Back Again

This is a long time in coming, but I want to share the miracle of how I came to be here in Nauvoo. My story is a story of simple, but powerful miracles that shows that our Heavenly Father has a plan, and that it encompasses every single thing that happens to every one of us. It is story that begins, with a common cold.

My story of how and why i'm here begins one Sunday, In a Sunday around November 2010. During the cold winter months, many of us get get to suffer through a cold or other illness, and my little brother Sam, was doing just that. Because of this, my mom had to stay home to care for him. Being a great mom, she decided that since they weren't going to have a sharing time at church, she was going to go on the church website and have their own at home. Well, she opened up the page, and to her surprise, she saw this announcement that read something like "families wanted to be in the Nauvoo pageant." My wonderful mother was so thrilled with this, that she decided to apply to be in it, and see what happened. Well a few months later we got a call back, and we were accepted to be in the Nauvoo pageant.

So, that next summer, we  went to Nauvoo for the two weeks we were in the pageant, and let me tell you, Nauvoo has a special spirit to it. From the first minute I got there, to now, I have felt it, and i know  now that it is because of the saints who sacrificed so much when they left, so we all could have that we do. I have felt that spirit whenever i have been here since. 

Well, we were in the pageant for that year, and we loved it so much, that we decided to apply for it again. By this time we knew that out of around 800 families that applied, only around 250 were accepted, so we figured that it probably wouldn't be our turn again to be in it, but we went for it anyway. I guess that is where we were meant to be, because we were called back again. Because we had already experienced it once, we were able to enjoy a lot more of the sites to see around Nauvoo, and I was able to go to the family living center and talk to one of the band sisters that was giving tours there at that time, and I had seen the band on the streets, and thought it would be something really fun to do, so when we got home from Nauvoo, I decided to audition. I sent in my video, and was called back, but I Live in Missouri, so they just had me send in another video, and I was accepted, and called to be a missionary out here in Nauvoo.

There's more back-story to it though. When I was younger, i actually played the violin in school orchestra, and i never considered learning a brass instrument. Only when my parents moved us to a small school in Missouri that had no orchestra program did i consider playing a brass instrument. I actually decided to play the trombone, and i learned that. Well, our band was missing an extremely important instrument, the Tuba, so I took it upon myself to learn it, and. Without that intricately mastered plan, I wouldn't be serving here today, and again, just goes to show the power, but also the love, god has towards us.

While I've been serving here, I am reminded again and again of our Heavenly Father's eternal plan for us, and I hope my story helps you all as well.