Nauvoo Summer Events and Sunset on the Mississippi show

We mentioned in previous posts that the Young Performing Missionaries are here.  They are now performing daily at various locations in Nauvoo (often by some of the historic sites) and are in some of the shows and plays. The historic site missionaries are also in some of the shows.  We are not involved with any of the shows until July when the Pageants are held.  We just do a walk on at the end of the British Pageant. 

We thought we would tell you about a website that contains the schedule of activities this summer in Nauvoo.  This site is located at:   https://www.historicnauvoo.net/

It is an excellent site that gives information on the events happening in Nauvoo.  The link "Click Here for 2019 Event Schedules" is especially informative.  We look forward to seeing many of the shows while we are here.  

We went to the Sunset by the Mississippi show this evening.  It is held at the Nauvoo Outdoor Stage which is close to Church's Visitor Center.  The show was a lot of fun.  The Young Performing Missionaries (which includes the Nauvoo Singers and the Nauvoo Brass Band) and the Historic Site Senior Missionaries were the performers for this show.  It is hard to truly capture any performance but we took some pictures of the show.

Beautiful Morning

Since we came to Nauvoo there has been a lot of
rain; more rain than normal. Almost every newscast
we watch talks about the flooding for most of the
 newscast. This past week
it has been very stormy at night. Loud thunder and
lots of lightning.; pouring heavy rain. Then in the
morning it is blue sky and absolutely beautiful. This is
what I saw on my morning walk today.

The ground is saturated with water. there is pooling in many places

They offer ox cart rides. 

The temple is visible from almost everywhere.

See that vivid blue sky and green green foliage.

If you look closely you'll see sheep grazing by the fence.

Nauvoo Temple in the Evening and Upcoming Week

This past Wednesday night we heard the tornado sirens which indicate that there were tornados reported in Hancock County (which is where Nauvoo is located).  There was a lot of rain, lightning and hail (later on in the evening).  We didn't see any tornadoes that evening.  The over abundance of rain this year has caused some concerns with the farmers since they aren't able to prepare some of their soil for planting corn or soy beans, which are the two biggest crops grown here.  Many of the farm fields have puddles (small lakes) of water.  I hope the rain subsides somewhat in the next few weeks so that they can plant the rest of their crops.  There has been some corn planted so far, but little (if any) soy beans.

That evening when the sky was covered with rain clouds, I took some pictures of the Nauvoo temple after we finished our temple shift at around 8 pm.  The temple is so beautiful no matter what time of day (or evening) but we thought these pictures were especially beautiful.  And the temple is even more beautiful inside.   We feel it a great blessing for us to be able to serve in the Nauvoo temple at this time.  The patrons and temple workers are welcoming and kind.  

This summer we will be welcoming many youth and adults from various parts of the U.S. and other countries.  They will be coming to the temple and will see the historic sites in (and around) Nauvoo.  We are now serving in the Baptistry on the Wednesday PM shift and this week we will be very busy with a large youth group (and leaders) from Utah.  We look forward to serving them in the temple.

Trail Of Hope

Everything is green here. We have had a lot of rain this year and since we came the leaves have come out  and it is a beautiful sight.

Parley Street is the path the saints took to cross the Mississippi as they were driven out of Nauvoo.

Along Parley Street is called the Trail of Hope.  There are plaques showing bits of writing from these pioneer's journals. These are a few of them.

John Taylor property on Parley Street

                               

                                   

                                 

                                  

               

One of the benefits of working in the Nauvoo Temple has been that we have opportunities to perform temple ordinances for our ancestors. The "Take a Name" app makes it very easy to find ancestors who need ordinances. We print out the cards and keep them with us because we never know when we will be able to use them. We are regularly assigned to do sealings and have been able to do many. 

Last week the Schmidt's from the 4th ward in South Jordan left us a note in our mail slot and asked us to dinner. Their mission here is with facilities management. Dinner was very good and they were able to tell us a lot about everything here because they have been here 14 months.

Kalona Amish Community, New Temple Missionaries and Young Performing Missionaries

This past week we went to an Amish community in Kalona, Iowa which is close to Iowa City.  We visited a Bakery, Gift Shop and Store, and a Creamery.  It was raining very hard and the roads were mostly not paved in that farming community.  We then went to a home of a very nice Amish family who served us dinner - along with about 50 other Temple Missionaries.  It was very good food.  They usually don't allow photos of them to be taken so we didn't take any during dinner.  However, we did go on a buggy ride afterwards.  Below is a picture of us outside the buggy before we got inside for a short ride. 

On Thursday we welcomed 30 Temple Missionary couples who will be serving here for six months.  We have been attending training sessions in the temple with them yesterday and today.  We are looking forward to getting to know them better and serving with them.  With the temple opening on Monday they are needed here since the temple will be open 6 days a week (Monday - Saturday).  

We get to see the Nauvoo temple every day.  You can see the temple from many miles away and it is very visible from where we are at below (in the Flats area) west of the temple.  This is a view of it from the west (looking east).  This is the main entrance of the temple.  What a beautiful, sacred building.

Earlier this evening we had a dinner at the Nauvoo Stake Center with all of the Temple Missionaries, Temple Presidency and a few others.  After dinner the Young Performing Missionaries came and sang a couple of songs for us.  They will be here until the middle of August.  They will be involved with some of the plays and will do other performances.  We look forward to seeing them over the next few months.  Below is a picture I took of them.

Young Performing Missionaries

Nauvoo Historic Sites

This past week we visited two more of the Nauvoo Historic Sites - the Blacksmith/Wainwright/Ferrier shops and the Cultural Hall.  The Senior Missionaries that serve at these historic sites are very nice and informative.  They serve at a different site each day and they usually serve here for 18 months.  They will also be involved with the "Sunset by the Mississippi" play that will be performed at least 4 evenings a week - starting later on this month.  We look forward to visiting all of the Nauvoo Historic Sites while we are here.  I am sure we will visit some of them more than once.

Senior Sisters in Cultural Hall

Bill speaking at pulpit in Cultural Hall

Blacksmith

Wainwright tools

Wagon typical for Nauvoo Pioneer era

Wagon Particulars (what can be carried inside)