Reader comments
LDS help sandbag in Nauvoo

Just to set the record straight, Joseph Smith did not ever live in the Nauvoo House. It was under construction when he was murdered. Joseph first lived in the Homestead and later the Mansion House, both next to the Nauvoo House.

Whoa, how about those Mormons? I know some Nazareens that live there and are also involved in saving their town. In fact, I think many religions are represented by people doing heroic acts trying to stave off the floods. Why not name them all if we are going to make saving a community a religious event? Wouldn't this article be more appropriate if it were posted in the Church News?

Mellow out

Read the byline, Ed H:

"Church News staff writer"

The Deseret News publishes the Church News; this is an article from it.

I believe this story is of interest to those who are likly to read this paper. If the Lutheran girls gun club from St. Paul had helped shore up a levee in a site of historical interest to Lutherans, then I think it would be resonable to see the article in a Minnesota newspaper without some whining ED to complain that they didn't-mention-every-other-single-person-involved.

Why is it that there is always an Ed out there to taint a good thing. Jealousy is a horrible thing.

I had checked the Keokuk and Quincy papers yesterday for updates on Nauvoo and the surrounding areas. They didn't have any information. I appreciate Deseret New's coverage.

Looks like the "Anti's" are out in force today trying to slam the DesNews and anything good done by the Lord's Church. So I'm joining in as an "anti".

Yes I am anti-ED. Good report DesNews. Thank you for keeping us informed.

You do know this is an LDS owned newspaper right? You do know that the majority of people who buy and/or go online to read are either LDS Utahns and/or LDS members around the world? You do know that this is the only place we can read about what is happening to members or our Church, or what members of our Church are doing, good or bad? You do realize that many of us welcome this kind of news?

Do you also know that you can go online and get the Salt Lake Tribune for more 'balanced' news? You can even go and find the New York Times, or many other national newsapers if you wish.

Please don't start your day off so badly by reading the Deseret News and getting aggravated, angry or feeling any other negative emotion, and then turning around and trying to get a rise out of others by insulting or demeaning them.

Please don't log on to this site if you don't like what you read!

To the AP writers covering all the terrible flooding in the Midwest, Nauvoo is just another very small and relatively insignificant town along the Mississippi. So when we go to national news sources, we may not find it mentioned, although we find lots of news about other, larger cities. We even occassionally find mention of groups who are helping out. And I think we are all concerned about how this crisis will be met. We care, and we want to know. Should I be unhappy that the Des Moines papers mentions the Iowa National Guard?

BUT, for those of us with Nauvoo roots, the DesNews is about the only place that will carry news for us.
Why complain because YOU aren't interested or object to others knowing that LDS volunteers are involved? Those of us who ARE interested in Nauvoo do want to know what is being done.

Sorry, I didn't understand that we were speaking about the "Lord's Church". Now I get it. By the way, I'm not anti-anything religious. They all do good and they all worship the same God (just from a different perspective). I think that was my point in my first post. Who's skin is thin?

Quite frankly, your skin is. The manner in which you tried to make your point in your first post makes that clear, and your attack in your second post cements the fact. There is one newspaper in the world that reports LDS news consistently, and thousands of newspapers that do not. That you continue to read DesNews, and then make derogatory comments intended to incite, is evidence that you are not interested in anything more than an opportunity to make the chip on your shoulder glaringly bright. My heart aches for all the people whose lives and livelihoods are being threatened by the flooding, all along the river. I am grateful to know that when the leaders in a community are at a loss for what to do, that LDS and other religious people set aside personal concerns and differences to pitch in and do the back-breaking labor that makes a difference. Perhaps you might want to investigate the beauties that such cooperativeness can reveal?

We lived in Nauvoo for some time. MY husband and many others went to help Niota in 2001 when they desperately needed sandbaggers because of threat of flooding. I did not see his name or any other names of the mostly senior citizens who helped then.
I had looked all over for news of the last few days,and found none until a niece in Texas sent the post on e=mail from the Deseret News. None of the people I know who were helping were doing any "converting" as you call it. They were working like crazy with all the energy they could muster in their old age!Please tell us Ed, were you out there filling sandbags???Maybe not because your skin is too thin.You might hurt your hands.
I appreciated the Deseret News report. I am concerned for all the residents along the River. I love the people of Quincy.

Ed H,
no one is making you read the article. Some of us appreciate these things. We wish you would take your hate and attacks elsewhere.

A horse is a horse, of course. And no one can talk to a horse of course. That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr ED.

I am not Mormon. But the LDS Church is in integral part of 19th Century Amercian history. Doctrine is not being discussed here, as it often is. What is being discussed is the treasure trove of history of a people with a uniquely American past. As a Catholic, I know that the LDS Church helped generously with the restoration of the Cathedral de Madeleine in SLC. I think it is so sad that anyone would think this article is about anything but concern over possible loss of the Mormon Faith's great Landmark's. If the Vatican were being flooded, I have no doubt the LDS in Rome would be on the scene helping save St. Peter's. The DN is the only paper following this story closely. If I were concerned about St. Peter's, I would read Cathoic publications for the "inside story". Allow Mormons the same privilege with the DN.

Everyone--you and I know there are anti-Mormon trolls who love creating controversy on these boards. I don't know if Rich and Ed are really among these, or if they're simply unaware that that's how they come across. But we need not reply in anger to every post we see as offensive--and we should not.

It's a well-known anti-Mormon tactic to try to draw Mormons into an argument so that they'll lose their tempers--which makes the anti-Mormon argument all the more credible that Mormons are neither Christian nor Christlike. Remember, wrestling a pig in the mud only gets you both dirty.

It's better to show people what we REALLY believe, not in WHAT we say but HOW we say it. "Defending the faith" is best done in patience, kindness, and Christian charity.

It's also best done by working alongside other Christian believers in the Nauvoo area--Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, etc.--in preserving EVERYONE'S communities from these floods.

Faith needs to be put into action--not just words. The time we spend squabbling cuts into our time for helping and serving others.

I have been scanning the news for updates on Nauvoo. I spent three summers in the Nauvoo House while I was working on the archaeological project which was sponsored by the Joseph Smith Historical Properties in the early '80s. Thank you for your update.

Thank you for your kind words And I totally agree, we can appreciate and help each other.

I have also been looking for information on how Nauvoo is fairing and I was happy to read this article. There is so much to be worried about lately with gas prices, war, floods and on and on that it makes me very sad to read the way people talk to each other. I guess I should know better by now that to read the comments posted.