Nauvoo Illinois Temple
The Nauvoo Illinois Temple is my second of four temples I’m planning to visit on this trip. The Nauvoo Illinois Temple is 171 miles north of the St. Louis Missouri Temple. It’s approximately a 3-hour drive.
I planned to leave the St. Louis Temple at 7:30 AM and hopefully make it to the Nauvoo Temple by 10:30 AM. That would allow me to attend the 11 AM endowment session which would be great for my busy day.
My Journey to the Nauvoo Illinois Temple
I left around 7:30 AM and headed north towards Nauvoo. All was going to be well until I got to Keokuk, Iowa, which is 14 miles south of Nauvoo. The problem is that Payless rental car won’t let their car go into the state of Illinois. It can go to Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, but only to those four states.
My plan was to take Uber from Keokuk to Nauvoo . That plan got wrecked when I discovered there are no Uber or Lyft drivers anywhere near Keokuk Iowa.
Time for a Cab
With time of the essence I googled cab companies and found a local one. The lady told me their main driver was taking someone back towards Missouri so she would call a secondary driver. She did just that and called me back a few minutes later.
“Our secondary driver is over at Walmart right now. He’ll head your way in about 20 minutes.” That was the best I could get. “You’ll recognize him when he comes because he’s in an old cop car,“ she said.
So I parked under a shade tree right outside the Dollar General store and right across the river from Illinois. About 30 minutes later my man showed up.
The cab ride would take about 20 minutes and would cost $30. It was worth it to make it to this beautiful temple. I would miss the 11 o’clock session but I would make the 12 o’clock session. That’s fine because in my plan I budgeted for an extra hour of time in the middle of the day.
The Nauvoo Illinois Temple
I made it to the temple at about 11:30. I was thrilled to go inside and participate in the 12 o’clock endowment session.
There is a remarkable and unique meeting room on the first floor of this temple. That room is quite large. One of the temple workers told me that from the outside the Nauvoo Illinois Temple is 99% accurate to what they originally had. He also mentioned that from the inside it’s maybe 1% accurate because we just don’t know exactly what it looked like inside back in 1846.
The interior of the temple is exquisite. The stain glass in the temple came from the 1840’s and is authentic. I was amazed at the 6 foot wide spiral staircase inside which ascends up six floors.
I also saw the baptistery which I was told is the largest of any temple in the church. The murals in the various rooms are exquisite.
A Tribute to Joseph and Hyrum
The beautiful statue out in front of the temple is inspiring and humbling. You have to love these two wonderful brothers.
Thank You Temple Workers!
After the temple session I kind of thought there would be an Uber driver hanging around Nauvoo. I was wrong. Calling for my Walmart cab driver would be risky because it would take him 30 minutes just to get to Nauvoo and that’s only if he left right away.
While standing in front of the temple I noticed a man and a woman coming out of the temple who were temple workers. So I asked them if they were headed back to Keokuk by chance and the lady said no. She then asked me what I needed and I explained I needed a ride back to my rental car. Without hesitation she said they would be happy to take me!
Their kindness is exemplary of the type of people these wonderful temple workers are: they’re unselfish, kind, and giving.
The Nauvoo Illinois Temple is the 60th one I have visited since January 2017. It is a spectacular building with a uniquely strong spirit inside of it.