Final Dinner and Testimony Meeting, and Temple Devotional Meeting




We started our mission with a welcome dinner and we ended it with a closing dinner and testimony meeting on Monday September 10.  I remember back to the beginning when we were ill at ease with one another because we were still strangers.  But by this closing dinner, we had put in a lot of hours together working hard to make the temple run smoothly and provide a good experience for all of the patrons who came to do the work for their ancestors.  We helped out wherever there was need and lifted and supported each other often to make it all run smoothly. We laughed a lot, cried a little and shared many spiritual experiences.  In a way it felt like we were living in a Zion society.  And in the end, we became good friends.  It was nice to have a last chance to bear our testimonies and say good bye or better yet, "until we meet again." We were part of a chorus that sag the opening and closing songs. The closing song is called "Dear Nauvoo" and can be heard by another singer on You Tube. It has become a favorite of ours.


Our Temple President/Mission President, President Richard Irion  


Our closing dinner was held in the Nauvoo Pageant Headquarters








The couple sitting to my left are Rebecca and John Hawkins.  He attended the MBA program at BYU the same time as Norm did and it was nice to be able to renew that friendship after many years.




At each plate we received this page that honored our Matron and Temple President.  They really did a great job in making this a wonderful, fulfilling experience for us. We will love them forever!

Temple Closing Devotional
Sunday afternoon we arrived at the temple for the closing devotional.  It included all of the workers from the temple, not just the missionaries.  By the time we arrived most of the seats were already filled and they were starting to fill up the raised pews at the west end of the Assembly Room.  At first we were seated on the side and in the back but then as they started to place people in the pews we took advantage of the opportunity to sit there.  ( The arrow shows where we were seated.) All summer long I had wanted to experience what it would have been like for Joseph Smith and the other brethren to hold a meeting in this room.  I now have to confess that it is not a comfortable place to sit.  There is just a wooden bench with very little leg room. But being up high made it easier to see the speakers. This beautiful room takes up most of the space on the first floor of the temple and is situated just behind the lobby.  It is patterned after the first floor in the Kirtland temple though there are some differences.  It is used only by permission of the First Presidency and is used mainly for meetings that require a larger room to accommodate those who are invited to attend. The last time we were invited to attend a meeting in this room was when President Nelson was there in early May.

It was a very nice devotional with each of the presidency and the matrons taking a moment to speak to us and reflect on the importance of the things that we accomplish in the temple. Two brothers sang special numbers.  Brother Marshall is the recorder and has a beautiful tenor voice.  He sang for us at the opening devotional.  The other one was Brother Moyes.

We were seated in the center pulpit on the left end of the bench.  It was a great view, but not very comfortable.

Every time we finished our temple shift we came out of the front door and as we stepped to the edge of the porch a magnificent view of the Mississippi River opened before us.  If it was the evening shift then the view was almost always a beautiful sunset.  But if we were on the morning shift then the view was similar to the one below.  It was a view we never grew tired of!!


Our final view of the Mississippi River from the temple steps.




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