March - A Month for Baptisms

Looking like the beginnings of spring

Visitor Center flowers

The March weather here in the mission made me think I was back in my childhood in Seattle.  Can you say rain?  Lots of rain with mild temperatures in the 40's and 50's.  Looking forward to seeing some sunshine soon.  The trees are starting to leaf out and the tulips are breaking through the ground. The grass is getting greener and the farmers are happy with all the moisture as they prepare to start planting their corn and bean crops for the summer.

We had two large groups of new senior missionaries arrive from the Provo Missionary Training Center.  We have two other large groups arriving in April and May.  We started to have larger crowds in March from spring breaks in Utah, Colorado and Texas.  It is wonderful to see the earth replenished and bring forth beauty and start to feel the excitement build for the busy summer months. We are going to be down 10-20 missionaries from last summer.  There will need to be compromises on how the sites are staffed to get by with our reduced missionary force.  It is my understanding that the number of Senior Missionaries serving in the church is down 20 % this year.  We are taking our reduction along with all other senior missions in the church.  So everyone - turn in those mission papers and begin to receive a great blessing in your life to serve the Lord wherever that service may be needed!

During the slow winter months, I spent many hours in the sites working on a church missionary system called the Teaching Center.  It is a combination of call center, chat forum and a place for people to request for more information about the church. Senior missionaries here in Nauvoo, young Missionaries on Temple Square and young sister missionaries here in Nauvoo during the summer can participate.  We can monitor incoming communications from all over the world that originate on the mormon.org website. This could be people who want to chat about the church.  It could be people who want a free bible or Book of Mormon.  Our job is to answer the requests and work with the people on the other end.  If possible, our goal is to have young missionaries throughout the world go to their homes and deliver a free Bible or Book of Mormon and share a message about Christ and the restored gospel.  I communicated with 800 people during the winter months.  From these 800, I was able to refer close to 400 people to local missionaries in Africa, Australia, the Philippines, South America, Europe and all over the US.  In March, I was blessed to learn that the local missionaries were able to baptize nine people that I had referred.  Overall, thirteen people have been baptized by local missionaries during my time using the Teaching Center.  It was such a special feeling to receive this news and follow up with either the missionaries or new converts to learn more about their baptisms.  The Teaching Center efforts will be a mission highlight memory for sure.

In March, Sister Rober and I began our assignment of teaching the senior missionaries their song and dance moves for the summer show Sunset by the Mississippi.  Make no mistake about it - Sister Rober is doing the teaching.  I am background technical and moral support.  The show opens on May 27th and runs until August 12th.  It is a high energy variety show featuring the very talented Young Performing Missionaries who will be arriving in early May.  Our goal is to provide joy through music and entertainment in this show on the outdoor stage every night except Sunday.

Sister Rober teaching Sunset show to senior missionaries

This month I would like to share some pictures of homes that future presidents of the Church lived in while they were in Nauvoo - Brigham Young, John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff.  They are still beautiful homes today.  They were continuously lived in following the exodus in 1846 until the Nauvoo restoration began in the 1960's.  This is the reason they were preserved so well.  What you learn on the tours is that the future presidents lived mainly in log cabins and wood homes while they were in Nauvoo and only lived for a short time in these beautiful brick homes before being forced out.  I like how the church history department has made it a point to have all the dining room tables set with nice china in each home.  This teaches the principle of how important it is to have family dinners together each night especially in today's world.

Brigham Young Home

 Brigham Young Dining Room

 Brigham Young Council Room where many important meetings took place

John Taylor Home

John Taylor Dining Room

John Taylor Parlor

Wilford Woodruff Home

Wilford Woodruff Dining Room

Wilford Woodruff Parlor