Wednesday, December 28, 2016 – Vic Wilson, Mission Training, Eagles

Late last night I received word that my brother-in-law, Victor Wilson, passed away after a long struggle with heart disease.  For the last several weeks his health had deteriorated dramatically and he was suffering with pain and other conditions (kidney disease, skin cancer, pneumonia etc, etc.) His family was by his side in his last moments. 

Vic Wilson was not only my brother-in-law; he was my close friend as well as my business partner for 30 years. We worked together, served in many church callings together, played on sports teams together and we raised our families together as next door neighbors. Vic was admired by all that met him for his love, sincerity, compassion and honesty. He loved the Lord, he loved the Gospel and he loved his fellowman.  A kinder and more gentle man you will never know.

Vic Wilson’s funeral will be Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016 in Mesa, Arizona and the visitation will be the evening before, Friday, Dec. 30^th.  Sis. Johnson and I have asked permission from the Mission president to take a leave of absence and attend the funeral. 

We left for St. Louis today at 3:00pm to catch a flight to Phoenix. The flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7:35am.  We will return to Nauvoo and our duties on Thursday, January 5^th.

We received a text message from our daughter-in-law, Valerie. Her son, Eldon is 4 years old. He really misses his grandparents. In fact he always asks us “When are you coming home?” Today Valerie told Eldon that we were on our way home. The following is part of her text message to us about the event:

“Eldon is jumping up and down chanting, ‘I’m so excited to see my grandma and grandpa!’ He keeps asking me if I’m excited to see my dad. We keep explaining that you two are his daddy’s parents, but he says ‘that means grandma is your mommy, too’…. ”

As we drove to St. Louis this afternoon we were treated to a lot of beautiful birds on, in and over the Mississippi River. I am still fascinated that Bald Eagles winter over on the Mississippi River in Illinois. Evidently the fish are abundant in spite of the frozen river. 

I am also surprised that ducks and geese also spend their winters here. They are everywhere. It seems there are always patches of unfrozen water for them.

This morning we attended our weekly Mission Training Meeting. As usual it was very good. Our training included the Illinois Nauvoo Mission Vision Statement, The Mission Objectives and The Missionary Principles. All three of these documents are inspired and sum up in just a few words why Sis. Johnson and I are here in Nauvoo serving a mission. 

Here is the Mission Vision Statement: “Prepare, live, and carry out assignments so visitors will feel the Spirit in every aspect of their Nauvoo experience.” We try to live by these words.