Here’s the latest on the adventures of Sister and Elder Alston serving in the Nauvoo Historic Sites …. ENJOY!
First of all we have extended our mission by three months. So don’t expect to be seeing us in March - our official release date is June 1, 2022.
Fall Has Arrived
Fall is definitely in the air and from the cold temperatures of the past few days we think winter is a lot closer than we expected, which is something we are not looking forward to! Just before we arrived last year winter temperatures were routinely -17ยบ. Definitely not looking forward to that; however, we would really like to experience a white Christmas for the first time in our lives.
From our front yard.
Definitely a future painting!
Happy Nauvoo Halloween
Halloween is a big thing out here in the heartland of America. Even in the smallest of towns out in the middle of no where that we drove through last week, the three or four homes in the town dawned lots and lots of Halloween decorations. The town of Nauvoo even held their annual pumpkin walk which drew several thousand people into town.
Who ya gone'a call?
To help with the pumpkin walk the missionaries, along with a few of the locals, carved nearly 500 jack-o-lanterns, which lined Nauvoo’s parade route. We also popped and bagged over 3,000 bags of kettle corn that we gave away to all the visitors. Not only that one of our missionaries sang a song from Panthom of the Opera (thank you Sister Neve), we provided a horse drawn wagon with a country band made up of missionaries and we even provided a Chinese dragon. It was a Halloween unlike any other we have ever experienced!
Visiting Lincoln's Presidential Museum
On our preparation day (P-Day) last week, we drove to Springfield, Illinois to visit the Lincoln Presidential Museum. To say the least it was impressive. The special effects they used in two of their theaters rivals anything that Disney does. They have a display of political cartoons run during Lincoln’s presidency and his campaigns and sadly they were just as nasty as we see today. They also ran a mock CNN news report as if it was being broadcast during Lincoln’s first presidential election - hilarious!
With our good friends Sister and Elder Rasmussen
two of the nicest people one could meet.
Rubbing Lincoln's nose for good luck ~ hope it works!
President Lincoln’s remains rest in the vault ten feet below the Arkansas marble monument pictured above. The words, “Now he belongs to the ages” inscribed on the wall are said to have been uttered by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton at Lincoln’s deathbed.
Mary Lincoln and three of their four sons are entombed here as well. Their fourth son, Robert Lincoln, was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery by the decision of his wife.
Back in Nauvoo
Although attendance has dropped off a bit, we continue to give lots of live video tours. In fact just this morning we gave a tour to two wards’ seminary classes, one in California and one in Nevada (thanks Kreston Andersen) with 89 in attendance. Last week we had a similar tour with seminary classes in Mexico, Canada and the United States all at the same time. These tours are so much fun and the students ask the best questions! We encourage you to reach out to us if you want a tour for a class of yours, for your family or just for you - we would love to share that time with you! To see what tours are available go to nauvoohistoricsites.org.
John Taylor and the Print Shop
We also had the opportunity to give tours of the John and Leonora Taylor home and the Print Shop.
John Taylor was born in England in 1808. As a child he developed a deep devotion to, and love for God. He wrote in his journal, “At [an] early period of my life I learned to approach God. … Many a time I have gone into the fields and concealing myself behind some bush, would bow before the Lord and call upon Him to guide and direct me. And He heard my prayer. … That was the spirit that I had when a little boy. … My spirit was drawn out after God then; and I feel the same yet.”
During the 40 years that Taylor served as an Apostle, he edited several Church newspapers, published books and tracts, preached in Great Britain and North America, and oversaw early missions in Germany and France. He succeeded Brigham Young as the 3rd president of the Church.
As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles John Taylor was given the assignment to be the Chief Editor of the Times and Seasons newspaper, which became to the official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was published twice each month for almost the entire time that the Saints lived in Nauvoo.
The last edition of the T&S occurred in Feb 1846 - it was one of the last businesses in Nauvoo to shut down.
For seven years (1839-1846) the Times and Seasons shared with the church members in Nauvoo the revealed word of God, the history of the restored Church, and reports of Church activities throughout the region and around the world.
Between Mar and May 1842 the entire Book of Abraham appeared in the Times and Seasons.
Most importantly, the publications printed in this building helped unify the Saints, strengthen their individual faith, and reinforce the covenant community of Nauvoo and HELP STRENGTHEN NAUVOO AS THE CORNERSTONE OF ZION!
Just Loom'n Around
Chris recently started and loves working on the loom in the Family Living Center.
Since May we have enjoyed being in the Nauvoo temple at least once each week. One of Steve’s assignments has been coordinating and scheduling the missionaries into the temple. Since May the missionaries have participated in over 1,400 temple ordinances. It has been such a blessing to all of us and, of course, those who previously passed through the portals of mortality. So thankful for Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation, which makes it possible for families to be together FOREVER.
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