How Beautiful!

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (Isaiah 52:7)

My Sunday School lesson this week includes this scripture. I've been thinking about it a lot. When the prophet Abinadi in the Book of Mormon stood in front of the wicked King Noah and called him to repentance, one of Abinadi's chief priests ask him, "What does it mean in the scriptures when it says "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings..." What followed is a beautiful sermon on the savior. I am convinced that it was the future prophet Alma who must have been touched by Abinadi's words who asked this question. I think it was his way of telling Abinadi that he had received a witness of the Lord and that he loved and appreciated Abinadi. At the time, Abinadi may have thought that his words were for naught. Shortly after this, his last sermon, he was put to death by fire. He was secure in his relationship with His Savior but I imagine he knew a thing or two about discouragement. What he did not know was that his words would not only save Alma but through him the gospel would be preached to three nations. Thousands and thousands of lives were changed in the Savior, and through recorded scripture, many more continue to be even today. I am grateful for a man that held true to the faith even when it seemed that all his efforts were for no effect. I am grateful for a man that knew the Savior, and that made all the difference.

My Nauvoo Memory Stick

For those of you who saw me at the pageant, you probably saw me carrying around my large walking stick. This is a certain hobby of mine, to carve on walking sticks. I usually don't ever finish carving them, but they are fun to hike with and always have something to do while resting. I thought it would be fun to do a walking stick while in Nauvoo, so prior to going I found a good cedar pole. I never quite know what I'll do on these sticks but started on the bottom, carving the words, "Red Cast" and "Nauvoo" up the sides vertically, rimmed horizontally with "2010." In Nauvoo, I had the idea that it would be fun to have everyone sign my stick, so I carved groups of five sided flat spaces up the stick. It was a great way to meet and talk to everyone in the cast. I believe that I succeeded in getting a family member to sign the last name of all the families in the cast as well as the first names of the core cast. In between these groups of names I decided to carve in the Nauvoo temple stone symbols of the sun stone, moon and the star. Amazingly enough there was a perfect number of spaces to have three sets of those up the stick. Lastly, I carved the temples bell tower/spire on the top (without the angel). I have finally finished and wanted to share the pictures with you.

One of my endearing memories of Nauvoo was the spirit of togetherness that we felt together as a cast. This spirit of "Zion," of being of one heart and one mind was an experience that we don't often get to feel. For me, the time we shared in the temple as a cast and then symbolically building it every night on stage represents our efforts in building the kingdom of Jesus Christ on the earth. My stick reminds me of all the cast and how the temple binds us together as one in the Lord.