B-day surprise

So here I am, dusting at the Brigham Young home when I here the door open. I hear voices, but concentrate on finishing the dusting before anyone gets where they can see me. The next thing I know beautiful voices are singing Happy Birthday to you. I look up and there in the door are Lisa, w/Michael, Shanna, and Abby; and Laree, w/Emma and Johnathan. I was so overwhelmed, I could hardly contain my joy and excitement at seeing them. It was the last thing I was expecting. After giving hugs and kisses and finally calming down my thrill, I gave them the tour. Then they went to other sites, saw Grandpa some where in there; and by the time we got home at 5:00 p.m. they had a wonderful birthday dinner prepared and even a Banana Cream Pie!!! I would never expect that kind of birthday on a mission, but it was wonderful. Today we went out to dinner with dear friends E/S Toone & E/S Jones. It's been a terrific two days. Life is great, the gospel is true what more could we ask.

I havn't blogged for a while, life just seems to carry us along with few opportunities for the non-essentials. We are happy, healthy, and having the time of our lives. I wish all of you could have this opportunity some time in the future. In our prep meeting this morning they announced that there have been 29 documented baptisms from referral cards at the pageant. There may be many others that have not been traced to the pageant, but that started there. What a thrill to be part of such a wonderful work. Some days we give tours all day long and don't think any thing special has happened and then you connect with one person and know that they are feeling the spirit . What a joy that is! I do believe that anyone who comes here will not slam the door in the face of missionaries when they come to their home.

Yesterday we served at Carthage. The first time we have had that priveledge. What a joy it was to feel the wonderful spirit of that place. We have come to love the Prophet Joseph Smith as never before. What a tremendous example he is to us all. If I work the rest of my life, I could not measure up even 1/200 th of what he has done; but I hope I can know and commune with him when I leave this life.

The spirit here in Nauvoo is so wonderful. We find such joy and satisfaction each day as we serve at the various sites. The gospel brings happiness to those who live it. May you all find that joy in your lives. We love you all so much

On Thursday while I was serving in the Brigham Young home, a middle aged couple and their son came in. I was impressed with their happy nature. In fact, the son never seemed to stop smiling. The only change was in how wide the smile was. After bearing testimony and sharing some personal things with them, the son asked if he could share his story.

At the age of 17 he was diagnosed with brain cancer. The tumor was between the lobes of the brain and it was impossible to remove more than a small portion of it. Removing that portion did help his headaches, but after several more surgeries they told him there was nothing more they could do. They said he should go home and enjoy what short life he had left.

While he was still in the hospital, two men in suits came in and asked if Elder ...... (his name) was there. He said "my name is ........" One of the men said he was Elder ....... of the seventy and he had been sent there by Thomas S. Monson to give a blessing to the future Elder ....... He received the blessing and was promised he would live to serve a mission and would have good health. He was not able to serve a regular mission because he has no short term memory, even though his long term memory is perfect. He did serve a full time mission in his own area and worked in the mission office helping with the records. It has been 17 years since that diagnosis and he enjoys really good health, and I believe his smiles show his gratitude for being alive.

We all cried together as he shared his story. I was really grateful that we were not busy that day or I could not have taken time to listen. It was one of those wonderful experiences that we are blessed with occasionally. I am sooooo glad to be here.

We had a great preparation meeting today. Sister Romney, a single sister whom I have come to love and admire gave the thought. She told of a friend of hers who was not a member, but who was impressed with the standards of her member friends and was baptized on her 18th birthday. (her parents made her wait until then) She loved the church, married in the temple and tried to do every thing she could to be obedient, including family history work. She made a trip from her home in California to Salt Lake to visit the Family History library. She checked out a microfilm and started searching, but it appeared to be a blank tape. She kept rolling through the tape and finally found one entry, the women she was searching for. She went to the desk to get the appropriate card to fill out and the woman suggested that she fill it out right there. She said, "Oh I can just go back and do it from the screen. The women said, "It won't be there, that is a blank tape" The friend assured her that it was on the screen, but was told "It often is but it will not be there when you go back, that Is a blank tape." Of course she finished the work right then, and continued working very hard doing family history. Sometime later she was in an accident with a drunk driver. She said that just at the moment of impact, she saw a group of people in earlier period clothing standing around her. Even though she was injured, she survived what should have been a fatal crash. She said she did not know if those were people whose work she had done or ones who still needed her to complete their work, but it did not matter. She would continue to do all she could. What a great way to start out our day.

Two of our very favorite missionaries have gone home. They added so much to our cast and to the mission. They are from Canada and have always done everything the very best they could, with total cooperation and positive attitudes they will be greatly missed. They are standing in the bottom right hand corner. Elder and Sister Hardy, we love you!!!

We just returned home from a sociable put on by Vocal Point, an acappella group from BYU. They were great and after doing a medley of primary songs, several of them spoke to introduce the song they wanted to sing and we would join in for one verse. We were surrounded by lightning on the East, West, and North, but quite a ways away. With it on so many sides you would think it would come over us, but it did not. One of the guys in introducing his hymn gave a quote. I don't know who it was by, but I really liked it. "Life is not about weathering the storm, it is about learning to dance in the rain." What a great thought. We all have spots of bad weather in our lives. We need to learn not to just get through them, but find joy as we do. Thinking about our wonderful family brings me joy every day. We are so blessed to have the gospel and a living prophet to lead us. I know we can get through anything if we will follow the prophet and what we have been taught. Nauvoo is an unbelievable experience. Every day brings new opportunities and challenges. Love you all!!!!

Sunset will soon be over. It has been really fun, but it will be good to have a little more time. If this looks triumphant, that's the way we feel. We actually made it through the pageant season. Whew!!!!