Oh beautiful Nauvoo! How we love everything about you! Wonderful, unforgettable experiences keep coming our way. I did something I never thought I would do...I bought blackberries! I wanted to make my blackberry cobbler to share with our FHE group so I had to buy them, it was painful. I'll probably make it again. There are many occasions here to make some kind of food dish to share. We are eating lots of good food, way too much. Our Thursday evening temple shift has a monthly potluck meal during our shift, so we get to sample lots of good food there.
We visited an Amish community in Cantrill, Iowa. Beautiful country! Lots of corn and soybean fields just like we see everywhere we go. We are looking forward to seeing the harvest in the Fall. They just plant and watch it grow, no irrigating, so they really count on the rain, which we haven't had too much of this Summer. So, visiting Cantrill was fun. There is a huge store called The Dutchman where they have a little bit of everything including groceries. They even have quilts made by the Amish, so beautiful! I couldn't resist, so I bought one. The colors in it are the same colors in the temple so it reminds me of the temple. I will treasure it forever. We enjoyed shopping & looking around. Nearby was an Amish furniture store called Yoders. They have the most amazing, well built furniture. A wonderful, friendly Amish man working there told us all about it. Elder Birt and the other two missionary elders with us each bought an Amish hat, pretty funny. We had a good time. As we were getting in our car to leave, the Amish man hitched up his buggy with one horse and off he went, waving to us. It's very beautiful country out there, and lots of it, acres and acres!
Visiting the Tukuafu family was an amazing, unique experience. Brother Tukuafu is Tongan. They met and married in Hawaii, lived there for many years then ended up in Nauvoo, where both of them serve in the temple. They have 14 biological children, who are all married and on their own. They have a unique home they built on the Mississippi River. Whenever new temple missionaries arrive, the Tukuafus invite them to their home for a family home evening. Our FHE group enjoyed an evening there where they gave us a tour of their round house, sang and played musical instruments and served us refreshments. Sister Tukuafu builds harps, ukuleles, and many other instruments in her very small shop next to their home. She is very talented. The recent past general RS presidency visited her a few months ago and sent a video of Sister Tukuafu singing & playing her harp to President Monson. We took videos of her also, she told us "don't you dare send them to President Monson".They are wonderful people with strong testimonies. We sure enjoyed the time we spent with them and we enjoy serving with them in the temple on Saturdays.
One of the things we are enjoying here is doing family history work. We have found many names, which we have taken to the temple and hope to do much more while we are here. We have so many wonderful resources to help us right at our fingertips. There is a Family Search Center next door to the temple, where we have spent many hours. We are presently taking a class from a sister who lives in Nauvoo. Now if we can just remember the things we are learning.
We enjoyed a great visit from two of our kids and their families; Larry & Angela, Shaury and David and all their kids came and spent a few days with us. We had a great time showing them Nauvoo and letting them feel the wonderful Spirit that is here. It's always so fun having family visit, but it's sad when they leave us. Before we finish our mission we will have had visits from all of our kids and all but two of our 17 grandkids. Also, all of my siblings will visit (my three brothers). Elder Birt's brother Ralph & Dana are coming also.
Our time is growing short now. We are trying to take advantage of every precious minute here. We are surrounded daily with rich spiritual experiences that I don't think we could get anywhere else. We are, of course, in the temple five days a week, sometimes six. On the other days, we attend various firesides, devotionals, programs etc.
Last week in the bapistry, there was quite a bit of sand in the font for some reason. The engineer thinks something was wrong with a filter since he had never seen it before. We had a family with two young boys come to be baptized, President Irion told them they were having an authentic experience like being baptized in the Mississippi River. The boys loved it. The engineers are still working on the problem.
Oh beautiful Nauvoo! How we love you! Nauvoo means beautiful city.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Halfway...no way!
Pageant season has ended. We enjoyed the last performance Saturday night. What an inspiring story. So glad we were able to attend several times. We will miss the pageant and all that goes with it. The young performing missionaries, bagpipers and the band. They are very talented performers that seem to have a non-stop schedule. Elder Birt has especially loved hearing the trumpeter, since he played a little trumpet back in the day. He got a chance to talk to him and learn a little about him. These young performers have certainly been entertaining to watch in the pageant and all the little vignettes & shows they do. We will really miss them. We have loved seeing them in the temple. The temple missionaries all wanted to do something to thank them for their service so we put together some gift bags for them. They were very appreciative. We have sure benefitted from their service. We love them! We just learned from President Irion, temple president, that our group of temple missionaries is going to cook & serve breakfast to the YPM's on August 15 before they leave for home. What a privilege to serve them. They have certainly served valiantly here in Nauvoo all summer.
During pageant many people gather in Nauvoo. We got to see Sister Geilman who serves in the Ogden Temple with us. She has been helping with the pageant for years. We had some special experiences with her. Also, we saw Elder Spencer (Brenda Stanger Spencer's son) who is serving his mission in the area.
Our daughter Wendy and her family came to visit. We had a great time with them. It's always so fun to have family visit. Next week my brother, Clayton & Debbie will come then our daughter, Shaury & son Larry and their families will spend a few days with us. In Sept. our son Cory & Paige are coming. Our daughter Becky & her family came in June. So during the time we are here all of our kids and most of our grandchildren will visit & my three brothers. Having family be able to enjoy & participate in the blessings of the beautiful Nauvoo temple is a joy beyond measure. I consider that one of the greatest blessings of our mission, having family share it with us.
The weather in Nauvoo has been great. We expected a hot, humid summer, but have only had 3 or 4 really humid days and not much rain. It's been quite pleasant. The corn & soybeans have suffered a little with the lack of rain. It's been nice enough for the flower beds around the flats to flourish. So many beautiful flowers. I especially enjoy watching the gardens at the Lyon Drug historical site near us, so beautiful. All the gardens and flower beds in the area are kept as nicely as the temple grounds.
One of the special things we especially enjoyed this last week is the King Follett Sermon. The brother who portrays Joseph in the pageant "performed" the sermon. We sat on log benches in a beautiful grove of trees with a small group of people and listened as "Joseph" gave the sermon. It was as if we were taken back in time to that event at Joseph's friend, King Follett's funeral, where he gave that wonderful sermon on the plan of salvation. What an amazing experience. It was definitely a highlight of our mission.
We are enjoying our service in the baptistry where very large youth groups come nearly everyday. They are doing youth conferences, EFY or YM/YW groups and of course, we always have families coming with their own family file names. Brother Birt asked one of the stake presidents with his youth group from Texas how they could afford to bring such large groups. His answer was, "we can't afford not to" because of the positive effect it has on the youth. They will have 30 youth each hour for half the day. The youth of the church are doing amazing things! Examples to all of us.
Some of the sisters have put together a small group of quilters, so of course I had to join them. We are each making a small quilt. I didn't bring my sewing machine so I bought a simple one at Joann's. Now if I can just find time to do the sewing. It's fun to meet with others that share the same interest. We have our small groups for meals, FHE, etc. We share recipes. I have made blackberry cobbler & shared the recipe. It's been pretty painful buying blackberries though! Each missionary couple got to buy one of the rag rugs they demonstrate at the Family Activity Center. So many wonderful opportunities here.
We are so blessed to serve here and feel so much love for our family at home who are all helping to take care of Big Foot Farm while we're gone. We couldn't serve this mission without their help & support. We appreciate you all so much. We miss you all!
During pageant many people gather in Nauvoo. We got to see Sister Geilman who serves in the Ogden Temple with us. She has been helping with the pageant for years. We had some special experiences with her. Also, we saw Elder Spencer (Brenda Stanger Spencer's son) who is serving his mission in the area.
Our daughter Wendy and her family came to visit. We had a great time with them. It's always so fun to have family visit. Next week my brother, Clayton & Debbie will come then our daughter, Shaury & son Larry and their families will spend a few days with us. In Sept. our son Cory & Paige are coming. Our daughter Becky & her family came in June. So during the time we are here all of our kids and most of our grandchildren will visit & my three brothers. Having family be able to enjoy & participate in the blessings of the beautiful Nauvoo temple is a joy beyond measure. I consider that one of the greatest blessings of our mission, having family share it with us.
The weather in Nauvoo has been great. We expected a hot, humid summer, but have only had 3 or 4 really humid days and not much rain. It's been quite pleasant. The corn & soybeans have suffered a little with the lack of rain. It's been nice enough for the flower beds around the flats to flourish. So many beautiful flowers. I especially enjoy watching the gardens at the Lyon Drug historical site near us, so beautiful. All the gardens and flower beds in the area are kept as nicely as the temple grounds.
One of the special things we especially enjoyed this last week is the King Follett Sermon. The brother who portrays Joseph in the pageant "performed" the sermon. We sat on log benches in a beautiful grove of trees with a small group of people and listened as "Joseph" gave the sermon. It was as if we were taken back in time to that event at Joseph's friend, King Follett's funeral, where he gave that wonderful sermon on the plan of salvation. What an amazing experience. It was definitely a highlight of our mission.
We are enjoying our service in the baptistry where very large youth groups come nearly everyday. They are doing youth conferences, EFY or YM/YW groups and of course, we always have families coming with their own family file names. Brother Birt asked one of the stake presidents with his youth group from Texas how they could afford to bring such large groups. His answer was, "we can't afford not to" because of the positive effect it has on the youth. They will have 30 youth each hour for half the day. The youth of the church are doing amazing things! Examples to all of us.
Some of the sisters have put together a small group of quilters, so of course I had to join them. We are each making a small quilt. I didn't bring my sewing machine so I bought a simple one at Joann's. Now if I can just find time to do the sewing. It's fun to meet with others that share the same interest. We have our small groups for meals, FHE, etc. We share recipes. I have made blackberry cobbler & shared the recipe. It's been pretty painful buying blackberries though! Each missionary couple got to buy one of the rag rugs they demonstrate at the Family Activity Center. So many wonderful opportunities here.
We are so blessed to serve here and feel so much love for our family at home who are all helping to take care of Big Foot Farm while we're gone. We couldn't serve this mission without their help & support. We appreciate you all so much. We miss you all!
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