A week of firsts and more!

Our first day at Pioneer Pastimes

June 27, 2021

This was a week of fun and excitement, along with a lot of great spiritual times.

To start it off, Sunday night we had a tornado warning and of course, with that, a pretty severe but awesome thunderstorm! The lightning was spectacular and really lit up the sky. With the tornado warning, we headed to the lower level of the Temple Parking Garage. That is our gathering area since we don't have a basement in our home here in Nauvoo. There were many missionaries there and, for spending a hour-ish in a parking garage, we had a pretty great time. Since Doug and I are District Leaders, our first thoughts were of our district and making sure they were all safe. After that (and mistakenly texting my son-in-law, thinking I was texting one of our District members haha! That's what I get for not wearing my reading glasses) I was able to enjoy the "musical concert" that the YPMs,  YSMs and others that were there put on. We gathered in a circle and sang hymns and Primary songs. It was a sweet time feeling the Spirit so strong as the storm raged on about us. It made me think of how much life is like this. We, at times, have personal storms - depression, hard times, feeling inadequate, health problems, financial woes, etc. - but if we call on the Lord and ask for His comforting Spirit to be with us, we can feel peace amongst the storms of life. I know this to be true!

Monday morning, it appeared that the storm also brought the Mayflies into town. It reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock's movie from eons ago, "The Birds". I was being attacked on all sides by the flies - yuck! They were all over cars, buildings, and there were thousands of them. I'll post some photos of them. I also had to clean up a bunch of dead ones and let's just say, I would rather have been changing a poopy diaper! They stunk so bad!!! The next day they were pretty much gone and I was excited for that but then, they reappeared on Friday after another storm.

Monday we were also able to give some of the YPMs a tour of the FM facilities. They enjoyed it and we loved sharing with them.

Tuesday was a very special day for Elder Burns and I! We were able to enter the Nauvoo Temple for the first time since we've been here. We were able to participate in the baptisms and confirmations for four of my ancestors. It was very special to me.  Elder Burns participated in many more as he was one of the officiators and helped with the baptisms and confirmations of many of the sweet YSMs that joined us that day. I was able to act as witness for several of the baptisms and that was also a first and a spiritual experience for me. Just entering through the temple front doors was so special after not being able to go in a temple because of Covid. They've been closed for 14 months. I love to see the temple, which I do almost daily here, but I love going inside even more!

Wednesday night we had our weekly training and it was on some of my favorite sections - D&C 121, 122, 123. These were given to Joseph Smith as they were held prisoner in the Liberty Jail. These scriptures  have brought me so much peace throughout my life. My favorites: D&C 121:7-8 "My son (I like to personalize it, so I read it, "My daughter, Jill") peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;  (8)And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." Then in Section 122, Joseph is told a lot of  things that could happen to him that are awful things (I recommend you read it!) and then the Savior says, (7)"...know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. (8)The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? (9) Therefore, hold on thy way..."  These scriptures give me a lot of peace, knowing that my Savior knows how I feel, that he's felt my pains and sorrows. I still can't comprehend all that He suffered for me and you, but I know that because of Him, I can live with Him again and be with my family forever and that is huge to me! I know I can repent and be forgiven of my sins and shortcomings, that He paid the price for me to do that. 

This week we started weeding and cleaning up the Land and Records Building. It hasn't been touched for a long while and it needs it! The ivy has wrapped around the trees so much that it has pulled the tall branches down and wrapped them up in the shorter ones. As I'd cut the ivy and remove it, the trees would bounce back to life, swaying in the breeze. I have a whole parable that I could give on that - sin being like the ivy, starting small and looking non-threatening, then slowly becoming stronger and binding us, preventing us from the freedoms we once held dear. Cutting the vines represents repentance and being free from the sins. I hope you get the point.

This letter is long, but a lot happened this week! We were going to do some service projects in Carthage today (Saturday) to commemorate the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, but they were all postponed because of the weather. Hopefully we can do them soon. 

Friday, Elder Burns and I served at Pioneer Pastimes for the first time and we loved it! Watching the children play and enjoy themselves brought a lot of joy. We were also able to visit with their parents. 

This has also been a week for dear friends to visit. Lem and Laura Leavitt were in town and we had dinner together, went to a show (The Promise - it was supposed to be "Sunset by the Mississippi'' but several of the Brass Band members were sick so they couldn't do it ) and enjoyed visiting. They will be leaving in July for their mission so it was great to see them before they go! We also saw our friend, Julie Fonseca (her daughter, Rachel, is a YPM!) and Tiffany and Cara (my cousins) and their families were here and we were able to visit for a few minutes. Gleydy, a friend from our 2005 year of Pageant was also in the garage during the tornado warning and we ran into each other there. We joked that it took a tornado warning to get us to meet up.

We are so thankful to be serving here. I could add more that happened this week but I'll stop now. We love serving here, we love our Savior and are grateful to be members of His church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

All is well! We'd just been given the all clear to return

home after the tornado warning. Sister Fonseca and friends, some

of our amazing YPMs.

During the tornado warning in the Temple Parking garage.

This was so much fun taking these YPMs on a tour of FM.

Lyon Drug

Some of the gorgeous flowers I saw this week.

We are so blessed with amazing friends and family

Our first time back to the temple since they closed for Covid

Just another stormy, cloudy day in Nauvoo

Mayflies - go away! Doug used a snow shovel to  

gather them from the weld shop door

Just looking at the Mississippi

The trees with the ivy and after.