Week #51, 27 November - 3 December 2017

We were to Burlington on Monday, and stopped at Old Fort Madison on our way home to take a tour.  We were a little late as it is closed for the season.  It was built in 1830 and was a part of the Saints lives when they lived in Nauvoo in 1839-1846.

We were in charge of family night along with the Hardy's.  We decided on the temple missionaries going to Rendezvous In Old Nauvoo together one last time.  The musical was discontinued on Thursday, November 30.  It will be interesting to see what comes next.

We enjoyed our shifts in the temple with the opportunity to go as patrons on a couple of sessions.  That helped us finish up our family file cards from when we came here.  It has been quite a journey and indeed a blessing.

Thursday evening we enjoyed dinner at the Irion's along with Sister Udall.  Sister Udall left yesterday for her home in Snowflake, AZ.

They gave us this picture and encouraged us to mark all the places in the world our family has or are serving missions.  It will be fun to do that.

When we left the Irion's, Bob took this picture of the temple and the moon.  We actually went out to the temple Sunday evening in hopes of getting a picture with the super moon but there was a cloud cover, thus no moon.

We were to the Community Christmas Tree Lighting program on Friday.

It was a festive event with the Warsaw High School 1A Jazz Combo providing the reshow and Post Show.  They did a great job and were augmented with the Warsaw High School Choir singing three Christmas songs throughout the program.

 Our friend, Amy met up with us to enjoy the evening.  After the program we took the wagon ride to Main Street.  From there we went to various sites to hear stories of Christmas carols and then join in singing them.

Barbara, Megan, Amy, and Elisia.

We ended up at the Family Living Center where we enjoyed refreshments along with hot chocolate.

Bob kept Elisia supplied with gingerbread cookies.

Sunday we had Break the Fast at our apartment with the Duncan's and the Hansen's.  I planned the menu around what I have left in the kitchen and that ended up being haystacks.  It made for easy assignments to the others and an easy meal to serve and enjoy, which we all seemed to very nicely.  Sister Duncan brought ice cream, berries, whipped cream, and nuts for dessert.  It was perfect and went well with after dinner conversation.

We also enjoyed the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and were reminded of love, service, and forgiveness - ways to strengthen our testimonies and to Light the World at this Christmas season.  What a fun time of year this is and all because of the Savior's birth.  As the brother speaking in the devotional said:  "It is His birthday, yet we are the ones who get the gifts."

We can all give the gifts of love to others, service to those in need, and forgiving all who cross our paths who may be offensive.