June 30, 2016 - Thursday in Nauvoo

Unbelievable!  The last day of June 2016, and the big tourist season begins tomorrow, here in Nauvoo!  The time is moving right along and there have been some wonderful experiences for mom and I today.  Our first order of business was our morning devotional and prayers.  We sure enjoy that time together preparing for the day.  We then went on our morning walk and enjoyed the beauties of the Nauvoo morning!  I loved this picture going down Parley Street looking back over the sunrise horizon;

The gathering of the storm clouds - ETA later in the afternoon!

Mom and I got to work together in the Handcart Station, and we had five marvelous groups today.  We had a group of 24 well prepared Scouts that went on the three mile trek, a family of 5 that went on the two mile trek, and three families that went on the one mile trek.

We loved working with the Scout group that was composed of Priests and Teachers from one of the Wards in the Allen, Texas Stake.  That is the stake where our former mission president now lives.  They came back from their 3 mile trek excited about the experience they had of working together!  When we got them going, to begin their trek, we had the Teachers Quorum President and the two Priests Quorum Assistants divide the group up into 6 separate groups with young men they didn't know particularly well.  That made the comment of "working together", at the end of their experience even more satisfying...

Families working together!

Getting the extra sandbags! (Those are 20 pounds each!)

This family had a wonderful experience together

I wanted to share the experience of this younger family today.  The mother is a single parent with a son and daughter and a niece and nephew on a history trip together.  The boy in red and the smaller girl are her children, who are not members of the Church.  Their father is anti-Mormon, and will not allow them to be baptized, although the boy is 11 and the girl is 8... Both the niece and nephew and the single mom are members.  They chose the 2 mile trek which is the most difficult trek of the three we have available.  I was a little concerned before they left that this might be too hard for them....

Here are some experiences they had together; The mother/aunt had prepared them for the Nauvoo experience by teaching them about Joseph and the Saints.  They had already been in Nauvoo a few days, and had experienced shows and historic sites, and they stayed an extra night to experience the trek from the Saints perspective.  (It was interesting to note that when the father found out they were coming to Nauvoo, he found all the negative writings he could about the Mormons in Nauvoo).  As trek coordinators, we always begin the experience with a prayer and some counsel to help each group along the way as they stick to the trail and help each other along.

The non-member boy told his mom, along the trek, that he was feeling something very different that made him want to cry.  But, he said, I can't cry, (because boys don't cry), but what is that feeling, he asked?  And then, along the trek, his little sister scraped her leg, and he wanted to have her ride in the handcart.  He told his mom that he wanted to pull the cart by himself to see how it felt to carry his sister.  And then he said, I would pull you all the way to Salt Lake!  The cousins all started off the trek by complaining, just a little, and arguing with each other, but the older 10 year old girl cousin said, "let's have a prayer".  That was a unifying prayer for the entire trek!

Over the next hour, they had several prayers together, coupled with these wonderful experiences.  When they came into the Handcart Station, over two hours later, (and I had been out to search for them on the four wheeler because it had been over two hours.) they were singing and happy and ready to take on the three mile trek next time!

Here are some things I have learned and had reinforced from this family; First, prayer works for all of us at any age.  It was especially rewarding to hear that the 10 year old was willing to teach her two cousins about the power of prayer.  Second, how sweet was that for the non member 11 year old brother to have that experience with his 8 year old sister?  He wanted to take her in the cart to relieve her suffering and then made the declaration that he would be willing to take her all the way to Salt Lake.  

And it was touching to hear about his feeling of the Spirit and wanting to identify what that was.  And, then, the exhilarating feeling they had from working together and praying together, as cousins, to overcome this very difficult trek experience.  Mom and I have been very blessed to be a part of a number of special places to serve here in Nauvoo and Carthage, and the Handcart Station has been one of them!

After our shift was over, we went home for lunch and prepared for the 4:00pm temple session.  That was a very nice ending to a great day working at the Handcart Station!  When we drove into the garage after the temple session, the clouds let loose in a fury of rain and thunder for about 15 minutes.  We got a little moisture and I hope there is more for us later on tonight!

And here are some blog worthy pictures sent to us today!  Priceless pictures for two senior missionaries!  Thank you for sharing them with us!!

Levi "gearing up" for his morning walk!

What a great looking family promoting a great company!

Zac, you look sharp in your uniform!

Like father like son!  Nothing quite like this nap time!

Well, it has been a great day for us.  The mission experiences will certainly last a lifetime and beyond as we record these precious times here on the "electronic" plates!  I love recording, each day, the special experiences we have had.  Everyday brings on new opportunities to learn and grow and strengthen our testimonies!  Have you noticed?