As others have said elsewhere, life is like a tapestry in which we see only the back side. When we leave this world for the next, we are then allowed to see the front side that shows how all the threads that looked to have little rhyme or reason on the back, came together to create a beautiful work. Just as your experience recounts, from time to time, we are allowed to see glimpses of the finished side of this tapestry, while still in this world.

As I sat in the baptistry with my wife and daughters bathing in the glow of the moment, I was trying to understand why I should feel so much more strongly there than in other temples, and I couldn’t come to any conclusion.

Maybe there is something to sacred ground. The sacrifices of the former inhabitants and the faith of their followers may have somehow sanctified that area.

The missionaries there struck me as top notch, especially in temple. They were SO excited to have us there and wanted so much to show it off — they kept asking permission of the temple presidency to take my underage daughters to just one more thing. One of them appeared to have a bad leg, but he would carefully wipe the water from the wooden baptistry steps after each person with the same care one would use after washing a brand new car. I was very touched by the temple president’s comments prior to the ordinances, and seeing my expression, one of the workers made the off-hand comment that Pres. Petersen was one of the kindest men he’d ever known.

My cynical side says maybe it’s partly the expectation (dare I say superstition?) the tourists bring with them. While Nauvoo felt glorious to me, Carthage jail did not. I could not bring myself to sing “I am a Child of God” with the tour group, even at the guide’s request. The feeling of that song did not match the feeling of the place, and just hearing it made me feel ill. I used my youngest child as an excuse to leave. Was it just me, or does some shadow still linger there?

For whatever reason, visiting Nauvoo was a sacred experience to me as well. Thank you for your post.

The carpets are actually woven in the same England tapestry companies as the originals, with the same width and patterns used back then. You note the seams in the carpets.

The murals are awesome in the various rooms. Pres Hinckley actually painted a small portion of one of the murals, IIRC.

I dunno, but while I get a wonderful feeling in all the temples, Nauvoo’s spirit is just head and shoulders above the rest for me.

Everyone, thanks. Describing shining moments such as this always leaves me feeling ham-fisted. It’s like trying to paint the delicate veins of a sunlit leaf with a power roller. Thank you for seeing beyond my writing limitations and recognizing what I was trying to convey.

I was intrigued by your comment that the Nauvoo Temple’s beauty from the outside is splendid. But, “[f]rom the inside, it defies description.”