Monday, April 26th was a day set aside for us to finish unpacking and to go shopping to stock up our apartment.
Tuesday
was the day for us to begin our training. Although we are familiar
with all of the ordinances, each temple has their small ways that are
different from the other ones. We spent Tuesday thru Friday learning
these differences and becoming familiar with this beautiful temple.
Toward the end of the afternoon, after the training was completed, we
were each given a plan of the temple and given permission to explore
anywhere in the temple for the next few hours. What a wonderful
opportunity to get to know this wonderful site.
Saturday
was a day of catching up on all of the shopping, sight-seeing, and
resting. One special thing was that anybody that wanted could climb up
the belfry to the top of the bell tower to see the sights. This was an
incredible view. About 300 degree view of the Mississippi River as it
rounded the bend at Nauvoo. A sight not seen by many.
On
Monday, May 3, 2010 the temple opened after the two-week shut-down for
semi-annual maintenance and we started the work that we came to
perform. What a wonderful spirit in this sacred building and what
wonderful people that we get to work with.
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| This statue stands right outside the Nauvoo Temple |
Today is May 16, 2010. We have now had the opportunity to work in the
Temple for two weeks. It really feels like we are on an endless
vacation. There are two shifts of workers each day. We work the morning
shift on Monday thru Wednesday beginning at 7:00 am and finish about
1:30 pm. We work the afternoon shift on Thursday and Saturday beginning
at 1:00 pm and finish about 8:00 pm. Friday is our day off (P-day).
Although the work is taxing it is very rewarding and we have enough time
to see some of the many wonderful sights of the area.
Nauvoo Restoration, Inc., a company setup to restore the area back to
what it looked like in 1840 – 1847 has done a wonderful job of
restoring some of the original sites and rebuilding some of the
destroyed buildings to look as they did back then. At each site
missionaries dress in period clothing and portray what it was like then.
An example is the brickyard, where they manufacture small bricks the
same way and give them out as samples. We also have had samples of
shortbread from the Bakery.
During the past week we have also had the opportunity to attend three
evening lectures given by Susan Easton Black. Susan is a professor at
B.Y.U. who has done extensive study of the Nauvoo and surrounding areas
and has been instrumental in helping to establish the Land and Records
Office where people can find out about ancestors who may have lived
in, or traveled through this area in the 1840 time frame. Many people
come away surprised when they find that their family members are listed
here. I know that when Judy and I came here to the Temple Open House in
2000 we found records of her ancestors.
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| A family of geese headed toward the Mississippi River |
