THAT We Took With Us...

 “Over the years, time and the forces of nature erased
almost all of what we had built here, with so much
love and desire…But nothing could erase what Nauvoo had given us.
That we took with us.  And we taught our children, and they
taught theirs.  Which is why when you’re here…We’re here also."
Nauvoo Pageant script
 

This afternoon I was a little hesitant to go to church. The reason is because I remembered how it was when I left, and that was that it was in awful shape. With the new ward change and people who were tired of trying to make the YSA ward work here, it was very challenging for me to stay optimistic and hopeful to have a good experience in this ward. Considering I'll probably be in this ward until I'm married, it was very depressing. Before I left, I was called as the FHE coordinator. It was like pulling teeth to get people to come to activities and be excited about the ward change and anything for that matter. When I left for Nauvoo, the bishopric were a little frantic about what they were going to do without me. They kept telling me they wished they had 300 more of me. Nice compliment, but it didn't help my feelings about the ward at the time. So, I left for Nauvoo and today I went back expecting to find the same ward and people that I left. But I was wrong.

I did find the same people, but there was something different about the ward as a whole. Sacrament meeting was truly inspired. Not that it wasn't before, but it was really good. It just so happens that today is Pioneer Day in Utah, which is the day we celebrate when the early saints arrived into the Salt Lake Valley. So, of course, that is what was talked about. The first speaker talked about Nauvoo and having just been there, I thought about all my experiences there and all that I know about that beautiful city when the saints were there. Then he went on to talk about them leaving Nauvoo. He asked, "Why did they leave?" I know it was to escape persecution, but it was much more than that. Surprisingly to me, the speaker said that. He went on to talk about all the things that the saints took with them BECAUSE they left Nauvoo and how we can learn from them. He quoted a talk that I don't remember which listed some things that we can learn from the early saints leaving Nauvoo. Here they are: Faith, unselfishness, sacrifice, obedience, cooperation, inclusion, and unity. He then said things that made me immediately think of the finale of the Nauvoo Pageant and a specific quote. I'll put it again: 

“Over the years, time and the forces of nature erased
almost all of what we had built here, with so much
love and desire…But nothing could erase what Nauvoo had given us.
That we took with us.  And we taught our children, and they
taught theirs.  Which is why when you’re here…We’re here also.
Nauvoo Pageant script
 

One other thing he said that I felt was very true is that we are living what those early saints dreamed and hoped we would have as they crossed that river into the wilderness. They had it in Nauvoo and they wanted us to have it, too. And here we are! I am so grateful for their examples and that they did teach their children and their children's children all that they took from Nauvoo. 

I couldn't help but also think of this quote by Joseph Smith as the speakers mostly talked about the suffering and trials the saints had to endure to come to where we are today. 

"The Standard of Truth has been erected; No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, and calumny may defame [and I would add people may starve, freeze, and die]; but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independent, til it has penetrated every continent, visited every climb, swept every country and sounded in every ear, til the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

These talks were a tender mercy for me today. It was just what I needed to hear upon returning to my ward from Nauvoo.  

After sacrament meeting my ward has Relief Society. My ward's Relief Society was one of my biggest pet peeves, as guess you can say. I'd experienced it at BYU and this ward was nothing like it-- it was a mess! However, from the start of today's meeting, I could feel the difference, and talking with people afterwards, they felt it, too. It's getting better--more like how I felt Relief Society ought to be when I was in Nauvoo and I said all those things about it. I am so grateful that we are on the right track and I can see this Relief Society becoming all that it can be for the sisters in my ward. Of course, I have to do my part and contribute my time and talents to it and help the other sisters catch the vision of what we can become. I shared some of my feelings with few of the sisters after church, including this quote from the pageant, which I feel is one of the best ways to describe my vision of Relief Society: "Sisters, we are going to do something extraordinary! Come!"

This last thing is something a friend of mine, who is still doing the pageant this week, wrote on facebook. He summarized beautifully the feelings I had when I was there:

I love that Zion truly can be a reality when we dedicate ourselves to the work. And what a beautiful thing it is. True consecration to the Lord brings incomparable joy.

 
I want to keep that feeling with me... I want to do my part of build Zion where I am at. I know that sounds cheesy, but if you have ever in your life experienced what Zion is like and all that requires of you to make it, then you would say the same thing.