We’ve moved

Now that so many of the other missionaries have been released, we desired to be in a different apartment, giving us more room. So we moved. We now live on Parley Street. That was the street that the early pioneers left Nauvoo by, to go down to the river to start their trek across the plains to go to Utah. The new apartment did not come without a few quirks. When we got here, we had no hot water. After making a phone call, it was turned on for us. But the next day, I was still surprised to step into a cold shower. It didn’t take too long to figure out that the shower valve was installed backwards so that when you set it for hot you get cold and visa-versa. Now that we got that figured out, things are a lot better. We still haven’t seen any snow. But the temperature has dropped significantly. Today we got up to note that the thermostat was reading all of 9 degrees Fahrenheit. We are told that it is known to drop to as low as 25 below. And when the wind starts blowing that even feels worse than it sounds. I suppose that I can pray for a mild winter and that the Lord will help me endure whatever comes. We are now back in full swing at the temple. While there are only 6 shifts at the temple now instead of the 12 that occur during the summer, it still seems like the same for us, since we still work 5 of the six shifts, the same as we did when there were 12 shifts. We are still shift coordinators, but now our shifts have fewer workers on them, making it more challenging to make ends meet. But we do note that somewhere, sometimes out of nowhere, the workers show up just when they are needed. The Lord is indeed helping us out and we always return home knowing that He is in charge and it is His work that we are doing. Today, Becky assumed her role as the director of the temple choir. We had our first rehearsal this morning. She enjoyed the experience as did the two dozen temple workers that showed up to be in the choir.

Back in the saddle

As planned, we arrived back in Nauvoo yesterday. We had a delightful trip back, enjoying our visits with our daughters: Heather, MaeLyn and Kristy and their families along with good weather the whole way. As we drew close to Nauvoo, the streets were wet, indicating that it had recently rained, but we were spared from the storm that had passed through earlier. Today, we have enjoyed attending church, sheltered from the gale-force winds that started blowing while we were in church but again subsided by the time that we were ready to return home. Again, as we left the chapel, we saw the streets were wet, and we were again spared from having to be out in it. The winds seem to be coming out of the south today and are warm – how delightful! As we unpacked our bags last night, we watched the tail end of the BYU – Idaho State football game on TV. I was somewhat surprised to see that it had been snowing there in Utah, where we had just left. All the while that we were there, it was beautiful clear weather. We left before the storm moved in and we were able to stay clear of that storm as well. I hear that it snowed here in Nauvoo as well, while we gone. But there is nothing here to remind us of that fact as all is again colorful. But the trees are drab as many of them seem to have lost their leaves in our absence. We can again see the temple from our apartment as the leaves are no longer on the trees where they had blocked our view all summer long. We left Heidi in Utah. We will miss seeing her when we go to visit the Browns in Kansas City area when we go there for Christmas but we are confident that she will be happy as she re-establishes herself in her now post-mission state of existence. Our service here will begin anew when the temple opens its doors on Tuesday. We are anxious to be back serving as we have been called to do. It is time to turn our attention from the weather to the things that matter. Soon we will be performing the ordinances that bring exaltation within reach for those that desire it. Soon we will be helping those that come to the temple to be endowed or to be married or to be sealed to their parents. It is humbling to know that we are there assisting our Savior in the vicarious work that he initiated when he atoned for us in Gethsemane and at Calvary. It is indeed an honor to serve him and to perform that most sacred work that is done within the walls of each temple.

At home in Orem

We arrived in Orem on Wednesday as planned. Although we did take a bit of a detour to get there. After leaving April’s house in Green River, WY, we headed south through Vernal, UT and on to Neola where we visited for a few minutes with Becky’s sister that lives there. We had good weather the whole distance although there was a bit of snow still on the road in Wyoming. Our car needed a good washing when we got home. Since we have been here, we have had wonderful opportunity to visit with several of our children and siblings that live in the area. Today we had thirty-four of our family here – all except for sixteen. Of those sixteen we visited with twelve of them during our drive here. It has been a very relaxing and enjoyable time spent with family and friends. Today, Heidi reported to the High Council and both she and I spoke in Sacrament Meeting later on. Now that those commitments are over, we now need to turn our attention to preparing for the trip back to Nauvoo. Tomorrow, we plan to get our car inspected (fixed if needed) and registered while we are here. We plan on leaving on Wednesday and travel through Los Alamos, NM on our way to see the home that our daughter Heather and her family live in there. We expect to be back in Nauvoo by Saturday.

Heading out

Heidi, our daughter, is now with us. She dropped in, via an airport in Moline, Il, two hours by car from here, en route home from the mission field. She has been serving in the Iloilo Philippines Mission for the last eighteen months. We will be driving her home by car from here – starting today. Yesterday was our last day to work in the temple as the temple now closes for the next two weeks for one of its semi-annual maintenance closures each year. We need to be back before the 19th of November when it re-opens again. Actually, we didn’t work in the temple yesterday either. Instead we took our turn working in the arrival center across the street. There, people who come a long way to attend the temple can change their closes before going in or they can leave their children, along with baby sisters there while they attend the temple. Non-members are also invited to go to the arrival center where we have various videos that we can show them. This is especially helpful for those that come and would like to have a tour of the temple – and can’t. At least we have the videos and brochures that have pictures taken in the various rooms of the temple so they can get an idea of what it looks like as well as what we do in this grand structure. Friday, this last week, was the first day that our new temple president took over. President McArthur should make a fine president, and we will enjoy working under his direction. He has presided over missions in Japan twice but is unfamiliar with temple work. He will learn quickly. Today we start our way back to Utah, to take Heidi back so she can be released. Today we will get as far as the Kansas City area, where we will spend the night with our daughter, Kristy, and her family. Monday night we will spend with our daughter, MaeLyn, and her family near Denver. Tuesday night we hope to spend with our daughter, April, and her family in Green River, Wy. So, if weather is permitting, we should get back to our home in Orem on Wednesday.