April 6, 2016 - Wednesday in Nauvoo

It was 186 years ago today that the Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized by Joseph Smith.  On April 6, 1830, the Church was officially organized with its six members.  It is wonderful and such a blessing to be a part of the almost 16 million members today!

Mom and I were up early this morning preparing for the days activities.  We had our morning devotional and prayers, and then had our breakfast, before attending the 7:30am training meeting.  We also got to work in the greenhouses after the meeting as our FM assignment today.  

The rain was coming down this morning after our meeting so we went straight to the FM facility.  We potted some growing garden flowers and plants into larger containers.  Then, around 12 noon, the rains had stopped and we went over to the Visitors Center and cleaned out several garden beds of leaves and weeds.  We then got to come over to our house and take out almost a trailer load of leaves and trash and old plastic pots.  It looked so much better!  I took these pictures of some of the flowers budding around the Women's Gardens next to the Visitor's Center in Nauvoo.

The Women's Garden "Springing" into life!

This Women's Garden will soon be filled with the plants from the greenhouses

The tulips and the budding trees are witnessing that Spring is right around the corner....  The Women's Garden is one of the more popular gardens in all of Nauvoo.  It has been a real treat for mom and me to work getting the plants ready for the gardens in Nauvoo and Carthage!  The outdoor planting from the greenhouses will begin in May after these bulbs finish their cycle of blooming and beautifying the grounds!

Tonight was our cast night and we gave a final farewell to our director.  Sister Saline is going to work the sites the last few weeks of their mission.  She did such a great job as the Rendezvous Director!  Check out her trademark smile!

The Saline's from Arizona - Rendezvous Director for the last six months

As I have thought about the conference messages from General Conference, I must admit that hearing Elder Holland speak was, as always, inspiring.  When we heard him here in Nauvoo last July, he was a little more tired and not so positive in his address to us.  I felt that he was anxious for the world events to be done and was ready for the 2nd Coming.  However, I was inspired then, and again I was inspired during this conference, to hear him tell us things will be OK.  Here is a summary of his remarks as I took them from the Church website;

"Only the adversary, the enemy of us all, would try to convince us that the ideals outlined in general conference are depressingly unrealistic, that people don’t really improve, that no one really progresses. 

… Don’t fall for that. With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed. …

Please remember tomorrow, and all the days after that, that the Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going. …

Brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. That’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. …

… Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever"...

We know that the adversary wants us to be discouraged and it makes us feel that no matter what we do we will never make it through the challenges of this life.  That is the farthest thing from the truth and we know it, and an Apostle of the Lord is one of our cheerleaders in this effort to help us overcome this attitude of discouragement.  I am grateful for this message of love and hope and trust from our Heavenly Father through His appointed servants!  Isn't General Conference amazing?