Random thoughts and lots of pictures...

Have you ever been somewhere and you want to make sure you soak in every moment of it?  Where you want to notice every detail and remember it forever? I feel that way each time we participate in the finale of the British Pageant, perform in Sunset by the Mississippi, watch a beautiful Nauvoo sunset, participate in mission training, or walk out the door in the morning and see squirrels scampering across the grass.  Every single thing we do in Nauvoo I just want it to become a permanent part of me. 

Here are some random thoughts and feelings I’ve had this week, along with a few things I’ve learned:

• This week in particular I have felt the power of prayer.  I want to express my thanks to so many of you who remember Scott and I in your prayers.  I have felt lifted up, literally, when the pain in my back is a little more than I'm sure I can bear.  I have no doubt where that help comes from.
• The Sacred Grove wasn't sacred until Joseph Smith walked into it.  It was what happened there that made it sacred.  Before that event it was just a grove of trees. Any place that we are can become sacred to us because of what we do there and how we become better because of what happens in that sacred spot. We can make places sacred.
• This IS the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and you can't do this work without feeling the spirit.
• Is it possible that when President Nelson said, "We invite all of God's children on both sides of the veil to come unto their Savior, receive the blessings of the holy temple, have enduring joy and qualify for eternal life." that he was acting as the prophet for those who are in the spirit world and is calling on them to receive the temple work that we are offering? Was he addressing us, the living, as well as the dead? 
• Faith is a gift of God.  When I was set apart, President Davis said that our call to serve in the Illinois Nauvoo Mission was a gift from God.  This gift of serving in Nauvoo has certainly strengthened my faith in God. I see the works of his Almighty hands every day.

Lotus in bloom along the banks of the Mississippi.

We saw "Letters of Joseph and Emma" down by the Mansion House.
I learned so much from that short dramatization about the relationship
between Emma and Joseph.

Rob Abney, a former Summerhill neighborhood boy,  portrays Joseph Smith.

In the West Grove we saw the "King Follett Sermon".
Now that sermon contains some profound doctrine!

With "John Taylor" and "Joseph Smith".

The Nauvoo Pipe Band

On Saturday we had the chance to serve with
"Nauvoo on the Road".  We were at the
Old Tyme Thresher Days in Mendon, Illinois.

Our Nauvoo on the Road setup.  We play pioneer games, make ropes,
and talk about family history with the people who stop by.

All the old farm trucks you could ever want to see.

On the wagon and ready to ride in the parade.  We weren't really in
 the parade, per se.  We just happened to be on the wagon shuttle when
they began the parade...so we went along for the ride :0)

Yep, this is the parade we were in...

The awesome round barn that the parade route circled.

One evening at the Nauvoo Pageant we had the chance to sit backstage,
underneath the stage, really.  We watched the crew move the stage up and
down, raise the houses and lift the temple in the last scene of the Pageant. 
It was amazing to see it all from a different perspective.  Unfortunately,
we couldn't take any pictures, so we just took one right before going in.

The Nauvoo Brass Band plays the National Anthem before the Nauvoo Pageant.

So this is one of my favorite parts of Nauvoo.  This is
Sister Thatcher, who portrays Lucy Mack Smith in
Lucy's home at the corner of Hyde and Kimball streets.
 She does an amazing job of sharing Lucy's story and
her conviction that her son Joseph was called as a prophet.