Temple Service, Temple Worker Devotional, Monthly Temple Missionary Meeting, Fall in Nauvoo

Temple Service and Temple Worker Devotional

Our service as ordinance workers in the temple has been wonderful.  Every day we are in the beautiful Nauvoo temple, we have the opportunity to serve the Lord in various ways.  We are given a different order of assignments each time we go, including serving in the Baptistry and Initiatory areas.  We are often on Endowment sessions (as either officiators or patrons).  In fact, this past week we were assigned to be on an Endowment session every day.  Some weeks we are on a few endowment sessions, and some weeks none.  We are often assigned to help out with Sealings.  Some days we serve as trainers or floor coordinators.  When the ordinance workers serve as  floor coordinators (which could include Baptistry, Initiatory, Veil, Endowment areas, or Sealing Office), they are assigned to that area for the entire shift. 

One of the blessings we didn't expect was to be able to serve as patrons during our shift, doing work for our ancestors.   This happens almost daily.



Yesterday when we were serving in the Baptistry we had eight families come in, most were from out of town.  Each family was thrilled to be in the Nauvoo temple.  Some times when a group or a family comes into the temple, a member of the Temple Presidency talks with them about temple work, specifically, the importance of baptisms for the dead, and the significance of the Nauvoo temple.  We think the patrons really appreciate this.



Sunday we had a wonderful Temple Ordinance Worker Devotional in the Assembly Room of the Nauvoo Temple.  The Temple Presidency and Matrons spoke (see picture above - Smiths, Irions, Mackays, and Brother Marshall - who was our temple recorder until June of this year).  They gave beautiful messages about some of their experiences serving here in Nauvoo.  We will miss President and Sister Irion, and President and Sister Smith, who will all be released on October 31st.  President and Sister Mackay will remain here and will be serving in the new Temple Presidency.


Monthly Temple Missionary Meeting

Yesterday afternoon we went to our monthly temple missionary meeting.  Lach Mackay (pronounced Lock Mc-eye) spoke about the Kirtland Temple.  This was a very interesting presentation.  He has spoken to us before - the previous time about Nauvoo photos and paintings from the 19th century.  He is a fountain of information.  He is also an Apostle in the Community of Christ Church.  We have a very good relationship with the Community of Christ Church.  Much of the credit for this can be attributed to our temple president (President Irion) and other Church Leaders here, Lach Mackay, and many of the Church members of both of our faiths who live in Nauvoo or serve as missionaries here.


Fall in Nauvoo

This month in Nauvoo there are many signs of Fall.  One of the signs are the many scarecrows (in many forms) on Mulholland street in celebration of Halloween.  Below are some pictures of these.  There will be pumpkin carving, pumpkin walk, haunted house and a parade this week.














There are so many trees here in Nauvoo, and they are turning different colors now.  And they are beautiful.  Below are some pictures of these trees in Nauvoo and Fort Madison (which is a city about 12 miles north of here).

Temple Service, Policy Changes and Experiences, Small Group FHE, P-Day Activity in Montrose

Temple Service, Policy Changes and Experiences

As we have mentioned in the past, we serve in the Nauvoo temple five days a week (morning or afternoon shift) for 6-7 hours per day.  We love going to the temple and serving there.  On most of the days we don't know exactly what assignments we will have until we arrive.  The shift coordinators develop a new schedule of line assignments for each shift, each day.  The only day we know what we will be doing is when we serve as Baptistry Coordinators.  The assignments include ordinance work in the Baptistry, Initiatory, Endowment and Sealing areas.  Often I serve at the Recommend Desk.  And often we are individually assigned to a post position to help guide the patrons to where they want to go.

This past week (and part of the previous week) we saw first hand, the use of sisters and young youth as witnesses.  For example, in sealings, now anyone with a full-use recommend can serve as a witness to a sealing.  In the Baptisty, we have seen young youth (young women and young men) serve as witnesses, parents, grandparents and other combinations of brothers and sisters serve as witnesses.  This policy change can strengthen families since they can do more of the temple work together.  We know these policy changes are inspired.  There have been more baptisms performed in our temple since the policy but we have especially seen more sealings performed since not as many brethren are needed in the sealing rooms to perform the sealings. 



We had a very touching experience this past Thursday night in one of the sealing rooms.  A young couple came in wanting to participate in sealings.  They said that this was the first time they knelt across the altar from each other.  We found out that they were married civilly a few years ago, and that she is sealed to her first husband (who died in an industrial accident).  She had 4 children when he died.  She married her current husband when she was 24 and he was 31.  He had never been married before.  We could tell they loved each other deeply.  They have had two children together and are hoping to have another child soon.  They have such faith and are such a loving couple.  He will be soon working in the temple as an assistant engineer at the temple.  The Spirit was very strong in the sealing room when they were there.  


Small Group FHE

We spent some time with our small FHE group last night.  There are five couples in our group and we meet once a month.  This month we went to a local restaurant called Red Front for dinner.  The picture below is from this restaurant.  




After dinner we went to one of the group's apartment to talk about why we think we were called Nauvoo and to mention any experiences that confirm why we thought we were called to serve in the Nauvoo temple.  We mentioned our wonderful opportunity to serve in the temple as ordinance workers (which is our most important responsibility), to serve with these other faithful temple missionaries (about 50 couples) who we have grown to love and admire, to serve with the other temple ordinance workers (called district workers), to serve the patrons, and to serve the members of the Church in the Kewanee Branch.  

We also mentioned the faithfulness of the Kewanee Branch members, where we serve on Sundays.  The Branch President and the Elders' Quorum President are married to women who are not members of our Church.  They support their husbands in their callings, and even attend the Branch on Sundays but are not baptized members.  We look forward to being in the temple with the three sisters (Sister Turner, Sister Hall and Sister Morse) when they receive their own endowments.  We have taught them all of the temple preparation lessons and they have received their temple recommends from their Branch President.  They will be interviewed by their Stake President next month.  We discussed how we feel this is like a Zion society.  Everyone in the temple is so kind and loving.  And the citizens of Nauvoo have been friendly.


Preparation Day (P-Day) Activity

Today we went to Montrose (on the other side of the Mississippi River, only about 2 miles from here but it took about 45 minutes to get there because we had to go south to Keokuk to cross the river, then drove north to Montrose.  Montrose is where the Saints went when leaving Nauvoo in February, 1846.  We had a tour guide (Mike Foley) who guided us to some of the locations where significant events took place in LDS Pioneer history.  He is not a member of the Church (he is a member of the Methodist Church) but has taken a deep interest in the LDS Pioneers and their history in Iowa and especially in Montrose, which is where he lives.  He has done extensive research on this and conducts tours on this subject.

Below are some pictures we took during our activity today.  The Mississippi River was not nearly as wide during the 1840's as it is today.  A dam was built down river in Keokuk in 1913 which caused the river to basically become somewhat of a lake here, so it is much wider than it was at the time the Saints crossed the river in 1846.

Another picture of Nauvoo from Montrose.  The Nauvoo Temple is in the background.

View of Nauvoo from where the Saints crossed (1/4 mile from the photo above)

Location where the miracle of the Quail occurred after the Saints landed on this side of the River.  There was an island (where all of the Lilies are in the middle of the river).  This is where this miracle occurred.

This is the last view of the Nauvoo Temple from the Iowa side.  It is a couple of miles west of the River.  The land flattens out after this location - going west.  This is the last location where the Saints could see the Nauvoo temple.

After our activity we ate lunch at Angilini's in Keokuk.

General Conference - October 2019

I don't think we can say anything else in this week's post that would top the General Conference that occurred over this past weekend.  It was wonderful!  We felt like so many of the messages were directed to us.  And the changes/adjustments - they are so inspired.

We look forward to reading, viewing or listening to the talks over and over again during the next six months.  Every time we read, view or listen to these talks we get more insights and direction from them.  The speakers are assigned topics for their talks but seek inspiration as to the topic and what to say about it.  

There were several themes in the talks given.  Some of the talks were about covenant keeping, finding joy in this life, keeping the commandments, following the Savior, trust in the Lord, overcoming the temptations from the adversary, and many other important topics.  

All of the temple presidency and temple missionaries attended a pot luck dinner on Sunday,  right after the afternoon session.  It was great being with all of these wonderful people who we have grown to love and appreciate.  We shared our insights from conference after the dinner.  

We have two daughters of President Nelson who are here with us - one is Gloria Irion (Temple Matron) and the other is Sylvia Webster (a temple missionary).  They shared some insights about their father.  They expressed appreciation for the prayers of the members of the Church for their father.  Brother Webster said their father is the same at home as we see him in public.  He has known President Nelson since 1962 and said he has always been kind to everyone, including himself.  He is considerate - especially to women and children, but is kind and loving to everyone. 

You can find all of the talks at:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/general-conference?lang=eng

Announcements and Summaries of talks, from General Conference:
https://www.ksl.com/article/46650146/announcements-and-talk-summaries-from-the-189th-semiannual-general-conference

A list of the changes/adjustments can be found at
http://www.ldsliving.com/Changes-Announced-This-General-Conference/s/91710?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email

One powerful quote from each talk:
http://www.ldsliving.com/One-Quote-from-Every-Talk-This-General-Conference/s/91709?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=popular&utm_content=pop2191008

President Nelson on how the next General Conference will be unforgettable plus four ways he asked us to prepare for:
http://www.ldsliving.com/President-Nelson-on-How-Next-Conference-Will-Be-Unforgettable-and-the-200th-Anniversary-of-the-First-Vision-4-Ways-He-Asked-Us-to-Prepare/s/91718?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email

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