071915

Another exciting week has flown by and here is another update.  Last Tuesday was a special "Missionary Fireside" at the stake center here in Nauvoo.  Since it was Tuesday night, we thought it was a bit odd but, Arlene and I work on Tuesday nights so we knew we would not be able to attend.  When we got to the temple that night, we were told we needed to be there.  So, we made the arrangements to go.  Since we had to be in our seats 20 minutes before 7 PM, that meant we had to leave at about 6 PM to get dressed in our "civies" and get over to the stake center (it's a block and a half away).  Both the temple and the site missionaries were attending so we knew the soft seats up front were going to be at a premium.  We got over there as soon as we could.

We got just about the last of the soft seats available.  There was a roomer flying about that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was in town but that seemed a bit out of the question, but promptly at around 7 PM, sure enough, he walked into the stake center.  We had filled the stake center so it was pretty crowded.

He was there just doing the grandpa thing with his grandkids on a church history tour of the US and Nauvoo was one of his stops.  It was quite a treat to sit at the feet of an Apostle of the Lord and hear him speak.  He encouraged and thanked us for our roles at Nauvoo, for bringing history to life and for helping out/serving as we do.  He also mentioned that he was in the temple the day before when the chillers had quit working due to the electrical/rain storms/bad power and the temple got pretty warm and wet inside (humidity).  We did't even know he was there.  Fortunately, I was off that day so they can't blame that one on me.  What a day to have a chiller failure.  It was a great fireside and special to us.  A once in a lifetime event.

Since it was 8 PM when he finished up, we realized it was early enough for us to go watch the Nauvoo Pageant so we headed down to park and walk in.  The seating was not as good as Monday night but it was good enough.  The Nauvoo Pageant is different from the British Pageant as it is about the Saints here in Nauvoo and their struggles.  It's pretty spectacular in it's own right.  I have a little video of it also.

Just for Mark Johnson, we happened to be sitting right next to the pathway for the flag ceremony as they marched into the arena at the very start of the Pageant.  Couldn't resist taking this for him.  However, due to the limit on the amount of video I can upload for the blog, this is shortened so it doesn't show them going up on stage.

I shot this sideways so the top appears to be missing sometimes.  It's not.  This is one of the final scenes of the pageant.  In the last scene the real temple is illuminated but that video, unfortunately, didn't make the cut.  I'll try to get it before it closes in August.  It takes a lot of people to put this thing on.  It's such a pleasure to be here.

We taught lesson number 6 today at the Burlington Ward Family Relations Class.  Only 2 more classes left.  I guess the Bishopric is thinking about what they are going to do next.  Temple Prep?  Family History?  Who knows for sure....

Oh, and it's been between 90 and 95 here all week with humidity levels up around 90% +.  Highlight of the week was Thursday as I was up in the attic of the Arrival Center in the afternoon working on the A/C because it was not working very well.  I found the air filters completely clogged with dirt so I pulled them out.  However, because they are located in the attic, difficult to get to, and a pain in the pattootee to work on, it takes forever to deal with.  I pulled the filters out (two separate units up there) and talked to the President.  Then just put everything back together so the A/C would sort of work.  The President said he would make some calls.  I figured he'd have them fix it Monday.  I get a call from the Arrival Center telling me the President has two filters on the way there in about half an hour for me.  Ugh...I hafta go back up there?  So, when they arrived, I went back up there and put them in as best I could.  Needless to say, I was a hot, sweaty mess that night.  Hope I don't do that too often.  I'm just too old for that....must of been hotter than Hades up there.  Or, at least, close to it...

...and, apparently, I have a replacement Grandpa in the Camino Ward while I'm gone.  Way to go, Brother Gardner!  She likes gum!