September 14, 2015 - Monday in Nauvoo

Happy Birthday Amy!  We had a wonderful day just thinking about her and then talking to the birthday girl!

We got another early start to the day with our morning devotional and then our extended walk.  We know it is at least three miles and we will check it our on Wednesday when we drive to Keokuk for groceries.  We have all but stopped driving our van with being in such a central location here in Nauvoo.  And the weather has been terrific!  And the additional exercise feels so good!

We both got to work together, today, in the Nauvoo Visitors Center.  Seems like that is our spot now.  We have been called as the assistant site leaders and the site leaders leave in December.  They have been the site leaders their entire mission so the outlook is interesting.  The problem is that he, and his wife, are electronically gifted and they know everything about power-point and theater management, while mom and I are electronically challenged.  That does not make for a good combination for a Visitors Center couple.  The next 17 months could take on a whole new meaning for us, but we will do the best we can.  Here is an action shot of mom working the Visitors Center today;

Mom is assembling "I Spy" packets for kids to use to find different things in Nauvoo.

We worked the 1:00pm to 6:00pm shift today and enjoyed the walk over to the site, as well as our walk back.  The temperatures did not exceed around 80 degrees on our way over at 12:30pm, and it was already cooling down on our walk back.

Here is an interesting question to ponder;

"Why does God choose some to important positions when He knows they will fail/fall?

I got this from a member of the mission presidency today and I wanted to share President Brinley's answer: 

"Heavenly Father treats each individual in terms of his best potential, not his worst.  Accordingly, He blesses, ordains, anoints, promotes and encourages a person right up to the very last moment his behavior will permit.  With the coming of evil, of course, the Lord's Blessings depart.  But even when the Lord knows in advance that a person is going to ultimately fail, He honors the potential good in him as long as He can."

"It happened in the very beginning with Cain.  The Lord knew that Cain had great qualities of leadership and potential good in him.  He therefore honored Cain with the Priesthood, gave him personal relations, and treated him every whit as graciously as Abel, right up to the time that this son of Adam elected to plunge toward perdition.  The Lord knew Cain would eventually choose that course, but until he did, the Lord treated him as though he never would."

"Notice the same principle operating in the calling of Judas, who betrayed the Lord;  in the anointing of Saul who ended up massacring the Lord's priests and trying to murder David; in the anointing of Jeroboam who could not wait for his inheritance but decided to kill Solomon and take the kingdom immediately.  All of these people had it within them to become distinguished leaders in their own right and the Lord honored that potential because He had known them in pre-mortal life.  He honored their best selves as long as He could, even when He knew that they would not.  An omniscient and just God could not do otherwise."

Now, shouldn't it be something we could do as we look at other people?  I can't help but think that if we have been sent here to be our best selves and to serve one another using the example of our Elder Brother Jesus Christ, perhaps we might influence a brother or sister to choose good over evil.  Perhaps a kind word or a thoughtful note or phone call might help turn another person away from a decision that could lead to their destruction.  

It reminds me of the song, "Have I done any good in the world today".... We will most likely never know the full extent of the good we can do for those around us, but we will know how good we personally feel as we extend a helping hand to those who are struggling with the challenges of mortality.  I know that I have had that help so many times in my life, and I will continue to benefit from that kind of help for the remainder of my days!  Let's not be responsible for assisting someone to fall/fail, but let's do all we can to help others succeed.