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.