Interview, Inspirations, Family

 Monday 9/23/24. Biked 9+ miles. Deep Cleaned the stove and oven and inside garbage cans.  Got a haircut at 2:00 at Tangles —not a great cut this time but I won’t need another one. 

Tuesday:  6:05 am preprep to be EWS, EWB 7 am session (endowment sister, endowment brother). At 9:45 we had our exit interview with President and Sister Church. Six months goes quickly.  Though I’ll have to say that we really miss our family. Biked 9.13 miles

Wednesday:  6:50 am temple. My first position was the celestial room. While I was there, Brother Larson came in and asked if I had the family I wanted sealed with me.  Yes, I did.  I had asked him a month ago if he would seal them. He had sealed the last family I had that was twin boys and three brothers. He doesn’t know when he will be scheduled as a sealer but he kept thinking of me. Rest of story, he got me and two young missionary sisters out of the celestial room, arranged for Jane, President church’s wife to take my place and we went into the sealing room.  He sealed Karen Reigstadt to her parents, then her husband Purvis as husband and wife then all the children were around the altar (4 daughters and 1 son) and sealed as a family:  so maternal grandparents, husband and wide and all the children sealed this morning for time and all eternity.  It was an amazing experience. All participants thanked me for letting them be a part of this sealing.  We all felt their presence and happiness at receiving these blessings.  So many miracles happened before this.  I had a thought in the morning as I came to the temple “to take my packet up to the sealing area but I got my schedule and no sealing opportunity was going to happen for me so I passed off the thought. (Your first thought is the Spirit.  The second is trying to doubt.). We’ll, I didn’t have time to get my packet but as I stepped out of the sealing room, Sister Larson was there and let me use her packet right there so in a way she was part of this experience also. I went back in and we were ready to go to work.  Miracle one:  last week in initiatory a patron came in with the name—Hazel Irene, grandma ROBINSONS name and I started crying and could feel her presence. All in the compartment could feel it. After I regain composure, I followed through with the endowment.   This family that the sealing was for this week was her family from Norway. I know she was helping get this all together. It was all an amazing experience!  

At 2 pm we were off shift and we stayed and ate in the break room and attended an endowment session.  When we arrived home, we rode the bike 8.89 miles. 

Thursday:  regular temple shift, then lunch in the break room, then a proxy endowment session, home at 4:00. Biked 8.97 miles

Friday:  biked 9.04 miles, pretty cool and crispy at 7:30 am. Went early to do a proxy endowment at 11:15 before our regular late shift, ate lunch after or before our shift. Finished at 7 pm. 

Saturday:  biked 9.89 miles. Listened to BYU football game BYU/Baylor until first quarter was over; it was time for our shift. After shift at 5:00 Brother Weed took Rays place in the celestial room so we could go to Keokuk and get chicken, bacon, ranch thin pizza at Angelina’s and then go to Weeds house as they had recorded the game.  We ate and watched the last half of the game. BYU won but it was a bad half played. 5wins!  We’ll take it. Side message— on our way back from Keokuk we were delayed 45 minutes—an accident, motorcycle. The helicopter picked up the body.  We don’t know how he was but the motorcycle was in pieces.  It was very sad.  No other vehicle seemed to be involved.

Sunday:  we watched BYUTV—music and the spoken word, devotional etc.  our church time was changed to 12:00-2:00 now. It was the 5th Sunday. The meetings were great, you know the kind you just want to sit there and enjoy the Spirit.  At 6 pm we went to the Visitors Center East Theater that was opened for us to listen to a presentation by Sister Kristi Peterson about Emma Smith. It was the temple missionaries that attended, good crowd. We didn’t learn anything new but it was tender.    We love you!  Mom Grandma (Ray). Carry on, carry on, carry on!

Wonderfully lifted by the Spirit in the temple this week

I hesitate to put this title but it has been a week of feeling so personally cared for by tender mercies 

Monday, September 16:  the bike rides are so enjoyable around Nauvoo, the weather is always perfect for me, the bike is quiet and just being with my eternal companion is comfortable. We rode 9.12 miles. After I packed one box for home; Ray wiped down the outside of the kitchen cupboards in preparation for check out. And I made my last 2024 fresh pico de gallo from those residents who have gardens, mostly Sister Carroll and Sister McLane. We went to Montgomery as Ray had been wanting to go there. It is the first night camp out for the early saints as they were exiting for the west—a direction, not a destination—not knowing where they were going. It was a lovely ride but not much in recognition there—a small road sign that said Mormon trail and there was before the sign an old wooden covered area.  At 5:00 we were invited to Sister Tau fu Lou’s round home by the river with some other couples, six couples and Sister Mills.  We met and drove in 3 cars so there was room to park. This was amazing.  She makes musical instruments—harps, banjos, guitars, ukuleles, lyres, mandolins, sitars, dulcimers, ….she married a Tongan man who has since passed on and she is actually a haoli but she laughs and is fun like the islanders.  Her husband taught at the Church College of Hawaii.  I wish I could remember everything she showed us, everything she said…she needs to be on BYUtv Artful. She had made homemade bread for us in cans.  She sews out of a dreamworld.  Her children went to Kahuuku so we connected on that.  I can’t say enough about the rewarding experience of this night.  She’s a convert to the church.

Tuesday:  our usual early morning arrival, 6 am, I was scheduled in clothing register and guess who shows up—Ryan Barton and a cute girl that looks like his sister, Sarah. It was so much fun, just not long enough but the girl did introduce herself as Ryan’s girlfriend.  For those who don’t know, Ryan and Andrew are a week apart in age and our families have been friends since Preston. 

We rode our bike after our shift 8.36 miles and purchased some turtle chocolate from the Fudge Factory.  One was enough to satisfy my sweet craving and also enough to make me wheeze;  I haven’t had much in the way of treats.  

Wednesday:  7 am temple, that one hour makes a big difference. In the celestial room where I was assigned a family of siblings and the mom came in from Preston. I don’t remember the last name but one of the daughters was married to a Peterborg and she had worked for Dr. Larry at one time.  That was a fun connection. After our shift, we ate a lunch I had prepared for us in the break room and then we did an endowment session. I have a family of siblings, parents, and grandparents that I have been working on from baptism all the way through so I’m getting excited to finish all the endowments so I can get them all sealed as a family; they are from England, third cousins twice removed.  After our session, we rode our bike 7 plus miles, we turned off the counter when we stopped to watch the performing missionaries perform “Sunset by the Mississippi”, a fast paced singing and dancing and instrumental show.  We met the Larsons from Lindon, fun couple, they wanted to know about serving a senior couple mission.  They were lucky it was getting dark and we were on our bike without lights so we couldn’t say all we wanted to say.

Thursday:  ray had to be at the temple at 6:45 am. Stayed for lunch in break room again so we could do endowments, as I am working on two families.  We were able to get the baptisms and confirmations done on the last two siblings and miraculously were able to get the anointing done and two more endowments, 4 more to go in this family, also 3rd cousins. Goal:  to seal both families next week.  

Friday:  we had afternoon shift so we rode the bike in the morning 8.76 miles. My knee has been pretty rough since last Tuesday, the 10th as I was assigned the baptistry for the entire shift with one other sister, who didn’t come because she was sick (everyone has been sick except us). So I was the only female in baptistry to do the clothing, go up and down the font steps 3 different times, squeegee the floors, pull the wet suits, towels, rugs into the laundry. So…yes, I requested not to be in the baptistry at all. So far so good.   It it has been a big set back.

  Ruth and Dave Thompson came to see us since they are going on a cruise and won’t be back until we are gone, such dear friends.  We had afternoon shift.   Ray was in the dressing room position and I was at clothing, so we got to see them right off and they completed two of our endowments because they left without their names and offered to do some of ours👍🥰. I had dinner ready to put in the oven so they went to our apartment and had dinner ready for us when we got home at 7:30 pm. 

Saturday:  bike ride 8.81 miles. Made a big breakfast for Thompson—10 scrambled eggs with cheese, a package of sausages, homemade crumpets with lemon curd and juice.  It was all ready and I called and Dave was sick.  So we have lunches ready for next week😭. Temple was wonderful again.  During our shift, I got to do a personal endowment session besides Ray and I were the endowment session leaders.  A brother asked me to help his wife during the session and we also had another sister with a walker.  It was a wonderful session, so much appreciation was felt. A sister came up to me behind the recommend desk and gave me the biggest hug and said, “I have never been in such a warm, loving place and so personal.  Please tell everyone what a wonderful experience I had!”  

We got home at 5:00 and found a sack of green apples hanging on our door. Ate    and waited for the BYU/Kansas St game at 8:30. I listened on my phone and you can imagine, I was too tired and fell asleep!  Woke up in third quarter and then Ray and I sat in the chairs and listened then watched highlights on BYU tv after.  Wow!  Four wins!  

Sunday:  first day of autumn, it rained in the night. Church was a delight. Made an apple crisp for coming back to eat.  Then we went to “Our Saviors Love” performance in the visitors center at 2:00.  We always come from that feeling so reverent and warm, loved and recharged to become more than we are.  I hope you are all feeling the Savior’s love and ours.  

September 9-15

Monday:  we so enjoyed the family call yesterday!  Biked 8.85 miles. Went on the wagon ride of Historic Nauvoo. Whittiers brought us butterscotch Rice Krispie treats. I made pan corn bread with honey butter as my assignment for the missionary temple couples and office workers and site missionaries and teamster missionaries bbq at Camp Nauvoo prior to President Nelson’s birthday broadcast at 5:00 pm, our time. One of the couples bought steak and salmon and also cooked it with some other couples who helped. It was a delicious meal; my steak was perfect.  So generous and thoughtful of the Evans missionary couple..

Tuesday:  8.79 miles biked, our temple assignment was the whole shift in the baptistry.  Two couples were assigned there but the other sister didn’t come as she was sick—Covid has really passed around including the temple presidency and their wives; the presidency have taken turns sitting all day in their office as per their assignment so they didn’t spread germs,but a member of the presidency has to be in the temple whenever ordinances are performed. Pretty miserable week for the presidency. And I was the only sister in baptistry so that meant going up and down font stairs 3x, squeegeeing the female dressing room floors every hour, rolling wet suits and towels and rugs every hour and handing out clean clothes and this was our extended day as all Tuesdays are. Needless to say I’ve been freezing my knee, heating my knee, and trying to recover all week.  It will probably take another week to fully recover.😩. Waawaa. When I was assigned again on Saturday for the whole day, I was traded with someone🤪. 

Wednesday:  we led the endowment session this morning and then other shift positions. After our shift, we ate in the break room and then went on a proxy endowment at 2:00. After we arrived at our apartment around 4:00 pm, we biked 8.81 miles. The weather is perfect and so enjoyable.

Thursday:  we served our shift assignments, ate lunch in the break room and served a 2:00 session for our ancestors again.  After we biked 8.9 miles

Friday:  morning we biked 9 miles, showered and went to an early endowment session for our ancestors, ate lunch again in the break room and went to our start meeting at 1:00 pm ;shift ends tonight around 8:30 or 9:00. We were worn out. 

Saturday:  biked  8.81 miles 46 minutes. Night shift but only until 7:00 tonight.  I was through at 5:00 but Ray wasn’t through until 7:30.  Came home and listened to the BYU/Wyoming football game W👏🏻

Sunday:  we taught our last class for newer adult members. Jodi came and Brother Phillips came plus Sister Squires.  Sacrament meeting was after.  Then we went home and ate homemade sourdough pizza. Watched Music and the spoken word, the Chosen and started checking for emails from the five missionaries out serving..  Talked with Charity, Andrew, and Sarah 🥰. 

Love being a missionary and joining the force with our grandchildren. “Carry on”

Breakup parties

Monday September 2:  biked 8.77 miles. Our baptistry group that we have served with most of our time here under Elder and Sister Cornish on Saturday afternoons is breaking up because of slow downs that occur this time of the year.  So we enjoyed a potluck dinner with meat purchased from the new bbq restaurant in Nauvoo.  I made cheesy garlic potatoes. And Cornishes set up the Arrival Center with tables and chairs. It was delightful and we shared our most memorable experiences in the baptistry this season.  A “feel good” time.

Tuesday:  early morning time as usual 6:00 am. After our temple session we rode the bike 10.24 miles in 51 minutes, ending at 4:50 in just beautiful weather.

Wednesday:  temple is a later start at 7:00. It’s amazing what a difference that hour later start makes to my body.  After our temple shift, we went to Keokuk and I had my nails done with the acrylics.  They look and feel much nicer.  When we returned home we rode the bike 8.77 miles—another beautiful day. 

Thursday:  after our temple shift, we ate a lunch I packed in the temple break room and then took a family name through an endowment session after I did 5 initiatories. We met our Thursday baptistry team with Brother and Sister Drosty as the coordinators at Angelina’s in Keokuk.  There were 8 couples. This was the team that we were not inside with but we served at the Arrival Center.  I had chicken/bacon/ranch thin crust pizza.  Highly recommend!  Home at 7:30

Friday:  bikes 8.92 miles in the morning, showered and went to an endowment session at 11:15 before our shift started at 1:00.  We arrived home after first quarter of BYU game start with SMU. We listened until BYU won!  

Saturday:  biked 8.56 miles in 45 minutes. Sent Venmo $13 for potatoes to Rachael. Thanks for splitting with me, Julie and thanks Rachael for getting them for us!  I love Idaho potatoes and it seems that the prices have dropped.

Worked, of course, our afternoon shift but it was not in the baptistry as it has been; it was regular positions in the temple.

Sunday:  we enjoyed church.  Our time here is going so fast now.  After church I made us smothered beef burritos with side de galo. Then we attended “Our Saviors Love” again.  We don’t get tired of it.  Then we walked 1/2 mile just to enjoy and test out my knee.  It went well👏🏻.  Thanks everyone for joining the family call.  It feels so good to look upon each of you.  We love you more than words can express!  And we pray for each one of you that your testimonies are growing and deepening and that your understanding of the “Family Proclamation” and Heavenly Fathers plan for each of us individually and as a family is deepening.  I’m so happy that Heavenly Father has shared His Love with us in our own family unit.  Love Mom, Grandma, etc and Ray❤️

54 years of eternity

Monday:  biked 8.95 ; grocery shopping and made an appointment for next week to have my nails done; laundry

Tuesday: pre prep meeting dressed in whites and in meeting by 6:05. After the temple three couples (Daes, Favero, us) went to Keokuk in Favero nice truck and Daes bought us all dinner at the Hawkeye Restaurant. I had hall rack of ribs, loaded baked potato and house salad—score!  (Can’t compare to Raymond’s, Nathan’s, Andrew’s, or Dads but I was so hungry for bbq ribs). Then we went to the Dam Museum (even in print it sounds like I’m swearing) and Favero paid for all of us.  We had a good time.  The museum was quite interesting and worth our time and the couples are great so…good company.  We biked 6.2 miles only.  The weather was threatening—thunder and lightening so we ended early.  It kept getting worse.  It was quite a show in the skies all night.

Wednesday:  got mixed up with temple coordinators texts and went early again 6:05 so I slowly prepared for the later meeting. We were endowment leaders in the 8:00 endowment session.  Thanks for joining us for a temple session.  We so enjoyed thinking about our children joining us this week in the temple.  Today was our actual anniversary and I feel like a Queen, so blessed to have been sealed to a man of God, a gentleman.  Ray wanted to take me to dinner again so after the temple, we drove to Keokuk, back to the Hawkeye restaurant.  We both ended up having soup and salad, Wisconsin cheddar cheese soup mmmm.  When we returned to Nauvoo, we went on our bike ride 8.3 miles. 

Thursday:  today was our last day as a baptistry group because we don’t have patrons coming so the group brought family names and Sister Hunter was baptized for 47 female ancestors of the group and Ray was baptized for 39 males, plus he did the baptizing for the females.  We ate lunch in the temple break room and then we’re patrons for an endowment session.  I went through for Constance Stokes.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Then we biked 8.59 miles 

Friday:  biked 8.94 miles, came home and showered and went as patrons to a 10:00 initiatory session for 7 sisters in our family line. Then an endowment session at 11:15 and another repentance opportunity.  There was a female who sat by me that has some weird problems. She was fidgeting and kept looking back at her mother and laughing.  It was very distracting.  I didn’t want to sit by her but she made an effort to sit by me, so I was actually flattered but each time we changed rooms, it was a different seating arrangement so the next room I had to walk between rows of chairs, which I try to avoid because of my knee.  We’ll, ordinarily I would have gone to the next row but (PRIDE!) came up and I thought others in the session would think I didn’t want to sit by her so I went between the rows and caught my foot which twisted my knee. Yes, I hurt it again but I’m hoping ice/heat/time will heal it. Pride can creep in so easily and almost catch us unaware. I’m grateful for these opportunities to become aware of my weaknesses so I can change. After the session, I went to the break room and Ate fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from Carrolls garden that they bring to share and then had preprep meeting at 1:05 so I could serve early, 1:15 pm at floor 1, chair 2😇. I enjoy this position because I get to talk to whomever comes in and tell them how to get where they want to go and find out where they are from😁. 

Saturday:  my knee is pretty stiff this morning but we still tried to bike.  I only made it 2 miles, then iced it, then heat in the shower. Last baptistry as a Saturday team. 

Sunday:  we taught our class “Jesus is my Foundation”. Great lesson for me to focus on doing the right things for the right reasons and to remind myself to build a foundation on the character traits of Christ.  Kevin attended plus some support for Sister Squires and the Maucotels.  It’s fast Sunday so we were assigned to host again and our people were the Olsens from Ephraim, Utah, a part of our baptistry teams and President and Sister Church.  It was a nice time and we heard some special stories of miracles.  I got to practice on my new found recipe from Thurstons, smothered beef burritos.  They all loved it and even had seconds!  Nice. 

We love you and so appreciate your support of our anniversary by joining us in the temple wherever you are. It was such a happy thought all week, knowing you were each joining us.   Teresa and Ray