LESSON OF THE WEEK: This is the Lord’s work and nothing will stop it.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Spring must have arrived because this is the third day that we have not had any rain since we arrived. However, the bone chilling wind continue to haunt us. We think you will come to the conclusion after reading this week’s post that the life of a senior missionary in the Nauvoo Historic Mission is a busy one!
30-Pound Mission
One of the first things we were told when we arrived here in the mission is that this is a “30-pound mission.” Now we get it! Hardly a day goes by that we don’t receive some sort of goodie or treat from someone. Even some of the local businesses get involved. Yesterday a young family knocked on our door and delivered some homemade cinnamon rolls. The family is the owner of a local cafe called The Red Front and every Sunday they deliver to the missionaries any left over pastries from the day. We’re thinking that maybe this is more like a “40-pound mission”!
Quilting
Good news … we survived our first full week in Nauvoo and even better news, today is the first that since we’ve been here that it hasn’t rained. It was a beautiful day albeit a bit chilly.
Chris has been busy this past week. She had the opportunity to work in the sewing room in the Pageant Headquarters Building working on a quilt that will go on permanent display in the home of the Apostle Wilford Woodruff and his wife Phebe Woodruff. The Church History Department has been involved to ensure that not only the pattern, but the very fabric itself is authentic of the time period. We are excited to see the quilt on display knowing Chris has had a hand in it.
Here’s a little history factoid for you: The Prophet Joseph Smith referred to Elder Woodruff as “Wilford the Faithful.” Cool, don’t ya think?
Monument to Women Memorial Garden
This past week Chris also had the opportunity to be part of a women’s crew who cleaned the landscaping of the Nauvoo Monument to Women’s Garden. In just a few weeks it will be bursting with brilliant colors of spring flowers.
This photo is from last spring.
This memorial to women was designed to portray to the world the role of women as Latter-day Saints understood it and to honor the founding of the Relief Society in Nauvoo in 1842 where the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “The Church was never fully organized until the women were thus organized.”
We love this quote from Elder Neal A. Maxwell who said in the April 1978 General Conference, “When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? . . . When the surf of the centuries has made the great pyramids so much sand, the everlasting family will still be standing.” Elder Neal A. Maxwell said in the1978 General Conference shortly before President Spencer W. Kimball dedicated the Monument to Women Memorial Garden in Nauvoo on June 28.
Nauvoo Pageant
No doubt most of you are aware by now that the Nauvoo Pageant has been postponed this year due to Covid. For those of you who don’t know what it is, well, here is a very brief explanation. It is a celebration of a legacy of faith exercised by the early saints. It is narrated by an actor portraying Parley P. Pratt and emphasizes the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith and honors the sacrifice, faith and courage of the Saints who gave their all to build a city and a temple to their God.
The Nauvoo Pageant emphasizes the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith and honors the sacrifice, faith and courage of the Saints who gave their all to build a city and a temple to their God.
Now here is another factoid for you ~ the stage on which the pageant is performed is the same stage that was used during the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and its big! There have been some major improvements made to the stage since 2002 and the workings under the stage are impressive!
West Grove
In the 1840s, the hill pictured below, was the home to a small group of trees called the West Gove. Latter-day Saints gathered in the grove to learn gospel truths from the Prophet Joseph Smith and other Church leaders. After the Saints left Nauvoo, the trees were cut down for firewood and lumber. in 2015, the Church began a regenerating project of the grove. Now for the factoid ~ in order to ensure the historic accuracy of the grove, soil samples were taken of the area as the project began. Those samples were sent to a laboratory to identify what pollens it contained in order to correctly identify the types of trees that originally existed in the grove. The trees planted, which are now surrounded by deer fencing for their protection, are the same types of trees that were in the grove in the 1840s. The trees will be allowed to grow naturally. When they are mature, visitors will be able to enter this sacred grove.
Cool, don’t you think?
Jonathan and Elizabeth Browning Home and Gunsmith Shop
We will be giving our first virtual tours starting tomorrow. We will be giving those tours all week long and, to say the least, we are more than a bit nervous. In fact, we just finished putting together our fifth or sixth iteration of what we want to talk about. If you are interested in signing up for a live virtual tour go to historicnauvoo.org.
One thing we know for sure, the early Saints that lived here in Nauvoo we a strong people. Strong physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually ~ they had to be just to survive in this difficult environment. Our love, respect and adoration for those early saints has grown so much!
This past week we re-wrote our script way too many times. As if that wasn't bad enough, Sunday afternoon around two we looked at each other and agreed it just didn't flow right - uh oh! So we talked it over, said a prayer asking for guidance and a few hours later we redid the script on last time. Now we're actually excited to give our first tours today!
We will include pictures and a bit of history in next week’s post of the Cutler home where we live. We’ll also let you know if we survive this week’s tours. Now we need to start working on organizing our comments for the Temple City Tours the week after the Browning tour. Until then, each of you will be in our thoughts and prayers.
And now some nice pix for or viewing audience 😃
