To honor, celebrate and commemorate...

What a difference a few days makes when it comes to the weather here in Nauvoo.  Last week I posted about the cold temperatures.  I had no idea what we were really in for.  This past Wednesday the temperature dropped to 18 degrees below zero with a wind chill that made the temperature feel like 41 below! My fingers, nose and cheeks were painfully cold after just walking from the parking lot of the temple to its front doors.  It made me much more aware of what the early pioneers lived with.  On Saturday we had the Exodus Commemoration and the temperature was in the upper 40s.  What a change!  

And I thought the previous week was cold.

In February of 1846 a large group of saints, lead by Brigham Young, walked down Parley Street to the Mississippi River and crossed the frozen river.  They left a city and temple that they had dedicated their lives to.  They were willing to follow the prophet and head west to an unknown future.  But they did so with faith.  

We participated in the Exodus Commemoration on Saturday and it was very meaningful to me.  We each walked in honor of ancestors that were pioneers in some way, whether it was here in Nauvoo, as a  member of a wagon train or handcart company heading west, or as a first generation member of the church.  The whole focus of the commemoration was that we are all pioneers in our own right.  People came from all over to participate.  We began at the Family Living Center in the morning for a continental breakfast.  There was a short program and Susan Sims, the Public Affairs Director here and President Lusvardi both spoke very briefly.  Then we went outside and lined up for the walk down Main Street, Parley Street and to the Mississippi River.  The Nauvoo Legion and Flag Bearers led the way, followed by walkers and then the horses and wagons.  Down at the Pioneer Memorial Ben Pykles, who is the Curator of Historical Sites, spoke about the legacy the pioneers left for us.  I love what he quoted from the May 1842 Times and Seasons newspaper:

“…our children will rise up and call us blessed; and generations yet unborn will dwell with peculiar delight upon the scenes that we have passed through, the privations that we have endured; the untiring zeal that we have manifested; the insurmountable difficulties that we have overcome in laying the foundation of a work that brought about the glory and blessings which they will realize…”

What a prophecy that is being fulfilled today! I see it every day as we teach about the Savior and about the lives of the saints who were here.  I just felt so much love for the pioneers who originally walked down Parley Street and the people who walked here on Saturday.

At the Family Living Center as we prepared to walk down Parley
Street as part of the Exodus Commemoration.

The horses and wagons on their way to the Family Living Center.

The Nauvoo Legion prepares to leave.

In front of the Blacksmith Shop

The flags representing the native countries of the people of Nauvoo.

The Nauvoo Legion leads the way down Main Street.

With the Welch flag at the banks of the river.

Scott was making "prairie diamond rings" at the Blacksmith shop this week.

In the snow covered trees it's easy to spot the cardinals.

These pictures were taken by Elder & Sister Schmitt. 
They have a bird feeder right outside their window and
can get some closeup pictures of the birds.