A breezy Saturday morning greeted a crowd of friends, missionaries, and families in Historic Nauvoo on February 4th. The horses and oxen were out with their wagons. Flags of nationalities represented in Nauvoo in the 1840s were flying. And participants paraded along Main Street to Parley Street to commemorate the Nauvoo Exodus of 1846.
We were thrilled to hear from Nauvoo Stake President Matthew Thomas at the Pioneer Memorial. He reminded those gathered near the river’s edge that the Saints who left Nauvoo and headed west had a choice to also walk away from the Gospel. But they knew its truth and value, and so the headed instead into the unknown to forge the trail that opened the West and laid the foundation of Church growth today.
Craig L. Dalton, site president, opened the morning’s procession with praise for the pioneers who may have been forced to leave their temple building behind but carried it with them in the covenants they made there. That gave them the courage and faith to face the challenges of the Trail and resettlement in the Mountain West.
