Blog #52
By Kevin V. Hunt
CONCENTRIC CIRCLES OF NAUVOO MIRACLES
By Kevin V. Hunt
Blog #52
Here in Nauvoo, the missionaries (us included) often talk about “Nauvoo Miracles” that we experience. We have all experienced them, We all feel and recognize them. We are grateful that they come to us almost daily (or even several times a day). And after we receive one of these miracles, we stand in awe and wonder.
A Nauvoo Miracle comes to us from our God. Receiving a Nauvoo Miracle is recognition that God is mindful of us. The Nauvoo Miracles are evidence that God is guiding our path. They are messages to us that God is facilitating times, places, and people in our paths. These miracles seem to swirl around us in concentric circles and circles of the past come around to connect us with the circles of people and good times in the current world. And as they happen, and as we recognize them, we say, “Wow!” And we acknowledge that these are not mere “coincidences” but that they have, in fact, been orchestrated personally as tender mercies unto each of us.
A Nauvoo Miracle … that is what we have experienced with a friend named Cecilia (or “Ceci” – as she is generally now known). Actually though, it is not just one miracle, but a circle of continuing miracle that has been in the making now for multiple generations.
CIRCLE #1: May to October 1975
I was serving as a missionary down “Sawth” (Alabam, Flawda, and Jawja). That was a good life and I was enjoying it. In April of 1975, I was serving in the mission office in Tallahassee, Florida. I was the mission recorder – and as such, kept all of the missionary and member records (I was the like the stake clerk and maintained membership records for all of the branches – and that was before the districts were all made into stakes.)
Above: Elder Kevin Hunt in Florida Tallahassee Mission Office as Mission Recorder
One day I received a wake-up call. My companion was Elder Patch, who was the personal secretary to our Mission President Spencer H. Osborn.
Elder Patch answered the call as it came that day. He buzzed in to President Osborn in his office and I heard him say, “President, a Dr. Kimball of Nauvoo is on the phone.” It was like an electric current went through me. I suddenly had the distinct feeling that my life was about to change. I knew of the Spirit that I was going to receive a missionary transfer to serve in Nauvoo.
I didn’t say anything … I just wanted to watch it go through the channels of leadership. I sat back to see it happen … and the Lord’s grandeur in my behalf.
President Osborn almost immediately called in his two assistants for an emergency conference. They later reported that it was a difficult meeting. Dr. J. LeRoy Kimball, the President of Nauvoo Restoration, had requested that four Florida missionaries be sent to serve in Nauvoo. They prayed and their spiritual deliberations began. They came out with their heads spinning.
My first companion – now one of the Assistants – later related to me what had happened. The four names soon came to their minds. Mine was one of those named by the Spirit. They fought it … They had planned earlier for me to become the next secretary to the President. The mission was soon to receive a new mission president … and they planned for me to kind of train the new President. They had planned out the plan for the next few weeks as I was to transition into the new role.
But that all changed with the call from Nauvoo. My name came through very clear and they knew that I was to be a part of the transfer group. They could not fight the Spirit. Finally they gave in and adjusted their plans accordingly. And within a couple of weeks, I and three other Elders flew off in the sunset and found ourselves in Nauvoo. How exciting and amazing!
Above: Florida Missionary off to Nauvoo – (L to R) Elders Jim Howard, Brett Rich, Jeff Moffatt and Kevin Hunt
I served then as a site missionary – just as I do now – 50 years later. It was glorious and wonderful.
Above: Elders Craig Shaltes and Kevin Hunt serving as site guide missioaries in Nauvoo – 1975
I spent the last six months of my mission in Nauvoo. It was so great! And in the process, Nauvoo and “the Spirit of Nauvoo” had burned down deep into my soul and it was permanently planted there. And I would never be the same!
The next year after I served in Nauvoo, I learned that a new pageant – called, “The City of Joseph” had begun there. And forever afterwards, I thought how fabulous it would be to take my family back to Nauvoo to be in the pageant. (We had, by this time, begun to be in the cast of the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant cast and had so participated for many years. So, the “pageant spirit” was also strong within us.) I often voiced my dream of going to be in the Nauvoo pageant.
CIRCLE #2 – 1980-1981
Okay, roll the Nauvoo clock back about 45 years. That is a long time … even here in Nauvoo – where time seems to stand still. Back then, from 1979 to 1981, my wife’s parents, Elder Everett H. (E.H) and Verna Belcher were serving a mission (18 months with 2 6-month extensions) in Nauvoo. They were assigned for all of that time to serve in the restored home of Lucy Mack Smith. (That scenario is hard for Sister Hunt and me to fathom. We serve in about 25 historic sites and we get moved around so that we generally have six different sites in any given week. Two and a half years just in that tiny site! Wow!)
Above: Elder Everett H. (E.H.) and Verna Belcher as missionaries in Nauvoo circa 1979-1981
Anyway, as they served there, they had the opportunity to frequently visit with a young lady named Cecilia Hitch, who then lived in Montrose, Iowa. Family legend has it that Elder [our “Gramps”] taught and baptized this young lady in the Mississippi River after frequent association with her at the Lucy Mack Smith home. (We later learned that the story had become embellished a bit over time (even by me) – as good stories often do.)
Although we and the rest of our family had heard some of the story, we really didn’t know many of the details. Utah and Nauvoo are quite a ways apart when we had very busy lives. We prayed for our Belcher parents and felt much a part of their missions. And we received their weekly (or whatever) letters which we enjoyed. But, with the passage of time and the increased distance (after the Belchers returned home, and ultimately went the way of the world), we kind of lost track of the Nauvoo Miracle that they experienced in Nauvoo with Cecilia. That all became ancient history that had kind of faded away since we really didn’t have many details or personal connection with her.
While a missionary, Elder Belcher researched the old skill of making and firing brick. He researched the process and soon began creating and firing Nauvoo bricks. He designed a small souvenir Nauvoo Brick that he began to distribute to the throngs of guests who came to Nauvoo. His brick has become famous and has found its way to homes of people all over the world.
Elder Belcher also found a service opportunity in the Joseph Coolidge Home (the big white place with the German writing). The place had wonderful woodworking inside. Sadly, however, the structure was about to “go the way of all the world”. The back side was about to collapse. Elder Belcher begged the mission president for the opportunity to fix the structure. His dedicated efforts literally saved the structure and it is still alive and well today (2025) and is home – top and bottom floors – to two senior missionary couples.
And after Elder Belcher resurrected the structure, he began demonstrating many pioneer crafts or occupations within it. He demonstrated rope, barrel, pottery, and candle making.
CIRCLE #3– AUGUST 1996
Lou and I (that is how she was known then) lived in Mesa, Arizona with our NINE CHILDREN (“Nine is fine” as Lou always says.) After years of thinking and dreaming of the possibility of being in the Nauvoo pageant, I finally concluded that 1996 was to be our year to do it. This was actually late fall of 1995. We made the decision to go for it the next summer. We were not known for having an excess of financial resources but we decided to go forward in faith. And with this faith, we somehow knew that the Lord would provide the means for us to make the trip.
We worked feverishly for many months to raise money to go. We went out and “sold” addresses to be painted on street curbs everywhere around us. Lou and the girls worked hard to create our many costumes – including a multitude of accessories (hats, gloves, suspenders, boots, and many more) that would be required. We made reservations for our family to occupy a cabin at Camp Nauvoo where most of the cast would live through the pageant.
We decided that we would take the Amtrak train from our locale back to Nauvoo. We got a great deal from Amtrak when they offered a “buy one adult ticket … and get two free children’s tickets”. Jackie, our oldest, was counted as an adult and we convinced Gramps Belcher (then a widow) to go with us. That got the other eight children as “free passage”. Such a deal! Wow!
All of that actually came together. The Lord took care all of the details as we gave our all working to make it happen. My sister and husband, out of the clear blue, came and gifted to us a vintage pick-up truck that had long been in his family.
(That vehicle was actually kind of an albatross, however, – since it worked on the old “regular” gas – and not the new unleaded fuel. And regular gas had become quite difficult to come by.) I still don’t know what Lesa and Charlie thought we would do with the vehicle, but I immediately knew that it came to us as an answer to our prayers. I knew that somehow we could sell the vehicle to pay for our trip to Nauvoo. (And that required a lot of faith, too … since by the trip, we had not been able to sell the vehicle. The vehicle finally sold about ten days after we returned home. Talk about a test of faith!)
I will not here give details of our Pageant experience (but that can be found in a previous blog posted last summer. This is my Blog #17: “It’s Pageant Time in Nauvoo”.) Here is the link to that previous blog article):
And I acknowledge that there is some duplication in that article, and in this current effort, but some of the former material is applicable to this new situation and article about Ceci
While in Nauvoo for our cast experience, we visited the Brickyard and basked in that whole scenario. We shared our family connection with the current senior missionaries but they would not believe us. They said, “Oh, no, we have these bricks made in Mexico. That is not the way it was.” (Really?)
We also went to the Coolidge home to see and experience the crafts that Gramps Belcher had started there. Sadly, we did not take any photos nor did we document the visit in any way. (Even my usually detailed journal only mentioned that we went there – but gave no details.)
Anyway, one of the pageant scenes – in which our family was cast – was a scene called, “How to Build a City”. A large waterwheel was prominent on the stage and our family was nearby doing laundry. During a practice of the scene, the waterwheel suddenly began to topple. As I recall, several men and I rushed to help “steady the ark”. We were successful in keeping the waterwheel upright.
Note: The above is what I wrote from my memory of the scene. I was happy to read the original record and the reading made me realize that I need to adjust my story a bit.
Then after the scene practice was complete, an unknown lady came up to me. She introduced herself as a newspaper reporter from Keokuk. She said, “I just took your photo with that waterwheel, and now I need to find out your name and more about you for a newspaper article.” We began to talk with her.
I tried to find some stories that might be of interest to her. I told her about serving as a missionary there in Nauvoo 20 plus years ago. Ho-hum …! She did not find that story interesting. I then told her that we had brought our nine children from Arizona on the train to be in the pageant. I thought this would make a really great story but she didn’t salute that flag either.
Still anxious to impress her with something, I said, “My in-laws were here fifteen years ago and they served as missionaries at the Lucy Mack Smith home and brickyard.” That seemed to really grab her. She just about ejected off and out of the stage. She was thunderstruck. She said, “Wait a minute … what were their names?”
If she was surprised before, she about went crazy when I told her “Elder and Sister Belcher.” She then introduced herself to us as Cecelia Hitch and said that Elder Belcher had baptized her. “What? Could this be happening? Is this really THE CECILIA?” Talk about a Nauvoo Miracle (and we hadn’t even heard that term yet!) Wow! So fabulous and amazing!
And of course, now she was “all ears”. She wanted to hear every detail of our trip and then some. And of course, we were excited to share it with her. She got the “full enchilada” from us. She took copious notes and promised that she would get an article published soon.
We anxiously awaited publication of the newspaper. It only took a couple of days to reach publication. On the day of the next promised edition, we rushed to get a copy. And talk about a great article … Wow! It turned out grand beyond our expectations. She gave us a nearly full spread on the front page and even more on a later page. And we were told that this newspaper was distributed to five local counties around Nauvoo. Talk about a miracle … and being famous! (We were excited and humbly grateful to the Lord for this blessing and opportunity to be missionaries.) It was truly amazing how this whole scenario came together. The Lord pulled off a good one … He facilitated a true miracle for us – and for Cecilia.
And that brings me to another little “Nauvoo Miracle”. I could have made this its own “Circle” but I’ll just plug it in here.
I wanted a photo of the waterwheel to insert into my blog article. I went to my old friend and Googled, “Nauvoo City of Joseph Pageant How to Build a City image”. And Wow! Lo, and behold, the first “find” on Google, was a full video of the entire 1996 pageant in which we were in. This was so unbelievable and wonderful. Sister Hunt and I spent the afternoon watching and loving every minute of the video … so many memories. And I sent a copy of the show video on to our kids (via our family “App”) and many of them also had a glorious afternoon walk down the Nauvoo memory lane.
Kaylea wrote: “No way?!?! Ok, I’m totally watching this.” Sister Hunt said, “It is fun to actually see us perform.” Kaylea responded, “Yeah, I’ve always wished we could. So I’m excited about this!”
I don’t know if there were other pageant year videos posted … 1996 was so perfect just for us … Another Nauvoo Miracle!
Then the pageant ended. We returned (again by train) back to our Arizona. And Cecilia went on with her own life. And we never heard more from her. (That was before the day of cell phones, texting, Facebook, etc..) Communication options were limited. Thus, we never heard from or of her again.
Sister Verna Belcher died in 1991 and Elder Belcher died in 2004. Then there really was no communication conduit at all with us and Cecilia.
CIRCLE #4 – 2023 SOMETIME
All who know me know that I am an avid journalist. It is a well-known fact that I have maintained the habit of making a daily journal entry (writing EVERY DAY) since 1973. My first 101 volumes of the personal journal were all hand-written. And for many years, I have had the dream of getting all of these journals “digitized”.
Knowing of my dream to scan the 101 journals, my son Keith found a simple scanner system that would allow me to photo scan the journal pages. He bought it and gifted it to me. I scanned all of the 101 journals. I was able to scan the large double page images – which the system separated into individual images. Wow! I worked at this task for months prior to our mission call to Nauvoo.
I saved the various images of each book into a single document file just for that book. Amazing! I saved each book as its own entity in a “Kevin journal master files” directory on my computer – with the beginning and ending dates of the entries in each book file.
With these tasks completed, it has become an easy task to find and display journal entries for particular time periods or experiences as desired.
As I prepared this blog article, I decided to go back to my journal to read the original entry about the events of the time. and our association with Ceci.
I had the newspaper article date, so I was easily able bring up the journal of the 1996 Nauvoo “City of Joseph” experience and began checking entries back from the newspaper article date.
The entire journal volume #67 was fascinating and wonderful. Half of the book, literally, was about our 1996 pageant experience.
Herea are my Journal images for Tuesday, July 30, 1996:
It was super fun to read the above entries – and entries about the whole 1996 pageant experience. And it was interesting how some errors had occurred in the story as I had retold it over the years (and as already stated in this writing). The “primary record” (created at the time) cleared up many details with the true facts!
And while I was into the journal reading, I decided to read down the same page from the above entry and onto the next two pages. Here I recorded another “Nauvoo Miracle” as it happened back then: (And that was another big WOW!)
The digital journal thing was even more of a miracle as we are serving on our mission. The original journal books are jam-packed tight at the bottom of my “office” at home (which is packed floor to ceiling with all of our goods as our daughter moved into the place in our absence.).
CIRCLE #5 – 2024
It was truly a miracle – a bunch of them – to be called back to serve in my former Nauvoo mission. Who gets to do that? I tell people that I am a “site missionary” and that I am now doing exactly what I did back in 1975 (exactly 50 years ago) but now I wear a costume and back then I wore a white shirt and tie.” (And back then we had only 8 restored homes and now we have nearly 30!) That’s another WOW!
One of our first assignments as we arrived in Nauvoo was to serve in the Lucy Mack Smith home. Sister Hunt was overcome with the Spirit and also the spirit of her parents who had served here so long ago. She cried so intensely that I had to step in and explain to the folks why she was so overcome.
We have also marveled at the Coolidge House which Elder Belcher saved from destruction. We have been in the structure – both up and downstairs, and the woodwork is beautiful. We have often enjoyed serving in the Family Living Center.
The Family Living Center now houses the crafts that Elder Belcher started demonstrating in the Coolidge House. In the FLC, we demonstrate rope, candle, pottery, and barrel making (and more).
It has been very special for Sister Hunt to serve at the brick making station. Here she is able to talk of Nauvoo brick making and her father’s role in creating the famous [“original brick” as she calls it]. She loves to recount the story and her Belcher brick heritage. And the guests are in total awe and amazement as they hear of the Nauvoo brick Miracles. And Sister Hunt always makes sure the folks take home one of the original bricks and even sometimes for special connections with people, she quietly passes the new brick on to them also.
And then there is the Belcher Brickyard. The facilities have changed over the years, but the round kiln built by Elder Belcher is still there. And in the facility, missionaries (young and old) create the bricks that have become such a Nauvoo tradition with guests who come from all over the world.
As we have been here, Sister Hunt and I and our children have been able to create a new brick design.. This design features the Nauvoo Temple. It is a fitting tribute to the Temple as constructed by the early Saints and it helps a new generation to focus on and point upward to the majestic reconstructed Nauvoo Temple today.
We had only been in Nauvoo in 2024 for a month or two. Sister Hunt and I were serving for the day at the Joseph and Emma Smith Homestead. A couple of FM (Facilities Management) employees drove up in their gray truck to work on a sign at the place. We knew who they were because they were in their FM blue shirts.
We went over to visit with them. One guy was a brother Darrel Layton. He told us about his Nauvoo FM job. It was interesting to learn that he lives locally around Nauvoo somewhere. Then the light came on. “Hold on … Wait a moment!” We had not heard from or of Cecilia in some 28 years. And we had no clue if she lived around Nauvoo or somewhere else in the world. But, it was worth a try.
I asked Darrel if he had access to the stake directory on his phone. I knew that he did, but he confirmed it. I then asked him to look in it to see if there was a Cecilia Hitch listed. We had no idea if that would even still be her name – supposing that she had probably married and was named something else.
Darrel opened his phone and typed in “Cecilia Hitch”. And miraculously (there it is again), her old email moniker still had her name (and more) in the email address. Wow! It doesn’t get much better than this. He learned that she is in the “new” Ft. Madison ward – that had recently been merged with Montrose. He found her name now to be Smith. He gave us the phone number for Cecilia. He could also tell that she was still presumed “active in the church” since her profile listed her currently as a Relief Society Teacher. Another Wow! This was all so exciting!
Then later, out of the blue, Sister Hunt tried to contact Cecilia. She would not answer the phone because she did not know us or the caller ID number. Darrel also gave us her address and we made a trek over to Montrose, Iowa to see if we could find her at her house. We did find the house but could not get any sign of life. Either she was not there, or she did not know us and wanted to act as if she was not at home.
We learned that Elder and Sister Williams, of our mission, were assigned to the Ft. Madison Ward and they attended there each Sunday. They too knew Cecilia. They talked to Cecilia and told her that we had been trying to contact her. Sister Hunt tried again to connect with Cecilia and an actual meeting plan was established. We would meet her in Keokuk on our P-day for a lunch and visit. We were there at the appointed hour but she was not. We never heard the rest of that story.
Sister Williams then noted that their Ft. Madison ward was planning a 4th of July picnic and suggested that we could make an appearance at the gig since Cecilia would likely be there. Cecilia agreed with the plan. We arrived but Cecilia texted Sister Williams about five minutes before the event saying that something had come up and she was not going to make it.
Later, Sister Williams suggested that we just show up some Sunday for church in Ft. Madison– knowing that Cecilia would likely be there. So, that is what we did.
On December 8th, we attended the Ft. Madison Ward. Upon arrival, I was very pleased to see my old friend, Gene McMeins (whom I have written about previously). This proved to be the last time I would see him. He died just a month or so later (at age 92). Cecelia had known this Gene rather well. I met two 4th Cousins – on my Hunt side. They had seen the “3 Hunt Cousins” article in the “Church News” and got excited when they saw our nametags.
And then in she came … our friend, Cecilia … yes, in the flesh! Wow! We were excited. Cecilia seemed to somehow remember Lou – even after all of those years. We had a short visit after sacrament meeting and Lou shared with her the book that I had written about Elder Belcher, the Nauvoo Brickmaker, and brick making generally in Nauvoo.
She showed Cecilia a few pages about herself that we had included in the book. Cecilia was pleased with her pages we had created about her.
Above: Cecelia Hitch (top left) as Young Women leader 1991
Cecilia loved what she saw about her old friends, Elder and Sister Belcher. We were able to get a couple of good photos together.
We left with a promise to get together again. But, it never seemed to come together. We still wanted to connect with her – thinking that there was more to learn of “her story” and we wanted to capture that story before our mission departure. And then the Williams soon ended their mission and headed west. We had kind of given up on a meeting with Ceci. We had done what we could – so it was kind of out of our hands. We needed a miracle – some added help.
CIRCLE #6 – APRIL/MAY 2025
On April 17th, we welcomed Elder and Sister Hayes, who had just arrived to serve in Nauvoo – and who were in our district. They came to our place for dinner and they seemed particularly interested in the whole Belcher brick tradition and the brick making facility. We said, “We have some keys to the place. We can take you for an after-hours tour over there.” We walked with them the block from our place over to the Brickyard. We were able to share the special place with them.
We had not known that our entry to the place would set off an alarm – even back in Salt Lake City. Quite the system! And as the alarm sounded, the night watchman – the security guy – came to see who was breaking into the facility. We had a great visit with Robert. We learned that I knew his deceased grandfather (here in Nauvoo) back in 1975 – and again in 1996 – when the grandfather hosted a pageant cast swim and BBQ party at his little pond. Another Nauvoo Miracle.
Then, as we were visiting, we were joined in the conversation by Robert’s cousin, Joy Powell (also a Nauvoo FM night custodial employee). We visited with her and him together. Then somehow, Sister Hunt brought up the name of Cecilia “Ceci” Smith. Sister Hunt asked Joy if she knew her. “Oh, yes! I am her Ministering Sister”. Are you kidding me? Another Nauvoo Miracle – Wow! Joy promised that she would get Ceci and us together.
From that time forward, Sis. Powell worked toward this end. Challenges kept coming up and the date kept changing but Joy kept her eye on the goal. Ultimately, another meeting time was arranged and we were finally able to connect with Cecilia and Joy.
COMING FULL CIRCLE (#7) – JUNE 2025
It was a great day when we were actually able to get with Ceci (and Joy) in person. We were grateful that everything came together. We had many questions for Ceci.
Joy and Ceci went to the Temple (great) and we got together after their session. Sister Hunt planned a dinner for the four of us. Ceci was anxious to meet at the Lucy Mack Smith home. She wanted to make a return visit to this home – since she has had so many great memories of the place – and being with Elder and Sister Belcher there. We loved that idea.
Sister Hunt had hoped to have an outdoor picnic at the Brickyard on some new picnic tables that have found their way in front of the place. We thought that would be fitting to the situation. However, on the day of the event, it was super windy. For many years, there have been three classrooms where class groups were taught brick making. Just in the past week, these classrooms have become “family lounges” – places where families can hang out, feed their children, take time out, etc. We were able to use one of these rooms for our gathering. And it worked well that Joy had a key to the rooms.
The room proved to be quite comfortable. There was plenty of room to spread out the food. There were two rocking chairs. I took one chair and Sister Smith (she did get married a few years ago – but her husband, Craig, died during the COVID era) took the other rocker. Sister Hunt worked to spread out the food as I interviewed and made notes with Ceci.
At last, we were able to visit with Ceci and we were able to ask many questions for details that we have not known but wondered about previously. We felt as if we were on a mission to learn and share the story. We felt too as if we were on a mission for Elder and Sister Belcher. They would have loved to have been present for the reunion.
CECILIA HITCH SMITH TELLS HER OWN STORY
Seated in our very comfortable setting, I asked Ceci many questions and she joyfully answered them. It was interesting and fun that years ago she was the reporter interviewing me and now I was the reporter interviewing her. That’s another Nauvoo miracle!
I asked Ceci how she first came to Nauvoo as a young girl:
“I was fourteen when I first came to Nauvoo. I lived in Montrose, Iowa, located across the river from Nauvoo. In those days, there was a ferry that crossed the river. I had a friend named Kay Beatty. We were often looking for adventure. We rode our bikes onto the ferry and decided to go across the river to Nauvoo.
“Kay said, “I think there’s a big visitors’ center over there.” So, we rode over and found the place. We took the tour. In one of the rooms I saw a picture of young Joseph Smith. I learned that at age 14, he had prayed and then had seen God and Christ. (My same age!). I seemed to believe in Joseph’s vision. I was raised a Catholic but I thought, “If God could talk to a 14-year old boy, and that if he said that God and Christ visited him, I wanted to know more about him.”
“And near the painting of Joseph Smith I saw a bust of a woman. I thought that she was beautiful. I asked about the statue and wanted to know who the lady was. I was told that this was Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of the prophet. I was instantly in awe of her. I sat and thought about her being the mother of a prophet. And how incredible that would have been for her.
“Kay and I learned that the home of Lucy Mack Smith was a restored home and that it was open for tours. We got a map and we rode our bikes over there. We knocked on the door and Sister Verna Belcher answered it. I looked at her and thought that she looked purely angelic.
“Sister Belcher took us into the home and told us about Lucy Mack Smith. I had strong feelings about Lucy and her being the mother of a prophet. Sister Belcher was welcoming and very kind. Sister Belcher took us outside and introduced us to Elder Belcher.
”After that, and over the summer, Kay and I came back to Nauvoo frequently. And every time that we came to Nauvoo, we would always stop to visit Elder and Sister Belcher. We always sat and talked on the side door of Lucy’s home. Sister Belcher would stand in the doorway. Elder Belcher sat on the top left of the stairs. Kay sat on the bottom step. I always sat on the right side.
“We had the best talks. We talked all about the Gospel and Joseph Smith. Elder Belcher was surprised that I had already bought a Book of Mormon. He gave me a book, “Truth Restored”. He encouraged me to read The Book of Mormon and Lucy’s history. This was in the years 1980 and 1981.
“I had been raised a Catholic but I didn’t believe in the Pope. I felt that I could believe in a prophet. My siblings had gone to Catholic school but I didn’t. I knew quite a bit about the Catholics but I didn’t really believe much about them.
“I often came to Nauvoo on Saturday nights so that I could attend Church on Sundays. Some nights I spent the night with the Belchers in their little white house [corner of Partridge and White Streets]. They also introduced me to other missionaries – Ruth and Nathan Hale (the folks who started theaters in Salt Lake and in Arizona). And sometimes I would stay over Saturday night at their place.
“Elder Belcher got me set up to take the missionary discussions. Kay and I listened to them at my home. The missionaries came from Keokuk. The missionaries were Elder Ken Pulice – I think From California – and Elder Scott Myers, maybe from Utah. My dad sat in on some of the lessons. My parents had by then divorced. My parents had kind of a diverse religious background and were supportive of me and whatever I wanted to do. I told my dad, “I think I want to join the Mormon Church!” He said, “Are you sure that is what you want to do?” He said that it was to be my decision.
“I decided to get baptized. This was on May 16, 1981. (Kay joined the church years later and she died in July 2024.) The missionaries asked me who I wanted to baptize me. They were surprised when I said, “Elder Belcher”. I got baptized up at the Nauvoo chapel [not in the River]. My dad came to my baptism. I remember that Sister Belcher gave the opening prayer. Sister Hale gave the talk on Baptism. Elder Belcher baptized me. I remember that I had to be baptized twice because my toe came up out of the water. Elder Pulice confirmed me a member of the Church and gave me the Holy Ghost.
“The Nauvoo branch then met in a really small chapel. It is much bigger now. I attended church in Nauvoo for 20 years. Then we got a branch in Montrose. I have lived in that branch for many years.”
Ceci summarized her life following her baptism. She often wrote for the newspaper – even from when she was a teenager. She got started reporting on local sports events She worked first for the “Ft. Madison Democrat”. She noted that her newspaper had shared our Pageant story with the “Dallas City Enterprise”. She noted that she had an intense desire to go on a mission. She said that her Bishop talked her out of a mission saying, “That is not what the Lord wants you to do at the moment.” “I was quite upset about that …,” she said.
Then for many years, Cecilia worked in the archiving function – filming of historical records – both for the Church and the Federal Archives. She spent time in Kansas City at the federal archives there. She then lived and worked in Salt Lake City – still in filming and archives – for many years. She worked at Laguna Hills, California at the Federal Records office there. She returned years later to Montrose and met and married Craig Smith. He died of COVID on March 24, 2022.
We had all enjoyed the special evening and discussion together.
Above: Elder Kevin and Sister Lou Hunt with Sister Ceci Smith
We then went outside. I asked Ceci about Elder Belcher’s brick operation. She said that he had built the round kiln that is still there today. She felt that he had burned his bricks in this oven. She described the little shed that Elder Belcher constructed.
She said that it had a large window and it could be held up by the ceiling when he was open. She said that Elder Belcher always had a large crowd with him – and everyone loved the Brick Yard and Elder Belcher. She talked about the “pug mill” – with the white fence around it. She said that Elder Belcher let the kids pull this around the circle and they loved doing this. The buildings have changed over the years, and Ceci tried hard to find Elder Belcher’s original little shed in the new structures – but couldn’t quite see it there. She knew exactly where it was, however.
Above: Joy Powell, Cecilia Smith, Sister Lou Hunt
Although just a little girl (born in 1975 and the Belchers were there through 1981), Joy said that she remembered the Belchers and going often to the brickyard. She said that she still has many of the old original Belcher bricks.
We asked Ceci about the Coolidge house and the crafts there. She remembered that Elder Belcher was very anxious to find things for guest children to do. He noted that there were a lot of things to interest the adults but very few things of interest for the children. And that is why he decided to start some crafts in the Coolidge House. “He wanted something for the children”, she said.
We talked of the “Original Nauvoo Brick” created by Elder Belcher and Ceci remembered the brick fondly. She was very excited when Sister Hunt told her about the new Temple Brick and the miracles that brought this to pass. Ceci was very excited when Sister Hunt gave her one of the beautiful new Temple bricks. And she got really excited again when Sister Hunt showed her (with the imprint on the back of the brick) that this was one of the original and first new bricks that came out of the kiln on March 9th, 2025, the 110th anniversary of the birth of Elder Belcher. How cool is that?
Ceci and Joy noted that they had both known each other for years – since Ceci went to Church in Nauvoo and Joy (though born in Moultrie, Georgia) had lived in Nauvoo her whole life. Joy remembered that Ceci (10 years older – born in 1965) was one of her Young Women leaders in the ward.
We walked across the street from the Brick Yard to the Lucy Mack Smith home. We went in and were greeted by a sister missionary – Sister Tanner. Ceci lit up as she walked into the Lucy Mack Smith home. She kind of gave us her own tour. The place has not changed in the 45 years since Ceci first started coming there. She looked around with fond memories. (And I note that the place still looks exactly the same as when I served and took tours through the place in 1975!)
Above: Sister Rose Rieske as Lucy Mack Smith.
We enjoyed a fun tour since on this day, Sister Rieske was there doing a “character encounter” (meaning that she portrayed Lucy Mack through or in the “first person” as if she was indeed Lucy Mack Smith. Sister Rieske looked and acted the part well. She added much to the presentation. Ceci was very touched by this personal presentation about Lucy. Cecilia made a trek up the very steep stairs and the rooms up there brought good memories. She remembered the rooms well.
Outside the home, we walked around the back yard (where Elder Belcher always hung out). We went and checked out the 1790 Boston Carriage that belonged to Lucy Mack Smith.
Above: Sister Belcher sitting in Lucy Mack Smith Carriage
“I remember sitting up in that carriage,” Ceci said. She then showed us the steps where she and Kay and the Belchers used to have their gospel discussions.
As we ended our time together, Ceci was visibly touched as she thought again of the special times and experiences shared with the Belchers and her connection with the Church. She said to Sister Hunt, “Because of your parents, I have had amazing experiences.”
Ceci reminisced about how her husband had not joined the church but that Craig went to church and joined me at the 200 year celebration of the First Vision. We followed President Nelson and did the “Hosanna Shout” together with him.” She said that she has completed Temple work for Craig.
At the end of our time together, Ceci shared, “Being exposed to the Gospel by the Belchers has been the biggest blessing of my life. I have had amazing experiences,” she said again.
Above: Cecelia Hitch with Elder Belcher in Salt Lake City (date unknown but after 1991 death of Verna)
I asked her if there was anything in her life that could have made her quit going to church. She said, “Yes, there were some situations that could have made me quit but I would not give it up for anything. It has been a wonderful life.”
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Wow! What a wonderful evening we had together. I am sure that the Belchers would have greatly enjoyed it also. I hope that maybe they were there with us.
Concentric circles of Nauvoo Miracles. I love how the Lord (God, Christ and the Holy Ghost) – all work together to pull off these special miracles for us. It is so exciting to watch them happen and to experience them. We rejoice in them and are greatly blessed by these miracles.
Left to right, Sister Lou Hunt, Elder Kevin Hunt, Sister Sandy Hunt, Elder Jake Hunt, Sister Tammy Hunt and Elder Brad Hunt in Nauvoo, Illinois, on Nov. 14, 2024. Elder John Hale
Elder Jacob Hunt and Elder Brad Hunt sit in the driver’s seat in a horse-drawn wagon while around them, from left, are Sister Sandy Hunt, Sister Lou Hunt, Elder Kevin Hunt and Sister Tammy Hunt, in Nauvoo, Illinois, on Nov. 14, 2024. | Elder John Hale
The Red Brick Store in Nauvoo, Illinois, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
On the Nauvoo Trail 