062916

Pageant is just a few days away.  Since we moved over to another apartment much closer to the temple and the pageant area, we hear them practicing so we can hear them running through their daily/nightly practicing all day and night.  I thought I would wander over this morning, while it is still cool enough, and see what is going on.  Nice weather.  Today's high is 80, last night's low was 59.  Humidity is in the 50% range.  Hard to beat that back here...

Parking close to the staging area for the cast members.  This is right across the street from our apartment so we're only talking a couple hundred feet and right next to the field that gets burned up for the demo in the spring.

The lights are all up, chairs are all out, gravel is all down but it is dry as a bone this year, completely different from last year's slogging through the swamp that was in the seating area.  Much nicer but more bugs flying everywhere.  Not so many mosquitos, though.

That is a lot of chairs!  I've heard there are about 2,000 to 2,500 or so.

Just some singing and movement as they practice for next week's opening night on the 5th.

They had some difficulty getting this sail up and the canvas to come down and deploy like they wanted.  It finally all went as planned.  Some of their props are pretty big and take a while to get in place.

Here's the lead role in the play.  Anyone guess who he plays in other special videos...hmmmm?

Nosebleed seats, last row in the back.  You can still hear pretty well but seeing things might be a challenge.  Yep, they will have people sitting here almost every night.

That is quite a cast, isn't it?  And that is only a small portion of it.  I was listening to the sister that was directing it.  I would have a hard time being as chipper and positive as she is.  Looking forward to when it all starts up next week.  We get out of the temple early for a month....

062716

Today is the commemoration of Joseph and Hyrum Smith's martyrdom in Carthage, Illinois.  We weren't able to make it last year so we thought we would give it a try this year.  But first we had an opportunity to share delicious barbequed chicken provided by Russ and Mary Fellows over at the Nauvoo State Park before we left.

The back of Elder Peterson (left), Sister Hendricks, Mary Fellows, Arlene, Sister Peterson, Russ Fellows.  Good food on our P-Day just before everything goes nuts and pageant starts next Tuesday, July 5th.  We change schedule a bit and start each day at 1 PM and work until 8 PM so we can get out of the temple by 8:30.  Maybe we can catch one of the pageants one night since they start at 8:30.   July is awash in Pageant activity but it's only a month long.  We will survive...

Next, on to Carthage and the commemoration of the martyrdom from June 27th, 1844.  Consisted of relaying many eyewitness accounts of what actually happened that day.  The good, the bad, and, of course, the ugly.  History records all the warts and it's good to know what all sides remembered, not just those that loved and honored Joseph and Hyrum.  A quiet and subdued ceremony with music that warmed the heart and got you to think about what took place at this very spot many years ago.  The jail, where they perished, is in the background, on the left.  

Just an idea of what the event looked like while they were speaking.  By the time we got there, it was pretty much standing room only but Arlene managed to get a seat.  Good thing it only last 30 minutes.  It was near 95 degrees but lots of shade and a breeze made it tolerable.  The humidity wasn't too bad for the mid-West.  But, it wasn't Arizona.

The Nauvoo Brass Band supplied us with their usual excellent music.

We headed home for a brief respite from the heat and a little rest then headed over to the Nauvoo Outdoor Stage by the Visitor's Center to catch Noteworthy.  They are only here for the rest of this week.  We got to enjoy their church performance last night at the stake center but wanted to catch their non-church performance in the real world.  Well, that's not all that accurate.  They still were "churchy" but, for crying out loud, they are from BYU, what were you expecting?  They are really good at what they do.  The gal that sings bass is awesome!  Wish I could sing that well!

Since it's an Acappella group, there are no instruments.  Really hard to believe.  They are all BYU students and this is a class for them.  They have been around since 2004 so they have changed a lot over the years.  But, they have a lot of energy and sing like a heavenly choir.  

Just a short clip of their performance.  They performed for an hour, which included some questions and answers, a little talk about themselves, and some other discussion about the group.  Really a nice performance.  The finale was in Spanish, was great but I recorded it all and it's really long and big.  I'll save it for Elder Seger to watch when he comes home.  We had a great time.

In a week or so we will have VocalPoint performing here.  They are an all male group similar to this group.  Looking forward to them, also.  Not looking forward to pageant...well, the schedule anyway.

We got email from Elder Kevin today.  He will be serving as a ZL in the Midway area, which is around the Chicago airport.  I took a look at the area on Google Maps and am thinking that this may be his biggest challenge yet.  But, he will be heading home in about 4 months.  He will also have a new mission president in just a few days so we will see how things change for him.  He will still be speaking Spanish in his new role but the responsibility will be much greater.  He will be serving with one of his old mission buddies so he's excited.  I am hoping and praying he will be equal to the task.  I know he will.  He has mentioned that any sort of emails or letters have dropped to zero from anyone other than us so if you have the opportunity, he could use some contact from home.  Love you all.

062616

Tonight was the performance before the pageant night.  The BYU Noteworthy has been performing all week in town but they did a sociable at the stake center and I can't take pictures there.  They did singing and testimonies.  They were really good and inspiring.  They are a class and this is their last week before class is over.  $ of the class members graduate and move on.  They are so very talented and sing absolutely beautifully.  They are supposed to perform tomorrow night but I don't know if we can get back in time to see them.  Tomorrow is Joseph Smith's martyrdom's story over in Carthage and we are going to try and go see it as we missed it last year.  It'll be our only chance.

Later this evening we went over to the pageant stage and got to watch the pageant people put on a production of "Our Story Goes On".  It's about the stages of life and it's pretty heart wrenching.  Talks about the gospel plan and what happens in our lives.  It takes an hour and a half and is quite the spectacle, worth the price of entry (free, of course).

As the sun begins to set, with the temple in the background, everyone is scurrying around for good seats.  I'm trying to find a place that I can take pictures without too many obstructions, taking a swig or two out of the water bottle, and spraying on bug spray.  We may not have the water this year but we got bugs!

Some of the temple missionaries waiting for things to begin.  The Gammels, O'Biriens, Lymans. and Sumners.

Sister Joines and Webb, our trusty site missionaries, at our side to watch with us.  They only have a few weeks left.

So I can remember the name of the play...

Isn't that an impressive backdrop for a play in Nauvoo?

Getting a little bit darker...

Darker still...

I need to keep this video clips pretty short or I can't upload them.  This is kind of the theme song of the whole play.  You'll get the idea.  He's not the greatest singer but you'll get the idea.

...and the final song.  Such a great message for all of us.  Just to the left is the piano player and he was terrific.  Most of the singers were just phenomenal also.   Just worth every second of time to listen to them perform.  And no mud this year...but a lot of flying insects.  So, I guess it's bugs or mud.  One or the other.... 

So, in another week, pageant starts up.  We have our schedule and we'll be working from 1 PM until 8 PM every night, Tuesday through Saturday from July 5th until July 30.  If it's anything like last year, we will be dead tired by the end and ready to be done but this year, unlike last year, we will only have a few weeks until our mission is over with and not another year to go through.  Good thing, I don't think I could handle another year!  I am so wasted as it is.  Time for these two to come home....

062016

Tonight's talent show was a lot of fun with a lot of missionary talent on display.  Plus we had Sundaes at the end.  Always good to have ice cream!

One of the first acts was a clever puppet show that made fun of our mission president.  Of course, he got up afterwards and said that he was surprised what he was saying was actually getting through!  One of the lines that was used was that we should spend at least as much money at the local grocery market as we do at the Nauvoo Fudge shop.  The room erupted into huge amounts of laughter!  

Sisters Waddel and Chapman sang pioneer songs.

Bro MacDonald played his bagpipes then sang a song for us.

One of the apartments did this freaky version of the chicken dance.  I'm not so sure I've seen/heard it done quite like that before.  Had a live chicken doing his thing.  Well, that was Elder Batten.  He is not going to live that down when he officiates again.

One elder played his harmonica and his guitar while singing.  He said he used to do this at a retirement home and if you were there you probably didn't remember it.

President and sister Hansen did the Jack in the Beanstalk skit and it was much appreciated.  We had watched it last year and it was just as good this year.  Probably better.  President Hansen asked me for a copy of it.  I'll hafta see if I can run one off for him as it's almost 100 MB all by itself and I'm not all that good of a videographer with my camera.  Plus the sound is kind of ugly with the little mic.  But, better than nothing.

We had a good time.  Now, I guess, I need to get some rest....

061916

Sunday we were invited to the Ross's for a nice, light dinner and some chit-chat.  The Ross's are from Australia, near Tasmania and will soon be returning when their visas are up here in the US.  we expect them to be gone in a couple of weeks.  They are coordinators on Friday nights and we have enjoyed working with them.

Sister Nelson, Jessie Nelson (Arlene's Friend), President Nelson, Arlene, Tacie Anozie (Nelson) and her husband, Victor, Brother and Sister Francie Ross.  Their house is in the background.  It's a great house.

The 4 of us together.

Jessie and Arlene.  They work together in the temple on Friday nights at the temple and have become fast friends.  She is one of President and Sister Nelson's daughters.

This is their lovely home.  The view from the back is of the Mississippi River.  It's quite nice.  We had a lovely time while there.

Tomorrow night is our annual talent show.  Ought to be fun and interesting.  I did get a few calls from my kids so we were able to catch up a bit.  Happy Father's Day!

Oh, and 48 years ago today I joined the US Navy and started a 6 year hitch.  One of the most memorable days of my life.

061916

Last Wednesday a power station piece of equipment in Dallas City bit the dust and we were without power for hours at the temple.   Not that we've been without power before, but for several hours?  From around 9 PM until 1 AM.  We had a tour group in the temple at the time and they were just finishing up.  The diesel generator, we found out, only does just enough lights and one elevator to get patrons out of the temple.  What we didn't know was that the diesel fuel was low and that we were in danger of running out and that we had a patron in a wheelchair.  Made for an interesting evening.  Arlene and I got out around 11 PM or so that night.  Good thing we didn't need to be in early the next day, huh?

Front of the temple with no lights.  If you look really closely, you can see the spire.  You don't see this not lit up very often, even late at night as it's always lit up.  The lighting control panel was without power so we couldn't shut down lights inside the  building either.  

The back of the temple with no outside lights.  It was an eerie sight, for sure.

Of course, we had no power at the apartment so it was a bit warm a good portion of the night.  So far it's been a warm, humid summer and it has just barely started.

061216

We had low attendance at temple sessions last night so they shutdown early and we were able to the Brigham Young Dancers and their production's final night here.  It was pretty stupendous.  They dance, non-stop, for an hour and a half.  At the end of their performance I was exhausted just watching them!

This is the whole group.  They are a fantastic group of performers.  So much energy.

A pretty exciting group of cloggers.  Best viewed by video.  There were so many dancers it was difficult to choose which ones to video and save.  

Now, this is some serious fiddling around.  The one on the left is playing a 12 string mandolin.  She's pretty talented.  Actually, they are all amazingly talented.

While we were working at the temple this past week, Michael and Danielle Judd got married and sealed in the Nauvoo Temple on the 9th.  We were lucky enough to attend Danielle's endowment session then their sealing.  We also got to see the Judd's, Mom and Dad, Josh/Morgan, Rachael, and a few of their relatives.

Rachael, Elaine, Jamie, Arlene, and the old guy...so nice to meet with members of our ward in California.  First time in a little over a year.  But, we only have a little over four months and we'll be heading back home.  None to soon, I'm beginning to think.  I am really tired.

Elder Seger took his ACT test last Saturday morning.  He said he did pretty well, although the math section was a bit tough.  Considering he hasn't done any math for almost 2 years, I guess that can be expected, huh?  Now, we just wait to see what the results are.  That'll be the last thing on his application to BYUI for the winter semester the first of next year.  Waiting patiently...

It's been in the mid-90s all week but, fortunately, the humidity has been around 50-60% rather than upwards of 80% so it's been bearable but warmer than I like.  A lot warmer...and it's going to stay that way for the next several months.  The temple is heating up quite a bit.  We have so many more people coming into the temple now than just a couple of weeks ago.  Summer is here, no matter what the calendar says, so we are getting busier each day.  Next week we have baptisms scheduled for 10 PM one night.  Argh, gonna be a long night.  We can't leave till Arlene finishes the paperwork for the baptisms.

060416

Well, here it is the Merry month of June already and we have officially gone under 150 days left on our mission, but who's counting?  That would be me!  Yep, I'm beat...Kevin takes his ACT next week.  You might want to remember him in your prayers.

We have been trying to visit all of the sites we have missed since we've been here, since there are so many.  You don't come to Nauvoo expecting to see it in a day.  Especially, during the summer.  The winter, now that's another story...

The Family Living Center is West of most everything here and is a good place to stop and see a few things.  We've just not been there before, for no special reason.

They have some outstanding modes of transportation.  Nicely brought up to date.

One guide showed us how to make rope but, I gotta tell you, this is way better than anything the Boy Scouts have ever taught me.  This is precision rope making made simple and fast!  Well, comparatively fast anyway.  

He  had kids from the audience standing up and helping.  He asked a Boy Scout to come up and help but he refused so he got a couple of girls to show him up.  So much for the Boy Scouts!  Nice going Eagle Scout, as his Dad mentioned his rank.  I guess he was too proud to stoop down to this level of expertise.  But, these kids did a nice job.

He got it all finished up, rope ends whipped, and handed out samples of the rope to the families that were present.

Next we went over to the bread making demo and listened to her presentation and got to sample the bread.  Good stuff but needed some fresh butter.  This sister was asking the kids in front if they had any scriptures that talked about bread and most of them mentioned some reference to scriptures and bread.  She managed to twist them into something that made sense.  Nicely done.

More carriages and sleds on display.

The whole building is very large and has all kinds of displays to look at depicting settler life back in the mid-1800s.

Remember the burned field?  Well, it's all growed up and blooming now.  Too bad I don't know what anything is.

As I'm sitting here entering picts and typing, I can hear the Nauvoo Brass Band riding in their carriage, "driving" up and down the streets of the "flats"where we live in our apartment, playing their hearts out in the morning.  I guess that is how they practice for the evening performances of "Sunset on the Mississippi" that they do every night.  The wind is nicely accommodating them with a pleasant breeze and it's a nice, sunny, 71 degrees with a few clouds.  A perfect day for a practice on a carriage being drawn by horses through the streets of Nauvoo.  How can you beat that?  No pictures cause they never come near our apartment anymore.  One day, maybe.

See you next time.  Fast Sunday tomorrow.  Family Home Evening the next night and another week starts up.  Only a few weeks and pageant starts.  Already starting to get hectic.  We had a Nebraska stake come in and do their youth conference last week.  Buses and all.  Lots of activity...quite a busy couple of days at the temple.  ...and more of that to come...our daily schedule went from 1 or 2 pages to 3 to 5 in a couple of weeks.  Soon to be even more.  Yep, summer is coming....yep, yep, yep....