The Bradley's Visit

Hailey at Pioneer Pastimes

Sunday morning at 1:30 a.m. Ann, Jenny, and the children arrived.  All slept in the living room except Thomas who had an air mattress in the dining room.  We had a busy week as they saw all of the extra summer things that go on in Nauvoo.  Dee and I worked each morning and played with the family each afternoon.

On Monday we went putt-putting outside the state pen. 

Ready to putt.

Thomas in the batting cage. 

Monday night they watched us dance at Sunset on the Mississippi.  I'm glad at least some of the family was able to witness Dad dance.  Afterwards I gave them the "women's garden tour" which is not an official tour, but they were very good participants.  Tuesday, after my work, we went to pioneer pasttimes.  Afterwards we saw the vignette " Women of Nauvoo" in the Women's Garden.  The actresses told the story of the formation of the Relief Society.  Later Dad, Ann, Hailey, and Thomas went to the temple to do baptisms.   Tuesday night we went to the Country Fair and the Nauvoo pageant. 

Pioneer Past times.  We did a lot, but I didn't take pictures.  Ann did, but I don't have them. 

Learning to dance the Highland fling

Thomas pulls the girls. 

Jenny pulls the boys. 

Earlier in the day Jenny and Ann learned how to save seats for the pageant.  It is quite the process, but not hard.  At the south of the pageant you are given a string the length of the number of seats you want to save and a piece of paper to write your name, then you put your string in line and you go sit in the shade.  At two o'clock you pick up your string and in an orderly fashion, as it is explained to you by the nice, but firm speaking lady, you go find your seats. Jenny was very impressed with the operation. They got good seats, but really all the seats are OK.

Wednesday morning, during my last hour of work, the family came and weeded with my garden club!  Ben and Miles really had fun dumping everyone's weeds into the trailer.  Thomas and Hailey were impressed with our knife trowels.   Ben had so much fun that he wanted to do it again on Thursday. 

My friends left us the shade to work in. Thank you so much. 

Wednesday afternoon, while Thomas and Hailey reserved seats at the pageant,  we sat in front of the Mansion House under the trees and watched the vignette called "Letters of Emma and Joseph."  Sister Wadley portrayed Lucy Mack Smith.  Two of the cast started the program with a beautiful song written by Parley P. Pratt about Emma and Joseph, Farewell, My Kind and Faithful Friend.  The program caused me to reflect on all of the trouble Joseph and Emma endured during their life time as they worked to restore Christ's church.

 Later we saw a re-enactment of  what is now called the King Follett's Sermon, probably Joseph's most important sermon, where Joseph laid out a view of the eternal nature of God and ourselves. King Follet, a friend of Joseph's, was killed while digging  a well.   Joseph was asked to preach at his funeral.  Between 10 and 20 thousand people attended the outdoor service. 

Here you can find a download of the sermon.

https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/king-follett-discourse-newly-amalgamated-text

John Taylor introduces the background to the sermon. 

Since it was July 24, Dad made homemade rootbeer.  Then we went back to the Country Fair and the British Pageant. Thomas and Hailey had reserved even better seats than they had the night before - front row, second section.

Showing off the homemade rootbeer. 

Thursday I didn't go to work, but stayed with the family.  We heard the Youth of Zion stories.  We had to hurry home afterwards to  watch Jason look for the lost drone on our roof.  He couldn't find it, but it was fun to watch him maneuver the lift. 

Searching for the drone.

Youth of Zion

After lunch  we went to the seventies hall for the vignette Go Ye Into All the World.   It is one of the most powerful vignettes, told by 5 of the apostles who went to England in 1840.  Afterwards we went to the school house, which they missed seeing in April.

My dear friend, Sister Mensel, taught school that day. 

Miles wanted to visit Browning Gun.  Elder Weldon gave them the super tour of the gun shop.  While they were doing that Ann, Hailey, and I visited the gardens and then sat behind the bakery and waited for them.  They ended their day with an ox cart ride, finally doing everything they missed doing in April.  That evening was another Mississippi Mud performance.

Here come the oxen - oh so slow. 

Sticks

Sticks were a big part of this week.  Benson and Miles found several fishing poles.  They equipped them with string and paper clip hooks - but only caught lily pads.  For a final act of service they had a contest of who could find the most sticks in Grammy's yard, and piled them up to be judged, before moving them to the road for our trailer to pick up.

Fishing poles

First day at Grammy's Benson brings in his stick collection

All piled up - thanks kids. 

How to visit Nauvoo

Since we were doing NOR on Saturday, we had Friday off, so we could give Ann and company a proper breakfast before they headed west, very glad they were driving and not going by ox cart. The rest of the day Dee and I did laundry, cleaned, and grocery shopped, between long rests.  I rated this visit a ten.  The weather had moderated from last week's heat wave.  We didn't try to do more than we had reasonable time for. There were plenty of fun things for the kids to do.  The crowds weren't too bad for the things we were doing. 

Visiting Nauvoo advice - either come for pageant or come to visit sites, but don't try to do both.  Save the sites for off season.  You will get better tours and not have to wait in line or deal with the heat.

Nauvoo on the Road - Mendon, Illinois

Saturday we went to Mendon, Illinois for the Adams' County Fair.  Nauvoo on the Road's spot was with the Old Time Thresher Machine Association.  They have a pavillon across from where we were and we were invited to a country potluck lunch, with pork hamburgers, home fried potato chips, and homemade ice-cream.  We visited with several members of the Thresher association.  Very nice people.  The historian for the group told me his great grandmother had passed down an original copy of the Book of Mormon "by Joseph Smith" he added.  Really???  I told him if the copy right date was in the 1830s to please take it to Nauvoo and show it to the people at the visitor's center.  Then I gave him a new Book of Mormon. I showed him where Christ visited the people in America and marked it with a Family Search card.  I hope he will read it.

Fried potato chips

Ice-cream

We hurried home from Mendon because we had parking security duty that night at the pageant.  All we had to do was sit and watch people go the wrong way to the parking place and directing them to the right way.  We also had to move the barrier several times for people who had permission to go the wrong way. It was nice to just sit in the cool July evening and be quiet after such a busy week.

Mission Training Spotlight

  President Lusvardi used the story of the woman at the well in Samaria to teach us how to lift the conversation from mundane to meaningful.  I also noticed how he ignored her rather contentious, mocking response to his living water.  He continued with love and patience to teach her and the next time she responded with humble eagerness to understand what he was saying.  By verse 28 she was testifying of him.   The president challenged us to learn to elevate the conversation.  Quite the challenge.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Saying Good-bye

I can't believe we just finished the third week of July.  This is the week I've dreaded for several months.  Monday we said good-bye to the Christensens, and Thursday was the Nelson's last day of work.  Our garden club is only 4 now.   A new couple is coming on Monday, but we don't know if the wife will be assigned to us.

The last six-women garden crew.  Nelson, Grigsby, Christensen were all here when I came.  Bailiey, me, and Sister Pleshek will remain after September when Sister Grigsby goes home. 

The Christensen's receive their FM flag. 

The Nelson's closing remarks. 

                         

Sister Christensen wanted a photo of the Grounds crew. This is at our Monday morning meeting. 

Huge Wind and Rain Storm

         On Wednesday afternoon a 20 minute hurricane blew through Nauvoo.  As we were eating our mid-day meal by the kitchen window,  I noticed the sky was getting very dark in the west. The weather app went from 0 percent chance of rain to 70!  And it started to sprinkle.  In minutes the wind started to blow, the rain came down in horizontal sheets.  We stood at the front door, which faces east and is covered by our porch, and we both commented that it looked like the hurricanes we'd watched in NC.   Later we learned that the winds were 60-70 miles per hour. Not quite hurricane level, but enough to knock down the power poles on Parley Street and make Nauvoo look like a hurricane came through.  Tree branches and whole trees are down all over town.   After cleaning up most of our yard, we went down to see if the pageant chairs needed set up.  By the time we got there the pageant work crew had almost all set up again, but we were told they had been blown into a big pile.   No one was hurt, no buildings were damaged.  The only casualty I know of is an RV that a tree crashed through.  I knew what my garden club would be doing the next day.

This job took a larger team than our garden club. 

The summer interns ran the chipper. 

Two husbands came and sawed logs for us. 

Thursday we loaded at least 4 trailers full of tree branches, and others were out doing the same.  Youth groups who were in town also gathered piles of branches by the roadside for us to clean up.  Before we even got to work on Friday (and we start at 6:00), Elder Pleshek got up and loaded a trailer with tree parts. Later that morning  while we worked at Exodus a family of triplets and their grandmother came and asked to help. They stayed until our break.  There is still a lot to clean up, but it will get done.
       

Heat Wave

 This week has been incredibly hot.  We were suppose to dance on Thursday night, but after two sisters began to feel sick, Elder Bingham, the mission doctor, sent the senior missionaries home.  Even though they canceled the children's parade, we had children making hats, so we had to wait until they finished - and one little 4 year old was not in any hurry.  (I don't know if I've ever mentioned that Dee and I are the managers of the children's parade.  I'll try and take some pictures next week.)

Okquawka, Illinois

On Friday the pageant people gave the FM employees and missionaries a Chinese lunch to thank us for all the work we did to make the pageant come off.  Dee built new counters for the concession stand.  The grounds people mowed and put together 60 giant pots to beautify the pageant grounds.  My crew had nothing to do with any of it, except keep the rest of Nauvoo beautiful. 
Saturday Dee and I went north to Okquawka, Illinois to check out a sewing repair shop.  My machine broke a few weeks ago.  Okquawka is a little, middle America town.

Horseshoe park. 

Fur trader's house where Lincoln  and  Chief Black Hawk visited. 

At the FM lunch on Friday, Lon, one of the employees, told us about growing up in Oquaska.  The main road ran into the Mississippi.  Lon and his friends liked to ride their bikes into the river.  At night the drunks ran their cars into the river, so the town finally built a dirt barricade between the river and the main road.  It is still there today. 

Mission Training: It was Zone Conference. The lesson was, We are apprentices for Christ and His work. WE split into three groups.  Our group shared 1 Nephi 17:7-16 which is the story of God commanding Nephi to build a boat.  The question we answered was, "What Christlike qualities did Nephi show as he built the boat?" 

If you build it ...

Buses bring hundreds to Nauvoo every July. 

Nauvoo is alive in July with a variety of different vignettes during the day,  the Nauvoo Brass Band playing throughout the day, and at 7:00 the Country Fair opens, followed by either the British or the Nauvoo Pageant.  Meantime, in the Garden Club, which sounds better than the grounds crew, we are trying to keep up with the watering and the weeding, and Elder Barrow is trying to keep everyone's a/c running because it is hot.  While it seemed to  rain everyday this spring, the rain has stopped and the temperature is heating up. We start our day at 6:00 with the water trucks, followed by weeding and stick runs until the heat gets too much.  Then we go into the pot shop and make coleus cuttings.

On Monday after Sunset, we practiced what we as missionaries do at the end of the British Pageant.  We all march up on stage singing parts of Called to Serve, Oh Say What is Truth, and Redeemer of Israel.  Participation is optional, and with our early rising time, we can only do it on Friday, because we don't have to get up early on Saturday. It was frustrating to hear all of the music from the Country Fair and Pageant, but being too tired to go participate.  Finally near the end of the week we were able to be part of it.

Sunset on the Mississippi goes on even with pageant. 

 I was able to see a couple of things during the week.  The Nauvoo Bagpipers perform everyday just a block from my house.

Wednesday I saw the Women of Nauvoo, performed by the young sister missionaries in the women's garden.  Next week the core cast will perform it.  I don't think they can do any better than the young sisters did.

Thursday we went to the Country Fair.  We were too tired to stay for the pageant, but I just wanted to see what was going on.  LOTS!  Dancing, crafts, games, bagpipes, puppets.

Tug o War

Handcart races

Dance band

dancing

The fair ends and the pageant starts with a parade. Photo by Elder Cornwell.

Friday we took our turn on security for the British pageant.  Our assignment was easy.  Keep people, mainly children, from going on the stage.  We actually had to just stand there in our orange vest.  That was the sign that you can't go up  there.   I was glad for our assignment. Others had to deal with anti-Mormon activist, who yell and hand out anti-pamphlets.   We are told to not engage them.  If they are ignored, they might go away.  I'm quite sure they don't persuade any of this crowd.  When Mckay was a young teenager, he use to collect these pamphlets. They didn't persuade him.  One sister I work with said her Lutheran aunt went around and collected pamphlets from each activist and then shook them at them all and told them to leave these Mormons alone.  They are doing a good thing and not hurting anyone.  I wish I'd been there to see and hear her.

I loved the British Pageant.  It tells the story of the apostles opening the British Isles to the restored gospel message.  The response was thousands joined the church and immigrated to Nauvoo. This is a major part of Dee's ancestors' story.  Barrows, Beswicks, Dougherty, Fosters, Robins, Welch, Ellisons, Pilling, and Banks all are his ancestors who came from England and traveled to Nauvoo.
These two photos were taken by Elder Bruce Cornwell.

Saturday morning we had a farewell breakfast for the Christensens and the Nelsons.  I've said good-by to a lot of missionaries, but these will be the hardest.  They have worked with me for over half of my mission.  They have been my leaders, role models, and good friends.  The good thing is, the Nelsons live near Ann, so I know that I'll see them again.  The Christensens live in Idaho Falls, so any trip to Yellowstone will include seeing them, along with the Archibalds who live in Rexburg.  It will take a bit more effort to see the Grigsby, who are in OK and the Dares, who are in AZ, but Church members' paths cross in surprising ways, and Nauvoo is one of the most common crossing places.

Christensens on left, no hat, name tags.

Saturday afternoon we did sealings in the temple with two other missionary couples.  My temple work list is growing smaller.

Then finally Saturday night we saw the Nauvoo Pageant.  I've waited so many years to see the pageant.  And I was not disappointed.  Thanks to the Cornwells we had practically the best seats in the house.  The best seats were the row in front of us.  The best thing is, now I can go to sleep at night listening to the music and know what is going on.  No more FOMO. (fear of missing out)  Pictures next week.

A few loose ends.  A baby racoon showed up at the compound.  Richard took it home for a pet.

A summer employee, Katy, found it.

The Gheen house is all gone except the front. They are rebuilding the whole inside.

Mission Training report:  Elder Don Clark, emeritus seventy, but still at it, taught us what is necessary for conversion.  Conversion is not testimony.  It is much more lasting.  He gave us 7 principles of conversion.  1. Knowledge 2. Faith which requires action. 3. Testimony  4. Daily repentance  5. Keeping the sabbath 6. Revelation by the Holy Ghost. 7. Obedience.

If we do these things, follow these principles we will stay.  Teach our children to learn to listen to the Holy Ghost.

He told us that Jesus Christ doesn't delegate missionary work.  He is personally involved in it.  And when we get home, go to the temple and report our mission to Him.

One more HOT week, and Ann and Jenny with children arrive.  This month is going fast.