Sunday, February 12, 2017 – Sis. Lowe’s talk, Sis. Aina’s Hawaiian Lei, Jonathan Browning Gun Shop, Dan & Anna Price

Al l of the talks in Sacrament meeting today were great. The theme for the meeting was prayer. During his talk Elder Lowe made an interesting and quotable statement about prayer. He said, “Prayer is not a negotiation, prayer is a process to align ourselves with our Heavenly Father.” I like that.

Our Nauvoo director, Sis. Lowe was one of the speakers and her talk was on prayer. She related the story of the Primary hymn “We’ll Bring the World His Truth” also known as “Army of Helaman.” This hymn has been a favorite of Sis. Johnson and I for decades. When each of our sons left on their missions we sang it as a family choir number. This hymn has special and deep meaning to us. We have loved the words, the message and the music to this beloved hymn. It was fascinating to hear the story of how the song came to be.

Sis. Lowe said she was the Stake Primary Choir director in 1983 in Provo, Utah. She needed a song for the children to sing in Stake Conference. She couldn’t find what she was looking for and in answer to her prayer she was prompted to call her good friend Janice Kapp Perry, a little known aspiring song writer. Sis. Lowe asked her to write a song for her 200-voice children’s choir which would be a stirring, upbeat song that would express the children’s responsibility to share the gospel. A short time later Sis. Perry gave Sis. Lowe a handwritten sheet of paper with lyrics and music to a previously unheard song. That was the beginning of the beloved hymn “Army of Helaman.” Thank you Sis. Lowe for the beautiful story and thank you for heeding the prompting of the spirit.

Our good friends, Elder & Sis. Aina, are in the Emma Hale cast with us. This morning in Sacrament meeting we noticed Sis. Aina was wearing a beautiful Hawaiian lei. Elder Aina gave it to her for Valentines. It was a very unique design we’ve never seen before and it was very fragrant. Elder Aina ordered the lei on line from Hawaii and had it delivered overnight! Just beautiful, what a great Valentines’ gift.

This afternoon it was our privilege to be site tour guides at the Jonathan Browning Home and Gun Shop. I love serving in the sites because we learn so much about the history of Old Nauvoo and get to meet new and interesting people. This was our first time to serve in the Browning Home and Gun Shop.

Jonathan Browning wasn’t just a gun smith but he was a faithful pioneer that loved the Lord and followed the Prophet. He was not only a prolific gun inventor but he gave tireless service to the poor and destitute pioneers as they crossed the great expanse of the American wilderness to Utah to find refuge from persecution.

Jonathan Browning’s legacy lived on even after he arrived in Utah. The seeds of Jonathan’s inventive genius would alter the course of history for the United States of America.  John Moses Browning, son of Jonathan & Elizabeth Browning combined his own inventive genius with the skills he learned from his father and in 47 years was issued 128 different patents covering a total of eighty complete and distinct firearm models. He invented automatic pistols, rifles, machine guns and cannons used by the United States Armed Forces even today.

He invented the .45 automatic pistol, the B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle) and the air cooled .30 caliber machine gun. All three were used in two world wars, the Korean War, Vietnam, and by our present armed forces all over the world. They were manufactured by the hundreds of thousands to be used by servicemen in airplanes, tanks, jeeps, boats, and armored personnel carriers. John Moses Browning is recognized as the world’s greatest gun inventor and contributed more to the national security of the United States of America than any American inventor who ever lived.

Sis. Johnson and I gave a tour today to a couple from Moscow Mills, MO. Ann & Dan Price. Their home is only three hours away, outside of St. Louis, MO. They were staying at a nearby bread and breakfast in Keokuk. They found out about Nauvoo and the Browning Home and Gun Shop because they asked if there was anything interesting they could see today before they went back home. They loved the tour, the guns and the history of Old Nauvoo.

We had a delightful visit with the Prices. They told us about their daughter, Deanna Price, an Olympic hammer thrower! She qualified for the finals in Rio de Janeiro last summer. She threw the hammer (Weighing 8.82 pounds, on a 31 inch wire) 239ft 9inches. She finished 8^th best in the world. Wow, that is quite an accomplishment!