May 31, 2016 - Tuesday in Nauvoo

I was tapped to cover the Handcart site today when the missionaries assigned to the Tuesday schedule had doctor's appointments.  I served with an Elder in my cast as a fill-in because the schedulers needed mom to help in training two sisters at the John Taylor site.  Interestingly, these two sisters have been here for two or three months and still need training!  Oh well, she had to work the summer split shift of 8:45am to 12:00noon and 3:00pm to 6:00pm.  That meant we could not go home before Rendezvous and make the 6:00pm rehearsal.  Here is the handcart station ready to serve the trekkers;

7:30am Tuesday Morning ready to roll!

After our morning devotional and prayers, I walked down to the handcart station from our house so mom could have the car.  We had three groups scheduled for 9:00am.  Each group had different lengths of treks.  One small family took the 1 mile route.  They had two teenagers and they did not seem too excited about spending an hour trekking in Nauvoo.  They took only one handcart for their one mile experience.

The second family wanted a difficult experience for their four boys whose ages were about 6 years to about 11 years.  They had a tough experience with the two mile trek, but hopefully they had a positive time learning how important it is to work together.  And they took two carts!  I caught a picture of them as they were cleaning up the handcarts after they returned to the handcart station;

The family worked hard together!

And the third trek was a newlywed couple.  They were anxious to take on the three mile trek.  It was fun to orient them on the difficulties of the three miler and how important it was to work together.  Beginning their married life together will take a lot of give and take for each of them and they seemed to have that "can-do" attitude as they began their trek.  They even loaded up their handcart with an additional 140 pounds of sand bags to help them have a more "realistic" experience.  Here is a shot of them about two minutes into their trek;

Beginning life's journey - Handcart trek style!

They crossed the trickle of a stream, and got hung up on the opposite bank.  They had to unload some of the sand bags to get over that bump!  I got to walk down and encourage them never to be discouraged with the obstacles that may appear in their life's path.  And I encouraged them to always remember to work together, and be encouraging and kind to each other, as they work through their challenges.  I bet they did not expect this kind of lesson to be taught in Nauvoo at the handcart station!

We got word that the Lasher's traveled safely, today, and made it to Kearney, Nebraska.  They left home at about 5:15am this morning and arrived at their hotel at around 5:00pm tonight.  They made good time and will be here tomorrow night!  We are so excited!

Our Rendezvous Play is now in the full Summer schedule.  There are two shows, automatically, each night we perform through August 13th.  Tonight was the first show with the Jimmy and Marie Vignette.  These are the Young Performing Missionaries playing a vignette that was my role last summer as "Pa" for Jimmy.  It is a fun addition for the summer shows and we are scheduling the Lasher's there for both shows Friday!  Yea!! 

May 30, 2016 - Monday Memorial Day in Nauvoo

I thought that this information I have attached below is significant for this Memorial Day.  For too many years, this was just a three day weekend.  With our country turning its back on the military, I have felt that I needed to do more in keeping a better focus on the significance of the day we set aside to honor those who paid the ultimate price for my/our freedom.  Freedom is not free.  A price was paid and continues to be paid by those who love their country more than themselves. 

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. The holiday, which is observed every year on the last Monday of May, originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Union war dead with flowers. By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate holiday traditions, celebrated on different days, had merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service. It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

On Memorial Day, the flag of the United States is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. It is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.  The half-staff position remembers the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon, their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

A display this morning right outside of Quincy - "One Nation Under God"

This was our P-day that started out with our morning prayers and devotional.  We then had the time to take our morning walk around the flats here in Nauvoo.  We came home and prepared to attend the temple for some initiatories.  We then picked up the pads for our grandchildren coming this week!  We can't wait!  And then we drove to Quincy for some supplies for their visit.  It was a beautiful day and I caught some great pictures this morning;

 

Clouds over the Visitors Center RLDS

Morning lights

Such vivid morning colors from our backyard

And vivid morning colors behind the temple

I shot this from Main Street up to the temple

Joseph and Hyrum - early morning ride

The clouds are so amazing and different each day.  We had threats of rain this morning and a little shower a few minutes after our morning walk.  The streets were pretty quiet as we enjoyed our walk.  However, the humidity was dripping, and I was soaked by the time we got back to the house.

At Quincy we got our supplies at Sam's Club and then went to Panda Express for a Memorial Day lunch.  We have not been to a Panda Express in a long long time and we sure had fun spending mom's gift certificate for Mother's Day!

Yum, Yum - Em Em Emmmmmmmmmmm!

And then we came back to Nauvoo from the west river route, and got home around 12:30pm.  I took a brief nap after polishing off the balance of my Panda Express meal.  Then I manicured the lawn for the upcoming Lasher visit!

The diamond cut at its best!

Then we had our 2nd Sunset show tonight at 7:00pm.  We were the opening cast on Saturday, and with the rotation of casts that is done at the end of every month, our rotation came up to perform again tonight.  Needless to say, the next time we are on the Sunset stage, we will have the Lasher Family in the audience!  Yeah!!  It will be such a fun show so travel safe tomorrow and Wednesday!  We can't wait to see you!

May 29, 2016 - Sunday in Nauvoo

We had a marvelous Holy Sabbath Day, today.  It was our privilege to speak in our mission Sacrament Meeting.  Each missionary couple has the opportunity to teach a Sunday School Class, teach Priesthood or Relief Society, and speak in Sacrament Meeting.  Well we have accomplished all three as of today!  We had a little over 500 in attendance this morning.  It reminded me of the Rigby 10th Ward before we split in 2013!  The Memorial Day weekend brought in lots of family and friends, and soon the attendance will rise to well over 1,000 in the busy July months.

We both felt good about our speaking efforts today.  The block of meetings were all very well done as we enjoyed many wonderful lessons and stories that made an impact.  Here is one story that was given in our Sunday School Gospel Doctrine Class by Elder Andrus.  He owns over 300 18-wheel trucks and moves goods all over the United States.  When  he was serving as the Bishop of his ward in St George, he had a ward member who wanted him to give her son a chance at being one of his drivers.  

This young man, when he was about two years old, was diagnosed with a learning disability that would keep him unable to progress.  However, his mother and father would not accept that limitation on their son and they worked hard to help him develop the skills he was told he could never have.  As he grew older he wanted so much to serve a mission, but the Stake President said he was not able and could not qualify.  However, they did allow him to serve an 18 month service mission, in which he did very well.  

When the mom approached Elder Andrus on her son driving one of his 18-wheelers, he told her that he would have to attend truck driving school.  (This, he thought, would keep him from being the bad guy).  The son took the class with his mom being his partner, (this with the approval of his dad and her husband), and he was able to successfully pass the course!  Well, Elder Andrus was then committed to giving him a chance to drive, but under the condition that he would never drive without his mother as his partner. 

He proved to be a very good driver that first year of working.  Then, one of Elder Andrus's dispatchers had an emergency load that had to go out on a Saturday.  This dispatcher called this young man and his mother said she was not available to go but her son was.  The dispatcher did not know the agreement Elder Andrus had made, so he gave the load to this young man and he took off.  When Elder Andrus found out about the assignment the following Monday, he was concerned and asked where the young man had gone to drop off the load.  (Elder Andrus's home depot was St. George).  The young man had taken the load to Phoenix and had successfully unloaded and was ready to take another load.  Elder Andrus asked where that load was going.  It was going to downtown Los Angeles....  Elder Andrus said he prayed the boy would be safe and make it back home, although I think the dialog might have been a little stronger!

But the young mad did make it back safe, and he met all the deadlines.  In a Bishopric Meeting one of his counselors, who also worked for the Andrus Trucking, suggested that if the young man could successfully take a load from St. George to Phoenix and then to Los Angeles, (downtown no less), and back, then perhaps he could serve a full time mission!...  Elder Andrus agreed and started the young man's paperwork and sent it to the Stake President.  The Stake President called Bishop Andrus and asked him if he had lost his mind!  The Bishop just said, interview him and see what you think.  Well, after that stake interview his papers were sent in and he received a full time mission call.  A year later, the mission president called the Bishop and told him that this young man was one of the best missionaries he had served with!

The bottom line of the story is that when a mom and a dad work with their children, and those children are  ready and eager to learn, there is nothing that they cannot accomplish!  And that wrapped up lesson #20 in the Gospel Doctrine manual, "My Soul is Pained No More".  I am not sure how this story exactly fits in to the lesson title, but this young man had the opportunity of a lifetime to become something much more that he was led to believe early on in his life!  And this was just one of many inspiring stories with Gospel messages and encouragement attached!

May 28, 2016 - Saturday in Nauvoo

We had some pretty good, rumbling, sound effects this morning as the rain and the thunder hit Nauvoo.  The air was fresh, but the fields and trek paths were too wet to allow the handcart site to open today.  We had to cancel four scheduled treks because of the slippery and muddy trails.  Mom and I got to the Handcart Station at 7:00am and talked with the scheduled trekkers, who did not get my text message, on the cancellations.  We then went to the Family Living Center to help out until our shift was over.

The residue of some terrific thunderheads

We were up at our usual time this morning.  The rain had already stopped and the walk would have been wonderful, but after our morning devotional and prayers, we had to report to the Handcart site to let any early arrivals know about the bad trail conditions.  One thing that is good about the rains here is that the trails dry out within a day.  We don't do the treks on Sundays, but we encouraged one family to reschedule for Monday morning.

Mission President Hall

Working at the Family Living Center is a lot of busy work.  I built the fire to bake the bread, this morning, and mom made the bread dough.  I then gave several tours and presentations at the rope making, and the barrel making, (Coopering), and the pottery making stations.  I even gave a tour to the mission president's wife's brother and sister in law.  I encouraged the president to sit down at the loom for this photo opt above.  We made some fun of him  by saying we finally caught him doing some work!  He is starting to lighten up!

Then we closed out the day as the opening cast for the "Sunset by the Mississippi" show.  We had a near perfect evening, with cool cloud cover, and minimal humidity.  What was even better was the audience.  They were so fired up!  It was so much fun to watch the Young Performing Missionaries come alive!  And the senior numbers received some outstanding support for the audience!

The Children's parade at Sunset - The Lasher kids get to be involved!

The stands almost filled up.  This was about 15 minutes before showtime

The Nauvoo Brass Band - they are awesome!

The stage show was great tonight.  Make sure that the Sathre's and the Brown's let the Lasher's know about the kids parade and the Audition!  Tell them all about e-g-g-s!  The skit is even better this year!  There are two returning YPM's this year, Elder Solomon, and Sister Hatch.  Elder Salomon's sister played Marie last year with Jimmy and me!  And Sister Hatch plays 1st clarinet in the band.  And the drummer is absolutely awesome!!  On the part of the show where the band plays "When the Saints go Marching In", his drum solo is way above the top.  The Lasher's will have to tell you all about it when they get back home!

We have had a great day today.  We have enjoyed the day of missionary service and have put the finishing touches on our talks for tomorrow.  Thank you for your prayers and for your love and support in our behalf!

May 27, 2016 - Friday in Nauvoo

It looks like our new "normal" day's schedule will be early to our assignments.  I was schedule in the gardens today and the start time was 7:00am.  Mom got a little later schedule as the Wagon Narrator at 10:30am this morning with her second ride at 12:30am and her last ride at 2:30pm.  It was an overcast day with cool breezes, but the humidity was near 100% and the temperatures were in the low 80's.  Summertime temperatures have arrived!  Here are some shot from our work today;

The assortment for the planters along Main Street

Main Street - Nauvoo

Another shot of Main Street Nauvoo

These are my planting pots!  In front of the Cultural Hall

The master planter - Richard

We planted another 500 or so plants today

The pottery accent

The prized combination of plants raised from seedlings!

What a way to mow down weeds!  1100+ degrees worth!

This last picture shows the brick walkway where the Young Performing Missionaries have Vignettes.  The weeds are growing rampant through the bricks and poison kills the weeds but they look terrible.  Enter the power butane flame thrower!  No more brown weeds, and it disintegrates the green ones very nicely as well!

Mom and I were able to make the 4:00pm temple session tonight.  We saw several of our cast members going in for the 6:00pm session as we were leaving.  We have such great cast members!  We wanted to attend the temple today as part of our need for divine help on our talks this Sunday.

In addition, we are so mindful of the Memorial Day weekend purpose.  Memorial Day was originally "Decoration" Day, that started around 1866, after the Civil War.  The casualties of the various wars involving Americans  is significant and the people of the United States wanted to honor those who paid the ultimate price in fighting for our freedom.  We may or may not know someone, personally, who died protecting our freedoms, but I am grateful for their sacrifices for me, and my family, and all of us who enjoy the blessings of being an American.  We cannot let our freedoms erode away with the whims of the leaders today.  This Memorial Day is an opportunity to recommit to making sure our God given freedoms are protected here in the United States of America!

May 26, 2016 - Thursday in Nauvoo

We woke up this morning to quite a thunderstorm and rain.  It sounded fierce and threatening!  But it only lasted less than an hour.  Mom had her assignment in the gardens today and I went to the Handcart Station and got it ready for some possible visitors.  There were no scheduled treks today so after getting things up and going, I went over to help mom and the ladies do some more planting.

The Nauvoo morning sky after the thunder!

Another view this morning

See the Nauvoo Temple in the lower left corner?

This is the sunrise hitting the thunder clouds over the Stake Center

The residue of the thunder clouds over the Nauvoo Temple

After our morning devotional and prayers, I took our usual walk, without mom.  She had to be at the FM facility by 7:00am so I had my workout, and went to the Visitors Center at 8:45am to pick up the radio and then set up the handcart area.  I was in such a hurry, I did not take some pictures of the handcart set-up...

I met up with mom at 9:15am and we worked hard getting more gardens planted.  The planting of the gardens throughout Nauvoo is about a week or so behind.  They have not scheduled enough workers to help Richard, (the horticulturalist), get the gardens completed by Memorial Day weekend.  I am scheduled there in the gardens, tomorrow, and mom is the 2nd Wagon Narrator.  What a workout it is to bend and stretch and dig in the soil to make these grounds beautiful!

Again, I hit the ground running, planting the gardens and the planters, so I totally forgot to take some pictures.  I will get them tomorrow!  We planted another 2,500 plants.  In total, mom and I have helped to plant over 20,000 plants to help beautify the Nauvoo area.  It is wonderful to have a small part in helping to ultimately plant over 75,000 flowers and bedding plants throughout Nauvoo!

We had our last Rendezvous Play tonight that mom and I will be featured in.... BEFORE the Lasher's come next week!  We are so excited to have them come and be with us!  Tonight, we had two shows.  In the second show, this precious little girl on the front row raised her hand to ask me a question as I was delivering a line.  You can imagine I was trying to see how I could acknowledge her and not miss the lines I was delivering.  Incidentally, there were only about 100 pairs of eyes watching me at this point!  Well, I was able to recite all the lines and then I bent over and gave her knuckles!  She was excited and happy, and so was I!

May 25, 2016 - Wednesday in Nauvoo

Today we separated into one of three zones for a Zone Conference meeting.  That meeting started at 7:30am, this morning, so we had to forgo our walk.  After our morning devotional and prayers, we got ready for the day and left for the meeting at just a little past 7:00am.  There are about 60 missionaries in each one of the three zones, and our discussion today was on the ways we share the Gospel here in Nauvoo.  

Our Nauvoo mission is very unique since many prospective members come to us and eliminate the time to go and find such people to teach. There was good discussion on how missionaries can succeed in the sites as well as in the Visitor's Center.

Mom then went with her FM gardening group to plant more flowers and I went with Elder Heslop to clear some brush along the trekking trails.  This gave me more insights to the trails that the visitors will see this summer.  We clipped back the foliage and mowed down some grasses.  Here are some action shots from the 4-wheeler;

An overgrown trail on the 3 mile trek

Our first pass with the big mower

Another swath along the 3 mile stretch

 It was a very humid morning, so the cloud cover, and the breezes, were welcomed!  We were able to clear most of the 3 mile trek path.  It was so nice to be out, in this country setting,  preparing these pathways for our summer guests.  I am looking forward to working with the various families and youth groups that are coming!!

We closed the evening with our final Sunset practice.  We start the Summer season this Saturday, and we have 23 performances between Saturday the 28th of May, and Saturday the 13th of August.  We have had a great day!  Mom was able to plant more flowers at the Memorial where the Saints entered the Mississippi River on that very cold February morning in 1846.  What a blessing it has been to have such a variety of site and service assignments here in Nauvoo and Carthage over the last 16 months! 

May 24, 2016 - Tuesday in Nauvoo

Happy 13th Anniversary to Josie and Tom!  We enjoyed our day of service here in Nauvoo on your behalf!  We hope you had a great day and that Emma is healing rapidly! 

We had the early morning assignment to open the Handcart Station at 7:00am for the young sister missionaries.  That meant that we were there just before 6:30am getting the handcarts ready to go.  It was an absolutely beautiful day for the two 3 mile treks we had scheduled.  Instead of the storms that were forecast just a day or so ago, the day was perfect for the adventure.

Mom and I were both up before 4:00am this morning.  I took the time to take a shortened walk while mom was getting ready for the day.  We had our morning devotional and prayers and then my walk took about 30 minutes.  We were both ready to report to the Handcart Station by 6:15am.  Here are some pictures of the two trekking groups;

The morning breaks at the Handcart Station!

Contrast 1850's transportation with the 21st century!

Let the trek begin!  The sister missionaries going 3 miles

4 of the 24 young sister missionaries just finishing the 3 miler!

Really!  I was just resting my eyes.... (nice hat!)

Our 10:00am 3 mile trekkers - The Hammond's on their honeymoon!

We have enjoyed getting the trek groups off and running.  I love asking the question, "what was the best part of your trekking experience today?"   The consistent answer is that the relationship of working together is strengthened by selfless acts of serving each other.  The 3 mile trek is pretty level around the fields and through the woods.  But it does take extra efforts as the people work together traversing the hillsides.  Many times we hear the approaching trekkers singing the pioneer songs as they come into the station after completing the trek.  This is a great experience for families, youth groups, and newly weds!

A view of the Handcart Station from the road

Some thunderheads forming early this afternoon

We had the last trek newlywed couple come into the station at about 12:15pm this afternoon.  They cleaned off the mud and dirt on the handcart, from the trail, and then we secured the station.  We then took a short walk along the fence lines and made sure the first three gates were closed and secured.  We then headed home and enjoyed a very quiet afternoon.  We had no meetings or assignments tonight so it was great to just enjoy our afternoon meal, and nap, and read, the rest of the day!

May 23, 2016 - Monday in Nauvoo

We love our Monday P-days!  We had different events planned for our days of preparation.  First, we enjoyed our morning devotional and prayers.  Then we soaked in the beautiful morning air with our nice long walk around Nauvoo flats.  It is beginning to warm up to more consistent temperatures.  Today we started off with temperatures in the low 50's.  We got back to the house a little before 7:00am, and it was already hitting the low 60's.  

While mom was getting ready for her day, I finished some exercises, and then I finished getting ready.  We left the house at about 8:20am for the 9:00am temple session.  We then drove to Keokuk for our grocery shopping and got back home at 12:30pm.  It was warm, with the temperature in the high 70's when we got back to our little home.  I quickly changed and fired up the lawn mower and did the coliseum cut on our large lawn area.  

Mom was very watchful over this crazy worker, and made sure I had plenty of water, since the temperature kept going up.  Finally after an hour and twenty minutes mom put a stop to my coliseum cut and made me wrap up the job.  Actually I was glad she did.  I was sweating like a pig, and felt my body temperature rising.  You see, there are no major trees giving shade on this property we are living at.  I was in straight sun for over an hour.  Believe me the cold shower felt good!

Looks like the Goslings are going for advanced swim lessons!

After the cold shower and a wonderful nap, we got ready for Rendezvous.  This was our "off" night.  We had very small supporting roles.  We had about 50 in the audience and many new missionaries.  We got a lot done today, including more work on our talks for Sunday.  It was a great day of preparation!

May 22, 2016 - Sunday in Nauvoo

Mom and I were able to enjoy this Sabbath Day by attending our morning meetings, and having the day free from site assignments.  We were up early for our morning prayers and devotional.  We then prepared for the day, and left for the Sacrament Meeting at about 7:00am.  We took the opportunity to walk to the Church.  It is about .6 of a mile from our home.  And it was a beautiful Sunday morning stroll to our meetings.

The meeting was a little jumbled with the organist coming about 15 minutes later than usual.  But we always enjoy coming to the meeting early.  Next week we will get to speak in the Sacrament Meeting, and that will complete the assignment for each missionary to speak in Sacrament, teach Sunday School and teach Relief Society and Priesthood, during their mission here.  

We got the assignment within three weeks of arriving here last year to teach Relief Society and Priesthood.  Then we taught Sunday School this past March 2016, and now Sacrament this coming Sunday.  Our first two assignments came in the months with the lowest number of missionaries here in Nauvoo.  Now the Sacrament meeting this coming Sunday is on Memorial Day weekend.  And then, we get to welcome the Lasher Family the following Wednesday!!  We are so excited!

After our meetings today we had a dinner invitation with Elder and Sister Skinner.  We have enjoyed getting to know them this past year.  They are in our Emma Hale Cast and we have done a few things with them over the last year.  We will look forward to staying in touch with them after our mission.  Sister Skinner fixed her wonderful enchiladas and mom brought our favorite salad.  

And the best part about our relationship is that we both enjoy Sunday afternoon naps!  We left for home at around 1:30pm and mom and I have had a very quiet and reflective afternoon.  We have also been able to review our messages for next Sunday.

May 21, 2016 - Saturday in Nauvoo

We looked forward to working at the Handcart site today.  Although we did not have any scheduled trekkers on the agenda, we set up the area ready to enjoy a picture perfect day.  We were up early, and after our morning prayers and devotional, we headed off on our morning walk.  The temperatures were in the mid 40's and perfect walking weather.  There were no bugs or flying insects to taunt us!  I caught these early morning shots about 5:45am this morning;

Notice the Temple overlooking the cool mist in the flats

The pioneers leaving Nauvoo May 1846 may have seen this?

The light fog mist through the pastures on Granger Street

Beautiful green grass and high grass tree pads

The Geese family - down to only two goslings...

Once we open the Handcart station at about 8:30am, we decided to walk the three mile trek.  Mom and I wanted to get acquainted with the terrain.  However, just as we crossed the stream, we caught this family.  They wanted to take the one mile trek to begin their day! 

The Robinson Children

The Robinson's are on an extended home schooling trip through the Church History sites.  They are traveling in their motor-home and the kids love it.  The two older children are going, with their ward youth, to Martin's Cove in July, and they wanted to try out the experience as a family here.  When I asked them who they might be walking for, the oldest daughter in the green T-shirt quickly said Julia Hill.  She is their third great grandmother!  (Julia Hill was the older sister to Emily Hill who was a poetess and song writer).

She knew quite a bit about her ancestor and was anxious to walk where she walked.  These young people were so sharp and knowledgeable about the church history as well as current events.  The five year old, who did not make the picture, was so articulate in her conversation with me!  Here are some more action shots;

The start of the one mile trek

An artist conception of brush stroked clouds!

We enjoyed our last Saturday evening rehearsal for, "Sunset by the Mississippi", tonight from 6:45pm until 8:15pm.  We go live in front of a Memorial Day weekend crowd next Saturday!  We will have 23 shows between May 28th and August 13th!  The Lasher's will see this fantastic show on Thursday June 2nd, and hopefully on the outdoor stage, weather permitting.  Otherwise, if it rains, we do the show on a very crowded indoor stage at the Visitors Center.

We have had a great Saturday here in Nauvoo.  We got home about 1:30pm and had our breakfast for dinner.  We then worked on our talks for next Sunday's Sacrament Meeting, and had some nap time as well.