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Just to catch up a bit...

Last Sunday we attended the Site Missionary Sunday services at 8 AM along with all of the new Temple Missionaries (86 of them) and the site missionaries.  It was an interesting Sacrament meeting.  Typically, Sacrament is in a family ward but this is almost totally made up of senior missionaries, the rest being young sister missionaries serving in the visitor's center (total is to be about 20 this year).  There were enough "gray heads" to fill the chapel, the stand (they were singing a choir number that day) and probably a dozen or more rows in the first overflow so that would be in the neighborhood of 300 to 400 members attending.  The stand was packed also.  Imagine that there are no Aaronic Priesthood as there are no youth, the youngest being a sister missionary of 19 or so.  The oldest or average age being in the 70's.  What really struck me was the fact that it was quiet but 3 minutes before the 8 AM hour and church was to start, it got absolutely quiet and there was not a sound but the playing of the organ prelude music.  Now, that was strange.  No one said anything, it just got quiet all on it's own because the members knew it was time for the meeting to start.  I suppose that is what it will be like in the afterlife...

Tonight we had all of the new temple missionaries meet over at the Nauvoo Inn for a combined dinner get together.  That was about 100 of us including the Temple Presidency.

Room full of temple missionaries.  Not all of them either.  

The Jacobson's sitting at our table, across from Arlene.  They are our neighbors in our tri-plex.  Nice people.  They've been here for 6 months.

This was our server.  Closest thing to a smile I could get out of her.  She's posing with Sister Jacobson.  She served on a mission but had to come home for medical reasons.  She works at the temple and is the sweetest girl you could ever know. Just a real sweetheart.  ...and makes fantastic cinnamon rolls!

We went to "Rendezvous" tonight.  It's put on by the site missionaries.  It is a daily attraction and was quite fun to hoot and holler as they talked about early Nauvoo.  Lots of fun to watch. 

One of the group songs

The principle narrator (the Nauvoo Neighbor printer)

One of the performers cutting up.  quite entertaining stuff.

 Loved it.  Will probably go see it again.  Pageant starts up in May so can't wait for that!

Only 3 days of shutdown left!  Yippee!  I don't think my back can take much more....

The new temple missionaries start their training in the assembly room tomorrow morning.  They did some sessions in the temple today.  The ones that I talked to really love being here so far.  One sister stopped me today and asked me "Do you ever get over the emotional feelings you have in the temple"?  I assured her that she would but also told her that as an Assistant Engineer, I view the temple somewhat differently that she does.  While she walks down the hallways breathing in the spirit there, I am constantly looking for things that I can correct or fix, light bulbs that I can replace, things that can be straightened up, what I need to take readings on in the next hour, the sound of air flowing in the ductwork.  It's just a little bit different for an engineer than it is for someone visiting the temple for the first or second time.  It's quite necessary for a few of us to be that way otherwise no one would enjoy it.  I guess someone needs to be "made" that way so it might as well be me...and that's one of the reasons I volunteer to be an ordinance worker for one shift a week just to keep my head in the game...