It is pageant season in Nauvoo. Which is part of the reason we have been so busy in July.
Our shifts in the temple are longer because of all the visitors that come to Nauvoo to see the pageants and attend the temple. Also we are now the Wed PM shift coordinators and the Sat AM baptistry
coordinators in addition to still being endowment coordinators on Mon AM. Also this past week, one of us may have had to prepare a sacrament meeting talk, and we worked on our Pday so another missionary couple could spend time with family that was here. Whew!
The baptistry is so busy!! One week we started at 4AM. It is inspiring to see the youth
come in with their own family names to perform baptisms for their own ancestors.
It was a treat to have some of the pageant cast also come in with their own family
names to perform sacred ordinances for their own family members.
President Nelson (temple presidency 1st counselor) shared this quote with us last week:
“Though we have rightly applauded our ancestors for their spiritual achievements (and do not and must not discount them now), those of us who prevail today will have done no small thing. The special spirits who have been reserved to live in this time of challenges and who overcome will one day be praised for their stamina by those who pulled handcarts”
(Not Withstanding My Weakness, 18).
We are able to witness everyday tender mercies from the Lord. Serving in the temple gives us the opportunity to see the hand of the Lord in everyone's lives, but most especially our own. Since we spend most of our time in the temple we have had wonderful and sacred experiences. Our testimonies have grown of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the restoration of the Gospel and of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. We are grateful for these sacred experiences.
Above is a picture of the start of the Nauvoo Pageant with the Bagpipers and
the Brass Brand playing the National Anthem. This view of the temple is so beautiful.
The pageant is visually stunning. And unlike the Mesa Easter Pageant,
the parts are done live, no sound track here.
During the show they actually build this temple on stage. You can see why we have to be out of the temple by 8:00PM. All the lights in the temple are turned out until the finale of the pageant.
But at the end they turn the flood lights on the temple. It's a great pageant!
The lily pad's have bloomed on the Mississippi River.
And there continues to be beautiful sunsets by the Mississippi.
