June 18, 2016 - Saturday in Nauvoo

Now this was an interesting day.  Mom and I had the assignment to coordinate trek experiences for 170 visitors to the Handcart Station.  Frankly, I was very excited for the opportunity to coordinate this activity, because we got to serve these youth and young single adults from Texas, College Station, and St Louis, Missouri!  

Our first group of 20 Young Adults arrived at 7:00am this morning and we were ready to get them going!  We got to the handcart site at about 6:15am to get everything set up.  The Young Adults from St Louis were right on time, and we got them organized for their 2 mile trek.  They were on their way by 7:15am and anxious to go!

Then, at 7:30am, we had the 150 youth from the College Station Stake arrive for their 2 mile trek.  This group of young people were very well organized and very attentive to mom and me as we gave them the opening instructions.  We met several leaders of the group who had really prepared them well!  

What was interesting, was one of the leaders knew one of mom's friends from high school, David Powers .  He joined the Church later on in college, and mom came in contact with him when we first filled out our mission papers.  It was a sweet connection!

Once we got the handcarts assigned, the leaders took charge and designated scouts for each group.  They reviewed some of the items mom and I had briefed them on to be safe on the trek.  And they helped the individual groups with encouragement and support as they began this experience.  Here is a group shot;

College Station Stake Youth Conference trek

One of the Bishops from this stake had a sweet experience here. (In what we missionaries call "a Nauvoo miracle").  He has a somewhat transient ward where many students come for undergraduate, and graduate work at the University.  He had heard about the Grimm family moving into the ward several weeks ago.   He was anxious to learn more about this family, but no one in the ward or on the ward council knew anything about them.  He had several council meetings where he encouraged them to give him whatever information they could about them.  It was just a strong prompting to get this information before they moved into the ward in July.  

Well, here we are in Nauvoo.  He is with the youth of his stake, wearing his "Aggies" hat, and having a sweet experience with them.  He was trekking with the group he was assigned to this morning.  As they were walking along the trail, they passed the Young Adult group who were heading back to the Handcart Station. He greeting the first handcart group with a hello, then he did the same with the second handcart group.  Then the third group had some adult leaders and he asked them how the trek was going.  

After they told him about their awesome morning, they commented on his "Aggies" hat and told him they had one of their sons and his wife moving to College Station to do graduate work at the University.  He asked them where they were moving to, and the conversation led him to ask them the name of the children.  Yes, you guessed it.Their son and his family were the Grim family this Bishop had been asking about!  Now, I have to ask this question; does the Lord get involved in the details of our lives??

Now here was some, additional, insight that I gained from this group and their leaders.  First, they are here in Nauvoo and Carthage to experience what the Saints experienced in the 1840's.  They have been taught well about the Restoration and the intimate details of the Saints from New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois in preparation for this conference.  The youth were full of enthusiasm and so willing to help each other, and the adults have been working hard to help them understand more of the history of the Saints.  

The Stake President was talking to me, after they returned from the 2 mile trek, about their plans for the temple this afternoon, their trip to Carthage tomorrow, and their testimony/fireside  tomorrow evening in the Grove that Joseph often spoke in.  The impression came to me to mention the developing principle that I have mentioned here before; "how has the Restoration healed you?"  I told the president about the things I have experienced with this developing concept with my missionary friend in Italy and the responses I got from the post several weeks ago.  And part of that developing testimony is that the Restoration not only "heals" our wounds, but it can "eliminate" our scars!  (I appreciate Bishop Neilson's thought on that!)...

You see, we have all been "wounded" in our lives.  Some have been offended, maligned, had illnesses or tragedies strike.  Some have family members fall away or refuse to listen,  made wrong decisions and are living with the consequences of those decisions, and still others have lingering doubts about who they are and who they can become...  but we know that the Restoration can heal us.  

We know that our wounds and our pains can be taken away permanently by the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that once we accept the truth that through the Atonement, our scars can be erased and taken from us and placed on a kind and loving Savior, who holds out His arms and His Hands, to taken them away.

Yes, this has been a significant day for mom and I.  We closed the Handcart Station at the appointed time and went to the 1:00pm temple session as a small token of the love and appreciation we have for the blessings of the Gospel and the blessings of the Restoration in our lives!