Temple Service, FHE Activity - "Love, Kennedy" movie, P-Day Activity in Hannibal

Temple Service

This past week we had some families who came to the temple from Australia.  They were visiting some of the Church Historical sites and temples, including Nauvoo.  After Nauvoo, they were going to go on the Mormon Pioneer Trail to Salt Lake City and then go to General Conference this weekend.  We were in the baptistry when we saw them, so we took a few minutes to talk with them.  What wonderful people with strong testimonies of the Gospel!  It was a pleasure being with them in the temple.  

FHE Activity - "Love, Kennedy"

We have FHE activities twice a month.  One is with all of the temple missionaries and the other is with our smaller FHE group which consists of five couples.  Last Monday we met at the Temple Arrival Center with our smaller FHE group.  President and Sister Irion (our temple president and matron) were also there.  We saw the film "Love, Kennedy".  This is a true story about a girl who is battling Batten disease.  It is a very touching and inspiring story. She lives in West Haven, a small community close to Ogden, Utah.   

We very much enjoyed it and would recommend it to everyone.  In fact, we heard that the mission president (over the Ogden area) has encouraged his missionaries to take investigators to watch the movie.  Many of the investigators have been baptized, in large part due to the touching message portrayed in the movie.

Hannibal Trip with P-Day Group

On Tuesday we went to Hannibal with our Preparation Day (P-Day) group.  Hannibal, Missouri was Mark Twain's boyhood town.  There are many things in this town about Mark Twain.  We saw a few of them.  We went to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum (and other buildings in that area), Rockcliffe Mansion, Mark Twain Cave (which has over 200 tunnels), and went on the Mark Twain Riverboat in the evening (it was a dinner cruise).  It was a full, interesting and enjoyable day.  Below are some pictures from our day in Hannibal.

Inside Mark Twain Museum

Mark Twain Boyhood Home, other buildings and fence (he painted in Tom Sawyer)

P-Day Group at Mark Twain Dinette

Inside Rockcliffe Mansion

Outside Rockcliffe Mansion with part of P-Day group

Outside Mark Twain Cave -- the same place we took a picture of our daughter Katie and son Jake about 20 years ago

Mark Twain Cave

Mark Twain Cave - Jesse James Hideout

Mark Twain Cave - Injun Joe's Canoe

On Mark Twain Riverboat with P-Day group (and a few others)

Mark Twain Riverboat

Temple Sealing, Dinner with Friends, President Nelson, Nauvoo Stake Conference

Each day in the temple we have wonderful experiences.  As an example...  this past week we had the opportunity to serve as guides to a couple that were scheduled to be sealed together.  They were married last month.  This is their second marriage and the sister has a nine year old daughter from her previous marriage.  We were able to be at their sealing.  What a glorious experience that was.  

After they were sealed as husband and wife for time and all eternity, they brought in their nine year old daughter.  She kneeled at the altar and was sealed to them.  What rich promises are given to not only the couple but also to the children sealed to the parents!  The Spirit was very strong in that sealing room that day.

Nauvoo temple, looking from the southeast

We had dinner at our apartment with two couples last Sunday.  Brother and Sister Schmidt (on the left in the photo below) are from the River Ridge 4th ward (our neighboring ward to the north).  They are FM (Facilities Management) missionaries who will be here for 23 months (going home in February).  

Brother and Sister Tolman (the couple on the right) are temple missionaries from Chubbuck, Idaho.  We go to the Kewanee Branch with them on Sundays.  They are here 12 months, going home in December.  

It was wonderful to spend some time with all of them.  They are wonderful people.  We knew the Schmidts before coming here and have gotten to know the Tolmans while serving in the temple, Kewanee and through the activities we have here.

Brother and Sister Schmidt, us, Brother and Sister Tolman

We had our monthly Missionary meeting last Monday.  The topic of the meeting was: "President Nelson:  Insights from his family".  We have two of President Nelson's daughters serving in the temple now.  Sister Gloria Irion (on the left in the photo below) and her husband Richard, are the Matron and President of the Nauvoo temple.  She is the third oldest in her family.  They will finish their three year service here, on November 1st.  They have been wonderful to serve with.  Everyone loves them and we will all miss them when they leave.  

Brother David and Sister Sylvia Webster are on the right.  They are temple missionaries, serving here for six months.  Sister Webster is the fifth oldest in their family.  The four of them shared some memories of life with President Nelson.  It was very interesting.  Much of what they talked about is in the book 'Insights From a Prophet's Life" By Sheri Dew.  

Every time we learn more about President Nelson, the more we love and appreciate him.  We know that he is a Prophet of God and that he receives revelation for the Church and its members.

Richard and Gloria Irion, Sylvia and David Webster

Today (and last night - the Adult session) we attended the Nauvoo Stake Conference (General Session) here in Nauvoo.  The talks were very good.  We heard from our Temple President and his wife (Irion's), the Nauvoo Sites Mission President and his wife (Lusvardi's) and the Iowa City Mission President and his wife (Sterm's).  We also heard from the Stake Presidency and some other members of the stake.  A couple of themes that we heard were  Jesus Christ, love, repentance, temple, missionary work, and prayer.  We always feel uplifted, anytime we attend Stake Conferences.

The October General Conference will mark our 1/2 way point serving here.  It seems like the time has flown by.  We have been able to serve in the Nauvoo temple, serve in the Kewanee branch, and made many friends.  We look forward to continuing to serve here for another six months.  

When we come out of the temple in the afternoons we often see beautiful sunsets, although it is getting darker and darker each time we finish our afternoon shifts.  Below is another photo of a beautiful Nauvoo sunset, taken from the steps leading up to the entrance to the temple.

Nauvoo Sunset

Below are photos of some flowers around the temple grounds.  These are a large variety of Hibiscus flowers and are about 6 inches in diameter.  They are only open one day.  They wilt and new ones come up.  They are beautiful flowers.

Jake, Our Next Life and Eternal Families

Sixteen years ago today our son, Jake (Jacob Butler Owens) passed away from a gunshot wound.  Our thoughts have especially been turned to him this day.  The reason we are posting about this today is because we are on a temple mission.  Temple ordinances prepare us for eternal life and exaltation which includes the great blessing of being able to be together as eternal families.  As we make and keep these sacred covenants we are promised many blessings (see D&C 109).  Temple work is all part of God's Great Plan of Salvation (or Happiness).  

We look forward to being with Jake in the hereafter but we realize we realize we need to continue to strive to live worthy in order to qualify for this great blessing.  Temple work is focused on joy and happiness in this life and in the life to come, if we make and keep these sacred temple covenants.

When our son died there was such an outpouring of love and support from our extended family, friends, neighbors, ward and stake members, leaders and teachers, school teachers and leaders classmates of all of our children, and others.  We indeed felt Heavenly Father and Savior's love through all of these wonderful people and through the comfort of the Holy Ghost.  We so much appreciated the love and support we received then (and since then).

He was such a wonderful son, musically and athletically talented, smart, handsome, and spiritual.  And a lot of fun to be around.  He loved to play games and would always get the family together to play games every Sunday evening.  He turned twelve in March of that year (2003) and was ordained a Deacon.  He loved the Gospel and was thrilled to be able to pass the Sacrament and do other duties as a Deacon.

As we perform these sacred temple ordinances, either as a patron or as a temple ordinance worker, we are helping those who have passed on.  Jake had the Gospel and lived it, but most of the people who have lived here on earth have not known about the Gospel. They will be taught the Gospel in the Spirit World.  They will need to decide if they accept or reject the Gospel but we can be instruments in the Lord's hands in performing these ordinances for them.  What a great blessing and responsibility it is for us to do this.  

President Russell M. Nelson said:  “A temple is literally the house of the Lord, reserved for ordinances of eternal significance. Those ordinances include baptisms, marriages, endowments, and sealings. …“… Ordinances of the temple are absolutely crucial. We cannot return to God’s glory without them” (“Prepare for Blessings of the Temple,” Ensign, Mar. 2002, 17–18).

We love serving here in the temple, including associating with wonderful patrons and temple workers.  I know the work we do here is true and necessary to be done for everyone who has lived and who will ever live upon this earth.

Break the Fast Dinner, Flood Museum, Sister Missionaries

We continue to serve five days a week in the temple with Tuesday as our Preparation Day (P-Day).  This week there were a lot of changes made to many of our assignments.  We are now the Baptistry Coordinators on Mondays (weeks 1,3, and 5) and still the trainers on the Thursday afternoon shift.  I think that now all of the temple missionaries have some leadership responsibility at the temple.  

We had a wonderful time in the Baptistry yesterday.  There were nine families who came to the Baptistry, some were grandchildren of the Temple Missionaries.  Things went smoothly and the Spirit was very strong.  This is the Lord's house and He (and Heavenly Father) are very interested in everything that goes on in all of the temples.  We felt the Lord's help and guidance through the influence of the Holy Ghost. 


On Sunday we ate dinner (our "Break the Fast" dinner) at the home of the 1st counselor in the Temple Presidency and his wife (President and Sister Smith).  We had a very wonderful time with them, two senior sister missionaries, and another temple missionary couple.  We forgot to take any pictures when we were there.  The Smiths have lived in Nauvoo for 19 years and he was the Bishop of the Nauvoo 3rd ward a few years ago.  

President and Sister Smith were very gracious hosts.  We had a lovely dinner and then we had an activity.  President Smith asked us to write down five things we would like to know about someone else - perhaps our ancestors.  Then we gave our individual lists to someone else who was asked to read the list and respond to the items in the list.  This was a great activity for us to get to know each other better.  President Smith also emphasized the importance of passing on the stories of our lives (in an engaging format) to our posterity.  He talked about a Storytelling Conference held annually at Thanksgiving Point where people can learn how to compose and tell great stories, and listen to very good story tellers.  This sounds intriguing and we might just look into this.

The Flood Museum

Yesterday we went on a tour at the Flood Museum here in Nauvoo with our FHE group.  The tour inside the museum begins with archaeological evidence of the flood from many parts of the world.  Each of these findings show that the flood indeed did happen.  We then went into different rooms.  In each room there was video covering different topics (creation, building the ark, the flood, the aftermath of the flood, rainbow).  He (the curator - Bob Wright) was our host and in the last room he showed artifacts (mostly facsimiles) of famous items including the Shroud of Turin.  Below are some pictures from our visit in this museum.  Here is the link to their site:  https://www.thefloodmuseum.com/

Inside the Museum - in the ancient artifact room

Representation of the Shroud of Turin with a bust of Jesus made from measuring the features on the shroud

Our Host Bob Wright (on the right) with someone representing Noah

Our FHE group outside the Museum

Dinner at the Andersons with our FHE group after the tour at the Flood Museum

Later that evening we attended a very spiritual and touching fireside featuring the Sister Missionaries serving in Nauvoo.  They sang beautiful hymns focusing on the Savior Jesus Christ.  Some also played the violin and one played the flute.  Several of the Sister Missionaries took turns accompanying on the piano.  The Spirit was very strong during the concert.  These missionaries will be leaving in the next few weeks to go to areas outside of Nauvoo (I think they stay in the U.S.) and will serve in proselyting areas.  They have been here since spring, serving in the Visitors' Center and at the Historic Sites.  We will miss them when they are gone.  But we know that it is not very busy here over the winter and they will be of great service wherever they go.

Nauvoo Sister Missionaries