a living history museum (in the vein of Colonial Williamsburg). Half of the town [including the Nauvoo House, the Red Brick Store, and the Mansion House (Joseph Smith's home)] are owned and operated by the Community of Christ, formerly called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (R-LDS), an off-shoot of the main LDS church, which broke apart after the death of Joseph Smith and the question of his prophetic successor. The main LDS church followed Brigham Young; the R-LDS regarded Joseph Smith III, Joseph Smith's son, as the rightful heir. The majority of the town (and the bulk of the historic buildings and programs) are run by the LDS church.
Being a seventh-generation Mormon, I grew up learning all about early church history and the pioneers who crossed the plains to come to Utah. Some of my ancestors made that trek and I've always been fascinated by their stories. My family visited several of these church history sites on our big family roadtrip when I was seven, but I've always been eager to revisit these places. I remembered loving our time in Nauvoo. Of all the places I wanted to visit on this roadtrip, I was most excited for Nauvoo. And of all the places that we did visit on this roadtrip, Nauvoo was the biggest disappointment.
You have to remember that now I'm viewing Nauvoo as a museum professional (I like to think), who has had training in how to curate a museum, write and train docents to give guided tours, and make history easily accessible, relevant, and fun for visitors of all ages, backgrounds, and educations. Unfortunately Nauvoo, for me, failed to do this, which is such a shame. The Church has such a great opportunity to use this living history site as a way to teach Church history, but they staff it with senior missionaries who have had little training--and sometimes, little enthusiasm--f0r the history of the place and are more concerned with talking your ear off about their families and asking you invasive personal questions. Admittedly, the Church doesn't try to hide the fact that they use the majority of their historical sites as missionary opportunities, but it rings a little false when wizened old missionaries or nervous 21-year-old sister missionaries start bearing their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel in the middle of an 1840s gunsmith shop or during a demonstration of 19th-century blacksmithing. It's even more annoying when you consider that the majority of their visitors are already members of the church; they're just preaching to the choir. Any non-Mormon, potential investigator to the Church, would, I think, only be turned off by such heavy-handed preaching. I mean, it turns me off, and I actually believe that the church is true. I thought that the section of Nauvoo run by the Community of Christ did it better: they were not in your face about the Church, and had competent and trained guides who actually taught some history, rather than shared a bunch of feel-good, gooey spiritual moments.
After this experience, it has now become my goal in life to somehow get myself in a position within the church, whether as a Church History Curator or a senior missionary assigned to Nauvoo, to actually effect some change in how the history of Nauvoo is taught. I would start by training the missionaries better and re-drafting their docent guides (if they even HAVE docent guides) to focus on the history of the particular building or shop and keep their tour under 5-10 minutes. One problem with the free-for-all missionary moment format is that the tours can take a long time depending on how much the spirit is moving the docent and how long-winded they are. It backs up the tours for incoming visitors and makes it extremely difficult to visit all the different buildings and demonstrations in one day and still enjoy the experience. I truly believe that if you focus on the history of the place and the lives of the Saints who called Nauvoo home, you will still touch people's hearts and possibly even make them interested in learning more about the Mormon church. The spirit is already there but the Holy Ghost is quiet, unassuming power that works carefully, tenderly, personally. It is not something to bludgeon over people's heads. But ultimately, even if a visitor doesn't want to convert on the spot after a visit to Nauvoo, they should still walk away with a greater understanding of the history of the religion that took form there and the people who left their hearts there. But it fails even it that most basic form.
So after saying all that, is it still worth it to visit Nauvoo? Absolutely. Your experience will not be my experience. You also have to remember that there is a constant rotation of missionaries there and some will be excellent and some may not be. We might have just gotten a really bad batch. (Admittedly, not all were bad.) Nauvoo is still a beautiful city with lots of interesting buildings, shops, demonstrations, sites, and stores to visit. It's a fascinating place....just make sure your expectations are not too high.
And now, a few of my favorite photos from Nauvoo:
The Mansion House, the home of Joseph Smith and his family. It also operated as a hotel.
The view of the Smith family homestead, leading to the gardens and family cemetery. Through the trees is a view of the Mississippi River.
Graves of Joseph Smith Senior and Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith's parents.
The graves of Hyrum Smith (Joseph's brother who was killed with his brother), Joseph Smith, and Emma Smith (Joseph's wife who chose to stay in Nauvoo after the majority of the Saints left for Utah).
Smith homestead
The Red Brick Store
Upstairs meeting chamber of the Red Brick Store where many meetings and councils were held, including the formation of the Relief Society.
Post Office and Printing Office
Zion's Mercantile, which now operates as a gift shop, deli, and hotel
The Nauvoo temple. It was burnt by mobs after the Saints left. It was rebuilt in 2002.
2 comments:
We went to Kirkland this year, and we actually had the exact opposite reaction. I think it's probably a difference in expectations. See, we were looking for a more spiritual experience/understanding, not just a history lesson. So while we thought the temple, run by the Community of Christ, was I interesting, we liked the Church sites a lot more. At the temple, they gave the facts. At the Church sites, I felt like they gave the facts briefly and then why it's significant. I guess I can see what you mean--bearing testimony of each little thing is maybe a little much. But I think the purpose of the sites isn't historical, it's spiritual. The Church pays for their upkeep because it is our spiritual heritage, not just a temporal heritage. I'm sure they know that most people who visit are LDS already, but it's good for us to gain a testimony of the truths established there specifically, not just a general testimony, right? In other words, I think they're intentionally trying to bring the Spirit for members probably even more than for others. That's not to say it couldn't improve a lot, and maybe they need to strike a better balance between historical and spiritual. They could definitely use your skills to make it better...and to train everyone. You probably did get the shakier guides who need a good trainer. :) I also suspect the Church is very intentional in how they have it set up because of their goals for the site. Thoughts?
I think you bring up some excellent points Emily. I do think that the spiritual heritage, as you put it, is just as important as the historical heritage. I just don't know that it's exactly necessary at every site, particularly in Nauvoo, where there are so many different locations to visit. I definitely agree it serves a great purpose at places like the Kirkland temple, Carthage and Liberty jails (which we also visited), and Palmyra and the Sacred Grove where great revelations where received and where key gospel doctrines were established. Do I think testimony needs to be borne at the old post office? Not really. I do think a better balance could be struck and better information disseminated in a more concise manner, paired with a brief spiritual testimony. But I didn't think about the fact that just because I don't necessarily want the spiritual stuff, that others do.
Post a Comment