Nauvoo Week 45 (17 - 23 October 20160

Nauvoo Week 45 (17 – 23 October 2016)

We had a great preparation day.  We went to lunch with the Hansen’s who are also Temple Missionaries.  We never shared a shift with them, and have said we would go somewhere together.  Since they are leaving this Wednesday we finally got together!  They are from St. George so hopefully when we take a trip there we might see them.  Our home evening was a visit to a ladies house which is in Warsaw.  Her name is Ulla Holmgren.  She was a sweet German lady who had been living in Salt Lake City for a while. 

She has three children and had decided that her daughter would probably be a good one to live by, as she becomes older and may need some help.  So on a visit to this daughter she decided to look for a house.  A realtor took her many places.  She said she did not want to live in Carthage, as that was the place they shot and killed our Prophet.  This was kind of crazy because the house she purchased was in Warsaw, where the majority of the mob that came to kill him came from Warsaw.  She said for some reason she did not realize that at the time.  She and one other man are LDS who live there.  The people who still live there are not very nice to Mormons.  The house was built in 1840 and was actually a feed store at the time.  She has done a wonderful job decorating it.  We got to take a tour through it.  She shared a little bit of her history which was very amazing.  Her daughter that she moved here for has since moved away defeating her purpose.  She is a delightful lady and hopefully through her good example she will change many opinions of those her are still holding on to a grudge against Mormon’s.

Thursday we had a meeting for all of the Temple Missionaries who will still be here after the two week cleaning break of the Temple.  We were given new schedules and we will be involved with training the new ones who come.  We have two new couples who came this past weekend, and will have ten more couples at the end of the break.  We will be leaving on December 12^th. 

We took a couple to dinner on Friday, the Swings.  Sister Swing has been helping us with family history.  She does some genealogy for money, but for most of the Temple Missionaries she offers her help for free.  She is amazing and she said that this is a way that she helps serve and receives extra blessings.  We sure appreciate all her help.

Our Saturday shift was a busy one.  We arrived at the Temple at 11:30.  That’s what time our shift coordinators arrive. 

Sister Hart was not going to be there so they asked me if I could substitute for her.  They have been training us for a couple of weeks.  Tom had a live sealing at 2:00 which he did.  They had called a coordinator meeting at 2:30, so brother Hart went to that, and we were both in charge.  I had 3 sisters who did not come that we were expecting!  So I had to shuffle things around to cover all of the posts.  We were fairly busy so it was a little challenging to keep the posts filled.  I had always been told that somehow it always works out, and I saw that first hand.  We left the Temple at 9:30.  It was a long day, but we were grateful for the opportunity.

We went to Mount Pleasant branch on Sunday.  This was the last day for the former branch president and his family to be there.  We will miss them all and hope that they will be able to adjust quickly to their new area.  They will be in Chicago.  We also had our Temple workers Devotional.  All Temple workers, both district and missionaries were invited.  It was held in the Assembly Hall in the Temple.  We have been in there one other time and that was for training.  They have to get permission from the Prophet to meet in this room, so we felt it quite an honor to be invited there again.  The devotional was so good.  There were three very touching musical numbers.  “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief,” “Oh How Lovely was the Morning,” a piano solo and “Jerusalem” sung by our Temple Recorder, Brother Marshall.  Brother McDonald, a temple missionary, sang the first song with the same music that John Taylor sang in the Carthage Jail.  The tune is just a little different in spots, and it was very beautiful.  The Presidency all talked, President and Sister McArthur, President and Sister Nelson, and President and Sister Hansen.  There talks were great and a little emotional as the McArthur’s and Hansen’s will no longer be in the Presidency.  We sang “The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning” at the end of the program, it was so touching to sing that in the Assembly Hall, you could feel the strength and the spirit of the former Saints. 

We have felt the spirit of the Saints on these grounds and in this holy Temple.  We have felt so blessed to be a part of such wonderful experiences here in Nauvoo.  Our testimonies of Joseph Smith and those who lived here in Nauvoo, has grown immensely.  We know you all felt that special spirit here as you visited.  We love you all dearly, and soon we will be with you again. 

Love,

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