First Week in Nauvoo

We arrived in Nauvoo Tues afternoon. We took two cars, Glenn drove the pickup and I drove the Honda. We drove to Denver the first day and were able to spend Easter Sunday with Kevin, Stefanie and Rylee. We got to watch Rylee try to figure out what an Easter egg hunt is on Easter morning! Pretty fun! Monday we drove to Omaha and then Tues on to Nauvoo. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I got along driving for such long hours! I think I was blessed to be able to stay awake and alert. The longest I have ever driven was to Boise!

We are living in the Orson Hyde home which also serves as the Pageant office. It is a comfortable home. The living room and main floor bedroom are used for the office. Our bedroom is upstairs and quite large with a king size bed. That's an upgrade from home!! There is no dishwasher or garbage disposal in the kitchen so I guess that is my big adjustment.

We have been very busy this week. There is so much to do and learn. Thank goodness John and Peggy Ricks have been just a phone call away because we have been on the phone with them every day asking lots of questions. There was a lot of mail to open and responses to make. There is a lot of filing of applications and entries to make on the computer. We spent an hour with the Pageant treasurer teaching us how to make the deposits locally and electronically to the church.

We are trying to get acquainted with local people who will be involved with the Pageant.

Glenn went to the Mayor's office and had a nice visit with him. Kathy (former counselor in the Gen. RS Presidency) and Dean Hughes (well known LDS author) are Public Affairs missionaries here in Nauvoo and we are planning to meet with them next week. They have been laying some good ground work for the Pageant. Next Wed we will go with the Hughes and another local church member who is involved with the church's PR to meet with the mayor of Quincy to see if we can finalize plans for the Pageant's outreach program to take place there. The outreach program is a musical program that the Pageant core cast presents, about an hour long. The music is Broadway songs that are used to tell a story about families. A very impressive program and not religous oriented.

We were invited to attend a temple session Thurs. afternoon with the mission president and other new missionary couples. The Nauvoo temple is such a beautiful structure as well as having

a beautiful spirit inside. Later that evening we were invited to the Mission President's home for dessert and visiting. There were about 8 new missionary couples as well as the Hughes and the mission presidency and wives. It is nice to have an opportunity to visit casually with the leadership of the mission and other missionary couples.

Spring time is beautiful in Nauvoo. There are quite a few blooming trees. We have a beautiful Magnolia tree in our front yard that is covered with pink blossoms. There are daffodils, and other spring flowers in bloom. We have had beautiful weather since arriving until today. It rained but it is still in the 60's.

I will post a picture of our home. When we look out from the front of our house we can see the temple up on the hill. What a wonderful thing to see everytime we go outside! The picture of the temple is from our home.

Sorry to be so long but we want to acquaint you with what we are experiencing.