May 17, 2015 - Sunday

This was a wonderful Sabbath Day.  Mom and I were up early to get ready for our Sunday Meetings in Nauvoo.  We left Carthage about 7:10am so that we could be in Nauvoo by 7:45am and ready for the start of our Sacrament Meeting.  Our opportunity to renew sacred covenants was wonderful and the messages were excellent. 

This is our Sunday that we are on call at the Visitors Center so we took our time after the meetings and visited with friends we don't normally have time to visit.  We then headed back home to break our fast and enjoy the afternoon.  I had two responsibilities today.  The first was giving a tour to the Young Performing Missionaries, and to conduct my first District Meeting as the District Leader here in Carthage.

The tour with the young missionaries was an exceptional blessing for me.  There were 30 in the group who are all here for the summer to perform on stage in the Sunset play and in the Rendezvous play.  They have a tremendous amount of energy and are a pleasure to be around.  You can somewhat understand my privilege to give this tour and this choice opportunity to give them this sacred view of the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum.  They were so receptive.  

The Spirit in the Martyrdom room was so special.  In the process of giving the review of the unfolding events, I used two random Elders in the group and they were precious.  They both were filled to the overflowing of their emotions of those events I was demonstrating .  The entire group was very emotional and I was so touched by their tender reactions.  

After the presentation, they sang a tribute, Capella, to both Joseph and Hyrum and the talent they had in the singing was heavenly.  I have never heard this song before, but it stopped the following tour group in their tracks and filled all levels of the jail with such a warm and precious Spirit.   Needless to say, this was a choice experience for me and I was grateful for the opportunity to be with them in this sacred setting.

Then, after the Visitors Center closed for the day, I held our first district meeting together and my first as a district leader.  Mom and I both agree that we have a great group of senior missionaries to work with.  This next week we will add 3 sets of young sister missionaries to our district.  That will give us four sets of senior missionaries and three sets of young sister missionaries to serve together this summer. 

This has been a wonderful day for me and one I will cherish having spent that time with this wonderful group of missionaries both young and old!  I love giving these tours and I love working with these precious missionaries!