We did have one rainy morning, so we cleaned pots and the pot shop. Everything looks so nice. We were outside again after our 10:00 break.
And the Voodoo plant bloomed! It blooms once a year, and only remains in bloom for a day or two. And it stinks like a dead animal to attract flies. Lovely.
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| These little bambis rested in our lawn one afternoon |
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In June we dance in Sunset on the Mississippi on Wednesday and Saturday night. In July we dance on Monday and Thursday, so you all come and see Elder Barrow in Stout Hearted Men. He is quite good at doing the right steps at the right time, which makes it easy for me. I just have to follow him.
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| Mississippi Mud |
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| Stout hearted Men |
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| The Blue Cast women. There is a red cast and a yellow cast. I love these sisters. |
On Friday night we went to the Trail of Hope vignettes. We weren't allowed to take pictures after the program started, but Elder Cornwell posted a wonderful photo to give you an idea of what this looks like. I don't know how many "stations" there were, but the evening was filled with first person stories, violin, flute, and vocal music. The vignettes tell the feelings and stories of the Saints as they left Nauvoo.
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| Our guide, Sister Swazy from Winston-Salem! |
Mission Training
Wednesday training is preparing us for Pageant next month. President Lusvardi answered the question, "Why is the British Pageant in Nauvoo." The British Pageant plays every 4 years in Preston, England. When the apostles visited it, they actually went around the town knocking on doors, just like the young missionaries do. President Kimball said, "If it hadn't been for the British Saints the church would have withered and died." President Kimball's great grandfather was Heber C. Kimball. After serving in his house a couple of times, I realized that I knew almost nothing about him, so I checked his biography out of the mission library. Heber and Brigham were friends in Mendon, New York when the news of the restoration of Christ's church was brought to them. They were baptized a day apart, and together traveled to Kirtland, Ohio to meet Joseph Smith. In 1835 Brigham and Heber were called to be part of the first quorum of apostles in the restored church. Of all of the first 12 Brigham and Heber were the only ones to stand faithful to Joseph. As the others fell away, they were replaced by more stalwart men, like John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow. While still in Kirtland, Joseph came to Heber while he was sitting in the temple and said, "Brother Heber, the Spirit of the Lord has whispered to me:"Let my servant Heber go to England and proclaim my Gospel, and open the door of salvation to that nation." Elder Kimball had phenomenal success in England. Four years later as soon as he and the other apostles were "settled" in Nauvoo, he was sent back, this time with the other apostles. It must have seemed crazy for the strongest leaders of the church to be sent away just as Nauvoo was getting settled. Malaria was running rampant, even among the apostles, their families were living in huts, they had been stripped of all of their belongings in Missiouri. But the Lord's ways are not fully understood to us and so in faith they left their families and went to England. They had great success and the immigration of the British Saints began. Nauvoo was a place of gathering, in order to build the temple. The British Saints were needed with their skills, their numbers, and this is my personal opinion, with their faith and optimism, for the Saints in Missiouri had been traumatized and were exhausted, physically and emotionally, if not spiritually. The British Saints breathed energy and life into the city. They were needed to build the temple, and to prepare the people for the exodus West. Elder Barrow's ancestors were mostly from this British immigration to Nauvoo.
Also when the apostles first went to England there was no way to publish the Book of Mormon in America. One press in Missouri had been destroyed. Another had been buried. The Saints were trying to survive, but in England the Book of Mormon could be printed. Brigham wrote to Joseph Smith, asking for permission. He never got a reply, so he went ahead and did it.
We were told that in the 1930s, when Gordon B. Hinckley's father was mission president of the Illinois Mission, he advocated for the Nauvoo Temple to be rebuilt. He was unsuccessful, but when his son became president of the church, he made it happen. I'm remembering learning that in the late 1940s, missionaries in California tracted out the descendants of the Nauvoo Temple's architect, William Weeks, and they gifted the architectural drawings to the church. Sometimes we need to wait until all the pieces are in place. One thing I've loved in Nauvoo is learning about different parts of the history, and then putting them together with other parts.
Mission Conference
Occasionally a general Authority visits our mission. Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, yes, the former BYU and NFL quarterback, was here for several days. We met with him at 7:15 Saturday morning and again at 8:15 PM after we danced in Sunset. His main messages were to be one, united, as the First Presidency is, to engage in companion study, and to understand why the leaders are talking so much about repentance. There has been so much encouragement to learn to receive our own revelation. We need to repent so that we are able to receive revelation. The one allows the other to happen. He reminded us that the Hebrew word for repent is Shub, to turn away from. The Greek translation was metanoeo, which also means to change. Elder Nelson says in context it meant to become a new creature in Christ. The Latin translation, Poeritere means to punish. President Nelson said, "In the beginning that was not so." So repentance can be a joyful thing, turning away from something that is hurtful to us and others, to the light of Christ.It is always so edifying to be instructed by these great leaders, and part of the blessing of serving a mission.
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