After the Saints were driven out of Missouri, they gathered in Illinois and settled on the banks of the Mississippi River in a small town called Commerce. The Prophet Joseph Smith renamed the town Nauvoo, which means “beautiful” in Hebrew. Nauvoo was built on swampy land that had to be drained and cleared of trees before houses and other buildings could be built. While this was happening, most of the Saints lived in wagons or tents. Joseph Smith and his family lived in one of the few log houses that already existed, and several families lived in empty military barracks (dormitories) on the other side of the river.

The Saints worked hard to make Nauvoo a prosperous city. The men farmed and built homes and businesses, and the women cared for the children, nursed the sick, and took care of the homes. They cooked over fires; sewed clothing for their families; cared for the animals; grew gardens; made soap, candles, and cloth; dried meat and fruit; and made butter, cheese, jam, jelly, and maple syrup. Sometimes the men were called on missions and their families had to take over their work. Louisa Barnes Pratt’s husband was called on a mission; while he was gone Louisa supervised the building of a house for the family and even did some of the building herself. She worked as a seamstress to provide food and other necessities for her family. She was a talented seamstress and made suits for Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The next year she earned money by teaching school in her home.

Children also helped build Nauvoo. If they were old enough, they helped take care of the animals and the farms, gathered wood and berries, and helped make cider, soap, and candles. They also went to school. One group of young boys helped in a unique way. Many criminals came to Nauvoo, and the Saints did not want these people in their city but did not want to use violent means to get rid of them. A group of boys was organized into a “whistling and whittling brigade.” Whenever the boys saw a suspicious stranger on the street, they would surround him and walk along with him. They would not speak, but would just whistle and whittle as they followed the stranger wherever he went. It would be annoying and frustrating to the stranger, but he could not fight all the boys at once, so he would soon leave town (see enrichment activity 2).

With the work of the Saints Nauvoo grew quickly into a large and beautiful city. There were many log homes, and some people were building two-story brick homes. The homes and yards were neat and clean. A home called the Mansion House was built for the Prophet to use to entertain and accommodate visitors. Later the Lord directed the Saints to build the Nauvoo House, a hotel to provide more rooms for the many visitors to Nauvoo (see D&C 124:22–24).

The Saints worked hard, but they also took time to play and have entertainment. They attended the theater and held dances, programs, choir and band concerts, and parades. They played ball, wrestled, and had stick-pulling contests (a strength contest where two people sat facing each other, took hold of a stick, and each tried to pull the other to a standing position). They often combined work with pleasure as they held quilting bees, built barns and houses together, and held log-sawing races.

Visitors to Nauvoo were impressed by the city. One man wrote to a friend:

“You would be surprised if you were here, at the vast improvement made in so short a space of time. … You will see nothing like idleness but will hear the hum of industry [and] the voice of merriment. … If a small portion of wickedness happens among [the Saints], the contrast between the spirit of Christ and that of darkness is so great that it makes a great upstir and tremendous excitement; … but in other communities the same amount of crime would hardly be noticed” (quoted in E. Cecil McGavin, Nauvoo, the Beautiful, p. 73).

Besides working to build up their own homes and businesses, the Saints in Nauvoo helped each other. Drusilla Hendricks’s husband, James, had been shot in the neck in the battle at Crooked River (see lesson 31) and was unable to work, so Drusilla provided for the family. Numerous times the Hendricks family was kept from starving because neighbors followed the promptings of the Holy Ghost and brought them food. One man told Drusilla he had been very busy but had stopped his work to bring the family some food because the Holy Ghost had told him, “Brother Hendricks’ family is suffering” (quoted in Church History in the Fulness of Times, p. 215).

In Nauvoo Drusilla provided for her husband and their five children by taking in boarders, raising a garden, milking cows, and feeding livestock. She made gingerbread and drinks and sold them at town celebrations, and she also made and sold gloves and mittens. One winter, however, Drusilla could afford to buy only a little cornmeal for food. Her husband asked her to pray for help. When she was through praying, Drusilla knew they would receive something to eat. Soon a man sold the family some fresh pork and told them they would not need to pay for it for twelve months.

The Prophet Joseph Smith was a good example of someone who worked hard and helped others. In addition to his responsibilities as the Prophet and leader of the Church, Joseph was also the lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion (a militia of about three thousand men) and a city councilman of Nauvoo. Even though he was very busy, he always found time to help others (see enrichment activity 3).

The Prophet loved little children and enjoyed playing with them and helping them. One day Margarette and Wallace, two children who were neighbors of the Prophet, were on their way to school. Because it had rained the day before, the ground was very muddy, and the two children got stuck in the mud. They began to cry. The Prophet came along and helped them out of the mud, cleaned off their shoes, wiped their tears, and cheered them up before sending them on to school.

Joseph Smith also helped at home. His wife, Emma, was also very busy, for she frequently had to cook and clean for the many guests who came to their home for dinner or to stay overnight. Some guests stayed for weeks. Joseph helped Emma when he could by building fires, cleaning the fireplace, bringing wood and water into the home, and taking care of the children.

One man thought that these duties were “women’s work” and that it was not proper for the Prophet to do such things. The man tried to tell Joseph how to manage his home, saying, “Brother Joseph, my wife does much more hard work than does your wife.” The Prophet gently told the man that he should love and cherish his wife “and do his duty by her, in properly taking care of her” and helping her. The Prophet added that if the man did not treat his wife well, he would not be with her in the next life. After talking to the Prophet, the man tried to help his wife more. (See Richard Nietzel Holzapfel and Jeni Broberg Holzapfel, Women of Nauvoo, p. 28.)

The Saints did the Lord’s work by helping others, and in return, the Lord helped the people of Nauvoo. When the Saints first came to Nauvoo, the land was very swampy. The Saints did not know that the mosquitoes that thrived in the swamplands spread a dangerous disease called malaria. Many of the Saints came down with this disease, which caused severe chills and fever. Emma Smith nursed many people, and her six-year-old son helped her by carrying water for the sick until he also came down with malaria. Even the Prophet was sick. The Lord blessed the people, however, giving the Prophet the ability to heal them. Wilford Woodruff reported what happened when a group of priesthood holders led by Joseph Smith visited the home of one sick man:

“The next place they visited was the home of Elijah Fordham, who was supposed to be about breathing his last. When the company entered the room the Prophet of God walked up to the dying man, took hold of his right hand, and spoke to him, but Brother Fordham was unable to speak, his eyes were set in his head like glass, and he seemed entirely unconscious of all around him. Joseph held his hand and looked into his eyes in silence for a length of time. A change in the countenance of Brother Fordham was soon perceptible to all present. His sight returned, and upon Joseph asking him if he knew him, he, in a low whisper, answered, ‘Yes.’ Joseph asked him if he had faith to be healed. He answered, ‘I fear it is too late; if you had come sooner I think I would have been healed.’ The Prophet said, ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ?’ He answered in a feeble voice, ‘I do.’ Joseph then stood erect, still holding his hand in silence several moments; then he spoke in a very loud voice, saying: ‘Brother Fordham, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to arise from this bed and be made whole.’ His voice was like the voice of God, and not of man. It seemed as though the house shook to its very foundations. Brother Fordham arose from his bed and was immediately made whole. His feet were bound in [bandages], which he kicked off, then putting on his clothes, he ate a bowl of bread and milk, and followed the Prophet into the street” (quoted in Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church History, pp. 223–24).