In preparation...

A snowy morning at Wilford Woodruff's home.

This past week has been a week of preparation. As this weekend approaches we are doing all we can to prepare for two important events. First, we have 16 new senior missionary couples that will be arriving on Friday afternoon.  President Lusvardi, his counselors and the rest of the missionaries are working hard to make sure the transition is smooth, that they are all feel welcomed, are well oriented to the mission and are trained in their various responsibilities.  I had no idea how much work it takes to do all of that.  But we are grateful they are all coming and excited for their arrival!

Once those missionaries arrive on Friday they will pretty much be thrown into the activities of the Relief Society Organization Re-enactment.  Being here in Nauvoo we will have the unique opportunity to remember the founding of the Relief Society in the same place it was originally organized, the Red Brick Store that was owned by Joseph Smith.  We will be doing a Reader's Theater that day and because there will be a number of missionaries involved in the event, we will need every one of those new missionaries that will arrive the day before.  They will have the chance to soak it all in right out of the gate!  So it will be a wild weekend for everyone.

We had our first large group of youth this past week.  They were from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and were here during their Mardi Gras break.  It was so great to be able to welcome them and feel the spirit testify to them of the events that took place here, of the people whose lives we honor and, more importantly, how much they are loved by their Heavenly Father.  It's just such a great experience to be a part of. This summer Nauvoo will be filled to the brim with over 11,000 youth who are already scheduled to visit.  It won't be a dull summer!

I have thought a lot this week about finding joy and how we go about that lifelong pursuit.  It's easy to get caught up in the "dumb" stuff and forget our real purpose.  But I have felt so much joy, peace and contentment as we've been here serving our Heavenly Father.  Service heals.  "When we concern ourselves more with others there is less time to be concerned with ourselves." - Spencer W. Kimball  So, FIND JOY!

We didn't take much in the way of pictures this week.  But I did want to share one that I really like. I know the Church of Jesus Christ is lead by the Savior himself.