'Til we meet again

The pageant is now over. Last night we completed the last performance for the year. And today starts the exodus anew from Nauvoo. The cast members are leaving. Next week the Young Performing Missionaries will be on their way home as well. We will miss their exhuberence and their energy. The crowds here will also diminish now that the pageant is over. That's all right – they may be drifting away now – but they will be back next year, if not them, then others that will appreciate the summer's activities here just as much.

We were told that currently the senior missionaries that are serving here in Nauvoo make up about 20 percent of all senior missionaries throughout the world. But we were also told that that percentage will soon be cut in half. Soon we will only be 10 percent – not because half of us will soon be going home, but rather because the number of senior missionaries throughout the world is about to double. That, for us, is exciting.

The number of senior couple missionaries here in Nauvoo will decrease in the fall, but it will be back up again next spring. Like the birds that migrate, we flock in and out with the seasons. Only each year the group that returns are not the same ones that left the previous year. And like the birds, not all of us leave for the winter. A few will be left around to tend the sites and keep the temple warm and cozy. The temple mssionaries, of which we are a part, have now been divided into three groups: 1) those that were here last winter (and will be released this coming fall), 2) those that came this last spring and will also be going home in the fall (six month missions), and 3) those that will be extending to stay here through the coming winter – not to go home until the fall of 2014. We have been asked to be in that third group and we are indeed excited to be able to stay here and enjoy the spirit here in Nauvoo as long as we can. We will be here when the snow falls and the cold humid winds start to blow. We will be able to stand on the steps of the temple to sing carols during the Christmas season. We will be able to walk down Parley street in the middle of February in commemoration of the saints that did the same back in 1846. We will be here to welcome the new missionaries that come in April and enjoy the summer activities again next year that we were so thrilled to have been a part of this year. And it also means that we get to officiate in the Lord's temple here in Nauvoo, for that much longer.

Last night I again contributed to the pageant performance by being the voice of the prophet Joseph to the hispanic community that came to watch the extravaganza. As I did so, I contemplated the messages that were given, especially those spoken by Joseph Smith. Throughout the performance, Joseph provides his testimony of the many events in his life and of the doctrines that were revealed to him. To, think, I was bearing his testimony! And as I did so, I could feel the Spirit of God bear witness to me that the words that I was speaking are indeed the truth. “I know it. … and I cannot deny it.” I also rejoiced with him as he healed the sick, or joined in with the youth for fun and games, or organized the Relief Society, or passed the keys of the kingdom on to others. It was fun to watch the temple be constructed – right on the stage and then to see and feel the excitement of the saints as they were finally able to enter that building and there receive the blessings that would enable them to endure the hadrships that would soon follow, and to rejoice with the Scottish convert that exclaims that “the temple is the highlands of heaven”. How close these sentiments come to the feelings that reside in my own heart! The doctrines of the Church are from God. Christ stands at the head of this Church. The work that we are performing in the temple is essential in bringing eternal life to those who enter and then continue to keep the covenants they make there.