Beauties??? of Nauvoo ( spiritual and physical)

Sorry, this picture goes with the story at the end of my blog. Just can't seem to get things in the right order!!! I never get tired of pictures of the Nauvoo temple. I hope you are the same! I thought this one was awesome!

This picture isn't nearly as awesome as the temple picture! But, I thought you might get a kick out of seeing us in costume. One of the pageant staff members took pictures of all the families, plus many candid pictures during the pageant. He has made them available on line. It was a big job to take all the pictures and then to download them. A very nice thing he did!

We have a farewell breakfast once a month to honor the missionaries going home. This past Friday was had about 20 missionaries who were honored. President Ludgwig, our mission president, talked to Glenn and I after the breakfast and asked if we would be willing to teach the combined RS/Priesthood lesson once a month. Glenn cheered and I cried! I have already figured out that we will only have to teach 8 lessons! (Next May we will start meeting with the temple missionaries again!) I would much rather give a talk than teach a lesson to approx 75 missionary couples who are probably all seasoned teachers!

Three other couples have been called. They are E/S Bitner, who take care of the lawns, flowers, etc., E/S Hughes, who are the public affairs missionaries for the mission and E/S Carlson. Elder Carlson is the director of NRI (Nauvoo Restoration Incorp). Glenn and I call all of us the "misfits" because none of us really fit into any other group here in the mission.

I have been thinking a lot about some of the pageant participants who have been a real inspiration to me. I'll tell you about one of the families.

The Todd & Allison Mitton family are from Lindon, UT. They have three children who are triplets. The two boys, MacKay and Alex, have cystic fibrosis. The daughter, Abby, is a normal healthy 13 year old. The dad and sons helped with the preshow. The mother and daughter were in the pageant. It was so touching to watch the father getting the boys in and out of the car, into their wheel chairs and pushing them down to the preshow. Todd took care of his responsibilities with the boys there by him in their wheel chairs.

The family participated in the baptismal session for the pageant youth. I was told that the father stood in the font and held each son as he baptized them for the dead. He would then hand the boy to someone else who carried him to the dressing room and helped him get dried and dressed. The last night for their family cast to perform, the whole family was on the stage for the finale. What a touching scene to see those two boys there with their whole family surrounded by a whole lot of people that had come to love them very much. It was a very tender scene.

What a beautiful example of a family loving their special needs children and providing opportunities for them to associate with others and be spiritually uplifted along with everyone else.

The picture is of Bro & Sis. Mitton with the boys on the preshow dance floor. It looks like they are having a great time!

We had a terrific visit with Brian and Tiffany. It was so fun to have their unexpected trip to Nauvoo. Glenn was able to ordain Brian a High Priest which was the purpose for their trip. Two of our good friends, Elders Bitner and Carlsen stood in for the ordination.

We were able to attend a temple session with Brian & Tiffany. We are looking forward to their coming next summer with all of their family.

Thought the family would enjoy seeing this picture of our cousin Greg Green and his wife Diane.
They stopped in Nauvoo on their way to New York state to see his son. It was the first time I had met Greg's wife. She has a real fun personality. It was great to get to visit with them.

Glenn and I were asked to speak today in the Nauvoo 1st ward. Bishop Glen Anderson
asked us to talk about the pageant and to tell stories about how the pageant had changed lives. It was a fun talk to give because we have accumulated so many touching stories from people's experiences with the pageant. I thought you might enjoy reading one of the stories.

The West family came to Nauvoo and participated in the pageant. There were 7 children in their family. Their 17 yr old daughter, Raelyn, has had problems with lack of self confidence for years. She was being kind of rebellious and didn't want to participate in church activities. She didn't have very many friends and those she had were not members of the church. She was rude to her family and very disrespectful. She and her younger sister, Ashlyn, did not get along together at all. Raelyn didn't want to be in the pageant because she didn't want to be on the stage.
The family stayed with their grandparents who are serving a mission in Nauvoo. Each night after the pageant the family would gather and talk about their experiences that day. After being involved with the pageant rehearsals a few days, Raelyn was making some rather positive comments about her experience. Her grandmother said." Raelyn, I'll bet you would be enjoying this more if you didn't have to be on the stage." Raelyn answered, "Oh Grandma, I love being on stage!" During the 2nd week when the family was actually on the stage performing, the grandparents noticed that during a couple of the scenes when the families are on stage together, the two sisters had their arms around each other. Then they noticed that when the girls left the stage the sisters were hugging each other. The oldest son in the family said,"Grandma, I have never felt so much love in our family as I have during this week."
Sister Randall, the grandmother, visited with me and said she wondered how this change could take place so fast? Was it the directors or the people on the stage?
Peggy Ricks once said that this takes place because there is so much truth on the stage. Truth brings Christ like action. Love being the foremost of these actions. When you are surrounded by so much truth it makes you want to be Christ like.
A good lesson for all of us!

New Grandbaby!!

Kevin and Stefanie have given us a new little granddaughter, Sophie Marie McMinn. She was born early in the morning on Aug. 22 (almost on her grandpa's birthday, Aug 23rd!). Isn't she darling?! She weighs 8lbs 1oz and is 20". Thanks Kevin and Stefanie!!

Great visits with Family

Two emails in two days -- shocking!! Actually, I was part way posting a blog last Sunday when I had to leave for a few minutes. When I came back my internet had timed out and I lost what I had done. It made me mad so I went on strike! Therefore, no blog last week!! I have repented.

We have been so fortunate to have a lot of family visit us this summer. Here are some of the pictures from their visits.

Kristen and 3 of her friends were here for opening night of Pageant. The stayed four days. Kristen went sight seeing with her friends during the day and then came to the pageant every night. We got to sit together and then had fun visiting afterwards.

Karle, Dad, "Joseph Smith" and Julie. What a treat to have them here at the same time as Kristen. Our regret was that we didn't have more time to visit. We still managed to have some lunches together and then of course spent the evenings at the pageant together.

Jeff, Maja, Ryan, Kaylee and Taylor were here last week. It was so fun to have those big hugs from the grandkids!

We finished up our post pageant meetings with the Pageant presidency part way through their visit. It gave us a little more time to spend with them during the days.

Jeff, Maja and family were here on a Sunday so we were able to go to church together. Picture taking in front of the temple is a popular after church activity here in Nauvoo!

Rob, Janelle, Kali, Kyle, Taryn and Brooke just left Nauvoo yesterday. They were here for three days. We loved having them here in Nauvoo with us. Vocal Point, a BYU men's acappla group of 9, were here in Nauvoo performing for two weeks. We got to attend their programs with both Jeff and Rob's families. They were awesome!

Pioneer Pastimes was a favorite visit for the grandkids in both families. They have dress up clothes, two cabins to play in and several pioneer games and activities. Aren't these cute pioneer children??

Our friend here in Nauvoo, Randy Douglas, owns Adventure Zone. It is a family acitivity center. Even though it was closed for the season, he opened it up to us so Rob's family could drive the go-carts. Even Grandma had to give it a try. A little hard getting in and out with a skirt on!!!

This was great fun for everyone!

We loved every minute that we had with family this summer. We are so grateful that we were able to see so many of them.

Pageant Visitors

Matt & Cara Singer & 4 darling children spent a day in Nauvoo!

They were visiting with Cara's family in St. Louis. Matt & Cara live in Connecticut.
Matt, Mary and ?(sorry!) getting ready for a gunny sack race during the pageant country fair preshow.

What a surprise to run into Corinne & Annette Merzlock one evening at the pageant site! They were with a tour group on a church history tour.

Glenn's cousin, Beth, and her husband, Paul Chambers, spent two days in Nauvoo. We had a great visit and sure appreciated them stopping to see us. Chambers live in Blackfoot.

Ginny Bright spent many long hours in the sewing room! Mike spent much of his time building some very nice cabinets for computers used in our preshow.

Lois and Merlin Blad spent two weeks volunteering. Lois helped in the office (and what a help she was!). Merlin worked hard doing a variety of things during the day and then took several shifts during the night with security. I'm sure they needed several days to rest up after getting home!

A great day in Nauvoo!

I have just a quick minute to make a post. I will copy my journal entry for yesterday. It was a great day! Just like many others we have had this summer.

Tues., July 28, 2009 - Things are starting to wind down to the close of Pageant. The comments are all about “this is the last time for……” It makes me sad to think about everyone leaving. We have been surrounded by “the best people under the heavens”. What a choice experience this has been to rub shoulders with spiritual giants and sometimes the giants are in little bodies!
Our missionary orientation meeting this morning was so spiritual. The Tues morning missionary meetings have all been a spiritual feast. How often do you get to hear your mission president, temple president, pageant president and wives all speak in one meeting. Then adding to that the singing of the Core Cast, the work crew (14 young men ) singing Sons of Helaman and the closing hymn “I Stand All Amazed”. Brad Thompson, our pageant music director, leads the closing song and through his directing he helps the song become a true bearing of testimony for the people in the congregation. This has been one of the highlights of our experience this summer.
We had a young man come up to us during the preshow, gave us a big hug and was so excited to see us. We didn’t recognize him at all but during the course of the conversation we found out that he was a full time missionary in Pocatello. He had Thanksgiving dinner with us in our home on Moonglow. His name is Nick Conrad. Sure wish I could remember the situation.
A neat experience at the pageant last night…….There was a group of 5-6 retired age people sitting across the aisle from us. We could hear their comments during the pageant. They were really into the show, laughing at the right times, making very positive comments all through the production. We could tell that the cast really had these folks with them. The young sister missionaries were right there with them when the pageant ended. One of the sister missionaries came to me just bubbling over with excitement. She said this family had come to Nauvoo because the older man had been raised here and he just wanted to come back and visit. They had just “stumbled” onto the pageant and decided to stay and watch. Their comment to the sister missionaries was , “You Mormons are not at all like what people say you are like. You are really nice people!” They wanted to know more about the church and filled out a referral card.
We have so enjoyed getting to know the core cast. They are the finest people you could know. They are not only good on the stage but they are wonderful people off the stage. They are so kind and respectful and appreciative. It has been a delightful experience to get to know them. I feel like the young adults are “my kids” and they will really be missed.

Three Days 'Til Opening Night

I have to begin by bragging about our tomatoes plants! These plants look like big bushes and are loaded with green tomatoes. They were planted early in May. Oh how I wish we could grow tomatoes likes these in Idaho!
Sorry for the lack of entries lately. Our days have been long and very busy. I have resorted to short phrases in my daily journal entries. I am hoping they will remind me of things I will elaborate on when pageant is over. We are having so many incredible experiences meeting so many new people and seeing little miracles almost daily. Hopefully these pictures will give you a little idea of what we are experiencing.

This was what our preshow field looked like about two weeks ago! Glenn, John Ricks and a member of the pageant presidency dug trenches and laid pipe to help the water drain off the field. When our work crew (12 young men ages 18 - 22)arrived, the three men were relieved of their back breaking work and the young men took over! Oh, were they glad!!

This is what our preshow field looks like now. Quite an improvement in a little over a week's time. All the trenches that were dug have been filled in. Some sod has been laid. In other places grass has been planted and covered with straw. It isn't perfect but oh so much better. It is even smelling better now! The water sat on top of the ground so long that the grass was breaking down and it smelled horrible! We had perfect weather the last week and a half, no humidity and comfortable temperatures. We did have 3 1/2 " of rain today but it is supposed to dry up and be nice through Friday. The water seems to be draining fairly well.

All 3,000 of the chairs have been set up in preparation for the pageant. Merlin Blad has been here working as a volunteer. He worked with the boys on our work crew and set up the chairs. Merlin now has the nickname of "Mr. Chairman"! Lois has been helping in the office. Sure been good to have some extra help!!

This is picture was taken during a rehearsal on stage with Joseph (Jeff Dickamore) and some of the children in the family cast. Notice Jeff's boot on his right foot. He broke his toe two weeks before he came to Nauvoo! His healing time is supposed to be 4-6 weeks. We are hoping that it will be healed in 4 weeks which will be just in time for opening night!

Things are really coming together well for the pageant to begin on July 7. It is so amazing to me to see how everyone works together so well, learning music, dancing and blocking so quickly. Of course, we are always seeing little miracles that help the work to move forward!

Sister Smith and I went to a Strawberry Festival in Farmington, IA. a few weeks ago. Farmington is a pretty small town about 30 miles west of Nauvoo. There were signs all around advertising Hel Mart. We thought it must be quite a store but this is what we found! There were a few antiques for sale and a lounge and that was about it. We laughed at the name because we were sure it was a take off from Wal Mart! Some of these small towns are pretty "down home"!

We never tire of seeing the beautiful sunsets here. We were driving back to our house one evening when we saw this view of the statues. Glenn is patient with me - I'm always saying "stop, I need to take a picture!" The setting sun peeking through the trees at the stage area was another good photo opportunity.