Nauvoo Week 50 (21 - 27 November 2016)

Nauvoo Week 50 (21 – 27 November 2016)

This was another exciting week!  We continued with the training of the new missionary couples throughout the week.  On Monday, we had a special Temple Session to facilitate their training and then had a wonderful luncheon at the Arrival Center. 

The new couples then had the afternoon to finish moving in, shopping and getting acquainted with the area.  We helped the Borrowman’s get set up with their internet modem and DVR which they greatly appreciated.

Tuesday, started the new week and the first day following the semi-annual close down for cleaning; there were quite a few people, but not as many as we had expected-the weather was somewhat unsettled.  We worked both the morning and evening shifts as the training of the new missionaries continued.

On Wednesday we served in the morning and the Temple was closed in the afternoon to allow all to prepare for Thanksgiving.  The Presidency held a training meeting following the morning shift in the Arrival Center.  Following the meeting we traveled to Burlington, IA to eat dinner and go to a movie.

Thursday was THANKSGIVING; and we are so grateful for all that we have been blessed with.  We have been born of goodly parents, have wonderful brothers and sisters, have eternal companions, have been blessed with beautiful and faithful children and grandchildren and have loyal friends and neighbors.  What more could you ask for! 

We love our mission in Nauvoo and feel privileged to serve here and to walk where the Prophet Joseph and our ancestors walked.  We have been blessed beyond our wildest expectations in spite of our natural man desires.  We are grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who loves us.  We are grateful for a loving and selfless elder brother, Jesus Christ, who gave His life that we might live.  We are grateful for the Holy Ghost and the inspiration, comfort and patience He shows to us.  We know more by what we feel than what we know by what we know because of its’ promptings and testifying to us.  We know the President Thomas S. Monson is a living Prophet of God and as we listen and follow his council we will become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ.

 We know the Book of Mormon to be true and we are members of the one and only true church on the face of the earth.  We love life and the many, many blessings that have been showered down on us.  We give all credit of who we are to our Father in Heaven.

Friday, we served in the afternoon/evening shift and had another wonderful experience.  Also, Peter Christensen (a former Assistant and missionary in the Marshall Islands) visited us. 

We had a great lunch with him and then he attended the Temple in the afternoon.  It was great to see him again, he works in Missouri with the US Government Bureau of Land Management.

Saturday, Pete came over and we went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Hamilton, IL.  The food was great, we then served in the Temple for the rest of the day.  Pete returned home.

Sunday, we went to church in Mount Pleasant, IA and enjoyed the meetings.  Following the block meetings we visited two less active families: Luis & Elizabeth Lugo and Clarence & Cindy.  We let them know that we missed them at church and invited them to attend.  We then returned home and talked with Scott & Malia and Paul & Kellie.

We are grateful for each of you.  We love you with all of our hearts and look forward to again giving you all hugs.  Thanks for your patience, support and love. 

Love,

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

Nauvoo Week 49 (14 - 20 November 2016)

Nauvoo Week 49 (14 – 20 November 2016)

Monday was our last day with Scott and Malia.  We packed up our things and for lunch we went to Portello’s, with Malia and the kids. 

Scott came from work and met us there.  Then it was time for goodbyes, which are not ever easy.  We had such a good time with them and we will miss them immensely this Christmas.  The former Branch President of Mt. Pleasant has moved to Chicago.  They had given us there address, which was only 14 miles from Scott’s.  So before heading back to Nauvoo, we stopped to see them.  The kids were still in school so we saw the younger kids and the mom, Diana.  They have a nice home and she said that everyone had been so friendly and helpful.  The branch is sure going to miss them.  We have this week off as the Temple is still closed for cleaning.

We were invited to eat at the new Temple Presidents house with Elder & Sister Thompson who are also temple missionaries. 

President & Sister Irion are wonderful.  They are so easy to talk to and we had a great evening.

Thursday the Temperature was 75 degrees!  Elder & Sister Marshall asked us if we would like to go golfing with them.  It was crazy that in November we could be playing golf without even a jacket.  That evening a few other couples and us went to dinner at a Chinese place in Fort Madison.

Friday was Tom’s 65^th Birthday.  He can now draw Medicare.  We went to Quincy with Elder & Sister Moon to eat at Texas Roadhouse then to a show afterwards “Jack Reacher”.

On Saturday ten new temple missionary couples arrived throughout the day.  We have been hosts for two couples; Elder & Sister Barrowman and Elder & Sister Sorenson.  As they arrived we would take them to their apartment and help them unload their cars.  Both the Borrowman’s and the Sorenson’s worked in the Jordan River Temple.

Sunday they were set apart by the presidency and then we had some training afterwards in the Temple.  We went through the endowment rooms and had training in each room.  We then had the Barrowman’s Sorenson’s Sister Udall and Sister Burgoyne over for dinner. 

We are looking forward to getting to know all of the couples better through our last weeks.  We love serving here in Nauvoo and have felt so privileged to have such a special mission.  We will have many wonderful memories that will stay with us forever.  We are also excited to be returning home to our family, we love you all so much. 

Love,

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

Nauvoo Week 48 (7 - 20 November 2016)

Nauvoo Week 48 (7 – 13 November 2016)

This was a special week in Lake Zurich, IL with Scott, Malia, Corban and Ruby.  On Monday Scott and Tom played golf in the morning and had a wonderful time.  Tom was a little shocked at the price versus what he pays in Nauvoo. 

Later that day we had a great Family Home Evening and fun playing with the kids.

On Tuesday we went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  It is located near Soldier Field where the Chicago Bears play.  It is a wonderful place to visit; Corban was really excited to see all of the animals, fish and exhibits.  We really enjoyed the porpoise show and all of the tricks they did.  The Beluga whales were also impressive as well as the sea lions. 

We also saw Sponge Bob 4D show; they spray water at you and blow air that really makes the show come alive.  Corban kept reaching out for the characters that appeared to be right in front of your face.  It was fun and enjoyable.

Wednesday, Tom got his new glasses (progressive trifocals) and had a lot of fun with them.  Previously he had trifocals with lines and was really used to them; these are a different story.  Hopefully, they will become more functional as the days go on.  We did some Christmas shopping for the kids. 

Thursday, Sharon and Malia went to a lunch at one of the neighbors; it was a 20’s themed event.  They both dressed up in period dress, they were the hit of the event!  Malia says this lady never does anything half-way but always to the “Max”. 

They had a great time and came home with bags of goodies.

Friday, we rested up a little and had a great time with the kids playing almost every game and with every action figure, car ever made.  It is so fun to be with them and to see their growth.  Ruby is a great baby; eating, smiling and sleeping.  She hardly ever cries and sleeps wonderfully during the entire day.  We don’t understand how she naps from 5:00-6:30pm, eats and plays for a few minutes and then goes back to sleep about 8:00pm for the night (usually waking to be fed about every 4-5 hours), she is a “dream” baby!  It was also the Grand Opening of Scott’s second store (Lumens Optical) in Mount Prospect.  They had the Mayor cut the ribbon and an Open House with several visitors that enjoyed some refreshments and handouts form the store.  The stores are really attractive to the eye and the customer service is second to none.

Saturday, Scott was home from work and we had fun with them playing games, eating and catching up.  We went to the Chicago Temple and found it very busy.

  We were put on an overflow session and had a wonderful, spiritual experience.  We also saw our friends from Chicago (Paul & Ann Castleton) there.  We first met them in 2008 in the MTC in Provo.  They were going to Toronto Canada and we were going to Madrid, Spain.  They later served as President and Matron of the Chicago Temple.  They have been to Nauvoo a couple of times while we were here and we had dinner with them.  It was good to see them again.  Later, Sharon wrapped the kids Christmas gifts, Scott & Malia finished preparing their Sunday lessons. 

Sunday, we attended church in the Buffalo Grove ward and again saw many people that we had seen the previous time we were there. We came home and kind of all took naps then had a wonderful dinner of French Dip sandwiches and cake.  We then played games and had a great time. 

It was a special week; to spend time with Scott, Malia, Corban and Ruby. 

It will be sad not to be with them over the holidays, but they are doing well and liking their time in Chicago.  We look forward to seeing them again early next year in Utah.  We thank each of you for your support, love and patience with us.  Serving in Nauvoo has been a special experience for us; we have grown much and our testimonies have been strengthened.  We look forward to returning to the Temple next week and serving with all our heart, might, mind and strength.  God be with you til we meet again.

Love,

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

Nauvoo Week 47 (31 October - 6 November) 2016

Nauvoo Week 47 (31 October – 6 November 2016)

Happy Halloween everyone!  It was a different one for us as there was no trick or treaters and we had a social that evening.  We had a final dinner, so to speak, for all those missionaries who were leaving by November 7^th.  They had a thanksgiving type dinner and it was wonderful.  We had a little program right after to honor the old Presidency who is also leaving November 7^th.  We had a small choir which I participated in, and we sang “Each Life That Touches Ours for Good.”

There was a poem written and read about our time here.  Brother McDonald sang “A poor wayfaring man of grief”, the same way it was sung for Joseph in Carthage jail.  He also made up new words to “Homeward bound” with a slide show which was wonderful.  He then had all of us sing the song, it was quite emotional.  They also presented throws (blankets) to each of the Presidency members which had the picture of all of us from this year on it.  We then went in to the chapel and had a testimony meeting.  It was a wonderful evening.

On Monday, we went to breakfast with the Frank & Annette Mills, our friends from our Majuro Mission.  We also went to see a few of the couples who were leaving a little earlier, to say goodbye. 

Wednesday, we had the Mills over for breakfast. 

We then went to a few places with them in the city and then we went to Montrose, IA which is across from Nauvoo, IL on the other side of the Mississippi river.  It had been raining really hard and we didn’t know if we would be able to see the Temple, because of clouds.  It had cleared up some and the Temple looked beautiful.  The next day the Mills left for Cincinnati to go to the BYU football game.  We sure enjoyed their visit.

Thursday evening we had a barbeque with the two couples that live in our same building.  They are Elder & Sister Holmes from Idaho and Elder & Sister Robb from Roosevelt, UT.   We need to start using up our food and we had some steaks and chicken to use.

  It was a fun evening reminiscing about our time here.

On Sunday we left around 1:00 to go to Scott’s and Malia’s house.  How fun and sweet it was to go and spend time with them, as they will not be with us in Utah for Christmas.  Ruby had gotten so much bigger, with chubby cheeks and rolls, and Corban was as cute as ever.  How blessed we have felt to be within driving distance to make it possible to make several trips there.  The weather here has been so mild for this time of year.  It is still great now but may change at the end of this week.  Christmas is all out in the stores and they will be decorating the homes here in Nauvoo for Christmas. 

We are so excited that we will be home for Christmas.  We look forward to spending special time with all of you and catching up with all of your lives.  We love you so much, families are forever and what a blessing it is to know that. 

Love,

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