Sunday, Mar. 10, 2019

Happy Daylight Savings !!

 I always find the "spring" forward alittle more difficult than the "fall" back but that could just be my imagination!!  I suppose the thought of losing an hours sleep (never to be caught up on) could be part of that!!

We have been thinking about Casen today and wishing that we could "thought-travel" and hear him report his mission.  We will have to depend on reports back from family.  We have also thought about the zone basketball play-offs and wondering how Taylor and the Cardston Cougars as well as the Raymond Comets fared. Those games are always worth watching!  I would imagine that Grandpa Pitcher watched as many as he could!

It has been a great week of work - work - and more work!  Tuesday evening we were invited over to the Williams house to watch him make his awesome homemade ice cream and visit.  He is very particular and it is THE best homemade ice cream I have ever tasted.  He sent us home with a Tupperware container of it and it stays creamy and easy to scoop for days....doesn't go hard and crystally......Plus, the flavor actually gets better as it ripens.  He demonstrated his chocolate burnt almond flavor.....YUMMY!!  I may just have to invest in the brand of freezer that he says makes all the difference.  There were 4 couples and I got a picture of us but my computer would not load that particular picture....because I did some editing of the light on it (I think). 

Wednesday morning was our mission training and then Pres. & Sis. Lusvardi were invited by the Quorum of Twelve Apostles to attend the temple dedication in Rome, Italy because Pres. Lusvardi was instrumental in the inital work of it.....especially the making of the Christus statue in the visitor's center as well as the twelve apostles.  He showed us film footage of the Carerra Italy marble mine that the marble was obtained and of the digital imaging that was done on the original Christus in Copenhagen, Denmark  so that computers could sculpt the marble into the exact replica for the Visitor's Center.  The same procedure was done for the statues of the Twelve Apostles surrounding the Christus.  I would highly recommend that you watch the videos on the Church's website of the viritual tour of this temple.  It really is historic in that it is the first temple in that area of the original church.  President Nelson's visit with Pope Francis in the Vatican is really historic, as well.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints really is sweeping the earth.  How blessed we are to witness this!

We woke up to alot of rain yesterday....and knew that there would be some sights to see as the ground has not fully thawed yet and so the water would be running down the hillsides into the Mississippi river.  I was able to load some of the pictures that we took on our drive to Keokuk along the river.

This is a tiny creek on the outskirts of Nauvoo that you can easily hop over on a normal day. 

As it moves over the rocks, it became this waterfall.  You can see the ice on the rock walls .

Same view....just farther back where you can see it empty back into the channel

And there is the river across the road.....I honestly never tire of watching the changing views of the river.  Kind of like.....I love the changing views of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta.  We live in a beautiful world that was created for us by a loving Father in Heaven who watches over us daily.

This next week will be our first zone conference.....be praying for us.  We are both a "wee" bit unsure about the instruction part but are happy to shepherd those over whom we have responsibility.  We love you all and think about you daily and yet are happy to be of service here in Nauvoo.  Please come and experience this unique and wonderful place !