There and Back Again: Week 58 Sacrifices and Snow!

Let it SNOW, Let it SNOW, Let it SNOW!!! We've had more snow since Thanksgiving than all of last WINTER. Last night we had our Nauvoo Christmas Walk. We were SO blessed that there was a break in the snow, the temperature rose to about 32-34 which BELIEVE me felt warmish! LOL The Christmas Walk entailed performances by local choirs and pianists (I had a solo), A Live Nativity

The Live Nativity started with a Roman guard introducing you to the tax collector, Matthew. He testified of the Savior then gave each family a little linen bag. Then our guide took us to meet shepards who explained what they were doing and testified of Christ and gave a little tin crook for our bags, then we moved to the "field" where the Angels sang

and several other stations where we collected items and people from the Bible testified of Christ. Then there was Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. It ended with the wise men telling their story and testifying of Christ. That was very cool. Then there were other buildings where you could go in and listen to Christmas stories or play parlor games.

There were horse drawn wagon rides, the wagons were totally decorated beautifully and people caroled on the wagons. little performances were going on in the historic cultural hall and free hot cocoa and cookies...just the BEST night ever. SOOO fun. On our way out of Nauvoo we stopped by our mail box and found several Christmas Cards and several little gifts from fellow missionaries.

This morning it started snowing again and as of 1:19 our time it has dropped about 8 inches of snow. We've been plowing, blowing, and shoveling since 7am. Just to keep it manageable...I slipped while managing the blower, it lurched forward and my feet went out from underme. I flipped over on my stomach and army crawled as fast as I could away from the spinning blades. LOL I wish I had gotten that on video.

I got a phone call from missionaries in Nauvoo that a family was leaving there to come to Carthage and would I please give them a tour. INDEED! It is an honor to take a break from work to give tours. The spirit is always so wonderful.

about 45 min later I got a knock at my door. SURPRISE it was a DIFFERENT family who just happened to pull in and asked if they could please have a tour! There was a mom and dad and five sons. We went into the visitor's center and waited for the other family to arrive.

15 min later a mom and her two daughters arrived. We did the tour together. I was impressed by the amazing faith and love these parents had for their children, that they would weather the weather and allow their children these spiritual experiences and gain knowledge. Both families just HAPPENED to be from Montana, so this weather was no big deal to them...BUT their efforts were noted by me and appreciated. It made me think about sacrifice and how it works. Being a California girl...taking my family out in this weather would be a huge sacrifice...verging on crazy. But to them it was a little tough, but no big deal. As we experience life and trials let us remember that mole hills for some are MOUNTAINS to others and vis versa. We can't really judge because we don't know back stories, nevertheless...with all your stress, trials, strengths, or sense of adventure come and learn more about Christ and his servants and get stronger!