Sunday School lesson

Well!!  TWO DOWN;  ZERO TO GO!!!!
I did my lesson last week and today, Becky gave her lesson in our  "General Authority" Sunday School Gospel Doctrine class.  And all 400 of them were there!  And now we can relax as there are no more talks or lessons for us to give --at least for awhile, I guess.
Her lesson was wonderful!  I had at least ten people come up to me saying things like "she sure raised the bar for the rest of us in our future lessons".  She was her typical old "R. S. Pres."  self, bubbly, ingraciating, witty, and downright interesting, teaching the Plan of Salvation.
We are not totally off the hook, in that we have been assigned to learn a part in the Rendezvous play, doing the part of Peter and Abigail. I am really worried about it because it has a lot of memorization, and I'm sure I will blow it on stage.
I have also been called to be the assistant site leader for the Brickyard site.  The site leader is going home in 3 months and I hope they don't call me to replace him when he leaves, because it is a big job, making all the bricks that we give to the guests, and managing  all the tours given there by the missionaries.
      Today, after Church, Becky and I were assigned together at the Sarah Granger Kimball  home. We don't get to serve together much, so it was a real treat, especially at that important place.  I will let her tell about it.
       Hello Family and friends!...Yes, dad wants me to share a little about the Sarah Granger Kimball home...It is one of my favorite homes to serve in, as it is one of the oldest homes in Nauvoo...it was built in the early 1830s, before the saints really immigrated here.  Sarah met Hiram Kimball in Kirtland, Ohio...He was about 12 years older than her and a very successful businessman...he owned this house and after they married they moved to what was then Commerce...(the name of the little town before it was changed to Nauvoo)...Hiram was a good man, but not a member of the church...The important thing about this home is that when Sarah lived there she had hired a seamstress to sew for her and one day they were working on some sewing together in her parlor and Sarah mentioned that she really wanted to help with the temple in some way and so did her seamstress..Sister Cook, but she had no means to donate to it.  Sarah said she had the means and Sis. Cook had the skills to sew, so she bought material and sister cook made shirts for the men who were building the Temple...They invited a few other ladies to help with the plan..and soon thought that they should get organized into a ladies society..Sarah wrote the constitution (we served today in the very room this occurred in) and took it to Joseph to see what he thought...He took it to the Lord and said that it was acceptable to the Lord, but the Lord had something better for them...It would be organized under the priesthood and after the manner of the Priesthood.. With a President and counselors and a secretary...
      Just about 2 weeks after Sarah had taken the idea to Joseph, she and  the women met in the red brick store to organize the "Female Relief Society of Nauvoo" on March 17th. 1842....With Emma Smith as President, and Eliza R. Snow as secretary...we always hear about them and little about Sarah....She had no problem about Emma being President...always supported the Relief Society...never any jealousy or angst..she was humble and simply saw a need and wanted to be charitable and serve...I love her...There are some really interesting stories about her I'll share in another blog..just know that she was a little spunk and a real Woman's Sufferrage advocate....Stay tuned in for the "rest of the story"!   Here are some pictures of her home..It was continuously lived in and is still in amazing shape...In the basement you can even see the logs that are the floor joists with ax marks and bark still on them...Amazing!

This house is surrounded by a flower garden of amazing Peony's and Iris's

Sarah had a perfect view of the temple going up in the distance!

Sunday School Lesson

TO ALL OUR CHILDREN:
Today, May 19, 2013 I gave the Sunday School  Gospel Doctrine lesson on the purpose of the Kirtland Temple.  I have been stewing on this for the past month, when they assigned it to me.  They rotate this assignment among all the missionaries, along with the Priesthood / Relief Society lessons, and the Sacrament Meeting talks.
As one can see from the photos, which I took the week before, with another missionary giving his lesson, this is not just "another Ward Gospel Doctrine class".  We have over 400 missionaries each Sunday in our "cozy little class".  With their backgrounds and personalities, it is like giving a "lesson" to a bunch of General Authorities".  But they are such wonderful people to associate with every day!!  But it is quite another thing altogether, to teach THEM something. Humbling, to say the least.

Some would say that it isn't any worse than giving a lecture to 100 or so dental students, but it is much more so,  in that we have to get "complete audience participation",  on a very spiritual level.   I'm sure you know what I mean.

That is the Mission President in the doorway.

My lesson centered on the comparison between D & C 95:8-9, and Luke 24:49.   Once the Temple was completed it was a day of Pentacost in a much greater  magnitude than the early day Church, which empowered the Church and its missionaries to rise to the occasion of gathering the people which the Lord was preparing in England and northern Europe (the blood of Ephraim).  The missionaries then went to England the following year for the first time, (1837) , and by the year 1851 there were 33,000 members in England alone, compared with 12,000 in the Salt Lake Valley.  A pretty dramatic result of the Power given them in the Kirtland Temple experience!

I did not use power points, because I don't know how to do them.  (Where is my dental school secretary when I need her)

Next week, Becky will fulfill her assignment in the same Sunday School,  giving a lesson on the Plan of Salvation.

I have felt your prayers, and please continue them for her this week.

p.s.......This is Mom...Just had to say that Dad gave a great lesson with so much information and the Spirit was wonderful....I told our Mission president...Don't expect that when I give it next week!  Wish me luck!

Happy Mother's Day to all our children

How fitting: on this day of "worshiping" MOTHERS,  that a mother robin would acknowledge and typify the nuturing safety of a mother's hands to cradle her nest with her own progeny.  How metaphorically accurate that this robin would pick THIS statue, which is the centerpiece of this Woman's Garden of Nauvoo, created to honor and celebrate all womanhood as the crowning creation of our Heavenly Father.  

How humbling it was for me to actually be washing these statues by assignment, to metaphorically cleanse them from all the blood and sins of this world, as they, and all the women in the Church that they represent, are such special creations of Heavenly Father.

I also think of my mother, Va Lera, and Becky's mother Grace,  and my wonderful wife and companion, Becky, and all my wonderful children and their wives,  and I wish them and their spouses, and want that  we ALL should appropriately honor them on this beautiful  MOTHER'S DAY

Happy Mother's Day

Our Preparation Day

As part of our Preparation Day, Sis. Ririe and I  were assigned to clean the Women's statues in front of the Visitor Center. As we approached this statue we saw a Robin fly away from it.

As we started to clean the statue we saw cradled in her arms was a nest!!!

. . . with two eggs in it.  What a surprise!!  Of course, to the mother bird , where would a more safe place be for a nest than nestled in the protective arms of this beautiful woman?

What a neat experience it was to clean these statues

We could almost feel the presence of people that they represent

We hope every one of our children can experience this garden

Most "P" days, we have a different assignment to do a service project like this.

WE LOVE NAUVOO.

Nauvoo "coincidences"

Last night we finished our site tours rather late and had to get to the Sunset on the Mississippi musical rehearsals.  We were debating whether we had time to run home and get a bite to eat before going.  We don't go out to eat here much (too small a town for good food), but we said why don't we go up town this time to eat, so we won't be late.  We got up to a little place we hadn't been to before, thinking we would see if their sandwiches were any good. We parked the car on Mulholland St. just up from the Temple and as soon as we got out of the car, we were staring in the face of John Sanford, who I grew up with in San Bernardino Calif, and his wife, Uncle Kents (Ririe) wife MarVal's sister. What a surprise (and I don't think it was a "coincidence" that we decided to go to that spot at that particular time to do something we hardly ever do) to see them. They had just then arrived with a tour group of 80 people on a tour with Fun for Less tours.
We then found out that it was led by Michael Wilcox, who led us on our tour of the Holy Land.  We looked up and there he was : Michael Wilcox himself.  We all had a wonderful "reunion", short but sweet and got to our rehearsal just a little late,(but who cares about a musical rehearsal, anyway?).  A few minutes earlier or later and we would have missed them all.
This type of thing is happening to us so often here, that I know  that we are being led so many times by the Spirit of the Lord, to have little miracles like this happen, that we are almost expecting them.
What a wonderful Mission we are having!

Wilford Woodruff experience!

    I was looking on Facebook and found a link to youtube that has the testimony of Wilford Woodruff recorded on a wax cylinder...It was in 1897, he was in his 91st year...it is a little hard to understand, but they have it  written as well.  Maybe lots of you have heard it, but I took it to the Wilford Woodruff home and shared it with the sisters who were serving there....In it he testifies of Joseph Smith and how Joseph transferred all of the keys and authority to the twelve before he was martyred, and how he received his endowments in the Nauvoo temple before they left for the Rocky Mountains.  It was an amazing experience to be there in the home he had built with his own hands, walked through the same rooms and hear him testify of Joseph, the Book of Mormon and the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  Wow!  I'm just loving this mission!

A Non Member testifies to me!!

     Yesterday I was serving in the Post Office and Merryweather Dry Good Store on Main Street with Sister Boyer.  We always have prayer as a companionship and then do a little cleaning before the guests come.  In our prayer we asked that the Spirit might be with us and that we might be able to testify that Heavenly Father communicates with us through the Spirit...(even better than sending letters).
      Soon a lady came in alone with a desperate look on her face..she needed to find a restroom, since the ones by the Browning shop were closed for remodeling.  We don't usually have people use ours in the basement, but we said of course, come on in.  When she came back up stairs, we visited for a while, and she and her husband were nonmembers, both History teachers, and doing research about the Mormon trek to the west.  They had been to several historic sites and were spending a few days in Nauvoo.  She was smitten by the beauty of Nauvoo, the Mississippi River and all the history here. The most amazing thing was she kept testifying that they had a very spiritual experience here in Nauvoo...She repeated twice that there was definitely a Spirit here that was compelling.  We told her that the Saints who lived her gave their all for the Gospel because of that same Spirit..Then she proceeded to say that no matter who you are, Mormon or not, we all have a connection to this area and to the great migration to the west.  The wonderful thing is that she was feeling the Holy Ghost bear witness to her that this is a sacred place.  A place we can all connect to.
     I thought about Brigham Young and the amazing feat he accomplished in moving a whole society, thousands of people across the continent to the Rocky Mountains....their religious, economic, educational, and political systems all in place.  No wonder he is honored in Washington DC capital with a statue with the saying "The Great Colonizer of the West"  He planned the colonization of  over 400 communities.  But it is important he didn't do it of himself, he was directed by the Lord and he followed His direction.  Each day my testimony is strengthened...especially when a visitor can testify of the Spirit to me!

This is probably what Brigham looked like when they migrated west in 1846-47

Beautiful spring in Nauvoo

These beautiful trees are right outside of our front door.

 To please my companion, I picked off all the petals from the tree and strew them before her path.

It's a small world (no, Dorothy, we're not in Disneyland anymore)

It' a small world;,--- being a member of the Church!
     Today I was in the Brickyard site. A young couple came in for a tour.  I always  ask where they are from and what brings them to  Nauvoo, so I can  evaluate whether they are members or non members of the Church.  If they are non members I can be more "formal" so they don't think I am the goofball that I am, and if they are members I can be more "relaxed".
They said they were from Idaho. I asked if they were from Ririe, Idaho, and they said no, but Rexburg, and seeing my Missionary Name Tag, asked if I knew a Ririe at BYU.  I said "yawhatsitoya". No, I didn't say that.
    We started a long conversation of how he had "brother Ririe", for microbiology at BYU-I and how much he loved that class.  He said one of the best classes he had there. That Seth took such an interest in the students and wanted to help them learn. He said that brother Ririe is an excellent teacher. He said it was one of the more difficult classes, but he did ok (he said he got an A minus) and learned so much.  Even though it was hard, he respected Seth a great deal and even asked him for a letter of recommendation for his application to Dental School, which Seth did.  It must have been a good letter because he was accepted to the University of South Carolina and was passing through Nauvoo with his wife and three small children, on their way to South Carolina.  His name is Thayne Dawson. I really enjoyed visiting with this great little family.
I had another young couple come in for a tour, and found them to come from Cedar Hills. I said me too, well sort of, Pleasant Grove. They said they live on Canyon Road. I said me too. Where?  They told me and I said where is that in relation to the small red sign that says Irish clogging lessons.  They said right next door north.  I told them we were the orchard right at 2600.  They were so excited and said how they go past that every day and just love seeing it. The wife said she just went past it the day before,  and it was in full bloom and how beautiful it is. that made me homesick, and envious of Kristen and Steve, being there and how grateful I am for them taking such good care of it for us.
    Mom was at the Pendleton Log Schoolhouse and they came there after coming through my tour, and was talking to them about the juice press. They said they have driven past and saw it both last fall and the fall before and were wondering : What is going on there!
     I am finding that there are a lot of people that know a lot of people, that know a lot of people, that intertwine to where we all are really just part of a really big wonderful family, called the Gospel of Jesus Christ,  (whether they are member of the Church or not) ----all brothers and sisters,--- and we all have an effect on each other ---usually more than we know!