Thursday, September 21, 2017 – Church History Dept. Sr. Curator Steven L. Olsen, Pioneer Memorial, Conservation Storage, New Grove

This morning in our FM Prayer meeting we had a rare treat. We had a guest from the Church History Department speak to us for a few minutes. His name is Steven L. Olsen and he is the Senior Curator and Managing Director of the Church History Department. 

He spoke to us about several things but one that touched me was regarding the Sacramental prayer we hear each Sunday before we partake of the sacrament. He said the prayer consists of three parts: 1) Our supplication 2) Our necessary action and 3) Our promised blessings. He went on to explain that there are two verbs in our call to action, they are: 1) Witness and 2) Remember. He explained that the reason we have church history sites like Nauvoo is so we will “Remember” the Savior and the blessings he gave the early saints in Nauvoo, remember their sacrifice and remember their dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And, as we serve in Nauvoo we “Witness” to all who come and testify to them of the Savior. Throughout the Church, all Church history sites help us fulfill the command to “Remember” and “Witness.”

At work we spent all morning pulling the flowers out of the planters at the “Pioneer Memorial.” All of the gardens here in Nauvoo and in Carthage will have to be removed my mid October to prepare them for the twenty four thousand Tulip, Jonquil and Narcissus bulbs that will be planted by November. It will be a huge job and now is the time to prepare.

We didn’t get to work with Elder Kyle Johnson and Elder Cantwell again today. Quite often they are called away to help in other departments here in FM (Facilities Management). Today they were asked to help move a lot of household furniture and furnishings in the “Conservation” department of FM.

 After lunch we finished our day at a site we’ve never worked in before. Just west of the Temple down the hill a bit there is a very large grove of young trees behind a ten foot tall fence. The fence is to keep the deer out so they won’t destroy the tender saplings. The grove of trees is part of a thirty year plan that was put into place 8 years ago and was one of the things our guest speaker, Dr. Steven L. Olsen, talked about this morning at our Prayer Meeting.

In 2009 a thirty year plan was initiated to prepare Old Nauvoo for its 200^th Anniversary of the founding of Nauvoo by the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1839. Part of that thirty year plan is to reestablish the grove of trees just west of the Temple site in exactly the same place the grove of trees stood in the 1840’s that the Saints gathered in for church services, conferences and to listen to the Prophet Joseph reveal the will of the Lord.

Today the trees in the new grove of trees west of the Temple are still just saplings. But, by 2039 they will be full grown mature trees and the new grove will resemble in every way the old grove that stood there 200 years earlier. Sis. Johnson and I are delighted that we get to be a part of the preparation for the Bicentennial in only 22 years from now. I think I will make my hotel reservation now; I’ll only be 90 years old in 2039!