Cami and Ben’s Trip to

the Museum of Mormon History

 

 

You may have heard rumors that the Angel Moroni on the original Nauvoo

Temple was flying horizontally like a bird.  Well, they’re true.

 

 

Well, this picture didn’t turn out too well, but it’s the copy of the Book of Mormon that belonged to Martin Harris.

  I thought it was very appropriate that he got a copy since, you know, he did mortgage his farm to get it printed.

  Another interesting fact is that if you open it you can see that Martin Harris actually scribbled notes in the margins

of his Book of Mormon.  I’m glad to know I’m not the only one that does that…

 

 

To me, this was the coolest object in the entire museum.  I was kind of surprised

 that it was on display.  This is the actual pocket watch that stopped the bullet that would have

 otherwise killed John Taylor.  As you know, if it weren’t for this watch and its miraculous

placement, we would have had a different third Prophet.

 

 

These should come in handy some time soon.  They’re the plans that Joseph Smith drew up for the city of Zion.

 

 

And these are the sketches and plans for the Temple in Zion.

 

 

On the left, a typical covered wagon.  On the right, a typical wagon odometer. 

To be honest, I’m impressed that the pioneers had odometers.

 

 

This exhibit was pretty cool.  It was an accurate simulation of what it was like to be a pioneer coming to the west by ship…

 

 

Well, maybe it was a little too accurate…

 

 

This is early Pioneer money from Nauvoo and Utah.  I thought it was interesting how the bills were worth 5 and 10 cents

while the coins were worth 5, 10 and 20 dollars.  Yeah, that’s just a little different from the way things are today…

 

 

It doesn’t show up to well, but the coin on the left has a great big picture of the Salt Lake Temple on it.  You have to admit, putting the Temple

 on currency is a pretty good idea.  I mean, can you imagine spending your money on frivolous things when it has pictures of the Temple on it?

 

 

This is the most interesting portrayal of the Great and Spacious building I’ve ever seen.  Since the building represented

the Pride of the World, it contains architecture from China, Japan, Egypt, Greece, Rome, America and even Australia.

 

 

This is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Music and the Spoken Word (the longest running

broadcast in history), singing at the Presidential Inauguration on the cover of Life Magazine….

 

 

…publishing dozens of albums and winning gold and platinum records.  It’s official- I’m impressed!

 

 

This exhibit is kind of a 3-dimensional representation of the “Children’s Friend.” It was great!  We…

 

 

…rode a horsie, mopped the rug and- oh dear, how did that picture get in there?

Naw, actually these flowers were painted on, which is why we found this sign so humorous.

 

 

This was the sign introducing you to the section of the museum containing artwork by Boyd K. Packer-

 

 

These are some of his works that I enjoyed the most.  Boy, if he’s an amateur, I’d hate to think what that makes me…

 

 

I liked this painting because it reminded me a lot of my mission.  Of course, Joseph Smith did have a slightly larger crowd than I usually did. ;-)

 

 

This is a photo from the Hall of General Authorities…

 

 

At only 10 feet high, this Angel Moroni statue is one of the shortest in the world.  **Warning: do not read this next part if you do not want to be disillusioned**  The sign next to this statue says that none of the Angel Moroni statues in the church are solid gold.  In fact, most are plated with a grand total of about 1 ounce of gold.  There are several good reasons for this, though.  1) If it were solid gold, it would be more expensive than the whole rest of the Temple put together.  2) Solid gold is so heavy that it would probably fall through the roof, thus making it even more difficult to balance on the top of a small gold ball 3) People would probably try to steal it at least once an hour.

 

 

 

 

Now you can say you’ve seen Joseph Smith’s chair, scale, gun and shoulder thingies.

 

 

According to Navajo tradition every rug has to have a “Spirit Line.”  This line is purposefully placed on the edge of the rug so that if any

spirits pass by it and get trapped inside they will have a way to get out.  You may notice that neither this rug nor the following one

 have spirit lines because, well, LDS Navajo’s aren’t too concerned about the whole trapped spirit thing…

 

 

Yay!  Wait, I mean “Yei!” The figures depicted in this rug are Yei, or dancing holy men. 

In the middle of them is the Tree of Life.  The Tree of Life is a very common Navajo legend.

 

 

This painting is titled “Elder, have you noticed something um, different about our mirror lately?”  No, I kid.  It’s actually titled

“Do you think this tie goes with this armor?” Okay fine, it’s titled, “Called to Serve.”