Last week was truly a spiritual high and we didn’t think it could get any better – but it did!!!
On Monday night We noticed
an email from President Irion (Our Temple President) which said: “…Our first item of significance is to let
you know about a special missionary meeting
that will be held in the temple this Wednesday
morning, May 9th. We
will hold it in the Assembly Room
and you may come in Sunday attire. Please arrive by 10:45 AM. It will conclude
by noon. We promise you that you will
not want to miss it!”
As we served Tuesday
several asked questions about the meeting but was not given a direct
answer. Most heard that we would be
getting a phone call about it. Our
upstairs neighbor was to contact and reminded us about the meeting. When asked what it was about, he didn’t know
for sure but had heard rumors that there was an apostle in town.
As we got to the temple in
the morning, it was quiet and peaceful as we listened to the organ music playing. It reminded me of Sister Irion when she came
into the first prep meeting on our first shift and there was lots of visiting. She quieted us down and said we should be
inviting the spirit. This is what it reminded me of this Wednesday morning as everyone
waited quietly for the meeting to start.
We needed to prepare ourselves to receive the spirit during our meeting.
Soon, one by one people
came in, then Sister Sherri Dew, Sister Irion, came walking in from the back, Irion
came from the back with Sister Nelson (her step-mother) and sat on the front
row. Then we knew President Nelson was
there. What a feeling!!!!
President Nelson,
President Irion, and President Ballard then entered the room from the side
door. We were definitely on a very
spiritual high. President Ballard spoke
to us first and talked about his history with Nauvoo. He is a great, great, grandson of Hyrum Smith
and always feels close to ancestors when visiting here.
Then President Nelson
talked about the importance of work we are doing and helping the Lord do it in
his way and in his time frame. He referred
to us as a distinguished group of disciples. He took his phone out was going to
read us some verses from the Doctrine and Covenants. He said, “he had dialed it up”. Then he said, ‘I hit a wrong button but, oh,
well, I know it anyway.” Another thing
he did that was very impressive was that he gave the temple missionaries an Apostolic
Blessing. Among other things he blessed
us with health and strength, with our Illness (if it is the Lords’ will and
blessed our family and descendants because of our service.
It was very
humbling to be in their presence. After
the meeting, they all walked across the street in front of the temple to see
the statutes of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on their horses, depicting their last
ride to the Carthage Jail. Some of the
fun facts is when we had dinner at the Irion’s on Sunday night to hear her
refer to President Nelson as “Daddy” and then to see how human he was as a 93
year old using his I-Phone. Afterwards,
the group went to the Visitor’s Center and talked to the Site Missionaries and
the Young Performing Missionaries.
Other events
since our last post:
Canton Branch:
We love being assigned to a small branch about 1 hr 45 min. out of Nauvoo. They have about 150 + members but all arenot
active. They have a phase 2 Chapel with
only two aisles with four benches on one side and 5 benches on the other side
with only three rows of chairs in the overflow.
It brings back lots of memories of our days in the small branches. I helped teach Primary yesterday and loved every
minute of it.
Barged: We got
barged!!!! (a term that was used in the
temple to alert us to maybe an issue for us.)
We made a trip to Fort Madison to pick up a few more things for our
apartment and our way home we got barged – the bridge we needed to cross is a
swing bridge when the barges and ships travel down the Mississippi River and
need to go under the bridge. We had to
wait about 30 minutes for the bridge to swing back in place, so we could cross
German:
When President Irion set me apart as an Ordinance Worker, he blessed me
that I would recall things from my memory.
I just thought it would be about the instructions and ordinances I
needed to remember in the temple but not my German from my high school and
college days. On Tuesday we had two
sisters who only spoke German and I remembered enough to help them. What an unexpected blessing.
Land and Record Office:
On my service day I visited the office and was looking up information on
Joseph Skeen, Mark Talbot, and Daniel Hunsaker (a relative of Jean Freestone
that she had asked to look up). I found a
lot for Jean and on Joseph Skeen and a little on Mark Talbot and have all the
information saved on flash drives. Just
as I was leaving a site missionary, Sister Wayment was leaving. It turns out that her (Chyrrl Stratford
Wayment) and I went to high school together at Weber High. What a small world.
Reunions:
And the world got a little smaller.
At a community event on Thursday night, I saw another site missionary,
Elder Lowe. He was my Geometry teacher
my junior year in high school, also at Weber High. He even remembered where I sat in his
room. A little while later, I heard, “Sister
Talbot.” It was Sister Kyra Moss from
Sparks, another site missionary. She got
here the Wednesday after we did. We both
had been looking for each other. On
Friday, we toured the Cultural Hall where she was serving that day. She gave us a personal tour. She explained how the Nauvoo Legion used the
2nd floor for their meetings especially after the Prophet was killed. My great great grandpa, Joseph Skeen, was member
of that legion and probably attended meeting there. Another cool feeling. We also found out that we don’t live very far
apart.
Family History Classes: We
have been talking the Family History Classes every Friday afternoon and I have
learned so much in just the four lessons.
I have been adding record hints, finding children and spouses, and
finding family names to take to the temple.
I love doing the research.
Serving in the Tourism Office: As
part of our community service, we spent a couple of hours in the Tourism Office
on Mulholland Street. We sure learned a
lot more about the overall history of Nauvoo and who occupied and helped
preserve the city until the Nauvoo Restoration Project started and purchased a
lot of the land back to what we have today.
I have a greater appreciation for the Catholics, Community of Christ, Icarians,
and the Germans!!!!
As you can tell
about the length of this post that we are totally loving it here and are being
blessed and enriched by serving our Mission.
We still love our Reno Temple and the spirit is the same in whichever temple
you attend but, we are having some memory lasting experiences here and totally
appreciate our early pioneers and the faith they had to withstand their
hardships.
We love and miss all of you,
Elder and Sister Talbot
================================
Attached pictures:
1. President Nelson at Statue of Joseph and Hyrum (Video)
2. Us at Statue across from Temple
3. YPM (Young Performing Missionaries) at Community Event
4. Sister Moss
5. Old Stone Arch Bridge - Mormons built to drain swamps
6. Canton Branch
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