Nauvoo Week 5 (11-17 January 2016)

Nauvoo Week 5 (11-17 January 2016)

My turn to do the blog!  Monday we had a full day.  We went to Quincy to have our car serviced.  This was a place where the Saints went after some persecution and the people took them in and tried to help them.  The saints needed that reprieve.  We talked to a nice lady while waiting who was not a Mormon but she spoke highly about the church.  She was reading some scriptures for her bible class, and at first I thought she might be a member.  She was a longtime resident and she told us as she was leaving that she was ninety years old.  After the car was finished we went to Sam’s club.  So of course we had to have a hot dog along with all the other retired people!  They actually had Kohl’s store there.  Tom is not, I repeat is not, a good person to shop with!  We actually bought a few things, it was get in and get out!  Then we just tried to kill time until Texas Roadhouse was open, so we could go to dinner.

In the evening we had a combined home evening with the Temple Missionaries.  They had asked President Nelson, who is a counselor in the Temple Presidency, to speak about the Nauvoo Temple.  When the construction started President Nelson was spending four and a half hours a day with local leaders or with SLC.  He was the Stake President at the time and he and his wife owned a fudge store.  The city and church leaders wanted to keep the ground breaking quiet because there could be so many visitors and the city was not ready for that.  So it was mentioned the day before and over five thousand showed up!  He said they were concerned over the numbers who may come to the open house.  When the dates were announced he started receiving phone calls, over five hundred from people all over the world.  They were asking if there was an airport close by and what kind of public transportation they had here.  Over three hundred thousand people did come in that couple of month period.  Tours started at 5:30 A.M. and ended at 10:00 P.M.  There were thousands of volunteers that worked and helped and they were exhausted!  President Nelson said there were so many miracles that happened during the reconstruction, it would take hours to talk about them, and he wouldn’t because it would take away the sacredness of them.

One of the first days last week, I saw a very special thing.  A couple had brought in some cards for sealing of parents and the eight children to be sealed.  They were able to get enough temple workers to be Proxy for the children.  All ten were surrounding the altar in proxy for all involved.  I was not able to participate because I was the last one to come in and they already had enough.  But what a sight to witness; the spirit was strong.  I’m sure that doesn’t happen too often.

The weather has been crazy, one day it was almost fifty degrees and then the next day with wind chill was below zero!  Yes we have now experienced the bitter cold that they talk about here.

 Saturday we worked the morning shift and it was very busy.  The sessions were bigger to where they had to bring in chairs.  There were two live Sealings:  one, a couple in their late thirties, and it was their first marriage.  Tom had the opportunity to perform that one.  There was also a lady who was in a wheelchair, and hooked up to a machine.  She required two nurses to go with her on the session to assist her.  She was receiving her own endowment.  They would have to take her out a time or two to clear a tube she had.  Then after the endowment she was sealed to her living spouse.  Wow!  We were told that she did not have much longer to live.  I’m sure the Lord was pleased that she went to that kind of an effort to do these ordinances on the earth.

We attended a branch baptism on Saturday at 4:00pm; he was a child of record.  They were also having an International Dinner social at 6:00.  So to kill some time we went to wash the car.  Then drove around for it to dry which the drops immediately turned into ice!  The dinner was good, but I have to confess that we went to McDonald’s to eat a little something in case we did not like the food!

We have a Temple Missionary Report Meeting tonight with the Presidency; there will be a speaker that will discuss the Nauvoo Temple Then and Now.  We have some great couples here.  They all have their various talents.

Love,

Mom & Dad/Nana & Papa/Elder & Sister Shaw