"I think the Lord is in this."

The title of this post comes from a quote by Joseph Smith when Emma informed him that the women of Nauvoo wanted to officially organize. I have more that I want to say about that, but I will share that in a future post.

We have posted about many incidentals of our trip here, but we have written little about what is really happening. This is a profoundly spiritual experience. If you are working in the pageant and do not feel overwhelmed by the Spirit at least a few times each day, you probably are not paying attention.

As we immerse ourselves in this work, we have grown closer as a family and have come to understand better what it means to follow the Savior and to love those around us. And as we have done that, the normal pursuits of life suddenly seem so hollow and artificial. Things that normally consume our thoughts from day to day (recreation, entertainment, pleasures, occupations, and satisfying other desires) just seem so unimportant. The only things that are of real importance are strengthening family, following the Lord, building His kingdom, and inviting all of God's children to feast on the delicious truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course those other things are often good, even important, but when we are immersed in service it seems to give us a clearer perspective on our priorities.

(Joseph, Emma, and Jane Manning)

Every day, in addition to experiencing small miracles of our own, we have opportunities to hear stories of miracles that have touched lives through this pageant. Jeff Dickamore, who plays Joseph Smith, was visiting with us this week and I asked him the craziest thing that had happened to him during a performance. He told the story of a young boy who decided that the martyrdom march would be the ideal time to run up to "Joseph" and ask to be picked up. Jeff picked him up and carried him through the rest of the the march. The boy's mother was mortified, and after the performance was over came to Jeff and informed him that she just could not do this any more and planned to leave Nauvoo the next morning. However, before she had finished her conversation, a woman who had witnessed the performance also approached Jeff to declare that the most powerful part of the pageant was the part where the young boy had run to Joseph during the martyrdom and portrayed the children's love for Joseph and Joseph's love for children. To her the incident was filled with testimony. (Of course the boy's mother was reassured and remained to perform in the pageant.)

There are several other stories that I have made note of to myself and that I will try very hard to share on the blog. I don't know why it is so much easier to talk about the weather and costumes than it is to talk about the things that really matter. We will try to share a balance of both.