Template:Featured Temple
In the closing session of the April 1999 General Conference, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley, gave the following announcement, “I feel impressed to announce that among all of the temples we are constructing, we plan to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple.” The news was received with joy and tears by members and even those not of the LDS faith. The rebuilt Nauvoo Temple would stand as a memorial to the great legacy of those pioneers who suffered so much in order to build a beautiful house to their God, only to be driven from their homes in the middle of winter.
The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the small but growing Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the first having been built in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1839, the Latter-day Saints were pushed from their homes in Missouri by mobs. They sought refuge in Illinois and were given a charter to build a city on the banks of the Mississippi. The land was a swamp, and the people labored to drain the land and build a city. In 1841, the prophet and leader of the Church, Joseph Smith, announced that a temple should again be built.
The task was daunting; most of the members had lost everything when they were driven from their homes in Missouri. Some donated all of their life savings to the project; others donated their time to help build the temple. 1,200 men worked in the stone quarries to obtain giant limestone blocks. The women donated their pennies, sewed clothing, and prepared meals for the men working on the temple. (more about the Nauvoo Temple).
