Spiritual Wealth

This is Sister Taylor, she is serving her second mission in Nauvoo.  She gave us a tour of the Scovil Bakery before we went to serve our Friday night shift and gave us molasses cookies!!

So a little about Lucius Nelson Scovil who owned the bakery and his wife Lury.  He joined the Church in 1837 in Kirtland, Ohio.  He and his family endured the persecutions in Ohio and Missouri. While living in Kirtland he owned a wagon and a team of horses.  Many families did not have the means to move their families to escape the persecutions, but Lucius was a kind and generous man who moved families 100 miles to the Ohio River.  Lucius made 5 trips transporting others, then gathered his family leaving all his possessions behind and traveled to Missouri.  There he took odd jobs so he could to pay off his debts.  He was penniless when his family was driven from Missouri to Nauvoo.

He worked hard to get back on his feet and built the Scovil Bakery.  When the Saints were forced to leave Nauvoo in 1846 he not only lost all he had, but as the wagons were pulling out along Parley Street his wife Lury died in childbirth.  The twins she delivered, Mary and Martha, died 10 days later. He was devastated, but prepared to leave with his family members.

He started west with his remaining 4 children but didn't get very far before he was called on a mission to England.  He didn't want to leave his children but wanted to do what the Lord asked him to do, so he left them in the care of family and friends and went to England.  On his way there, he stopped and sketched a drawing of the Nauvoo Temple.

When he arrived in England he commissioned 150 dozen fine china plates be made with the picture of the temple surrounded by the names of the leaders of the church at that time. He would give them out to people he met and taught. (Pretty cool pass-along cards!)

This is an original plate that is displayed in the bakery. Scovil worked hard and was successful each place he lived but lost everything time and time again.  However, his focus in life was not gaining material wealth. He wanted to move God's kingdom forward by keeping his baptismal covenants. His testimony was his spiritual wealth.

So these are the crazy steep stairs to the basement.  The stones are from the original foundation.

The front of the Scovil Bakery.  Not a very big place, but there is evidence that it perhaps originally had more than one story. You can't really tell from the foundation if it was a 2 story building, but journal accounts of people living there indicate that it must of had a second story.

This is the summer kitchen out back, and the pretty daffodils in front.

For Family Home Evening on Monday we had a lecture by Brother Dunn about what Joseph Smith really looked like.  It was very interesting.  He died when photography was just beginning to be used. We do have detailed descriptions however and this profile drawing by Sutcliffe Maudsley. 

It was used on the Old Nauvoo map printed in 1842 along with an architects drawing of the temple. 

There goes the wagon again...it must be 10 minutes after the hour.  It is fun to go out and wave Hi!

Sorry, it looks like it might have been trash day ;)

We saw the buggy out for the first time.  Aren't those horses beautiful?!

We went over to the Relief Society garden before the tulips were past their prime.  This garden is so beautiful with its statues and flowers.  This garden is different every year.  These bulbs will be dug up and redesigned for next spring.  We can't wait to see what gets planted next!

We had 2 more lectures from the Durrants this week.  They have now left Nauvoo, but will be back in August. We can't wait!  Brother Durrant gave all the temple missionaries a print of a painting he did of downtown Nauvoo.  It is a treasure to us.  They are master story tellers, but they are more than stories, they are testimonies of the gospel and relay history in a interesting way, always with the spirit.

Sister Durrant spoke about Lorenzo Snow.  She gave details about his life that were so interesting.  He had a gift of raising from the dead.  He raised a young girl that had been dead for 2 hours.

In 1898 the president of the Church, Wilford Woodruff, died. Lorenzo Snow was at that time eighty-four years old; he did not want to be president of the Church and take on the immense burdens of administration and financial struggle in which the Church was then immersed. But his calling was the Lord’s will. He had a beautiful spiritual experience while supplicating the Lord in the temple. For three days he received no answer to his prayers, and then as he was leaving the temple, a glorious manifestation was given. Later he showed one of his granddaughters the place where it happened and said, “It was right here that the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me at the time of the death of President Woodruff. . . . He stood right here, about three feet above the floor. It looked as though He stood on a plate of solid gold.” She recalled: “Grandpa told me what a glorious personage the Savior is and described His hands, feet, countenance and beautiful white robes, all of which were of such a glory of whiteness and brightness that he could hardly gaze upon Him.

Then [Grandpa] came another step nearer and put his right hand on my head and said: ‘Now, granddaughter, I want you to remember that this is the testimony of your grandfather, that he told you with his own lips that he actually saw the Savior, here in the Temple, and talked with Him face to face.’” --LeRoi C. Snow, “An Experience of My Father’s,” Improvement Era, September 1933,677

He was serving as President of the Salt Lake Temple at the time and had an apartment in the temple where he stayed these 3 days. (Sister Alldredge took us through this apartment, which is the old sealing office, when she showed us sealing room 5. This room is directly next to the Holy of Holies, with a stained glass window between the two rooms.)

Sister Durrant told of the talk President Snow gave on tithing in southern Utah.  He promised the saints they would receive temporal and spiritual blessings if they obeyed the law of tithing.  He received a telegram everyday in Salt Lake City from the stake president saying there was no rain.  Then came the telegram that it was raining.  After the lecture, President McArthur said that stake president in St George was his great grandfather.

We had a fantastic week.
We are learning a lot.
We are humbled by the opportunity to serve this mission.
We love being in the temple everyday.
We love serving those who come to the temple.
We love serving along side those that work in the temple.
We invite all to come unto Christ.

Blooming Spring

We enjoyed our first P-day Monday since arriving in Nauvoo three weeks ago.  We celebrated by driving to Iowa City.  We had lunch at Cheddars and shopped at Costco.  Costco's parking lot is covered, well not just covered, it is an enclosed metal building. I'm sure in the dead of winter that is appreciated.

On the way back home we got "barged" for the first time at Ft Madison.  This bridge swings open for the barges as they go up and down the Mississippi River.  

They say these large barges can hold as much as 800 semi trucks.  Little trivia for ya!  

Also notice how smooth the river looks here.  

A couple days before this we took this picture of the river when it was super windy...not so smooth...and definitely the big muddy.

Monday evening we got to go see "Rendezvous" in the Old Cultural Hall. 

It is a musical comedy about the Latter-day Saints who built Nauvoo and then had to leave. 

 It was so fun, but glad we arenot singing and dancing on our mission!! 

Although we are glad some are.

 On Tuesday morning we went on a tour with Brother Dunn with Nauvoo Tours.  It was a three hour trip following along the Road to Carthage that Joseph and Hyrum Smith took to where they were killed.  It was interesting, informative and inspiring.  Below is part of the road Joseph and Hyrum rode their horses to Carthage.

We know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet and that he sealed his testimony with his blood.

             "For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the 

  death of the testator."    

--Hebrews 9:16

This is a statue of Joseph and Hyrum on horseback.  

Behind them is the flats of Nauvoo and beyond that is the Mississippi River.

Flowers in front of the temple.  You can see President McArthur's home in the background.

It has been so fun to see spring bloom all over Nauvoo.  For our Arizona friends, these are tulips! :)

There is popcorn popping all over town.  I'm not sure what kind of trees

they are, but they are beautiful.

We worked hard again this week, heard 3 more lectures from the Durrants, went to dinner in Keokuk with the Davenport's and had a great 'break the fast' dinner with the Russell's at the Chapman's.  

They are missionaries with us, but a few years ago bought an old historic home here in Nauvoo.  

We enjoyed being in the temple on April 6th for our double shift on Wednesday. 

 On April 6, 1841 the four cornerstones were laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith for the 

original Nauvoo Temple.  This is holy ground!

Saturday there was a group that came to the temple from Thailand which we had the privilege of performing ordinances.  It was a special and humbling experience to feel of their love of the

 temple and feel of their respect for it.

As you can tell, everyday in Nauvoo is a great day!

Fire on the Prairie

Here in the flats of Nauvoo they annually have a prairie grass demonstration.  

(Thanks Greg for the heads up!) What that means is for a year they have a block of 

land that they let the prairie grass grow.  Then in the spring, they light it on fire.  

The whole town comes out to have hot dogs before they set the fire.  Wow!  

It burns hot and fast!  Glad to see the fire department out because our house is only a block away.

So as fast as the fire starts it's gone and you are left with smoke, lots and lots of smoke.

We all smelled like we have been camping for a week.  Smoky, smoky, smoky.

And now a clean and clear field.  Sad to see all the rabbits running out of the field while 

the fire is burning.  However while Elder Thompson was walking by a few days later he 

saw little baby bunnies in the field.  Amazing they survived.

This week was busy and fun.  

 

On Sunday we had Easter Dinner with the Temple Missionaries at the Arrival Center.

Sister McArthur shared this photo with us.  

It was taken just before we arrived,

 but it includes missionaries who left before the photo was taken of the group in May.

back to front, l to r: 

Lyman, Shaw, ?, Burns, Ludwig, Anderson, Hendrix, Massey, O'Brien, Davenport, Moon, Chapman.

McArthur, Fellows, Segar, Russell, Williams, Simons, Gammell. 

Wright, Baker, Holmes, Russell, Williams, Simons.

We worked in the temple Monday morning and then drove to Montrose, Iowa in the afternoon.  This is where the Pioneers arrived after they crossed the Mississippi River during the exodus. 

 Great view of the temple from here.  

Monday evening was the Prairie Grass Demonstration,

 then we were invited over to the Williams' to play games.

Tuesday we had a lecture by George and Susan Easton Black Durrant about Emma Smith.  

They give 2 lectures a week at the visitors center, but also 2 lectures a 

week for just the temple missionaries. Lucky us!
Unfortunately, they will be leaving Nauvoo mid April.

Tuesday evening we worked in the temple.

Wednesday is our double shift day, working in the temple in the morning and evening.

We worked Thursday morning and then had a lecture by George and Susan Durrant about Joseph Smith's ancestry.  It was so interesting.  She talked about the descendants of John Lathrop;
Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Brigham Young, Parley P Pratt, Wilford Woodruff and others.  

We loved learning about John Lathrop as Elder Thompson is a direct line descendant of him as well.  

Then Thursday evening we drove to Burlington, Iowa and had dinner and got back just in time for another lecture by George and Susan about the days prior to the martyrdom of Joseph Smith.

Friday we worked the afternoon shift at the temple.  Friday is our longest
shift while we are in the winter schedule.

Whew! We are so excited it is General Conference weekend!  We love and sustain

President Monson, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

"See yourself in the temple." --Quentin L. Cook

"If we choose Christ, then we have made 

the correct choice." --Thomas S. Monson

"It does matter which way we go, for the 

path we follow in this life leads to our 

destination in the next life."--Thomas S. Monson

"We need the temple more than 
anything else."--Joseph Smith

It was fun to hear from Elder Kent F Richards of the Seventy at conference.  He spoke to us at our MTC training in Salt Lake City.  He is the Executive Director of the Temple Department for the church.

We love being in the temple everyday! It is beautiful inside and out.  We love to watch people's 

faces as they walk in for the first time.  It truly is holy ground.