July 25, 2016 - Monday in Nauvoo

Mom and I had a busy preparation day today.  We were up at the normal early hour for our devotional and prayers.  The temperatures were tempered, so our walk was much cooler than it has been in a few weeks.  And we were able to make the 8:00am temple session where we served as the witness couple.  It was a great start to our day!  I got some wonderful morning pictures on our walk;

The casual sunrise turns into a brightly lit morning sky!

The orange coloring of the morning sunrise

Looking East on Water Street passing the Mansion House

On our drive to Keokuk we were able to connect with some of our family members, back home, for updates.  Only one missed our call, and we weren't able to connect back later to see how they were doing.  We are spending much less on grocery items now that the time is getting shorter and closer for our release date.  And after we are released here, we are going East to visit PopPop as we begin our journey back to Rigby!  We have started our 18 month here in the Illinois, Nauvoo Mission.

I took a picture of this tree right off the main road into Nauvoo, Durphy Street.  It is also the state highway #96 and this picture is where Parley and 96 meet.  Take a look at this magnificent tree;

This looks like the family of the Oak Trees

The things I have learned about trees like this have given me some insights to "nourishment".  All these trees growing here in Nauvoo look so strong and mighty.  Trees that are seem perfect for a "Bobby" tree fort that he used to build with John Hinkle!  Well, here is what I have learned;  These trees are all given as much water as they desire.  You see the water table here is so high that the trees soak up water in such huge amounts that they grow up faster than normal trees that have to struggle for water.  And because they grow so fast, they are hollow on the inside.  They are not very strong and the high winds and heavy rains generally knock down their branches, and in many cases the entire tree.  They don't soak in the nutrients of the soil in equal amounts as they do the plentiful water.

Here is the lesson.  When we take too much of a good thing into our bodies, minds, or our hearts, (like the excessive water), we miss out on the other good things that we need to keep our lives in balance.  As we go through our lives, precious grandchildren, make sure we each hold tight to the "Doctrines of Christ".  That is that we develop our faith, that we always work on repenting from our sins and shortcomings, that we take on the covenants of baptism and renew those covenants every week at the Sacrament meeting, and always work on the ability to feel and follow the Holy Ghost in all aspects of our lives, and then to endure our mortal lives well as we prepare to return to our Heavenly home.  

That is my lesson from these trees, and it explains why Joseph Smith called missionaries to Wisconsin, and the Pineries, to bring the stronger hard and solid woods down to Nauvoo to build the houses, and the temple, and the wagons that carried the Saints west!  It is a significant lesson to learn to keep our physical, mental, emotional and Spiritual lives in balance!

Then mom and I put on our "stay up late" attitude and went to the British Pageant dress rehearsal tonight from 8:30pm until 10:15pm.  We met up with the full time missionaries running the details of the Pageant and they made sure we had some excellent seats!  Yes, we discovered there really are those late hours on our clocks!  Here are some pictures from the Pageant;

Lot's of action on the slanted stage

Near the closing of the program

Note the temple was lighted for the finale

It has been a wonderful preparation day.  Now we get to begin our week of site service and wrapping up this final week of Pageant month here in Nauvoo.