An Invitation To The Truth

Things just keep going like they always do here in Nauvoo, the Young Performing missionaries perform morning til night and love every minute of it.  I actually had a really neat experience when I was in town on Thursday.  My companion wanted to try shopping at a different store than we normally do so we went there and while we were there started talking to a man working in the produce section and had a great conversation about truth and he said something really profound about how each person in the world deserves the chance to first hear truth and then decide for themselves if they will accept it or not.  That is an amazing thing to hear from someone when you are a missionary because its a great segue into a gospel conversation.  We took the chance and I actually ended up being able to give the man a book of Mormon and we got his contact information to give to the missionaries in Keokuk so they can teach him.  It was an amazing testimony of how the Lord puts us into people's paths to share the gospel with them and extend an invitation to the truth.  I've had so many similar experiences with the Lord either placing me or placing others so we cross paths this summer and it has been such a blessing to be able to talk and I know I have grown and been uplifted so many times just when I need it according to the Lord's perfect timing and His tender mercies.  Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me!

Well we're sadly winding down on our time here we've only got 3 weeks left before we have finished our calls and have to say good-bye to the city of Joseph, but its been an amazing summer and I'm sure there is still much good left to come.

The Work Rolls On!

The spirit of Nauvoo is always the same and always wonderful. I absolutely love how I am constantly inspired to do better and to be better than I am.  I have experience after experience where I am humbled and taught that I can do better, be more patient with myself and others, seek the Lord more through prayers, and as Elder Camp says "step into the darkness" through faith trusting that the Lord will bless and guide.

One experience that I had with this was before pageant Friday night where I ran into a great friend from home, Elder Aiden Curtis.  I had known that he was assigned to the pageant, but didn't know when I would find him.  I was keeping an eye out for him, but felt guilty looking for him specifically because I am supposed to be focusing on missionary work because the time before pageant is intended for us to try and find referrals from the guests.  So as I was walking around I was suddenly nearly tackled to the ground by Elder Curtis who had seen me first and we had a joyful reunion.  It was so good to see him.  After that though it was back to work!  I had a goal to at least get one referral that day, so I went up to Sister Hall, one of the Nauvoo Young Sister Missionaries and told her I trusted her inspiration and asked who I should go talk to for a referral.  She pointed to a group of girls and my immediate reaction was one of hesitancy, but I pushed those thoughts aside, got Elder Leavitt and walked up to say hello and talk to them.  We got into a conversation with them about a mission activity their stake had done where they basically turned their youth into a mini mission for a weekend, assigning everyone companions and they set up appointments with their non-member friends to teach them lessons from preach my gospel.  This provided a perfect opportunity for some of them to fill out referral cards for those friends they had worked with in that activity.  So moral of the story, guided by the spirit, through simple means and then opening my mouth in a friendly conversation about sharing the gospel I was able to invite two from that group of girls to have the gospel shared with their friends and bore testimony to them that our work is a work of Love,  Christ's love. (Side note:  Another thing I learned while bearing my testimony a few weeks back was that Charity, the pure love of Christ has 3 parts- Love from Christ, Love for Christ, and Love like Christ.  Just thought I would share that because it fit right in with the conversation I was able to have with a few of the other guests from pageant.) 

The work rolls on in beautiful Nauvoo!  I'm so blessed to be here and be a part of it.

To Be or Not To Be

One of the lines we use in one of our skits during Sunset on the Mississippi is a modified quote from Shakespeare "Is he to be... or not to be?" I've pondered this statement multiple times in my life and each time something new comes up it grants greater light on my questioning.  There is a process in all things, a divine order, and there are two that I connect with this statement.  The first comes from a statement by Elder Richard G. Scott of the quorum of the twelve apostles where he says that the things we consistently think determine what we do, and the things we consistently do determine what we become.  The other is a well discussed simple sequence of Good, Better, and Best.  To tie those two together, if we think about good things, then do good things, we'll become good.  That is a wonderful start (and don't be overwhelmed because this start still takes a lot of work to achieve) We then can begin thinking better things, doing better, and becoming better and so on and so forth until we are the best. This is a principle that is true in day to day life, be it playing soccer, a musical instrument, an art form, an occupation, or any hobby really.  It can also be applied to spiritual things such as our prayers, our character, our desires, our commitments to God and to the gospel. So where does my initial question come in to all this becoming?  Well it all boils down to this- you decide what it is you want to be.  I decide if I'm going to become the worlds best ____ (insert anything here). It begins with a decision, a thought and there the seeds of being are planted.  As you act on those seed-thoughts they develop and grow into habits and eventually they are simply a part of your being and you find fulfillment of the initial faith you had in acting on that first thought, that basic desire.  So ask yourself, what do I wish I could be? What do I want to be? Then start doing the things that the person you want to be would do, make habits of them until one day you wake up and realize that for the past while you've been doing them without thought, you realize that you are.  This is a miraculous process and God wants you to accomplish great things using this pattern, He will help you with it as well!  Include in Him in every stage and He will help you, He won't do it for you because you don't change anything without work, but He will help with support, ideas, motivation and teaching.  So use the gospel fundamentals of prayer, scripture study, and obedience to receive that help in becoming who you want to be.  You'll be glad you did.

I can't believe we're on the downward slope of time until the end of our Nauvoo experience.There have been so many experiences that remind me every day to cherish every minute, every second here because change is constant, we have to be so flexible, but I know thats the Lord preparing us to be better tools for Him ready to work in every situation.

51 More Days

I think I can say that one of the biggest lessons of this week has been that the Lord prepares us constantly.  He prepares us for blessings by sending us trials and then uses those blessings to prepare us for additional trials.  This week we've had a lot of people getting sick and a little under the weather, some out completely, so its been interesting to make things come together without the whole group, but they always did.  Yesterday we we blessed to have our whole group on deck for our shows which marked our half-way point for the Summer, we only have 51 more days left of Nauvoo before we have to come off this cloud we get to live on for these few months.  In light of that, Elder Camp invited us to examine ourselves individually and see how we could rise to a new level of commitment to missionary work for the last 51 days and as part of that the Tech Sisters suggested a great idea that we use our time back stage to spiritually prepare ourselves between scenes.  The show turned out phenomenal.  Elder Camp even gave us a standing ovation, which is a really big deal for him because he can count on a single hand the number of times its happened for any show, not just in Nauvoo.  It was wonderful to know that they Lord answered our prayers and gives us what we need to be able to invite the spirit and bless the guests that come. The next big blessing of the day was one of the Sisters in the band received her mission call to Mexico City and we had our traditional mission call opening extravaganza at the seventies hall which is always wonderful.  All of these blessings were definitely a preparation for the news that came next.  We found out that one of the YPM's lost their step-father in a plane accident that also left a brother with serious, though not critical injuries, that would hinder his growth for the rest of his life.  I was so impressed by the missionary though because they stood and with unmatched faith and confidence in the plan of salvation, the blessings of eternal families, and the temple, bore firm testimony of the gospel and those principles that allowed what would otherwise be a tragedy to be a moment of joy because a good man was going home to our Father in Heaven.  It was so inspired by the faith and conviction of that missionary and it really caused me to reflect on how quickly life changes and how the only way to truly be prepared is to constantly be living the best we can, focusing on the things of greatest importance.  I'm so grateful that I have this same testimony that our Savior and His church provide the knowledge and truth that families can be together forever.  I know this church is true, because of the peace and confidence that can be felt through the Holy Ghost in times of trial and testing.  I am so grateful for the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for all of us.

Choose Joy

With all the busyness of the past couple weeks we were told today that this is our last slow week coming up before things get busy! Wow! I can only imagine what its going to be like doing more in a day than we already do, but I know it will all be wonderful and I'm very excited.  We've been implementing a few changes to our shows recently which has been fun because we get to see the show get even better and I can't wait to someday see what the impacts of this work will be.  I know from stories about Nauvoo and missionary work in general that the impacts will be so much farther reaching than we can imagine which only makes it all the more important that we "serve with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, that [we] may stand blameless before God at the last day."

The BYU Folk Dancers have been here and they did a fireside for us last week about the scripture "Man is that they might have joy" and a few people gave talks and they sang some songs all centered around that theme.  This is one of my favorite scriptures personally because it tells us so much about our purpose which is to find Joy.  I think there is a difference between the Joy talked about in this verse and just simply being happy which important to note.  Joy to me has more of a lasting, or abiding sense to it as opposed to just momentary happiness. That is why even though there are times in our lives where we certainly aren't happy we can still feel of the joy that comes from our knowledge and hope that we receive from the gospel, our families, and our covenants with the Lord.  With that definition in mind our purpose is to be able to have that joy.  The talks in sacrament meeting today talked about the commandments and how the commandments are a sign of the Lord's love for us and that they are intended to bring us joy.  Some look at the commandments as restrictive, limiting the experiences, and our choices in this life.  That is a false statement because each of us has agency and the choice is forever ours to make, however eternal laws have eternal consequences that are unchanging, much like the law of gravity doesn't change just because we don't want to believe in it, if we then jump off a cliff, we will still fall.  So getting to a point now, our Heavenly Father understands what these eternal consequences are so He warns us and gives commandments so we can safely avoid those cliffs we could fall off of physically, emotionally, or spiritually, and he never takes away our agency, we always have the choice to do as we please, but if we choose to go contrary to the commandments of God, we are not free to avoid the consequences. So choose to keep the commandments, choose joy, and choose that path that leads home to Heaven where we can live with our Heavenly Father and receive a fullness of joy.

Each Life That Touches Ours For Good

I can't believe that its already been another week.  Sister Camp told us the count down to our last day today during preparation meeting and I was very upset.  I don't want this opportunity to end!  It truly has been such an amazing thing and I count my blessings every day to think that I could be here and receive all the blessings I have since coming here.  I've also had my eyes opened to a lot of the blessings that I had in my life before I came here.  I definitely count my family, my friends, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ among the highest of those blessings.

My sister is probably going to be extremely jealous because one of our guests was her best friend Hanna's mom! It was really neat to meet her for the first time and wonder what the odds were of such a meeting seeing as they now live across the country from us and just happened to be visiting in Nauvoo.  She came up to me and told me I looked familiar and asked if I knew her son which I had known who he was from high school, but then looking at my name tag she made the connection to my sister and got really excited.  Its amazing to see how the Lord blesses us to cross paths like that and just goes to show that even though this was a friendly crossing, who knows what people will be placed in our paths here that we are meant to touch, uplift, and inspire.  We probably won't know in this life, but its still such a privilege to know that we are instruments in his hands planting seeds in the hearts of many.  I know that none of it goes to waste.  How could it when you consider the worth of souls.  Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 reads "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."  the section goes on later saying "If it so be that you should labor all of your days in crying repentance of this people and bring save it should be one soul unto me how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my father."  This shows that the Lord loves each of us so much and we can know that He wants us to be happy.  I have a firm belief that if just a single one of God's children would have accepted the Atonement of Jesus Christ He still would have gone through with it.  And I wouldn't be surprised if He would have gone through with it, even if none of us accepted it, because He loves us all so deeply He wouldn't be content unless He gave us EVERY opportunity.  Its miraculous and I know its true. So wherever you are, whatever you're doing, whatever you've done in your life, however low you might feel,  He LOVES YOU. He loves you completely and so deeply we can't fully comprehend it.  Its a miracle in the latter-days and I know it is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Become as Little Children

One of my favorite experiences has been hearing the little kids come up to me and remember me from one of the shows that they saw sometime throughout the day.  It's so neat to know that we make an impact, but at the same time it shows the responsibility we have because of the impact that we make.  I also learned from the children on Trail of Hope one night as I was working as company captain.  Some of the kids were being talkative and noisy so I was worried that the others in the group would be bothered, but they didn't seem to be.  I had the thought come to me about the pioneer children who had left Nauvoo, and how they would have likely had the same enthusiasm, curiosity, and just plain child-like happiness about them as they walked down Parley Street.  They wouldn't have understood the reasons for leaving, or the hardships they would face as they traveled. At that time they only would have known that they got to go on an adventure.  They would have been so full of faith, trusting in their parents and not concerned so much with the things that would be left behind as they traveled towards a new home.  I took a lesson from this about how each of us can look at our Earthly journey the same way.  The Lord has prepared a new home for us where we will find peace and safety to live the way we want to, surrounded by the people we love, free of fear.  The trail will be hard, but the reward at the end will be worth it.  We can rely on Heavenly Father to provide for our needs, but we have to be the ones who walk each step of the way just as the Pioneer children did. They didn't know where they were going, they only new the direction they were supposed to take.  Its different for us, though we haven't seen our Heavenly destination, we do know the path and have great guides to bring us safely there.

Old Old Path

What a fast three weeks this has been!  Every time I think about what day it is I first think about how long the day has seemed, then have a quick moment of shock at the date.  Someone put it very well in Sacrament last week, weeks last a minute, days last forever, and lunch never comes.  Actually lunch does come and it is always delicious.  The Meyers are a missionary couple called specifically for food preparation for the YPMs.  They do such a great job and are lots of fun.  Anyways... on to the real meat of Nauvoo!  The Spirit here just keeps getting stronger and stronger.  I can't believe it getting better but I know it will because we are just getting into the times when we can start doing more missionary work because we get audiences now!

We had our first rehearsal of our Trail of Hope vignette sequence on the actual trail earlier this week and it was such a great experience. We only ran the cast I'm not a part of (because we alternate each night) so I got to walk the trail and see everyone do their vignette and it was powerful.  We truly get to bear testimony when we present them and the power is doubled because we are not only sharing our own testimony, but also the testimony of the individual we are portraying through the journal entries.  At the end of the trail, a family that had come to a few of our other rehearsals throughout the day expressed their gratitude for the spirit they had felt.  The Mother thanked us for loving her children, remembering them and calling them by name.  The father bore testimony that, with each site they visited, every production they saw he felt his heart being expanded by the Spirit.  It was really touching.  We walked back up the trail and sang a bunch of hymns and other songs that we have learned.  There is one song that is used for the Trail of Hope that the Elders sing called "Old Old Path" and as we sang it I felt like we were singing about our own experiences here in Nauvoo.  Here are the lyrics-

There's an old old path where the sun shines through,
All the dark storm clouds from its home of blue.
On that old old path made strangely sweet,
By the touch divine of His blessed feet.

Find the old old path, will be ever new,
For the Savior walks all the way with you.
In that old old path all my friends most dear,
And I walk with them with the Savior near.

Tis an old old path shadowed vales between,
But I fearless walk with the Nazarene.
On that old old path made strangely sweet,
By the touch divine of His blessed feet.

Those words come close to describing what if feels like being here in this sacred place when so many were forced to sacrifice their homes and belongings, their temple, sometimes loved ones, and head west for their safety and faith.  That sacrifice made this a most sacred place. I know that the angels of those who went before are here ministering to us and are a powerful part of the work that is here.  Nauvoo is truly a city of miracles, of refuge, and of peace.  All of the things the Prophet Joseph Smith hoped it would be when he led the saints in its founding and construction.

I bear testimony that Heavenly Father is mindful of the work here, and of all of his children.  Already missionary experiences are occurring and we've just opened our shows yesterday.  I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and the church was restored in this dispensation through him and other great men of the day.  We all owe such a debt of gratitude for the gift they gave us and I have felt the spirit of that gift here in Nauvoo, the city beautiful, the city of Joseph and the saints, the city preserved through sacrifice and now exists as a tool for teaching and preaching the testimony of the early saints.  I couldn't be in a better place right now.

Forget Yourself and Go To Work

Time just keeps on flying by here in the Beautiful Nauvoo!

We've learned all of our choreography, all our blocking and lines, and all our music for our five shows, with the exception of our Trail of Hope vignettes which we'll finish up tonight.  I'm constantly amazed by all the blessings we receive.  This past week I was having difficulty with a few of the parts that I just hadn't quite gotten right off and took some more work than the rest and it was kind of frustrating me but the Lord won't let anything keep us down here because every time I started to feel down I would pray and something would happen or one of the other YPMs would share a story or say just the right thing to pick me up again.  As for the difficult spots I fasted yesterday morning, which was really hard especially because we were dancing and so I felt really tired, but somehow (you can probably guess how) I was able to pull up the energy to make it through and after I closed my fast and had dinner, I came back and nailed all the parts that had been problems for me.  It was my own little Nauvoo miracle.  I came out of that rehearsal with so much joy in my heart knowing that my prayers had been answered and with a stronger testimony of fasting even when its difficult and would be easier to just grab a snack to satiate my stomach and muscles.  I couldn't stop smiling as we sang invocation and had family prayer.

The people I serve with here are truely phenominal people and they all inspire me and teach me so much about how I can be better in lots of ways.  I'm so grateful for the blessings that come from being around people so spiritually in tune.  One of the times I was upset with myself and really getting down this week I was sitting on the couch at our house and Elder Anderson came in and asked if I could come with him for a second.  I walked into their room and there was a chair in the middle of the room and I was so touched because I thought he was going to offer me a blessing, instead he did something that humbled me even more and really brought the spirit into my heart.  He asked if I would give him a blessing.  This reminded me that the work I'm doing out here isn't about me or my struggles, its about working together and doing all we can to help each other forgetting ourselves.

Miracles and angels are all around.  I love it here so much!

Making Every Second Count

WOW!!!!! I can't believe how busy we've been and how much we've gotten done already! Its been incredible and I have no doubt whatsoever that we've been strengthened by the Lord through the enabling power of the Atonement and the divine power that comes with being set apart as missionary servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and bearing his name.  We've already, in one week, finished blocking our two largest shows, mostly memorized all the music for all of our shows, learned choreography for 3 dances and it has been amazing!  I am constantly amazed by how powerful a small humble prayer has been making for me each time I have a small particular part that I'm struggling with, I pray for strength or for humility and patience to wait on the Lord's time and the help ALWAYS comes.  That cannot possibly be coincidence.

On top of all of that... I'm in NAUVOO!! I never imagined how powerful the spirit would be.  I had my guesses, but I was way off.  People talk about times when the spirit is just tangible... well here thats the norm.  When you have an extra spiritual experience everyone is on the verge of tears and completely overcome, and we've had a fair share of those already just in some of the rehearsals where we work through our really powerful numbers and the spirit comes crashing like a tidal wave washing over us and filling our hearts beyond capacity.  It is amazing and beautiful.  I love this city and love the program here and absolutely LOVE being a Missionary.

Another amazing blessing of being a missionary is having a stellar companion!  Elder Leavitt is constantly teaching me so much.  I didn't know that when I got here I would automatically have a new best friend who had me as their top priority, who would pray with and for me any time I needed, who was worthy, willing, and happy to give me a blessing when I needed it, and who is just genuine in his charity and love for people and sharing the gospel everywhere.  Every night he has this thing he does where he tells me one way in which I "lit his fire" and its just simple things, usually ones that I did without really thinking about which uplifted him and it really is an amazing confirmation that I am doing good here even if I don't notice it myself.  I couldn't have been paired with a better Elder for me to learn, work, and grow with.  The Lord, again, truly has his hand guiding this work.

Now I can't go on without sharing one mildly embarrassing story... so here goes.  On our second day here, last Saturday, we had opportunity to go on a wagon tour around Nauvoo.  The narrator for our tour was a senior missionary sister from Hawaii.  After the ride I went to thank her and overheard my companion say something along the lines of "so its mahalo?" I double checked with him to make sure I had hear correctly and asked "mahalo or mahala?" he confirmed that I heard correctly it was mahalo.  So I said to the sister "Thank you Sister Mahalo"  she looked really confused and my companion just started laughing... apparently mahalo means thank you or good-bye and he had been asking how to say it in Hawaiian when I walked up. So I called her Sister Thank-you and looked very silly.

All in all I couldn't be in a better place right now. I know this is where the Lord wants me to be and I'm loving every second of it.  One of our mottos is "Make every second count" and Elder and Sister Wortley gave each of us a medallion that we can wear to remind us.  Every second has changed me in some way for the better and I can already tell that this summer is going to go bye way too quickly.  But, I guess thats just all the more reason to make it count while it lasts.

Our Many Blessings

Today is the day before Easter Sunday and I’ve just been reflecting on my blessings, one of which is obviously the opportunity I will have to serve in Nauvoo in 34 days…(not that I have a count-down or anything…).

The Lord is so good to His children.  I just think about all the blessings associated with this summer, either directly or indirectly and it can be overwhelming.  In the first place the Lord gave to us this life, with the intent that we would use it to rely on Him and follow the gospel plan for happiness.  Its easy to look at this plan and say “Great! When I get to the Celestial Kingdom I can be happy!” and see that happiness as a destination, but this isn’t what the Lord intended at all, of course He wants us all to join with Him in the Celestial Kingdom, but He also desires that we make choices that will enable us to “find joy in the journey.” I already know that Nauvoo is going to add so much lasting joy to my life both while I’m there and through the memories of serving in the city beautiful that I will carry with me forever.

Blessing number two is the blessing of our talents.  Everyone on Earth has them (yet another testimony of the goodness, mercy, and love of our Heavenly Father) Shortly after I received my call to serve in Nauvoo I sat down and thought it would be fun to map out all of the significant contributing factors that led to my being able to audition.  I started with a basic list of when I started into music, when I started singing, etc, and continued into how I came into contact with certain key people and found myself in a circumstance where I would find out about Nauvoo and be able to apply.  The list grew so fast and I was overwhelmed by the staggering evidence of the Lord’s guiding hand in my life, because I could see so many places where a little change and I wouldn’t be where I am today.

The third blessing and probably the most significant of all is what Apostle Neal A. Maxwell referred to as the Savior’s “relentless redemptiveness”.  I am so greatful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, both for its power to wash away sin and guilt, to lift us when we fall, to keep the light of hope always shining brightly before us, as well as its wonderful power to strengthen us beyond our own capacities, to expand our hearts, our spirits, our minds, and our strength making us more than we were and more than we could ever have become on our own. The Atonement is beautiful.

All of these blessings, these gifts of love from Heaven, all remind me of a line from the lyrics that I love, which comes from “Lamb of God” by Rob Gardner which says “10,000 gifts could I employ, to show my praise, my thanks, my joy!  All of my life, yea, all my days, still not enough to sing Thy praise.” Ten thousand may seem like a lot at first glance, and it is, but I think it is such an understatement when we consider all the things the Lord gives His children, especially the blessings promised to those who have made and kept covenants with Him, and it will forever be impossible for us to repay the blessing bought with the life and blood, the agony and scorn, the pain and the resurrection of the ONE and ONLY PERFECT son of God, our Heavenly Father, the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  That price can never be repaid.  But, just as the limits of my stomach don’t stop me from trying to consume as much delisciousness as possible on Thanksgiving, I won’t let the limits of my mortal frame and lifespan hinder my attempts to always sing praises to my God.  I’m so excited, and grateful for the opportunity to do just that and sing, dance, and above all testify and live in such a way as to glorify Him.  Time has flown alarmingly fast since auditions in January, but still doesn’t quite seem to move fast enough.  Nauvoo here we come, and I can’t wait for the message we send out from there to go to all the world.

Mission Prep

What motivated me... well first off Devin Davis.  He's the one that initially got me to look into it by inviting me to meet with the Camps.  Up until that point I had heard about it and thought it sounded interesting but wasn't something I was going to do because I was getting ready for my full-time mission, but... when I met with the Camps, Elder Camp said something that really made me think.  He said, "If you haven't served a mission come to Nauvoo first.  It’s really the best mission prep you will ever get."  All of the sudden the prospect of Nauvoo became extremely appealing and I decided that I would at least audition.

I began putting together my materials for my audition DVD but as the due date approached I was nowhere near ready, and Devin became my saving grace again as he helped me put together a few pieces of my DVD.  I then went home to finish the rest and got really frustrated with myself not being able to get it how I wanted it and finally I just dropped down and asked Heavenly Father what He wanted me to do because I couldn’t do it on my own.  I sat down and just pondered for a while on who I was and who I wanted to be and how Nauvoo would tie in to that vision.  I realized something about myself is that I love to be able to serve, always.  Nauvoo was going to be four months straight of service to the Lord in a capacity that I love as well.  As I came to that conclusion the Holy Ghost filled me with peace and assurance that at least finishing my application, with no other expectations was the right thing to do.  I knew that if I just kept pressing forward in faith, step by step, that whatever happened would be the what the Lord willed.  I let go of my fears and feelings of inadequacy and offered my time and talents to the Lord to use if He willed and the feeling of peace and assurance never left throughout the auditions and call backs.

Later I learned that Devin very easily could have not been to Nauvoo last Summer.  But, because he followed the spirit he was able to go and have a life changing experience so profound he wanted everyone he could talk to to at least make an attempt at it and apply.  Without his motivation I know I wouldn't be going to Nauvoo this summer and am so grateful for him being an instrument in the hands of God to change my life.