Reporting from the City of Joseph

Last updated on: November 12, 2025 at 9:44 pm by Dan Peterson

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Reporting from the City of Joseph 2025-11-12T21:44:04-07:00 Dan Peterson

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Emma Smith (portrayed by Camrey Bagley Fox) in the wake of Joseph’s death, as depicted in the 2024 Interpreter Foundation film Six Days in August. Still photograph by James G. Jordan

As aways on these out-of-state Becoming Brigham expeditions, I’m here with our core film crew—Mark Goodman, James Jordan, and Russ Richins—and with my fellow hosts, Camrey Bagley Fox and John Donovan Wilson. (See them in Witnesses [2021] and Six Days in August [2024].)

Filming on these short autumn days after the change back to “standard time” is a bit of a challenge, but we tried to use our time well on the way from the airport in St. Louis on Monday by doing some shooting (as long as it was still light).

On Tuesday, we filmed mostly in and around the “Historic Nauvoo Visitors Center,” arriving really early (before it officially opened for the day), but we also worked on the flats down by the Mississippi River and along the Great River Road. This is a photogenic place, and we’re here at a very photogenic (and relatively quiet) season of the year.

Today, Wednesday, we started our work very early in the morning in the Smith Family Homestead, down toward the Mississippi River, and we concluded the day at sunset with filming outside the Webb Blacksmith Shop in another part of the Nauvoo flats. It was a beautiful and serene evening as the sun slowly went down across the Father of Waters.

I also managed to have some sutures removed from the side of my left thigh. (No further medical details will be provided at the present time.) I had been growing a bit concerned that I might not be able to get them out before next Monday, given our work and travel schedule. But, guided by the kind recommendation of Elder (Dr.) Quinn at the Visitors Center, I secured an appointment with Tony Wasielewski, FNP-C, at the Memorial Medical Clinic Nauvoo, at 1370 Mulholland Street, the main drag, not far to the east of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. I appreciated his help. He is very cheerful and personable, his staff are efficient and good to work with, and he did a good job. I didn’t even cry! If you’re ever in Nauvoo and — perish the thought! — you need some basic medical help, I can recommend him and the clinic. And there’s a pharmacy that’s located almost directly next door. (Here you thought that I only did restaurant recommendations!)

John Donovan Wilson as Brigham Young, on the set of Six Days in August. Still photograph by James. G. Jordan

For particular reasons, we used a portion of today to discuss Brigham Young’s conversion to the Restored Gospel, even though that actually happened in Mendon, New York, rather than in Nauvoo, Illinois. And, in the course of our conversation, I was struck by a particular reminiscence of Brigham’s about his first encounter with the Book of Mormon and the message of the Restoration:

If all the talent, tact, wisdom, and refinement of the world had been sent to me with the Book of Mormon, and had declared, in the most exalted of earthly eloquence, the truth of it, undertaking to prove it by learning, and worldly wisdom, they would have been to me like the smoke which arises only to vanish away.

But when I saw a man without eloquence, or talents for public speaking, who could only say, “I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord,” the Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual illuminated my understanding, and light, glory, and immortality were before me. I was encircled by them, filled with them, and I knew for myself that the testimony of the man was true.

There are several facets of that expression of memory that seem significant to me. But I want to bear my own personal witness to Brigham Young’s in one particular regard. Thinking about his recollection that “the Holy Ghost . . . illuminated my understanding, and light, glory, and immortality were before me. I was encircled by them, filled with them, and I knew for myself,” it suddenly occurred to me that he had described with remarkable accuracy my own experience when I finally came to grasp the plan of salvation to at least some small degree. That experience was powerful. It lasted. And it remains distinctly memorable.

The Cody Wyoming Temple in a prophetic painting by Abel Grimmer (d. ca. 1620). Wikimedia Commons public domain image

If you can access the Facebook page of the Cody Wyoming Temple, prepare yourself for a horrifying shock. Virtually since its announcement, opponents of the planned temple for Cody (the exterior of which is now essentially complete) have lamented the way it will loom over the city and how it will conceal the night sky and hide the surrounding mountains. And, sadly, their warnings have been proven all too accurate. The mountains are no longer visible. Residents of the city live in despairing Angst under what has justly become notorious as the temple’s soaring “Tower of Terror.” And now, while the citizens of roughly two dozen of these United States are enjoying unaccustomed views of the Northern Lights, the aurora borealis, the unfortunate residents of Cody are — as demonstrated by recent images of the Cody Wyoming Temple (some of which are also available here) — unable to see the Northern Lights at all. Rumor has it that refugees are already beginning to flee Park County into surrounding jurisdictions, and even northward and westward into the neighboring states of Montana and Idaho. Various charities are said to be mobilizing to provide the fugitives with food, shelter, and trauma counseling.

Rafael Flores (d. 1886), “Dante y Virgilio visitando el Infierno” (“Dante and Virgil Visiting Hell” or, alternatively, “Dante and Virgil Survey Utah”)
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

It seems, by the way, that the Media-Powers-that-Be are treating the American public to yet another balanced, informed, insightful, and very well publicized discussion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And that an investigator who is known for her deep learning and her unimpeachable moral authority has been chosen to guide and present it. In a time of widespread incivility and mutual incomprehension, it’s inspiring to see the resources that the mass media are devoting to a desperately needed effort at improving inter-religious understanding:

Judy Berman, in Time: “In Surviving Mormonism With Heather Gay, A Reality Star Takes On the Tradwife Propaganda Machine”
Jeff Nelson, in People: “RHOSLC’s Heather Gay Confronts Her Past and the LDS on Surviving Mormonism: ‘The Church Should Be Worried’ (Exclusive)”
Justin Kravitz, in USA Today: “Housewives’ Heather Gay calls Mormonism ‘a cult’ as she meets abuse survivors in new doc”

In the meantime, here’s something relevant from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™: With a report on my adopted home state of Utah — aka “Utard,” the state in which the infamous “church” of the Morgbots has its headquarters — U.S. News and World Report has cast a pitiless light on the evils wrought by Heather Gay’s former religion: “Best States Rankings”

But the U.S. News report doesn’t even begin to exhaust the inexhaustible Hitchens File. The evils flowing from this vile cult aren’t merely local. They’re global:

“Celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ by Helping Those in Need Around the World: In 2025, Light the World Giving Machine kiosks will be in more locations than ever — 126 cities across 21 countries and on six continents”

“Where to find the Light the World Giving Machines in 2025: The big red charity vending machines have raised nearly $50 million for local and global charities over the past eight years”

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Memorial Medical Clinic Nauvoo

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