Having the Greatest Time

Mother's Day Ramblings

May 10, 2015

     When we went to church today all the older Samoan sisters were wearing white dresses. In Sunday School I complimented and asked a new member of our ward from Hawaii why they were all in white. She told me in her culture and she assumed in the Samoan culture that it was tradition for a woman to wear white on Mother's Day if her own mother had passed away. I love that. What a tribute to our own mothers. I say today to my own dearest Mom that I have finally become a believer in the Mother's Day holiday.  I am over those Mother's Day feelings that creep in all women's hearts on occasion. Guilt for not really being "That Mom". Mad at Mike because his own dear mother is still alive. More guilt. Some of you may know the routine.....I am here today to say Hallelujah! I have a mother I dearly love and I love to be a mother and grandmother. Besides the Gospel of Jesus Christ and my elder, it is my greatest joy.
     On a whirlwind of a trip on our P Day yesterday, we walked the quiet streets of Nauvoo. We admired the beautiful walls of our temple. We sat in the room in Carthage Jail where the young Prophet Joseph and Hyrum were murdered. I felt again great love for those two men and their families. We will go back before we leave this country. We will stay longer and visit the temple. When we stood at Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith's grave looking over the Mississippi, I felt gratitude to them for raising two good boys. Not all moms have to experience the heartache that Lucy Mack Smith went through. But we each, in our own time will experience our own losses. Can we do it Sisters? Can we rise to our own personal occasions of greatness? I say Yes. Time and The Savior will heal all wounds.
     Our grandsons, Teag and Zane, have both had recent birthdays. They are both such good boys. They are being taught well by good parents. I can't stress enough, Jessica and Addie.....Do not let those boys go on missions until the practice of making their bed and cleaning the toilet becomes second nature to them.  Nauvoo became The City Beautiful because of good, good men and women who worked hard. While the men went on missions, the women and their children were in charge of draining the swampy land down by the river. And this they did. With no shower or Maytag to go home to each evening to clean the day's toil off so they could start again the next day.
     The rains continue to fall here in Independence. So foreign to me. I will continue to plead to the Lord for Ted and his family as they begin to develop a new life without their beautiful wife and mother. I continue to watch from here as our own daughters in their respective homes work at being a Mom. We celebrate each family's accomplishments. This week it is Jordy's passing of the Bar in AZ. and our Kenz taking 2nd place in state Track. Way to go! Don't forget, my darlings. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It is worth it to stay the course. Happy Mother's Day.

All my love,
Sister Seaman

Two Guys on Horseback

     I was standing on the crest of a hill overlooking the Mississippi River yesterday.  It was so beautiful I could hardly contain my emotions.  It is GREEN here in the Midwest right now.  As I was looking out at the view, my eyes focused on a larger than life bronze statue out in front of me.  It was a large casting of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on horseback.  They were stopped and in the action of talking to each other.  Their backs were to Nauvoo, Illinois  and  facing the Temple.  I don't remember exactly what the inscription was, but it was something like, "Leaving Nauvoo for the Last Time."   I could be dreaming.  It looked so real.  I was barely keeping myself from breaking into a full fledged sob.  The spirit of that sacred place came flooding back to me. 
     I have written in this blog at times about sacrifice.  I am writing about it again and probably will again several times.  Almost every time you visit a church historical sight here in the Missouri and Illinois, you gain a little more understanding of what it means to sacrifice. You remember how great the sacrifice of the Mormon people was.  I have often quoted great church leaders that said "obedience is greater than sacrifice."  I am still a believer but I am learning that obedience is very often sacrifice and as you learn to bend your will to His, sacrifice in some form is required.  Sacrifice also brings the blessings of Heaven.
     I drove some of the Visitor Center Sister Missionaries to Adam-ondi-Ahman on Thursday for a tour of the place.  It was great.  I stood on Preacher's Rock where Joseph Smith delivered sermons.  I stood down in the grove of trees and listened to a man's voice as he talked from Preacher's Rock in a very low voice and heard every word. I stood where Lyman Wight's house was located just a few yards up the hill from Preacher's Rock.  I stood where it is believed that there were ancient altars of Nephites and Adam and Eve.  I saw the place on the ridge of Spring Hill where Joseph Smith dedicated a temple site (there were no corner stones laid here.) I felt the very quiet spirit of that place which is also so sacred.  There aren't any beautiful structures here, but the church spends a lot of money and 12 couples sacrifice a lot of time to keep the thousands of acres as beautiful as temple grounds.  It is amazing.  It will be real amazing when the place will be used for it's intended purpose some day soon.
     We continue our mission in Independence.  It doesn't change much from day to day but we are loving it.  We are having the greatest time serving.

Sincerely,
Elder Seaman
    

Nauvoo Temple

Joseph and Hyrum

Carthage Jail