Valentine's Day

Another missionary slipped and fell on the ice this last week.  She now sports two black eyes.  We all look forward to the time when things warm up and become safer.  We have one local ordinance worker that checks the weather forecast and if there is even the slightest chance of inclement weather on the day that he is scheduled to come in, he calls to let us know that he is not coming.  In the past he had met up with several accidents trying to come in.  At his age, it just isn’t safe to drive, especially when driving conditions are poor.  The deer around here appreciate it as well.  He has killed more than one while driving to the temple.  I think many of us here have experienced times when they jump out in front of our cars and we have a hard time avoiding them, especially when there is so much snow and ice on the roads keeping us from being able to stop quickly.

Valentine’s Day brings with it several who want to be wed or sealed on that day.  Here at Nauvoo, we had three couples come in to have their families made eternal on that day.  I got to be one of the witnesses at two of those sealings.  It is especially fun when little children come, as well, to be sealed to their parents.  Yesterday, we had a beautiful family come from northern Iowa to be sealed.  They had three daughters ages 1, 3 and 6.  Afterwards they went out (in the snow) to have their pictures taken.  All went out, dressed in white -- but the mother, and all three daughters had bright red capes made that they wore over their dresses.  Our four “little red riding hoods” made quite an adorable sight.

We, as temple missionaries, are encouraged to do our own family research and find the names of ancestors that we can bring to the temple.  During the winter months when fewer people come to the temple, we can take opportunity to be patrons ourselves and do the work for those whose names we have found.  Frequently at the end of the day, a special baptismal session will be scheduled where we can go down and be baptized in behalf of those we have identified.  It is a special experience to stand in the font here at Nauvoo, which happens to be the largest baptismal font in any of the temples, to do that work.  While this is not the original Nauvoo, temple, the font does occupy the very same location that it did in the Nauvoo temple of old.  Perhaps some of our ancestors also stood in that very same location to do proxy baptisms back in 1845.  If any of you come to visit us, while we are here, I would encourage you to plan on coming to the baptistery so that you (or your older children) can have that opportunity.