Orientation to the Nauvoo Temple

We've had an intense week of orientation. We spent most of it in the temple. We were taught in the assembly room, which is patterned after the one in the Kirtland Temple. (I got to play the organ at one of the meetings.) We got acquainted with the temple presidency and their philosophy. The "Nauvoo way" is simpler and very loving towards the patrons.

We did three endowment sessions and learned from watching the experienced ones.

The artwork in the temple is gorgeous. In the chapel there's a large Minerva Teichert of the Savior appearing to the Nephites.

There are murals in each room. They were done at BYU and then brought to Nauvoo. President Condie says that's why there are cougars in them!

They fed us lunch and dinner each day and we gained weight! And got acquainted with different couples.

Lunch at the stake center. Glausers on the left, Watkins on the right, and our upstairs neighbors, the Winegars at the back.

Dinner at the Nauvoo Hotel, seated with the Jespersons

President Condie arm wrestling Elder Ekins

Today we had a two and a half hour testimony meeting in the assembly room. It was great. A lot of people told about ancestors who had lived in Nauvoo and I started to feel left out. But at the end President Condie said that George Albert Smith said it's great to have good ancestors but it's better to be one! He also said there are no big people in the temple, and no little people either.

Nauvoo Miracles

We have been encouraged to look for "Nauvoo miracles," so here goes. Some may seem mundane to you.

1. Getting hooked up to the Internet.

The first few days we were piggybacking but it was so weak I couldn't even index. So in disgust I called the rep who had left her card. She was one house away so came right over to sign us up. She said we'd have to wait until Saturday to have it installed, but the next day I saw the truck at the next apartment so I asked if they could do ours too, and they did! I am so happy to have the Internet again!

Grackle

2. The birds of Nauvoo.

We have seen robins, Canadian geese, grackle (a type of crow with an iridescent blue head that is a ground feeder), red winged blackbirds, and most special, cardinals!


3. Memotts.

The back of Memotts' car

We've been getting acquainted with various nice couples but the one that inspired me most was the Memotts. They are on their second marriage and they each had 13 children when a mutual friend lined them up. His wife had died of cancer and her husband had been excommunicated for wanting to practice polygamy. When they married their youngest were both 13 years old and exactly half of their children had married, so they built a 6-bedroom house with a huge family room to accommodate the remaining 13 children.


4. President Condie.

Spencer and Dorothea Condie

What an amazing man, and so down to earth. When he quotes President Hinckley, he does it in President Hinckley's voice. He has taught us to not correct the patrons or each other, but to think that they're each doing their best. He said to look to Christ for the model of acceptance. When Peter cut off the soldier's ear, he didn't get released, and that act should have been good for 10 to 15 years in any state! He doesn't want the temple to become a support group for those with OCD! He says we should have "the best of feelings" in the temple and in our homes. He said this mission could be our MTC for serving a mission on the other side. He calls us "high mileage models." He said we'll look back on Nauvoo with fondness like the pioneers did when they were driven out of it. He calls his wife Angel instead of Dorothea!

The world calls miracles coincidence. But miracles are God's way of remaining anonymous! 

First Impressions of living in Nauvoo

Beautiful! That's Eldon's word. Flowers and trees in bloom. The river. My first impression is peaceful. It's so quiet here. You can hear the doves cooing. No traffic. Once in a while a horse drawn wagon of tourists goes by, or people walking, but seldom a car.

The missionary apartments are nice. They're 10 years old. When the temple was built they asked for contributions and got more, much more, than they needed. They finally said to halt. But because of the generosity of the people, they had enough to build these apartments. They vary in size and layout, but they all have the same furnishings and color scheme. Each couple configures it the way they like and adds some personal touches.

You can see the Brick Yard from the kitchen window

You can see the Lucy Mack Smith home from the bedroom window

Going to church was quite an experience. The Sacrament meeting was like stake conference--clear back to the stage. It was for all the missionaries. Then for the other two meetings we split up. Maybe the site missionaries went back to work. The temple missionaries split into two groups for SS and RS both of which were excellent. The SS teacher tried to relate Mosiah 1-4 to temple service. All the meetings had a common theme which I came away with--have eyes to see and ears to hear--both the promptings from the Spirit and the blessings from the Lord.

The kitchen is nice

The living room

We added pillows from Walmart

We've had some enforced socializing--an ice cream party and Sunday dinner with different small groups so we can get acquainted. Four couples at the ice cream party. Two were on their second marriage. Of the brothers one was a chiropractor, one an Indian school principal from the Four Corners area,  and one a systems analysis. The sister from California was a middle school teacher and later a librarian. Another taught at UCLA. Interesting and somewhat intimidating people.

For recreation we toured the Sarah Granger Kimball home. It's a little out of the way so we didn't see it on the trip. She was instrumental in the start-up of Relief Society. Sunday we toured the Lucy Mack Smith home since it's our neighbor.

We went to Fort Madison, Iowa, over a toll bridge ($2) to shop and go to the YMCA. While Eldon used the exercise equipment, I took a water aerobics class. The pool is smaller, the water warmer, the class larger, and the instructor male (!). The exercises are basically the same but by different names. What we call the Karate kick, they call the Donkey kick. The people were very friendly.

We are still in the "getting settled" phase. Tomorrow we start the orienting phase which will take all week. Next week the temple opens after two weeks of cleaning and we go to work!

Trip to Nauvoo

We took an entire week to travel from Corvallis to Nauvoo so we could spend time along the way with family.

First stop was Bend which was a farewell to Bend. We will probably never go there again. We hiked Pilot Butte one last time and went to Sheryl's friendly ward one last time. Sheryl was in the middle of packing because this week she moved into an apartment until school's out and her household goods were loaded onto a van which is being driven back to New Hampshire by a couple in their ward. Then they'll drive home visiting church history sites on the way. We also played a great game of Pictionary--Trevor and I against Sheryl and Grandpa.

Grandpa helping Curtis with his tie

The next stop was at Carl and Velvet's. We spent two nights there. Carl and I took the girls to the swimming pool. We also went on a walk to the green space with the kids and Velvet. They had kites to fly. Carl and Kate hang out in the mornings and she's a little program director, finding games and activities for all to participate in. She planned a guessing game, a puzzle marathon, yoga to a tape, and drawing eyes after we watched the song Ken posted about how Crayola doesn't have the right color for eyes.

We went down to Provo to meet Esther for lunch at the Brick Oven. BYU has been good for her and she's blossoming. Then we drove a few blocks to Gail's work, saw her new office, and said goodbye to her. Then we went to Pleasant Grove and visited with Don and Lois a little while.

When Carl left for work on Wednesday about noon, we took off and drove to Laramie, Wyoming. The next day to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and finally today to Nauvoo where we have settled into our apartment. We live at 860 Kimball, across from the brickmaking place. It's a tri-plex, one couple upstairs and two down. Our neighbors downstairs are the Peals from Texas. She is an aunt to Brenda's neighbor, Sharon Painter.

We walked around town, found the church and the mail barn and the post office and stopped and bought a puzzle of the Nauvoo Temple.

We have a binder of information to study. There was a page listing the leadership and I noticed a choir director but the accompanist was blank so I called her and volunteered. Choir starts on Sunday! This is going to be fun!

Robin's 14th Birthday party

We hosted a dinner party for Robin. Besides all her family, her cousins Jessica and Emily came with their husbands. It was fun to see everyone. Rachel made a beautiful cake, as usual. The only request Robin had was for twice baked potatoes.

Good news! Jeff got a job with a law firm in Sweet Home. He starts tomorrow. He still has the bar in July to pass.

Opening presents, David and Annie looking on

Emily with David

Robin and Ariana

Ken/Grandpa and David

Blowing out the candles

Cutting the beautiful cake