PHOTO ESSAY

Through the Camera Lens: The People at Nauvoo—Like Walking the Streets of Zion

I wondered what was going through this brother’s mind as he gazed upon the walls of the temple waiting there in line. I will make an observation here that many people just stared at the temple for long periods of time. I think for all of us there we had to almost pinch ourselves to remind us that this was real and that the Nauvoo Temple had actually returned to her rightful place.

This mother and little daughter waited patiently in line but standing there was a little more than Mom could take. The weather was more than perfect for the whole of Thursday, June 27, 2002. It was a bit hot but I never heard one person complain.

Happy people were heading into the temple on June 26 to fill the seats of the Assembly Room so that the Tabernacle Choir could practice and adjust for the acoustics. I was shooting pictures so fast I could not stop and ask each person’s name or what they were doing, but I believe this was one of the local choirs involved in the dedication. The woman with the big smile in the center of the scene saw me at a distance taking pictures and immediately put on a very, very happy face through the series of six or seven shots I took. I think when Latter-day Saints are at major Church events and they see big cameras firing away they think they will find themselves in the Ensign (and many do). Now hundreds of them may find themselves in Meridian.

These were local people coming out of the temple for the practice sessions they had for singing and adjusting the sound etc. Everyone was just so happy to participate in any way.

Most people were not used to the combination of high heat and high humidity in Nauvoo. Many water bottles were passed around families in this setting.

Conversations were exchanged everywhere in Nauvoo, friends meeting with friends, family members enjoying reunion-hearts touching hearts. The man in the background to the right of the woman in the blue dress is Don Staheli who writes the column “It’s the Principle of the Thing” for Meridian.

I’ve never seen people with more patience in lines than the groups that went to the Nauvoo Temple. It seemed almost as if time stood still around this eternal event.