"Frozen"

   "FROZEN"

The new Disney movie by the same name could have easily been made here in the Midwest this year. This is the Des Moines river in Iowa yesterday. And the Mississippi river here by Nauvoo is a solid sheet of ice. It should be awesome when it starts breaking up--maybe by the next post.

As I begin this new post, on Sunday night, March 2nd, it is 0 degrees outside with a projected low of -6 degrees tonight. Yikes! LeRoy spent all morning pushing snow so all the missionaries could get to their Sunday meetings--which he did not get to attend. Some mission, huh! But by next week we will see temperatures during the day in the 40's--now that is a heat wave for sure. Bring it on.

 I continue this post on March 9th, and it is a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon, so miracles do happen here in Nauvoo. We went for a Sunday afternoon drive today and saw a huge flock of Snow Geese above us moving south. I am going to miss the birds here so much when we are gone. They fill the air with their calls, and they often stop to rest in the fields near us. This great Mississippi River provides their flyway to guide them--what a marvelous place this is.

February 8th was the commemoration of the Nauvoo Exodus which took place beginning in February of 1846. We did a re-enactment by walking down Main Street and then Parley Street to the river where these families and livestock crossed on solid ice, and then later crossed amid ice floes on rafts.

They left Nauvoo because of persecution from mobs. They literally moved their entire community and businesses of thousands in order to find a safe place to worship God and live peaceably. They left all they had behind--homes newly built and a temple they had sacrificed to build with their own hands. This route used to be called the Trail of Tears, but under the Lord's direction we have grown into a worldwide church and have flourished--so today this trail is called the Trail of Hope. 

I had the privilege of writing the program for the short presentation we had before the march. I read many journal entries of what it was like for these families to leave their homes and move to an unknown destination in the West. I then took excerpts of these and we had seven people reading the accounts as our string quartet played in the background. It was beautiful and very moving.  There are some things we must simply never forget!

 And would you believe, the weather even cooperated for us. We had no wind and a very light snow, which actually warmed it up for us. After the march, we met for homemade cinnamon rolls and hot cider and chocolate. 

Many of us walked honoring ancestors who lived here and made the trek west. LeRoy and I found the names of a valiant couple who had lived here and worked on the temple day and night to complete it before the mobs desecrated it.

Men representing the Nauvoo Legion

LeRoy and I also began our acting career on stage as Peter and Abigail in our nightly play, "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo". What is funny about it is that we did our lines perfectly that night, and since then we have managed to forget some small line in each performance we have done! One night, LeRoy had said a funny line regarding "Ezra can't even read" and the audience of a group of 90 young people cracked up because one of them was named Ezra. Well, their loud response threw me off, and for the life of me I could not remember what came next. It was so noisy that I could not hear the prompter. I finally had to turn around and look at the prompter and read his lips. Boy, these senior brains of ours can sure short out at times!

LeRoy and I and some friends celebrated his 71st birthday by driving to Burlington, Iowa, where we ate at "The Big Muddy" restaurant which is along the banks of the frozen Mississippi. We then went to see a movie, "Monument Men". It was great fun.

On Valentine's Day we celebrated by having a dance for all the missionaries. With our great missionary band playing we all had the opportunity to dance on the very floor so many pioneers here in Nauvoo would have danced on. It took place in the Cultural Hall, where we have our plays, and the third floor has the actual flooring which was preserved all these years. Brigham Young and Joseph Smith and their wives would have danced there!!

Keith and Linda Hufstetler

Many days have been spent by the sister missionaries making the 80,000 molasses gingerbread boys and girls that we hand out at the Scovil Bakery during the summer. I had fun making about a thousand of them one morning. You can see that we sampled a few off this tray!

I guess I will end this post by sharing "birdie" pictures. I wish I could claim to be the photographer, but not so. We do have some amazing photographers here, and obviously many things picture-worthy. Next post will show evidence that spring is right around the corner!

Male Cardinal

Female Cardinal

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Black-and-white Warbler

Oh, I have been asked to be in charge of the Women's Garden this summer. This is a special garden dedicated to women and their influence on others.  That means that I will be responsible for keeping it clean and presentable to the public each day. I am really looking forward to it. What a great way to end a mission!

LeRoy will be working on the grounds mainly mowing. That means no "Big Bertha" water truck for us--Yahoo! Two missionary couples have been asked to do it this year--that way they can have some variety by working in the sites also. 

Our Virgin, Utah, home as of last week!