The Nauvoo House

In D&C 124, the Lord commanded the sounds to build both a temple and another building that became known as the Nauvoo House.  The latter was to be "a house for boarding, a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein; therefore let it be a good house, worthy of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord; and the cornerstone I have appointed for Zion."  The Lord further described the future building with these words: "Let it be a delightful habitation for man, and a resting-place for the weary traveler, that he may contemplate the glory of Zion, and the glory of this, the cornerstone thereof; That he may receive also the counsel from those whom I have set to be as plants of renown, and as watchmen upon her walls."(v 23, 60-61).  The commandment itself showed that the Lord wanted to welcome all people to Nauvoo, not just Latter-day Saints, so that they could rest and hear His word.  The House was begun and worked on at the same time that the temple was being built, and Joseph considered it "nearly as urgent as construction of the temple. He envisioned it as a means for the Saints to entertain and teach the truth to 'men of wealth, character and influence.'"  It was worked on and encouraged by the leaders, but it was unfortunately never finished.  Joseph was martyred, the Saints scrambled to finish the temple, and they were driven from the city without the opportunity to complete it.  Is there anything we can learn from this building, or are there similar buildings that have been built up in their place? 

               There are perhaps a couple of symbolic “houses” that might fit the description of the Nauvoo House.  The building was to be “a resting-place” and one in which “strangers may come from afar to lodge therein” and where one can find “health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord.”  In one sense we might say that the hope of our churches is to fulfill that mission.  On a recent trip to Oregon my wife miraculously found a church open on a Monday afternoon to be such a place of “health and safety” when she was feeling sick.  In general, though, our churches don’t provide lodging physically for people, but we do hope that they are places of spiritual rest that we hope all can come to and find safety and peace in as they hear testimonies of God’s love for them.  The challenge for us of course is to make our congregations more welcoming to those strangers so that they can indeed be at peace in our midst.  As it has been said, we should smell tobacco a lot more in our chapels.  Another way that perhaps we can think of this “house” that the Lord built is our own home.  I hope that my home can be a place where a “weary traveler may find health and safety” and where strangers can come to “contemplate the word of the Lord.”  On that same trip to Oregon above that I mentioned we stayed in such a house some friends invited us in and let us stay the night.  Before we went to bed they invited us to read scriptures with them and it turned into a very memorable experience as my good friend taught my seven-year-old daughter about baptism.  Indeed we were able to “receive counsel” as we read the Savior’s words together and prayed.  The Nauvoo House was never officially finished, so perhaps our mandate is to turn our own homes and our own chapels into such places of refuge and peace where all the honest in heart can rejoice and “contemplate the glory of Zion.”