Nauvoo the Beautiful

Boy, what a trip! We left Provo, UT, about 1:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, March 20th. We had finished our experience at the MTC at noon that day. Everyone in our group was anxious to get on the road. We could see that the weather was worsening and was forecast to be snowy, windy, rainy all the way to Illinois.

That last morning at the MTC was a very interesting lesson for us all. We had been asked to bring an "artifact" and use it as an object lesson for teaching an aspect of the gospel. We chose the "Thompson family plant" for our artifact. I had to bring it along with us--I mean doesn't every RV'er carry a houseplant? This rather homely begonia has quite a family history--according to LeRoy's mom it came across the plains with her ancestors, the Kearl's, when they made their way to the Salt Lake Valley. So, when I married LeRoy I was given a cutting of the plant, and I have since tried to pass it on to my children, but as of yet none of them have a cutting. But I have certainly passed it on to friends through the years with a challenge to keep it going. So, using the plant, we taught of the sacrifice made by our forefathers who gave their all to live where they could worship as they chose. It was amazing what other couples used for their artifacts--from wedding rings to pictures of ancestors.

The trip to Nauvoo was fortunately uneventful except for the weather--it was as forecast-- snowy, WINDY, and rainy. The storm was literally right on top of us as we traveled. Many of our group had traveled faster and were ahead of it the entire way. But we really enjoyed the trip. Neither of us had been in that part of the country. That southern route through Wyoming was really ugly, but as we moved into Nebraska and Iowa it was absolutely beautiful. The rolling hills and fields of winter wheat and corn stubbles went on forever. We stopped one night in Kearney, NE, and found a nice RV park along the Platte River. All that afternoon we were truly in awe as we saw the sky absolutely filled from horizon to horizon with migrating water fowl of every variety. The fields were covered with Sandhill Cranes and geese. That night as we went to sleep we could hear the geese honking overhead as they continued their trip north. I went to sleep thankful for such an experience and so grateful for the Lord's creations. I wish I could put a picture in of the experience--I can still see it in my mind.

We arrived, finally, about noon on Saturday, the 23rd of March. We were the last ones of our group to arrive. I think our mission president had almost given up on us. We met him and his wife and received instruction after instruction and then were led to our RV park here which is just for missionaries. It is beautiful, as you can see. The first thing I did was get out a bucket of water and wash our filthy windows. We could not see out of them after our very messy travels.

 We attend church on Sundays at a chapel not far away from here. All the missionaries, about 160 of us right now, whether site missionaries, or temple missionaries attend together for sacrament meeting. Then, we move to the Nauvoo Visitors' Center for Sunday School, and Relief Society/Priesthood meetings. That Sunday morning dawned cloudy and snowing. We got about 4-6 inches that day. After church we all have assignments of some sort. Most of us work in the sites. The sites are the restored homes and workplaces of the members of the church who lived here in the years from about 1838 to 1846. There were some home sites still here when the Church began restoration in the 1960's, but most had been leveled or were in poor condition. Today they are restored as close to the originals as they can be. Some are modernized with electricity and running water and air conditioning. Many of our group live in some of the old, restored homes. They are usually very narrow homes with about 3 levels and very narrow stairs to each floor. But they have such charm! We have decided to move into one of them in the winter time next year. We are tired of being cold!!

So, what do missionaries do? In a word, EVERYTHING. We have been busy from sunup to sundown-thirty. We had training all of last week--from singing to working in the various sites. Our mission president and his wife had a small group of us over one morning last week for a breakfast of waffles. They seem like wonderful people and have a great sense of humor. Whenever we, as couples, address each other in public by our first names (we are supposed to call each other Elder or Sister) we are chided by them and told  that our mission has been extended by a week! Yikes!

We have to learn about the history of each site so we can share it with visitors. Last week and this week have been spring break for many parts of the country so we have had lots of people visiting. I can't imagine what it will be like this summer when there are thousands of visitors every day. This site to the left is the Brigham Young home while he lived here. It is a beautiful home--one of the nicest here.

One of the things that all of you will love doing here is riding in the horse drawn wagons or carriages. These beautiful animals live right down the road from us and we pass them every day as we go to our work. They are so friendly, but so BIG. They are all Clydesdales or Percherons.

 Tonight LeRoy and I have song practice again for the production that is done 365 days a year here--"Rendezvous". It is a really fun/sad story about Nauvoo and what happened here produced and acted by the Senior Missionaries of Nauvoo. Even LeRoy will be singing and acting! Next week we will be assigned a group to perform with. ALL Nauvoo missionaries take part in some way, and from what I can see they have great fun. More later on that . . . . .

Between all these activities we have zone and district conferences, firesides, talent shows, breakfasts, numerous dinner invitations, training meetings, etc. The spiritual instruction is humbling and inspiring. Just this morning we were encouraged by hearing that, "We are a small force, but our service is always followed by an outpouring of blessings."


So what do Elder Thompson and I do daily from 7am to about 1:30pm? Right now we are working in the beautiful flower beds cleaning them out from the long winter's nap. We are a group of five. We have been instructed to think of the temple grounds, and try to achieve something very close to that. Tall order I would add. Today we went back and redid the work we tried to accomplish yesterday. I am feeling muscles I had forgotten I had!

We are going to be doing all we can to convince you that you need to come to Nauvoo. We are so thrilled to be here and to be experiencing all of this. I pinch myself every morning as I walk to the shower and hear the birds waking up and see the stars still winking. We love you!