July 9, 2016 - Saturday in Nauvoo

Mom and I got a little break today in our morning schedule.  We were able to take our early morning walk before having to report to our site assignment at the Handcart Station at 7:30am.  We have not been able to take our walk for several days, so this was a welcomed development.  We were both up early; mom before 4:00am, and I got up around 4:15am.  We had our morning devotional and prayers and then were off on our walk before 5:00am.  Here are a few shots along our trail...

The sunrise over Nauvoo - view from Parley Street

A new path along the back roads to our home on Wilcox

Lot's of nature related things to see along the new path

Taking a peek at the early morning walkers - Bambi and her baby

The temperature was in the mid 60's, for our walk, and kept cool for most of our shift at the Handcart Station.  We opened up the site by 7:25am and had our first trekkers there waiting for us.  We had four groups today and they were all at various levels of wanting to take this trek.  

One family of 2 sons and 2 daughters along, with mom and dad, came in for the 8:00am trek and the older teenage son was not too excited about the adventure.  I asked the family how much time they had, and they were open all morning.  They signed-up for the one mile trek, and I showed them the optional, modified, two mile adventure that I felt they would get the most out of.  The boy was not too interested, but he was willing to participate.  When they opted for the longer route, I was interested to know how he felt about it.  When they got back, he was all smiles and said he would definitely do it again.  In fact the entire family pretty much agreed that this was "the best day ever!"

With another family,  I started off asking the question about what they knew about the, "Iron Rod".  Their seven year old son responded right away with, "it is the path back to Jesus".  I love telling the story about staying on the path and avoiding the Poison Ivy and Poison Oak and the Thorny Locust Tree!  And tying that in to the Iron Rod gives the listener and visual aid to how the path and the rod relate!  

This family was well prepared for their trek and had a great experience.  Mom and I count it as one of the choice experiences and privileges we have had here in the Illinois, Nauvoo Mission, to work the Handcart Station!

Grandfather with his teenage granddaughter

We weren't sure whether these two would be able to complete the one mile trek.  They started off struggling over the first hill.  However, they came into the station less than an hour later with a noteworthy experience together.  It was fun to see them make this lifelong memory together!

Another visit from Bambi at the Handcart Station

He came and saw us and then turned around and disappeared!

We were able to have our Handcart Station all cleaned up by 12:00noon.  All the trekkers had returned by around 10:30am so we had a very quiet late morning.  I went out on the one mile trail and checked the gates and trimmed up some low lying branches.  We were able to leave right on time and make the 1:00pm temple session before our 6:00pm Rendezvous Play.  \

Mom and I are probably not too popular here in Nauvoo with most of the senior missionaries.  We try to get to bed as early as we can each night, and then start our day bright and early every morning.  We don't go out for late night dinners with the cast and we don't try to see all the mid-west sites around here.  Instead we prefer to have our evenings and P-days uncluttered so that we can attend the temple and rest around the house and keep our sanity.  Maybe that's why we haven't missed a mission assignment so far.... and we are going into our 18th month here in Nauvoo....  

That works out perfectly fine for us.  After-all, this is our time to consecrate our talents and efforts to being the best missionaries we can be.  We are grateful for the trust Heavenly Father has in us, and the opportunity to serve Him and those who come to visit Historic Nauvoo!

Our Rendezvous Play went well tonight. We had two shows, but neither one was full.  We have sure enjoyed working together in this cast.  It seems like everyone gets along fairly well, and the lines, and the songs, and the dances are pretty consistently performed to the standards set by the director.  It still boggles my mind to think that mom and I are stage performers... who would have ever thought??