Quote of the Week:
If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.
It’s a Small, Small World
A few weeks ago we gave a video tour to a group of young primary children who unbeknownst to us were from England. As it turned out, they are from a Ward in the England Birmingham Mission where we previously served and, here is the funny part, I spoke in their Ward in 2016. Of course the children did not know us nor did we know them; nevertheless, it made for an immediate bond. It was so much fun!
Quilting
22 Hour Day
While serving a mission we often get special assignments, which are always fun. We were serving with a young Sister serving here in Nauvoo with us. Her assignment here was temporary waiting for Covid restrictions in Mexico, where she was called to serve, eased. She left this past week and we were all sad see her go, but very happy for her.
Getting her there wasn’t all that easy! She needed to visit the Mexican consulate in Salt Lake City to arrange for her visa. So she needed a ride to the St Louis airport - sounds like fun, right? Well she needed to be at the airport at 6:15 am … did I mention its a three hour drive from here?
It gets even better. Because the consulate needed time to do all of their paperwork and background checks, she returned to Nauvoo that same day and, oh by the way, her return flight did not get into St Louis until 8:25 pm!
So it really was a long day - we picked her up at 3:00 am, spent the day visiting a dear friends in St Louis and returned to Nauvoo just a few minutes before 1:00 am the next day.
Now just so you don’t think this was a mean assignment, we volunteered for it and it was a very tender mercy for us as we spent most of the day with Dennis and Fawn Silver - well after a Costco run of course - whom we have been friends with for well over 40 years.
Since we last wrote, we have received several loving and heartfelt gifts from dear friends.
The first was a beautiful shawl made by Shauna Thomson, which Chris has worn almost everyday since receiving it. Have we mentioned that the weather in Nauvoo is cold, wet and unpredictable?
Then a few weeks ago we received a beautiful quilt made by Deb Edwards. Deb and her husband, Lynn, are from Canada. We met then in the MTC in 2016 and became instant friends. They served in Romania while we served in England. We have stayed in close contact throughout our missions and ever since. We had planned on going on a fishing trip together last year, but Covid ruined our plans. Fishing in 2022? We hope so!
Look closely and you will notice all the designs relate to Canada ... eh!
Thank you Shauna, Deb and, of course, all the Young Women!
To top it all off we had some friends stop by whom we had not seen in over 10 years. What a nice surprise!
Special Assignment
As some of you know, Elders Cook and Curtis (the Church Historian) and their wives were here last weekend. We were honored just over a month ago when we were asked by our mission president to take the lead for the mission in coordinating with Salt Lake for the visit. It was a wonderful experience for us. More importantly, it was great to be taught by an Apostle and to hear from the Church Historian.
Sunset on the Mississippi
Last night we attended Sunset on the Mississippi and it was nothing short of amazing. All the performers and Young Performing Missionaries who serve for three months. Everyone of them is such a bundle of talent! [I tried to post a video, but couldn't get it to work. I guess you'll just have to wait for us to come home to see it. Until then, just trust us ... they were really, really, really good!]
Visitors Center
The Visitors Center has been completely renovated and its absolutely beautiful! It was reopened to the public last week for the first time since before the pandemic. It was so much fun walking through it everyday during the renovation. It now includes a life size replica of the angelic weathervane that stood atop the original Nauvoo Temple, an original sun stone, some artifacts discovered during the reconstruction of the temple and some amazing photographs. Oh yeah, there is also two beautiful original paintings that were done specifically for our visitors center.
One of our many visits during renovation.
Carthage
We recently had the opportunity to drive over to Carthage, which is about a 30 minute drive from here, and visit Carthage Jail where the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred. It was a very solemn and sacred experience for us knowing we were walking on the same floor and in the same room where they were unjustly incarcerated and that murdered. We are ever so thankful for Joseph and Hyrum’s testimonies and courage. It is because of them, the love of the early Saints that lived here in Nauvoo and our love for Jesus Christ that we are here on another mission.
Lunch on the Mississippi
We had a free afternoon last week so we decided to go grocery shopping and out for a nice lunch. Although the food wasn’t very good, sitting on the banks of the Mississippi River in Burlington, Iowa was very relaxing!
The Big Dig
Chris and I walk several times each week early in the morning with a few other couples. One of the first things we discovered during one of our walks was a hole in front of Mercantile in town. Over the weeks the hole has grown bigger and bigger and deeper and deeper and now the story is out! The owners of the store are in search of a what they believe may be tomb built for Joseph Smith and his family.
The fun part of all of this is when we recently went into Annie’s, a local neighborhood business, for some frozen custard, there was a young man, by the name of Forest Christiansen, in line in front of us who yelled out, “Alstons! Its you!” As it turns out we served together over six years ago in the California Roseville Mission and his family owns the Mercantile and are the ones heading up the big dig.
OK, now back to the dig ~ we were told that there is underground vault that measures 7 feet wide by 27 feet long. We have been invited to take a tour, which we will; however, as of this writing we have not been down. We are told that it is comparable in size to the drawings done by William Weeks - recognize that name? He was the architect of the Nauvoo Temple.
Christiansen has enlisted a team of filmmakers to produce a documentary film that will capture the process of discovering the vault and its history. The documentary is scheduled to open in November and the purpose does not involve proving the vault is the tomb of Joseph.
More to follow in the coming weeks!
