God is good

     Okay- so I'm a wimp. We sat in the motel in Rawlins checking the roads every hour or so and figuring out how to use our time since we couldn't leave. We had decided to go to a 4:00 movie then checked the internet again around 3 before going to the movie and were shocked to see the roads had opened. Within about 5 minutes we had loaded what items we had in the motel, checked out, and were on the road. I was happy to let Russ drive. Driving east from Rawlins we went through the Elk Mountain area. We were one of the very few non-semi vehicles on the road. The snow was heavy at times but the roads were fairly passable as long as you were willing to drive about 25-30 mph. Russ drove several tense hours until we cleared the bad weather. I drove for a few hours until after 9 pm. I was more nervous than I expected I would be. I guess having been pulled off the road with the trailer affected me more than I realized. I had stayed reasonably calm while sliding around and off the road but I was now tensing up every time the trailer swayed a little. We stopped for the night and in the morning it was raining, sometimes pretty hard. Russ took the wheel and, because the weather never cleared, he drove us the rest of the way through Iowa to Nauvoo. If I had tried to drive, it would have taken an extra couple of hours because I would not have been able to maintain the speed he drove. I am grateful he is such an experienced driver and I could depend on him.
     As we approached Nauvoo, I phoned another missionary couple to bring us a key and get us into our apartment. It was after 5 pm and raining still when we arrived. The welcoming couple were standing in front of our new home under an umbrella, smiling as we approached. I had been asking the Lord for 2 things, that it not be raining so it would be miserable to unload and that we not be in the upstairs apartment. This little house has two downstairs apartments and one upstairs. (This picture was taken a day later when it was nicer and earlier.) Well, it was raining and when I asked which apartment was ours we were told it was the upstairs one. So, I figured the Lord didn't think my request was essential for His intervention. The missionaries asked if we wanted help unloading. At first we said we would just wait until morning since it was, after all, the Sabbath, and it was raining. They explained that the temple was closed the next 2 weeks for deep cleaning so most of the other missionaries were going to be going away, leaving in the morning. It seemed that it would probably be a better idea to go ahead and call in the troops and get the car and trailer unloaded. As soon as the decision was made, it stopped raining.

     True to form for a Latter Day Saints moving experience, within moments we had a small crew grabbing items and hauling them up the stairs. We soon found out that these apartments were some of the largest, which was a concern when considering bringing our food storage and digital piano. This house is just about the nearest one to the temple so it will be a convenient "commute"- walking for 10 minutes when the weather is good. I guess the Lord was listening and caring more than I gave Him credit for, and He always knows more than we do. He may not answer us in the way we expect or even think we want at the time, but it will be even better than we planned.

This is the view not far from our house. The people have been totally hospitable. Since the temple is being worked on, Russ (as an engineer) is going to be busy all day every day. He is helping with new safety tread on the steps into the baptismal font and will change lightbulbs, clean chandeliers, and whatever needs to be done. I am staying busy continuing to clean sugar, flour, gravy, mud, and whatever off everything so it can be put away. There is a shower but no tub so I took a shower with our largest suitcase that couldn't go in the washing machine then set it outside to dry. At this point, the only thing left to clean is Russ's tool pouch. Due to all of the outside pockets and the fact that the zipper across the top is never closed, all of his tools will need to be washed individually then dried and oiled so they won't rust. That's going to take quite awhile. Fortunately, he doesn't need any of them right away because the temple has lots of good tools. Oh, and I discovered my sewing machine will need either repair or replacing. I will take it to a larger town tomorrow and find out what a sewing machine repairman would advise. I just found out from a missionary seamstress where the closest repair place is and within a few hours of getting that information, one of the other temple engineer's wives (having no knowledge of my need)offered me a trip to the town. It's about an hour away. Now my solo trip to find my way in an unfamiliar place has turned into a fine outing with a couple of other women, lunch included! God is good and He loves us.