April 29, 2016 - Friday in Nauvoo

The temperatures have cooled off considerably this week.   Our morning walk was made in high 40 degree temperatures.  And that was pretty much the way it stayed most of the day.  Mom had the early shift as the world's best wagon narrator, and I had the afternoon shift at the Blacksmith's shop.  That meant that mom took the car and I walked to my site assignment.  I left the house at about 11:20am and it took me just under 23 minutes to make the two mile walk.  That added to our morning walk of just a little over six miles!

The goose family

As we were walking along the Mississippi Riverbank this morning, this little family was paddling by.  They did not seem to be in any great hurry so I was able to snap this picture.

Then, as I was walking to the Blacksmith shop, I met mom on the wagon tour about a mile into my walk.  I waved at her and kept up my pace to get to the site assignment on time.  I arrived at the Blacksmith shop about 3 minutes before her wagon rounded the corner in front of the Blacksmith shop, and I got this snap shot;

World famous wagon narrator (ask the Jeppson kids)

This wagon had only 3 or 4 passengers, but on her next wagon that she narrated on, it was almost full.  When the wagons come around the corner and pass by the shops, we try to get outside and wave at the guests on the wagons.  Since the day was cooler than normal, the guest counts were pretty low.  We only had six tours in the Blacksmith Shop today.  This is usually one of the top three historic sites to be visited each day.

One of my favorite parts in the Rendezvous Play is when mom and I interact together.  She is the Relief Society President and I am the Editor trying to tell great stories while she is trying to begin a meeting.  It is a fun part of the play, and this is one of the lines I say;

"The Relief Society – now the oldest and largest women’s organization in the world, started right here in Nauvoo in the upstairs room of the Prophets Red Brick Store…… Imagine that!" 

The Relief Society was first organized on March 17, 1842.  There have been so many blessings associated with the Relief Society over the years.  Each morning that we take our long walk, we usually pass by the Red Brick Store where Joseph Smith formally organized this society.  As it is very easy to do, there are many things we take for granted in the Church.  And the contributions of this women's organization are sometimes under appreciated.  Here is a brief history of this Relief Society;

Latter-day Saint women were blessed with a new Church organization during the Nauvoo era. It had its inception when several women, led by Sarah M. Kimball, organized to make shirts for the men working on the temple. They drafted a plan of government typical of women’s groups at that time, but when Joseph Smith was consulted, he offered to organize the women after the same pattern as the priesthood. Under his direction and at a gathering of eighteen women, the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo was organized on 17 March 1842. Emma Smith was selected as its president, thus, according to Joseph, fulfilling an earlier revelation identifying her as an “elect lady” (D&C 25:3). The organization’s objective was “the relief of the poor, the destitute, the widow and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent purposes.”

On 28 April the Prophet gave the sisters additional counsel and promises. He advised the women to treat their husbands “with mildness and affection” and to meet them with a “smile instead of an argument or a murmur,” reminding them that when a mind is in despair it needs the “solace of affection and kindness.” After promising that they would receive appropriate instruction through the order of the priesthood, he said, “I now turn the key in your behalf in the name of the Lord, and this Society shall rejoice, and knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time henceforth; this is the beginning of better days to the poor and needy, who shall be made to rejoice and pour forth blessings on your heads.”

In our world so filled with hate and misguided relationships, can you imagine how impactful the Relief Society would be if it was embraced by every country?  I have to wonder just how people must feel after fighting so hard for "equal rights", and "political correctness",  and all the other man made stumbling blocks, and then realize, (either in this lifetime or the next), that women and men were created to compliment each other!  There have been countless folks who have been "made to rejoice", from the marvelous work of the Relief Society!  And I am grateful for the blessings that have come to our family as a result of my wife and daughters participating over the years!