December 10, 2015 - Thursday in Nauvoo

The temperature was a warmer 48 degrees this morning as we began our day with our morning devotional and prayers.  We left on our walk at 5:50am and it was such a refreshing morning.  There were very few clouds and the sunrise was spectacular as these pictures indicate;

This picture was taken at about 6:45am along Parley Street

Another shot near the Seventies Hall

The trees without their leaves seemed to be on fire.

I don't think we ever have the same sunrises here.  Each morning shows a little different side of Heavenly Father's creations.  What a blessing it is to pause and reflect on the good things we have each day.  The love of our family, the ability to walk each day and perform our labors here, the sweet trust that we have been given to testify of Jesus Christ to those we come in contact with, and the treasure it is to go hand-in-hand along this path of life where we are learning so much about who we are and who we can become.

"This is a wonderful thought by President Monson that really focuses on the kind of person I want to be.  This is part of his December 2015 message to the world;

There is yet time this year to extend the helping hand, the loving heart, and the willing spirit—in other words, to follow the example set by our Savior and to serve as He would have us serve. As we serve Him, we will not forfeit our opportunity, as did the innkeeper of old,⁷ to make time for Him in our lives and room for Him in our hearts".

 Just thinking about that lost opportunity by the innkeeper of old is such a motivation for me.  I remember the wonderful time we had with Amy and Josh when we went to see "The Forgotten Carols".  I can't imagine turning away the Savior on that sacred evening, but how about today, and tomorrow when the challenge comes to do something that might be a little 'inconvenient'??  "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me"!  What a great reminder!

We had the late shift at the Visitor's Center today so we took the opportunity to attend the 10:00am temple session.  It was full, but we had the privilege of being the witness couple, and that is always such a treat!  We also mailed off the grand-kids letters.  Wait until they see the postage stamps we picked out!

And take a look at making your time at the Visitor's Center productive;

Booklets for the children coming to Nauvoo this summer!

The happy sister missionary!

These booklets have pictured pages that give hints to the children on what to look for in the sites they will visit.  We will probably hand out over 20,000 of these this coming year.  There are about 26 pages and are all hand tied with love!  We put together about 50 of these this afternoon.

I put together a document for counting tours and guests that explained the definition of points to record these numbers.  It has been an issue in the past, and the mission president wanted to make sure we were teaching the right methods.  The document they had before was not crystal clear, so I went to work to clarify.... 

One point on the old document was that you don't count a person who comes in just to use the restroom.  My clarification?  Make sure you talk to them after their restroom visit and let them know some options to enhance their stay in Nauvoo.  The mission president got a big kick out of the new clarification.  He said that he had never heard of this kind of approach, but, hey, this was taking the missionary effort to the next level!

It never hurts to make every effort when we have folks coming into the Visitor's Center.  However, this approach should only be attempted AFTER the restroom visit.....  It made the president laugh out loud and we had a fun moment with him!