Back on Schedule

This week it was back to our normal schedule after all the training of the new missionaries. 

So here is a break down of what we do each week...for now.  

We serve in the temple everyday except Thursday and Sunday.
(except this week we are subing on Thursday, so no Pday this week)

Monday--7:10am to 1:00pm Endowment Coordinators
Tuesday--3:25 to 9:00pm
Wednesday--3:25 to 9:00pm
Thursday--P-day
Friday--7:25am to 3:00pm
Saturday--7:00am to 2:00pm Asst Baptistry Coordinators (but when summer comes, that 7:00am will continue to get bumped up earlier to get all the youth in who want to come do baptisms.)
Sunday we travel to the Galesburg Ward. It is an hour and half ride from here.

On our P-day we drove to the Villages of Van Buren County, Iowa.  It follows and crosses over the Mormon Pioneer Trail.  There are fun little places along the way.  We stopped at the Dutchman's Store, a Mennonite run store.  It was really fun.  Down the road a bit is the Milton Creamery.  They make the most amazing cheese using Amish farmers milk.

A little further around the loop is Bentonsport.  It is a teenie tiny town on a beautiful spot along the Des Moines River.  They have an awesome pottery store and a quilt shop.  We will be going back here!

This is a bridge crossing the Des Moines River in Bonaparte.  As the sign shows, it is where the Saints crossed over on their way west.  There is also an Amish Bakery here that we might have stopped at!

They actually have water in the rivers here!  If you are familiar with Arizona, you know what we mean.  It is so beautiful and so GREEN everywhere to look!  This is the Des Moines River.

Our group took the carriage ride after working for FHE.  It was so fun and so beautiful.  

This is a rebuilt well where King Follett had his accident and died.  Joseph Smith's famous King Follett Sermon was made at his funeral.  (He was not a King, his given name was King) The place this discourse was given is up town.  It is an empty lot right now.  We are grateful for all the doctrine taught by Joseph Smith.  Especially to know that children who die, are not lost from us.

"Will mothers have their children in eternity? Yes! Yes! Mothers, you shall have your children; 

for they shall have eternal life, for their debt is paid." --Joseph Smith

This is Inspiration Point.  A favorite spot of Joseph Smith's.  There is a great view of the Mississippi  River from up here.  You can see across the river to Montrose, Iowa.  Montrose is where the miracle of the quail occurred.  Some Saints while headed west were so pour and lacked the necessary means to head west.  They stopped and made camps in Montrose.  They were starving, but for several weeks, quail would arrive every morning and evening.  They were so tame and timid that the children could gather them up and take them to be cooked.  Manna from heaven!

These beautiful horses pulled our carriage, they are named Nephi and Lehi!

We had a couple of the sister missionaries on our carriage.  Remember her from our Print Shop tour?!

This is the Sarah Granger Kimball home.  She has the most beautiful garden. 

 The peonies are just starting to bloom.

We need to keep checking on the garden for new blossoms.

The corn is starting to come up.  These are about 2 week old sprouts.  

There are field and fields and fields of corn.  We will keep you posted on the progress.

 Corn field with Nauvoo Cemetery in the background.

  

40 Stars

This picture shows the stars on the gates as you enter the temple block.  There are 40 stars you pass through, 20 on each side of the gate.  The number 40 in the scriptures represent purification. 

 The flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, 

Christ fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, just to name a few examples.

We pass through trials in this life as represented by those stars, but as we enter the

 Lord's House we leave behind those cares and focus on things of eternity.

Last Monday night for FHE we had a presentation of the accomplishments of 

Nauvoo Restoration, Inc. It was so interesting to hear of all the progress that 

Historic Nauvoo has had in the 50 years of it's exsistence.  

(Sister Palmer who wrote the article in the link works in the temple.)

We love Wilford Woodruff's quote, 

"I left Nauvoo for the last time perhaps in this life.  I looked upon the Temple and 

City of Nauvoo as I retired from it and felt to ask the Lord to preserve it as a 

monument of the sacrifice of his Saints."

It is a great monument to those who lived here.  Their spirits are felt here.  

We know they watch over this place and that Wilford's prayer was answered.

Training for the new six month missionaries continued throughout last week.  We had to work our usual shifts+, but we were able to sit in on the training on Thursday.  We watched "Quincy, A Rescue Never to be Forgotten".  It is a video about the people in Quincy, Illinois and how they literally saved the saints from dying when they were driven out of Missouri.  It is a fantastic video.

"In the annals of our Church, the city of Quincy and its citizens will always occupy a position of the highest esteem.  We shall always be grateful for the kindness, the hospitality, the civility with which your people met our people who were exiles from the state of Missouri.  When Govenor Boggs issued his infamous extermination order, our people were compelled to leave the state of Missouri.  It's almost impossible to comprehend in this day and time that such a thing could occur.  But the fact is it did occur, and they traveled across most of the state of Missouri seeking asylum, not knowing where to go or what to do.  And the citizens of Quincy welcomed them, took them in, sheltered them from the winter which was all about them until they were able to find a place up the river in Nauvoo, where they established that beautiful city on the Mississippi."  --President Gordon B Hinckley 2002

After the video we held our last meeting in the solemn assembly room.  (The First Presidency has to give permission to use that room.)  President McArthur talked about the dedication, along with others who were also here then; Pres & Sis Nelson, Pres & Sis Hansen (temple presidency).  He has a bound book that contains all that was said in each of the 13 sessions. It was a great opportunity to hear some of the great things said by President Hinckley.  One of the temple missionaries was in the Tabernacle Choir and sang at the dedication.  It was one of those experiences we shall never forget.  We didn't want it to end, we didn't want to leave.  To be in that room.  It was such a great spiritual experience.

"The Lord has beheld our sacrifice: come after us."

This was written by a group of Saints on the wall of the 

assembly hall in the original temple just before leaving Nauvoo.

We are so grateful we were able to 'come after'.  So inspiring and humbling.

The assembly room has a Steinway piano.  It is gorgeous.  The music stand on it has a wood inlay Sunstone.  Not many people get to see it because that room can't be entered.  What a privilege.

This is the view we had while we stood on the temple steps waiting to have our 

missionary 'team picture' taken.  Because of the trees it's hard to see the beautiful statue of 

Joseph and Hyrum on horseback.

We got to have lunch with the new missionaries for a few days during the training.

It was a busy, busy week.  Serving as missionaries and ordinance workers is truly a blessing.  

"And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, 

and thine angels have charge over them; 

"And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, 

unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast

 put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths

of the prophets, concerning the last days." 

--Doctrine and Covenant 109:22-23

Goslings

We have been really enjoying the Mississippi River.  On Elder Thompson's walks down
The Trail of Hope on Parley Street to the river he has been seeing lots of new geese
families with their precious new babies.
They are so adorable!
They all follow along wherever they go.

There are several families, but these are the talk of the town, they have 18 babies.

They made me think of Stephen W Owen's talk in General Conference: 

The Greatest Leaders Are the Greatest Followers

"If I were to ask you, 'Who is the greatest leader who ever lived?'--what would you say?  The answer, of course, is Jesus Christ.  He sets the perfect example of every imaginable leadership quality.

"But what if I were to ask you, "Who is the greatest follower who ever lived?'--wouldn't the answer again be Jesus Christ?  He is the greatest leader because He is he greatest follower--

He follows His Father perfectly, in all things."

This week has been a little more quiet than last weeks whirlwind of activity.  But speaking of whirlwind...they have some pretty crazy weather here in the mid-west.  In one of our meetings we discussed where the best place is to go in our apartments when the tornado siren goes off.  

Well. Okay.

So we were driving to Pella, Iowa to see the tulips and we happened into this crazy storm.  My pictures don't even do it justice.  It got so black and so rainy and so scary.

 

But we made it safely to Pella, and the weather cleared up and we had a delightful day. The Tulip Festival is next weekend, but the tulips were out and beautiful.  We took pictures of tulips, 

lots of pictures of tulips...they are so beautiful.

Pella was founded in 1847 by Dutch immigrants who came to America seeking religious freedom. It is very quaint and very Dutch.  The bakery is amazing with all its pastries.

We had to buy some stroopwafel.  (You 'The Best Two Years' fans know what I mean) 

And we may have bought a few more treats as well.

 Tulips, and more tulips

They have a working windmill.  The top working section was built in 

The Netherland's and brought here to Pella. 

This is the inner workings of the stone grinding mill. 

Here is one of the volunteer millers.  They actually climb the blade to set the sails 

when they are grinding grains.  

The windmill is part of the Heritage Village.  They have more tulips and buildings to tour.

Wyatt Earp's family lived in Pella for a time.

The Ten Commandments in Dutch hang on the church wall.

Pella windows everywhere.

And yes Pella is the World Headquarters of Pella Windows and Doors. 

We did go to a few more sites.  This is John Taylor's home.  This missionary showed us his children's rocking horse they had to leave behind when they left Nauvoo.  The children were so upset about leaving it John Taylor snuck back to Nauvoo at night and retrieved it.  

It made it all the way to Utah.

Here is Elder Thompson at the print shop printing newspapers.  The site missionaries do such a great job with their tours.  You always feel the spirit when visiting the sites.

Things are getting more busy around here.  Over the weekend 33 new 6 month temple missionaries have arrived.  It was a privilege to be in the temple solemn assembly room for the beginning of their training on Sunday May 1.  The original Nauvoo temple was publicly dedicated on May 1, 1846.