A week of “Repeats”

This was the final week of the Young Performing Missionaries being here so we eagerly went to as many things as we could - the Youth of Zion stories and songs, the Brass Band Main Street concerts, The Promise play, the Carthage Restoration Band concert, the band concerts in the visitors center, the Sunset on the Mississippi, the Trail of Hope. Every one of them was so wonderful- even the ones we had seen 3-4 times before.  We will truly miss all these programs as we now settle into Nauvoo without them. However, there are many more things still worth repeating so we also did the carriage ride and the wagon ride again. And of course our temple service is worth repeating every day we are there.  It’s quieter there now but it’s always good to be in the temple whether busy or not.
Today after church we drove up along the west/Iowa side of the Mississippi. It was a beautiful drive. We went to Montrose Iowa directly across the river from Nauvoo. The saints camped there first after leaving their beloved homes.

 It was neat to see the temple from that side.  It would have been the saints last look before beginning  the trek west.  How they must have grieved to leave that beautiful sacred place after putting so much of their time, means, skills, love, and faith into building it. And what a blessing it is to have it again - a monument to their sacrifices even as it continues to offer power and blessings to all who come.