Christmas Day 2009

We had a very nice Christmas! It was definitely a Christmas to remember. We missed being with our family. We are so grateful to have all the technology available so we can talk and see them. It makes them feel close. We talked with all of our children and families and even watched Jeff and Maja's kids open their gifts on Skype! We had a very nice mission Christmas dinner in the afternoon with approx. 270 other people!

We had a very rainy Christmas eve. Singing on the steps of the temple with the other missionaries was wet but sweet. We had hot chocolate and Christmas breads at the church afterwards. Later on we had a fun visit with our friends, E/S Thompson, who came over to our home and had clam chowder and homemade bread with us. It was nice to share the evening with friends.

This is our little Christmas tree. We loved the tree ornaments made by the grandchildren with their pictures on them. They will be saved as a real treasure!

I bought this Amish Nativity here in Nauvoo. I thought it would be a nice remembrance of our time here. One of our favorite places to go is to Cantril, IA to the Dutchman's Store which is run by the Mennonites.......almost Amish!

Notice the family picture behind the natvity. What a great surprise to receive this new family picture taken in Layton at the family Christmas party just a week before Christmas.

We forgot to bring our Christmas socks with us so we improvised!

Glenn's present to himself! He made a steelhead fishing rod. It really is a pretty rod!

Pres. & Sis. Ludwig, our mission president and wife, and Pres & Sis. Petersen, temple president and matron, at our Christmas dinner.

Mission Christmas dinner with E/S Carlsen, our Wed. temple night friends.

Sis.Carlsen would "shoot" us if they knew we had posted this picture of them!

Almost Christmas

I came in Sunday singing the Hallelujah Chorus - I gave my RS/Priesthood lesson and now I can relax and enjoy my evenings again! Wish I didn't stress so over those lessons but it is just so intimiating to teach a large group of very seasoned, knowlegeable missionaries.

We received the best Christmas package today. Our children all met in Layton, Ut last Saturday for a family Christmas party. What we didn't know was that they were having a family group picture taken. We received a framed picture of the family and a picture of the grandkids. Oh, what a handsome group! Also, the grandkids made Christmas tree ornaments for us with their individual pictures on them. They also painted a Nativity set that is quite unique! The older kids helped the younger ones paint the ceramic figures. When we opened the package and found all of this we were delighted! Christmas could be over now and we would as happy as can be.

We are going to the temple tonight with our friends, the Bitners and the Carlsens. Today is Joseph Smith's birthday and I can't think of a better place to be on his birthday. We will walk by the Nativity on the temple grounds on our way tonight. It is a beautiful sight. I am so thankful for my Savior and for the gift of the Atonement. I am so glad I can serve a mission. The message the missionaries have to share can make such a positive change in people's lives. Even though our assignment is somewhat different, I still love the opportunity to bear testimony of Jesus Christ through the pageant.

Hope you have a fun Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! We love you all.

Christmas Season in Nauvoo - Part 2

(Sorry, I was interrupted so had to publish what I had posted earlier because I can't seem to find things when I save them on this blog. There I go admitting my lack of computer savy!)

It was a beautiful day here in Nauvoo on Wednesday after the clouds moved on and the high winds stopped blowing. There was a blanket of snow on the ground and the temple seemed to blend right into the snow. It finally felt like Christmas to see a little bit of snow!

In Glenn's weekly letter he has written about the very spiritual Sacrament meeting we had today with Pres. & Sis. Wayne Petersen, our temple president and matron, speaking about Christmas. We feel so blessed to have the opportunity of being taught by such wonderful people. Glenn carried on the spirit of the meeting with the lesson he taught to our combined Priesthood/RS meeting. I love the feeling that comes from being so spiritually fed.

In many ways Christmas will always be Christmas......there is a lot of exchanging of Christmas goodies and cards among the missionaries. There have been quite a few musical programs and events during the month to celebrate the holiday season. We were invited to dinner today by E/S Foote who are temple missionaries. We invited E Gary & S Charlene Saville to dinner last week. They are from Pocatello North Stake. It is fun to be able to talk "home" with the Savilles!

I am grateful to know of the life of our Savior. How blessed we are to know of His gospel and to be able to share it with others. I hope you are taking time to refect upon His life during this Christmas season and to give thanks for the many blessings that have come your way.

This nativity is in the Nauvoo Visitors Center.

There is a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the Visitors Center. Last week there was an official lighting of the tree by the Mayor of Nauvoo. There was a short program with the High School Jazz band playing and songs from their choir. It is nice to see the community come together with the church for some of the holiday programs. The site missionaries sang a song about lighting the Christmas tree. There was all standing at the railing of the second floor.

Christmas Season in Nauvoo

Here is a little sample of what the Christmas season is like in Nauvoo. There is Christmas garland hung along most of the fences in the area with the historic businesses and home. Makes it very festive! We meet each morning except Sunday for a short Preparation meeting. We meet with the group in the 70's Hall. There are only two of us who can play the piano so I get to play prelude and the opening song usually 3 days a week. It has been fun to play some Christmas carols!

I help in the 3rd grade class at the Nauvoo Elementary school for an hour on Tuesdays. Two of the children in the class came to our Christmas Walk last week. Next best thing to being able to hug my own grandkids!

A Great Thanksgiving

We were so happy that Kevin, Stefanie, Rylee and Sophie were able to come to Nauvoo and spend 4 days with us the week of Thanksgiving. It was so fun to finally see Sophie. She is a darling, cuddly baby and I just couldn't get my fill of holding her. Rylee has really changed since we last saw her in April. We had a fun time decorating our little 4' Christmas tree. We strung popcorn and used it as garland. Rylee placed the little balls together in "families"! What an imagination she has.

Stefanie's birthday was Thanksgiving day. She was such a good sport because most of the day was spent getting ready for the big dinner and then cleaning up from the dinner!

We loved playing games with Kev and Stef in the evenings.

The time went by way to fast and before we knew it, it was time for them to leave.

But, we are so glad they came and they will always be a part of our Nauvoo Thanksgiving memories!

Not a very good picture but maybe you can get an idea of how full the gym was for our mission Thanksgiving dinner.

A great day!

Sorry, no pictures again this week. Just haven't had anything worth taking pictures of!
But......I had the best day today. It was the first time in 7 months that I have been in pants the whole day!!!! It felt so good! It was our P-day. We just stayed home today and did things inside so I never did get into my "missionary clothes". This probably won't happen again for another 7 months!

We sent three hours on the phone today with Peggy Ricks reviewing the family cast applications. We had 290 families apply for 130 spots! Awesome families applied - it will be a great pageant again!

The duck and goose hunting season has been going on for awhile. We live close to the river so every morning it sounds like the 4th of July fireworks - the guns are shooting away! I feel sorry for the geese. All fall we have had a great amount of geese around. They are pretty birds. It is also deer hunting season. I don't feel so sorry for the deer. There are so many deer around. They ruin the trees and eat the plants. Almost weekly a missionary hits a deer on the highway. We will be loaning our truck to a missionary couple who hit a deer last week and will be without their car while it is being repaired.

We are very excited for Kevin and Stefanie's visit. They will arrive Monday evening and stay until Friday. We will finally get acquainted with little Sophie!

Hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Another week flew by!

It is hard to believe that another week has gone by! This was our last week to accept family cast applications and we sure had a lot come into the office. There are a lot of procrastinators out there!! The deadline is tomorrow - I am sure we will still have some come in late but we have received the bulk of them.

I have also been busy trying to finalize plans for our mission Thanksgiving dinner. Everytime I think I have things figured out, Sis. Ludwig, our mission president's wife, calls and suggests something else either for the dinner or the program. She is a lady with a lot of ideas - maybe to many!! Thank goodness I have a good committee working with me. My biggest worry is that we will have enough food. We have planned for a few extra because I have been warned that the missionaries often have family come at the last minute. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

We talked to the Cottles this week. They are in Hawaii and having a great time. Glenn gets calls weekly from his fishing buddies telling him about how great the steelhead run is this year. It's a shame that we miss such worldly things so much!!!!

The best is when we talk to the grandkids and they tell us that they miss us! That melts my heart. We sure appreciate all the love and support we feel from our family and friends. You are great!!

In The Right Place at the Right Time

A new single sister missionary arrived in the mission Friday. She is Marcia Geilmann who was the director of our Pageant Family Services the past 4 summers! Friday afternoon, we went to the site post office to get our mail and there was Sister Geilmann, just getting into her car. A lady friend had come out with her because single sister missionaries are not allowed to drive out to the mission unaccompanied. Marcia had checked with the missionary travel department to make sure that she would be allowed to drive her friend to the St. Louis airport to return home on Sunday. When we saw Marcia, she had just had an interview with a member of the mission presidency and had been told that she could not drive to St. Louis because that would require her to return back to Nauvoo alone! (Major problem with communications!) Marcia was quite upset because she had no idea how to get her friend to St. Louis. There are no shuttles from Nauvoo and there are no one -way car rentals available from here. She explained to us her situation. We offered to drive them to St. Louis Saturday afternoon if her friend was willing to spend Sat. night in a motel. It worked out perfectly! Saturday is our P-day so we were free to drive to St. Louis and it solved a big problem for Marcia and her friend. They were most appreciative and we were so glad that we were there to help them out. It makes you feel very humble to know that sometimes Heavenly Father helps others through you.

The temple from our home in the fall! Just in the few days since we took this picture, most of the leaves have now fallen from the tree!

Monday evening we had a special experience of having dinner in the Willard Richards home. It is owned privately, not by the church, but is in the historic area of Nauvoo. The owners use it as a Bed and Breakfast. The lady who manages the bed and breakfast went to Utah for the birth of a grandbaby. Our temple missionary friends, Sister JoAnn and Elder Nathan Howard, were taking care of the Bed and Breakfast for her while she was gone. They had no guests Monday so the Howards invited us and another couple to have dinner with them. After dinner we watched a DVD called "I Witnessed the Carthage Massacre" which was narrated by an actor acting as Willard Richards. Quite a touching experience to see this story in his home.

We had never been in the home so it was a fun experience to get a personal tour! It is decorated very nicely with antique furniture, some artifacts from the early Nauvoo period and many pictures of Joseph, Emma, the temple and other early church people. I would love to spend a night in the home sometime! This picture is of a painting of the Willard Richards home which is hanging in the home.

The Howards are both walking miracles! Sister Howard is a breast cancer survivor and Elder Howard has had a heart transplant. The transplant took place 10+ years ago. They left for their home in Spokane the end of this week. They were serving a 6 month temple mission here in Nauvoo. They are always happy and one of the most kind, loving couples we have met! You have all probably had an experience where you have met someone and have become instant friends. This was the case with the Howards!

Nauvoo's Halloween Pumpkin Walk

Nauvoo's Halloween Pumpkin Walk is the biggest event in town next to the Pageant and the Grape Festival. People from all the surrounding communities come for the event. With the help of the community and the missionaries 400 pumpkins are carved and placed along the sidewalks of Nauvoo's main street. Each one has a candle and is lit just before dark. They have games for the kids, food sold by various organizations and several baked food sales along the side walks. It was a lot of fun to be a part of it. Glenn and I carved pumpkins two afternoons. They had us in a large warehouse. One table for tracing the patterns, a table for those scooping out the insides of the pumpkins and then several tables for those carving.

Certainly a Halloween we will remember!!

Glenn's work of art!

Four hundred carved pumpkins were set out along the sidewalks of Mulholland St, the main street of Nauvoo.

These are some of the pumpkins that were being auctioned off. Quite the intricate carvings!

People lining the street for the parade that lasted about 5 minutes! The parade consisted of local people dressed in Halloween costumes, a couple of horse drawn wagons carrying people playing various instruments - not really a band - and that was it! People come to Nauvoo to see the pumpkins, not the parade!!

We are blessed with great friends!

Yesterday Glenn and I spent the day cleaning up the stage and then staining it. Glenn cut off the excess chalking that was used on the seams and I swept up the sawdust. The men cut the wood on the stage so there was sawdust in all the grooves of the wood. The wind was blowing so the dust just kind of swirled around! We stained all but 1/4 of the stage (ran out of paint!). Late in the afternoon as we were starting to moan from the sore muscles and tired backs, here comes one of our favorite temple missionaries, Sister Howard. She brought us each a cup of her famous smoothie! It was so refreshing and more than that, we appreciated the thoughtfulness. While we were visiting with Sister Howard, up comes a pickup with Elder and Sister Bitner. They had finished their work for the day and stopped by to see if they could help us out! We must have looked like we were in pretty bad shape to have all of these kind people come to our rescue! Seriously, we are so blessed to have such wonderful thoughtful friends.

Trees by our stake center.

I had a few minutes this afternoon so I headed out with my camera and took some pictures of the fall colors here in Nauvoo. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Fall Is Here

We served today in the Cultural Hall. It was a slow day with only four groups of people coming to see the Hall. It was interesting to study the script for the tours. Construction on the Hall began in 1842 and was completed in 1844. It was used less that two years before the Saints left for the west. It was used for concerts, plays, banquets, business and church meetings, storage of grain, school, funerals and a doctor's office. During the fall and winter of 1845-46 the first floor was used as a wagon box building factory as the Saints were preparing to leave Nauvoo. Over 100 wagon boxes were made for the covered wagons. The church was not able to sell the building before they left Nauvoo. In 1851 it was sold at the Hancock County Sheriff's auction for $4.47!

The church bought it back in 1967 (and not for $4.47!!) and in 1982 reconstructed it to look like it did originally.

The Saints sacrificed much to build their homes, the temple and this hall for culture, entertainment and education.

The Cultural Hall

We headed out on Saturday and went to a small town in Iowa called Winterset. There are several covered bridges built in the 1800's in the area. The bridges are known as the Covered Bridges of Madison County. Some of you who are our age might remember the movie, "The Bridges of Madison County". The movie was filmed in this area. We were hoping to see a lot of fall colors but we seemed to be too late in some areas and too early in others! It was a fun day even though we spent 7 hours in the car! This is John Wayne's childhood home in Winterset, Iowa. We weren't impressed enough to pay the $6 to go inside!

A bell tower was at the end of a windy, hilly road in the Winterset City Park. There was a fantastic view of the surrounding area from the top of the tower.

A view from the bell tower.

This was my favorite bridge. It is the Cutler/Donahoe Bridge built in 1870. It has been moved to the Winterset City Park and restored. The park was gorgeous. It was filled with lots of trees in full fall colors!

President Monson in Nauvoo

Today was a very memorable day! President Monson was visiting in Nauvoo today. He met with the temple missionaries in the temple at noon. He met with the other missionaries this afternoon at 4:00 in the Visitors Center. The sites were closed at 3:30 so the missionaries could attend the meeting. He spent about 45 minutes just visiting with us. When he walked into the room there was a piano at the edge of the stage. He sat down and played a simple little song from the John Thompson piano lesson book one. Then he played one other little tune. We had a good laugh with him about his lack of ability to play the piano.

There was no preaching, just reminiscing about his youth, his mother and siblings, some experiences in the Navy and some experiences as a bishop. What a once in a lifetime experience to hear a prophet talk so casually and to be so relaxed. He said that this week he could be anywhere in the world and he chose to be in Nauvoo! He is going on to Kirtland and then back east. He was accompanied by his daughter, Ann Dibbs, and Sister Dibbs’ daughter. They are escorting his granddaughter to her home. No one seems to know where they are staying. Even President Ludwig doesn’t know. I am sure it is kept quiet for security reasons but also to avoid crowds and wanting some privacy.


Rendezvous, a play presented by the senior missionaries, was presented this evening for President Monson and his family and a few guests. We were fortunate to be invited to attend. When he came into the hall he asked each one of us where we were from. We sat right behind President Monson. When it was over he turned around and shook our hands. He is a very friendly person and was making friendly comments as he left the cultural hall. The cast that presented Rendezvous did an outstanding job. E/S Andrus were in the play tonight. They are leaving the mission the first of the week. What a memorable experience for them as they leave. Elder Andrus plays the part of the editor which is the narrator. Also, Sister Donna Gibbons, who directs Rendezvous is leaving the mission in a few weeks. What a memorable experience for her!

President Monson closed his comments this afternoon by promising us that the Lord would be on our right hand and on our left hand and angels would hover over us as we serve our missions. He talked about how small choices make such a big difference in one’s life. Serving a mission is a choice that will have a positive effect on us and our family forever.

I am grateful for a living prophet. As I looked at President Monson I tried to imagine what it would be like to be a prophet. The weight of the calling must be unbelievable. The responsibility he has to lead a church of several million members is something that could only be done through inspiration from above. I feel so blessed to live upon the earth at this time and to have the blessing of a living prophet.

A Busy Week!

This last week was a very busy one. We did quite a variety of things. Here are a few pictures to fill you in on our activities. Last Sunday we went to the Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds. This statue is in the cemetery. It really touches your heart to see the sad faces on these people. The writing on many of the headstones is not legible. Some families have placed new headstones next to the old ones. t

There is a very reverent feeling in the cemetery. Many of those buried here were children. Those Saints sacrificed so much. I have gained such a love and appreciation for them as I have learned more about their trials here in Nauvoo and also the trials of the Saints in the early years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. I feel a real obligation to do all I can to be a good missionary to show my thanks for all they sacrificed

It has been interesting to follow the growing season of the corn and soy beans here in Illinois and Iowa. Can you believe the height of these corn stocks?! The corn is field corn so the farmers let it get very dry before they harvest it. The fields are looking very brown now as are the soy bean fields. It is quite a change from the lush green that bordered the roads everywhere.

I guess I didn't read the fine print on our mission call to know that I would have to paint while here! Actually I have enjoyed doing something outdoors. Glenn paints with a roller and I use a brush to paint the grooves in the board. Half of the stage is done (see last week's blog). We decided that it might be easier to paint the boards before they are put on the stage.We are painting both sides of the boards. We had a lot of rain this past week so we were not able to get much done. We paint at the barn by the Sarah Granger Kimball home.

Friday morning at 7:00am we had a Farewell Breakfast to honor those missionaries leaving for home during the month of October. As you can see the gym at the Nauvoo ward building is very full. There are three preparation meeting groups in the mission. Each group has people sign up for food for their group. There are three serving tables and we serve ourselves from our preparation group's table. There is always a good variety of breakfast foods!

There is a short program in which the outgoing missionaries do a little skit, reading or just make a comment or two. The last two months because so many have been going home, they have done a big group skit. The skits are pretty humorous and light hearted! I hope there will be a big group leaving when we leave next Oct. so we don't have to do something individually!

We served in the Seventies Hall today from 12:30-5:00. We had quite a few visitors, 23. Not bad for this time of year. We enjoy getting acquainted with the history of the places we serve in.

We have a pecan tree in our yard. Glenn has been picking up the green pecans that have fallen to the ground. He has been breaking open the outer green layer so the pecan will dry and not mold. It has stained his thumbs so bad that nothing will take away the color! We have tried lemon juice, soft scrub with bleach and clorax. Any suggestions?

The New Stage

I thought you might be interested in seeing some pictures from our big "stage project" that has been ongoing since the Pageant ended. This first picture was taken from one of the light towers. All the side ramps and wood frame structures for the cabins and temple are stored away during the winter. You can see the one section in the back stage area that can be moved up and down. There is one other section like that. It creates a nice affect in some of the scenes to be able to change the level of those stage sections.

Before the Pageant people who are in charge of the stage site left for home, they took the stage all apart so a cement pad could be poured under the stage.

Several weeks later workers from NRI set forms for the cement pad. Here they are ready to pour the cement.

They poured the cement in three sections.

We were happy the weather cooperated during this time!

The cement pad for the stage looks nice and level. It was difficult to keep the stage level with the gravel base. The sections of the stage would shift so there were places where people would catch a toe or heel and sprain an ankle.

Our house/office is to the left of the barn in the background.

We had 5 men from Utah work on the stage for five long days. Each piece of wood is cut at an angle. It is very time consuming to cut and place the wood in the right position. All the lines on the stage floor point to the temple. A very subtle way to draw attention to the temple.

The steel framework under the stage was quite a puzzle to put together as well. Each section is numbered to help them remember how it fits together.

This is how the stage looks now. The light wood is the new wood. The dark area has been stripped of the old wood. In a couple of weeks NRI will finish putting on the new wood. Glenn and I have been given the assignment to stain the stage. We will do what is completed this next week if the weather is good. Not in our job description but more than happy to have an outdoor assignment! A heavy tarp will be placed over the stage floor to help preserve it during the winter. The is the first time to relace the original floor. It lasted 5 years. Hopefully with some improvements this stage will last a little longer.

SLC won't let us use any artificial material on the stage floor. It has to look as much like the materials used in the 1840's as possible. Sure wish we could use something like Trex!