The Last days of October in Nauvoo

Here it is, the last Sunday of October.  With it has come the last day that we would have remained here had we not extended.  Tomorrow 40 of the 60 temple missionary couples leave as they are being released.  Today has been a tearful farewell as we are parting company with so many that we have come to love so very much.  In addition to those missionaries that are going home, we are also losing our temple presidency who is also being released in a few days at the end of the month.  We will be attending a reception in their honor in another few hours.

All the temple missionaries along with the temple presidency and staff held a special testimony meeting in the solemn assembly room at the temple today, giving those that are leaving one last opportunity to bear their testimonies within this sacred temple.  Our meeting lasted about three hours.  But oh what a wonderful three hours it was.  It will remain a special memory for so many throughout the eternities.

Yesterday was Halloween in the City of Nauvoo.  Although I suspect that there will still be some trick-or-treaters on the 31^st.  Here they celebrate Halloween in a rather distinctive manner.  First, the Church’s Facility Maintenance Department here provided around 500 jack-o-lanterns (of which we personally helped hollow out a few) which lined the streets all within a two-block stretch of the main street of town.  Last night around 6 pm candles within most of them were lit and while a few concession stands along the path sold hot dogs and the like, others were distributing caramel pop-corn, hot cider and cookies gratis for - as long as it lasted.  A parade then came by, consisting mostly of probably all the youth and a few of the adults that live here, all decked out in their costumes.  The kids were followed by a long-horned steer that wanted to go any direction but the way the parade was headed.  (The steer won out, and eventually returned to where the parade began.)  A few cars then passed by (including a ghost-busters vehicle) and a horse-drawn wagon carrying Nauvoo’s “Crazy Band” – each member playing their kazoo or whatever crazy instrument they could invent or concoct.  People came from all over to watch the spectacle.  They came from Hamilton, Warsaw, Keokuk, Fort Madison, and who knows from where ever else.  The streets seemed crowded in a carnival-like atmosphere that stretched throughout the whole two blocks that this whole thing occupied.  We afterwards went to the home of one of the local members that served us sandwiches, hot chocolate and other goodies.  It was a fun and enjoyable evening.

Prior to that, while serving in the temple yesterday, I got to be the guide for one of two Hispanic brethren that had come to receive their own endowments and then each of them be sealed to his wife and children.  The sealing ceremonies took longer than usual as each was first performed in English and then re-iterated a second time in Spanish.  These two families ended up being in the temple for over 6 hours.  But it was fun for me to use my Spanish and help these families become forever families.

6 months out

Last week, all who are called to work in the Nauvoo Temple along with their spouses were invited to attend the annual temple devotional.  We held it in the solemn assembly room of the temple, and we filled it to the brim.  At the devotional, we listened to talks given by all the members of the temple presidency and their wives and then the time was given to Elder Reall, an area Seventy.  Having just lost his wife to cancer a few months ago, he spoke to all of us that may have also lost a spouse or who would lose a spouse sometime in the future (which could be any one of us) about the heart ache and the difficulties coping with the loss of a loved one.  He handled the most delicate topic with great sensitivity and love and did a marvelous job.  It was a wonderful meeting.  Oh, between two of the speakers, the temple choir, of which Sister McClellan and I are members, sang.

Autumn is definitely in the air.  The weather is getting cold.  Leaves are starting to turn.  The leaves on the maple trees are red on one side of the tree but still green on the other – most interesting, and pretty.  We find ourselves starting to bundle up with temperatures now dipping down into the mid-30’s in the early morning hours.  We haven’t seen any snow yet, but they tell us it will be coming. It is also said that the temperatures will continue to drop, at times to as cold as -20.  That along with a high humidity level and major winds that blow all winter long, we will be looking for our long-johns and warm coats, scarves, caps, etc.  I hope winter is not six months long.  I like the warmer weather.

Yesterday marked the six-month anniversary of our being here in Nauvoo.  Had we not had the mission extended, we would be getting released at the end of next week.  Of the temple missionaries, there are many that will be going home then.  But prior to their leaving, arrangements were made to do a few things that would be special for them – and us too.  For example, today, after sacrament meeting, we held our Sunday school class in the historic cultural hall down on Main Street, and Priesthood was held in the old Seventies Hall down on Parley Street.  I must admit that the pews were hard but the atmosphere was great.  Sister Susan Easton Black Durrant, who use to teach at BYU and is one of the temple missionaries here, taught our Sunday School class today – and we were learning all sorts of facts about Church history which I am sure went well beyond the lesson manual.  She is such a fountain of Church history knowledge.

In a couple of weeks the temple here will enter into a two-week maintenance closure.  Our daughter, Heidi, who will be coming home off here mission to the Philippines will arrive here on the 30^th, just a few days before the closure begins.  We will then travel with her back to Utah.  We are starting to work out our travel itinerary – but realize that it may be very dependent on the weather.  We look forward to the break, and hope to meet with many of you while we enjoy our “vacation”.

 

Change in the air

 

Today has been a busy day.  We started off with a sacrament meeting at 8:00 am.  At 10:00 we were attending a stake conference.  We aren’t really members of the Nauvoo Stake, but since we meet in the same building, and our Sunday School, Priesthood and Relief Society Meetings would conflict with their overflow areas for Conference, they invited us to join with them instead.  We had choir practice, and then home for a short break before we go back to the temple this evening for a special Temple Devotional and then a farewell for one of our number that has been called to serve in Seattle as a counselor in the temple presidency there.  I suppose that doesn’t seem like all that much, but the time leading up to this sacrament meeting was occupied heavily by our trying to prepare talks since we were asked to be two of the speakers.  We are now glad that it is over, and basking in the thought that we probably won’t get that opportunity again for the rest of our stay here.  Speaking in Sacrament Meeting here use to be like speaking in a stake conference.  But as the autumn has worn on, many of the missionaries have either been transferred or released.  So now it is like speaking to just two combined wards.  Still a lot, but not as many. 

In two more weeks we will be saying good-by to two-thirds of the temple missionaries that are here.  That will definitely reduce the number in attendance.  And many more of the site missionaries will be leaving as well.  At that time we will then go into winter mode.  Instead of twelve shifts at the temple, we will be down to just six.  But that does not mean that we will no longer be needed as shift coordinators – we are among the lucky six couples that get to continue on with that responsibility through the winter.

We will also be saying good-bye to our temple president and one of his counselors at the end of the month.  The other counselor has been called to continue on and serve in the new temple presidency as well.  We will miss Pres. Condie.  His shoes will be hard to fill.  But the Lord always seems to be able and find just the right person to do it.  And we look forward to meeting our new president when he arrives.

With so many of the temple missionaries leaving, we will then have the option to move into one of the vacated apartments, if we want to.  And we do.  So in November we will be moving from our current apartment on Kimball Street to one on Parley Street.  The other apartment appears to be quite a bit larger, and will allow us more room for when visitors come to stay with us – and we hope that several of our family and friends will consider doing just that.  It’s too bad that we will still be here on Kimball Street when Heidi gets here at the end of this month.  We could have used the extra space.  But we will manage.

General Conference

Today it is raining.  We sit here absorbing the moisture that comes from Heaven.  We are enjoying both the physical and the spiritual moisture that is falling upon us on this beautiful day here in Nauvoo.  We sit here enjoying the conference sessions that are convening in Salt Lake City.  We are sitting at the feet of the Lord’s anointed as they testify of the Savior and explain the Father’s desires for us in the next period of our lives.  We hear the prophet’s plea for all of us to be missionaries.  It is strange how even when we are wearing the missionary badge we feel that we are shirking our duty, as we are not working with the non-member or even with the less-active.  But we look forward to the time when we can do just that. 

We marvel at the insights that are being poured out in this conference.  Isn’t it interesting that although the talks that are given are on many various topics, the one fact that remains a constant, is the statement that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father?  Because of that one fact, we are given each of the ongoing counsels and directions, all of which we are so much in need.  (Becky and I were both looking for what might be said about us being children of a loving Heavenly Father, since that is the topic given to us to address next week in our Sacrament Meeting.)

Tonight we will attend a “sociable” (fireside) where the speaker will be our beloved temple president, Pres. Spencer P. Condie.  He, and his wife, will soon be released and a new president will take over starting the first of next month.  We will certainly miss him, his humor and his spirituality.  But tonight we will feast upon it while we can.

For any following this blog and recall that Becky was ‘not complaining’ about the problems inherent to her new keyboard, please rest assured that she has somewhat resolved some of the discomfort by having acquired an extension cord for her headset.