June 13, 2016 - Monday in Nauvoo

Today is Zac's 12th birthday!  Happy birthday Zac!  He will receive the Aaronic Priesthood this coming Sunday, and he is so well prepared, and anxious, to assume these sacred responsibilities.  Congratulations on reaching this milestone in your life, Zac!  Granny and Grandpa are so proud of you!  We love you!

Mom and I enjoyed a very peaceful Preparation day.  We had our early morning walk around the flats here in Nauvoo, and enjoyed morning temperatures in the high 60's.  It was good to start our walk early this morning at 5:15am.  The bugs had not yet gotten up!  Here are some pictures I got during our walk along the Mississippi River and down Parley Street;

The fast maturing Lilly pads in water no deeper than 18"

The sun breaking through the trees

The fiery reflection of the rising sun

Another angle of the rising sun through the groves..

Mom and I had a service assignment this morning to clean the statue of Brigham and Joseph at the end of Parley Street.  This area has a memorial dedicated to all the Saints who left Nauvoo in February 1846, and died along the trail to the Rocky Mountains.  

The statue of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith represent the inspiration and planning to move the entire community of Nauvoo to the Far West.  The move is historic, in that it was the only migration in American History where an entire working community moved itself.  From mob actions and government conspiracies, the Saints made this move, "willingly, because they had to".

After our morning devotional, and Scripture studies, and our walk, we attended the 9:00am temple session.  We had about 20 patrons in the session with us.  We then went to Keokuk for our weekly supplies.  The day was fast in warming up!  The temperatures were in the high 80's by 11:00am.  We came home and enjoyed the coolness of the afternoon, inside our home, before our Sunset play.  

Once we got to our pre-show activities around 6:00p, the temperatures were starting to go down.  There was a little cloud cover that helped along with some cooler breezes.  That made the stage a little more bearable in front of about 300 members of the audience.  The Young Performing Missionaries, on the other hand, were soaking wet!  They put so much energy into their performances and they are on the go all day and all night!

To close the blog tonight, I just need to include some pictures that I was sent today of two of our grandsons.  We have a picture of Zac with one of his birthday presents, and two of Levi enjoying his third day in mortality;

Zac's first firearm!

Levi enjoying being with his family

Hugs from mom are always in style!

We consider the blessed and happy state that the Lord has given us.  Although we miss all of these precious family members, we know that our work here in Nauvoo is where we need to be right now.  It is a tremendous blessing and a powerful insight to know that we can be together as a family forever.  That is our great motivation and testimony of this precious work.