Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019

                          Happy Valentine Week !!   

           We hope that you know that you are loved and thought about each and every day !                                                                                         

We had a mission Valentine dinner  on Thursday and enjoyed visiting and good food. Then they had us all learn a line dance.  It was alot of fun!

Just in case you think that all we do is party...here is what our week looked like. Monday was a usual work day with me back to some painting in the Holiday Condos as the housing list had not been finalized for the incoming missionaries in the middle of March.  Tuesday was the same.  Wednesday was busy since I had received the list of 15 houses that need to be ready for the new missionaries so I did some painting but spent the afternoon assessing 4 of the apartments and listing the needs of each one.  Once I have that completed, we will proceed to get them ready.  Some need furniture from the warehouse and some basic cleaning done.  Others are more extensive.  Jim spent alot of time in the paint shop helping get the trim painted for the Holiday Condo and getting shelving ready for the "Big 10"  which is an apartment building that is specifically designed for the single sister missionaries that will be returning from their outbound assignments in April.  The single service missionaries have been assigned to move to a smaller house and so Jim & I helped them organize and move some of their clothes on Tuesday evening after work.  I , then, gave them a schedule of what to move each day.  Friday, I spent the entire day helping them finish cleaning their current house and finishing up their move.  They are all "good-hearted" young men who really have to be told every little thing to do in detail.  For example,  one sweet elder filled the kitchen sink with hot , soapy water and just stood there with his hands in the water waiting to be told what to wash and clean.    I was totally tired after a full day of that, but couldn't be upset at all.  This is the first time they have been away from home where they had not been trained and don't seem to have a clue about how to take responsibility .  Teaching our children to work and assume responsibility is such a necessary life skill !!   Friday evening, the Quincy wards had a special temple session that we attended and it was a great sight to see the rooms filled to capacity.  They were alittle afraid that they wouldn't be able to make a special session scheduled for them viable.....it was gratifying to see the response.  We also attended a Community Orchestra dinner and entertainment before the session.  This is an orchestra made up of community members from different faiths. I was really impressed with the high level of musical ability.  We were entertained with violinist, flutists, string quartets, etc.  while we ate.
  

This weekend was the Nauvoo stake conference.  This is our zone.  We had a zone assignment on Saturday morning to clean and prepare the stake house for conference.  We had Elder Edwin A. Sexton of the Seventy here and it was such an inspiring & uplifting conference.  He emphasized the importance of listening to  the 15 men that we have sustained as prophets, seer, and revelators.  They see things that we can't and it is vital to our faith that we sustain them.  The things that he talked about were: 1.  Limiting the influence of social media in our lives  2.  Daily reading from the Book of Mormon  3.  Spending more regular time in the Temple where we can receive promptings / revelation and strength to keep our covenants. 4.  Keeping the Sabbath Day holy.  He gave a powerful blessing to the Nauvoo stake that can apply to all of us as we keep it holy....see Leviticus 27.  His final plea:  Do NOT discount the words of the prophets!! 

Our thoughts and prayers have been with Elder Tom Hall this week as he had his operation to remove his kidney on Thursday and from what we hear, things went well. He will be looking at chemotherapy once he has healed enough.  Our mission had a special fast for him this week and I know that the Lord is aware of him and his family and their needs.

We have another busy week ahead of us which makes time fly !   We are receiving more snow today after a couple of days of sunshine and warm weather which got rid of the majority of the ice.  Interesting....the locals feel like this has been the hardest winter they have had in many years.  We haven't found it to be bad at all (except for the ice) but are still looking forward to spring...LOL

We express our love to you all and our testimony that the Gospel is true and the only way to lasting happiness.