Throughout the years we have looked forward with great anticipation to receiving Mother's Day phone calls from our children who were serving missions around the world. This year, the tables were turned as we looked forward with great anticipation to receiving phone calls from our children and grandchildren as we are serving a Full-Time Temple Mission in Nauvoo, Illinois. My heart was filled with joy as my faithful companion and I prayed together that night after having spoken with each of our 6 families. We are most grateful for our family and for their constant support and love in our behalf. How grateful we also are for the sure knowledge we share with all of them that our family will be together forever! It truly was a very happy Missionary Mother's Day here in Nauvoo.
Mother's Day Basket sent from our Connecticut Family
Mother's Day did begin a few days early when our 3rd child, Pamela Peterson Richardson, came to visit us for the week. She and her family live in Corvallis, Oregon, where her husband, Todd, is the Institute Director at Oregon State University. Pam's oldest daughter, Kathryn graduated from Oregon State last year and is married. Pam's next 2 girls, Rachel and Rebekah, are students at Oregon State. Her youngest daughter, Erika, is a Senior in High School and is graduating next month. This stage of life made it possible for Pam to run away from home and come spend some time becoming familiar with our missionary life. After 7 months apart, we had a wonderful time together and enjoyed sharing our Nauvoo home away from home .
Pam arrived on Saturday evening. She flew from Portland to St. Louis, Missouri, then took her life in her hands and flew on a little puddle jumper plane from St. Louis up to Quincy, Illinois where we picked her up. On Sunday, we introduced Pam to the Mt. Pleasant Iowa Branch. She enjoyed the bi-lingual meetings and everyone welcomed her with open arms. Our Sunday afternoon was spent searching for two old cemeteries where Pam's husband's 2nd great grandparents were buried. Both are located out in farm country between Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois. We were able to find both cemeteries, but only one of their graves. Many of the markers were very weather worn which made the hunt for his Great, Great Grandmother, Victoria, impossible to locate. The best part of this was watching Todd and Pam on FaceTime as she showed him his Great, Great Grandfather's final resting place. It was thrilling for both of them! Here are some pictures from our cemetery expedition.
Here's Pamela!
He was a Civil War Soldier
Just to prove we were all here together!
Pam is a selfie fan! She says they tell the true story!
This is the cemetery where we couldn't identify the actual grave
We were so into the cemetery scene on Sunday afternoon that we decided to visit The Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds at the far East end of Parley Street. They have a pavilion there listing the names of the early Nauvoo Pioneers who died between 1839 and 1846 while living here. Amongst those names is Wilford Woodruff's 2 years and 3 days old daughter, Sarah Emma Woodruff. It is a sobering, sacred place and the spirit is strong as you read the words of Phoebe Woodruff which she wrote to her husband in July of 1840. That same spirit lingers throughout this tiny cemetery.
This monument, sculpted by Dee Jay Bawden. stands in the cemetery honoring the valiant saints who lived and died in Nauvoo. The monument displays a quote by the Prophet Joseph Smith which reads, "The place where a man is buried is sacred." (mormonhistoricsites.org)
Phoebe letter to her husband, Wilford Woodruff
No one who visits us in Nauvoo leaves without taking a walk down Parley Street, our street, along the Trail of Hope. We try to plan these walks to coincide with the beautiful sunsets on The Mississippi River. The timing was perfect that night and the scenery was stunning as usual. We never get tired of this amazing Mississippi River and we enjoy sharing it with our family whenever we have a chance.
Another Family Photo with The Mississippi River backdrop
Just as the sun set, vans pulled up and out jumped the Young Performing Missionaries Brass Band and their fearless leaders, Elder and Sister Miller. Elder Miller is a recently retired band teacher from American Fork High School in Highland, Utah. They had just arrived for their season of Summer service here in Nauvoo and they were excited!!! We took this group photo of them and then they dispersed and began skipping rocks in the river. It was so fun to meet them and we look forward to their performances in Old Nauvoo. They range in age from 18-25 and they must be single. This is a Church Service Mission call to the Illinois Nauvoo Mission. They serve under the Illinois Nauvoo Mission President. The YPMs' term of service is from May 5th, 2017 through August 15th, 2017.
The Young Performing Missionaries Brass Band
Monday is our P-Day now, so while Pam was here we took that day and went on another adventure. Our first stop was The Dutchman Store in Cantril, Iowa. Pam and I wandered up and down every isle from one end of the store to the next. She was totally enthralled with the Amish Quilts which were for sale in the Fabric section of this big Amish store.
One more flattering selfie with Pam and Mom
When we left The Dutchman Store, we drove over to Bentensport, however that little old Pioneer area along the Des Moines River was pretty deserted. We did see a lovely little old church in a beautiful setting on the hillside and also an interesting sign telling about Brigham Young and the Pioneers crossing the Des Moines River on their trek West.
The Des Moines River
Elder and Sister Spradlin. They live in the Winslow Farr Home
Sign hanging in The Cultural Hall where Rendezvous is performed
Monument to John Wood at Washington Park
Like we always say, "This is what we look like!"
On Tuesday morning, Pam and I spent the morning roaming through the little shops of downtown Nauvoo. Does it surprise you that Dad elected to stay home? We had a great time and ended our date having lunch at "The Apron", a new little restaurant. It just wouldn't be right if we didn't have a Girl's Day Out when we get together and this was as close to The Mall that we could come.
We did serve in the Temple on the Thursday AM Shift. Afterward, we all went to lunch in Hamilton at the Camino Real Restaurant. It was delicious as always. We drove Pam to see the view of the Nauvoo Temple from across The Mississippi in Montrose, Iowa. It is the view the Pioneers saw as they left Nauvoo for their trek to the Salt lake Valley. We love that view of the Temple and the feelings we have each time we see the beautiful Nauvoo Temple from this special vantage point.
View from Montrose, Iowa
We stopped at the Mail Barn while Pam was here and Grandpa Pete had received the cutest letter from Luke who lives in Nibley, Utah. Grandpa sends each of the Grandchildren a $2 bill and a personal little letter when they call and tell him that they have lost a tooth. He has been doing this for about 20 years. Luke, age 10, was replying to Grandpa after receiving his last Tooth Letter. His printing on the envelope was so fun and we wanted to share this with all of you. I don't think Luke will mind, right Luke?
We had to say farewell to Pam on Friday morning and let her get back to her family in Oregon. It was a sweet pre-Mother's Day treat to have her here over the past week. A very kind couple who live in the Mt Pleasant Branch where we serve on Sundays invited all the missionary couples to join them for Mother's Day dinner since we are away from our own families this year. Brother and Sister Moore furnished the main course and their home. Brother Moore is the chef in their family and he made a delicious roast beef meal. Each of us brought various side dishes to finish off the menu. We all said it was the best meal we had eaten in weeks!!! What a blessing it is to have wonderful people like the Moores to brighten the lives of the Mt Pleasant Branch missionaries on that special day. Here are some pictures from our Missionary Mother's Day dinner at the Moores'.
Brother and Sister Moore- Our Hosts
Brother Moore- Our Chef
Hermana Burbidge and Hermana Langston
Full -Time Sister Missionaries in the Mt Pleasant Branch
(LtoR) Elder &Sister Beer, The Moores, Elder & Sister Peterson,
Elder & Sister Hatch, Elder & Sister Spradlin
Spradlins are Nauvoo Site Missionaries. The rest of us are Temple Missionaries. Another Temple Missionary couple, Elder & Sister Despain, had family visiting and did not come today. All of us serve together in the Mt Pleasant Branch. We make up about 1/4 of their weekly attendance!
Elder and Sister Peterson on Mother's Day, 2017
One thing that is always special and much anticipated on Mother's Day is hearing the Primary Children come up in Sacrament Meeting and sing to their Mothers. In the Mt Pleasant Branch we were blessed to enjoy this same special experience when their Primary made up of 9 children, 3 from 3 different families, stood and sang a sweet medley including "Mother I Love You". The spirit the children's voices bring is truly angelic. My favorite Primary Mother's Day song is "I Often Go Walking". (Pg. 202 in The Children's Songbook) Here are the words to that dear song:
I often go walking in meadows of clover, And I gather armfuls of blossoms of blue. I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over; Dear Mother, all flowers remind me of you. O Mother, I give you my love with each flower. To give forth sweet fragrance a whole life-time through;
For if I love blossoms and meadows and walking, I learned how to love them, dear Mother, from you.
Each time I see beautiful flower gardens, I am reminded of my own sweet Mother. She loved flowers and found joy in her flower gardens. She especially loved lilacs. She passed on 11 &1/2 years ago. My Dad had passed on 2 &1/2 years before her and when he left, she died of a broken heart. How grateful I am to know for a surety that they are together forever and very much alive. Here is a sweet picture of my parents that my sister came across and one that portrays them the way I will always remember them.
Mom and Dad- Dick and Jeannine Archibald
The Sarah Granger Kimball home is surrounded with magnificent flower gardens. My Mom would love to be tending those flower gardens. My faithful companion and I walked down to the Sarah Granger Kimball home earlier this week for a morning walk and we will share are some pictures of that beautiful spot. The Peonies are in full bloom and they are breath-taking! Outside along one wall of our home in South Jordan, we have a row of Red and Pink and White Peonies plants which originated in Nauvoo. They were brought across the plains from Nauvoo by James Allred and his wife, Elizabeth Warren. They were subsequently planted in Spring City, Utah where Pete's Mother, Edra Allred Peterson grew up. Next, those same Peonies plants moved to Payson, Utah to Pete's childhood home. We have moved those plants to 3 different homes where we have lived in Utah. Some of our children have taken starts from these plants and they are thriving, too. This is another reason why we were so enamored with these flower gardens pictured below.
Mother's Day just wouldn't be complete without paying tribute to our own family of children who bring everlasting meaning to the privilege and blessing we have of being parents. In their honor, we will share 2 pictures of our 6 children. The first was taken on Easter Sunday of 1989 when our oldest child was attending BYU and about ready to leave on his mission to Osaka, Japan. The second is a picture of our family all together the weekend before we left home last October 2016, to come serve our mission in Nauvoo. You will see 12 children in that picture, because each of our 6 children have been blessed with wonderful spouses and we claim all 12 of them as our eternal children. They are the parents of our 24 grandchildren and we will love them all forever!
Mother's Day Cards, Letters and Emails from Family
Mother's Day did begin a few days early when our 3rd child, Pamela Peterson Richardson, came to visit us for the week. She and her family live in Corvallis, Oregon, where her husband, Todd, is the Institute Director at Oregon State University. Pam's oldest daughter, Kathryn graduated from Oregon State last year and is married. Pam's next 2 girls, Rachel and Rebekah, are students at Oregon State. Her youngest daughter, Erika, is a Senior in High School and is graduating next month. This stage of life made it possible for Pam to run away from home and come spend some time becoming familiar with our missionary life. After 7 months apart, we had a wonderful time together and enjoyed sharing our Nauvoo home away from home .
Pam arrived on Saturday evening. She flew from Portland to St. Louis, Missouri, then took her life in her hands and flew on a little puddle jumper plane from St. Louis up to Quincy, Illinois where we picked her up. On Sunday, we introduced Pam to the Mt. Pleasant Iowa Branch. She enjoyed the bi-lingual meetings and everyone welcomed her with open arms. Our Sunday afternoon was spent searching for two old cemeteries where Pam's husband's 2nd great grandparents were buried. Both are located out in farm country between Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois. We were able to find both cemeteries, but only one of their graves. Many of the markers were very weather worn which made the hunt for his Great, Great Grandmother, Victoria, impossible to locate. The best part of this was watching Todd and Pam on FaceTime as she showed him his Great, Great Grandfather's final resting place. It was thrilling for both of them! Here are some pictures from our cemetery expedition.
FaceTime Call to Corvallis, Oregon.
You have to love technology these days!
Pam is a selfie fan! She says they tell the true story!
This is the cemetery where we couldn't identify the actual grave
We were so into the cemetery scene on Sunday afternoon that we decided to visit The Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds at the far East end of Parley Street. They have a pavilion there listing the names of the early Nauvoo Pioneers who died between 1839 and 1846 while living here. Amongst those names is Wilford Woodruff's 2 years and 3 days old daughter, Sarah Emma Woodruff. It is a sobering, sacred place and the spirit is strong as you read the words of Phoebe Woodruff which she wrote to her husband in July of 1840. That same spirit lingers throughout this tiny cemetery.
No one who visits us in Nauvoo leaves without taking a walk down Parley Street, our street, along the Trail of Hope. We try to plan these walks to coincide with the beautiful sunsets on The Mississippi River. The timing was perfect that night and the scenery was stunning as usual. We never get tired of this amazing Mississippi River and we enjoy sharing it with our family whenever we have a chance.
Just as the sun set, vans pulled up and out jumped the Young Performing Missionaries Brass Band and their fearless leaders, Elder and Sister Miller. Elder Miller is a recently retired band teacher from American Fork High School in Highland, Utah. They had just arrived for their season of Summer service here in Nauvoo and they were excited!!! We took this group photo of them and then they dispersed and began skipping rocks in the river. It was so fun to meet them and we look forward to their performances in Old Nauvoo. They range in age from 18-25 and they must be single. This is a Church Service Mission call to the Illinois Nauvoo Mission. They serve under the Illinois Nauvoo Mission President. The YPMs' term of service is from May 5th, 2017 through August 15th, 2017.
Monday is our P-Day now, so while Pam was here we took that day and went on another adventure. Our first stop was The Dutchman Store in Cantril, Iowa. Pam and I wandered up and down every isle from one end of the store to the next. She was totally enthralled with the Amish Quilts which were for sale in the Fabric section of this big Amish store.
Beautiful Amish Quilts for purchase
When we left The Dutchman Store, we drove over to Bentensport, however that little old Pioneer area along the Des Moines River was pretty deserted. We did see a lovely little old church in a beautiful setting on the hillside and also an interesting sign telling about Brigham Young and the Pioneers crossing the Des Moines River on their trek West.
To complete our day, we went with Pam to the other mandatory activity we share with each of our visitors here, "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo", put on each night in the Old Nauvoo Cultural Hall by the Site Missionaries. The cast which performed this night had 2 couples who are our friends, our next door neighbors, Elder and Sister Daines, and Elder and Sister Spradlin who attend Church with us in the Mt Pleasant Branch each week. Nothing like an energetic performance of "Rendezvous" to put you in the Nauvoo spirit! Pam loved it, of course!
Elder and Sister Daines. They live in the Newel K. Whitney Home
We work the PM Shift on Wednesdays, so that morning, we took Pam on a very fun journey down to Quincy, Illinois. In a previous blog post I wrote about Quincy and the way that town literally rescued the Mormon Pioneers when they were chased out of Missouri by angry mobs. It was there that the current Mayor of Quincy and his community of 1,500 people offered food and lodging and clothing to the 5,000 Mormon Refugees, including our ancestors, James Allred and Elizabeth Warren among others. This is referred to as "The Quincy Miracle" to this very day within the Church. It was such a powerful place for us to visit when we went the first time and we wanted to share that with Pam. Today we visited The Quincy History Museum, the harbor front marker located approximately where the Pioneers crossed the frozen river from Missouri to Illinois, Washington Park where the Pioneers were allowed to set up their temporary tent camp while in Quincy, and the John Wood Mansion House. It was a very educational day for Pam and helped us to once again remember the goodness of the people of Quincy.
While Pam was with us this week, whenever we were serving in the Temple, she would also attend. By the end of her stay she had completed 4 Endowment Sessions and done 28 Iniatories. She loved being able to be at the Temple instantly and being able to partake of the spirit there. She figured that it would have taken her 7 months to do that much Temple work in her home setting of the Portland Temple. All of our fellow temple Missionaries enjoyed having her there. All of us miss being with our children so we share each others joy in this regard.
Before our trip to Quincy, we drove up to the Temple so we could take some photos of us all together with this Historic Nauvoo Temple. We were blessed to find the gardener working there and he immediately began organizing us and posing us in the perfect spots to get pictures that would allow our memories to be recorded for posterity. The gardener said he would be a rich man if he had a dollar for every photo he had taken of people at these very spots! Here are those pictures from May 9th, 2017:
We did serve in the Temple on the Thursday AM Shift. Afterward, we all went to lunch in Hamilton at the Camino Real Restaurant. It was delicious as always. We drove Pam to see the view of the Nauvoo Temple from across The Mississippi in Montrose, Iowa. It is the view the Pioneers saw as they left Nauvoo for their trek to the Salt lake Valley. We love that view of the Temple and the feelings we have each time we see the beautiful Nauvoo Temple from this special vantage point.
We stopped at the Mail Barn while Pam was here and Grandpa Pete had received the cutest letter from Luke who lives in Nibley, Utah. Grandpa sends each of the Grandchildren a $2 bill and a personal little letter when they call and tell him that they have lost a tooth. He has been doing this for about 20 years. Luke, age 10, was replying to Grandpa after receiving his last Tooth Letter. His printing on the envelope was so fun and we wanted to share this with all of you. I don't think Luke will mind, right Luke?
We had to say farewell to Pam on Friday morning and let her get back to her family in Oregon. It was a sweet pre-Mother's Day treat to have her here over the past week. A very kind couple who live in the Mt Pleasant Branch where we serve on Sundays invited all the missionary couples to join them for Mother's Day dinner since we are away from our own families this year. Brother and Sister Moore furnished the main course and their home. Brother Moore is the chef in their family and he made a delicious roast beef meal. Each of us brought various side dishes to finish off the menu. We all said it was the best meal we had eaten in weeks!!! What a blessing it is to have wonderful people like the Moores to brighten the lives of the Mt Pleasant Branch missionaries on that special day. Here are some pictures from our Missionary Mother's Day dinner at the Moores'.
Full -Time Sister Missionaries in the Mt Pleasant Branch
Elder & Sister Hatch, Elder & Sister Spradlin
Spradlins are Nauvoo Site Missionaries. The rest of us are Temple Missionaries. Another Temple Missionary couple, Elder & Sister Despain, had family visiting and did not come today. All of us serve together in the Mt Pleasant Branch. We make up about 1/4 of their weekly attendance!
One thing that is always special and much anticipated on Mother's Day is hearing the Primary Children come up in Sacrament Meeting and sing to their Mothers. In the Mt Pleasant Branch we were blessed to enjoy this same special experience when their Primary made up of 9 children, 3 from 3 different families, stood and sang a sweet medley including "Mother I Love You". The spirit the children's voices bring is truly angelic. My favorite Primary Mother's Day song is "I Often Go Walking". (Pg. 202 in The Children's Songbook) Here are the words to that dear song:
I often go walking in meadows of clover, And I gather armfuls of blossoms of blue. I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over; Dear Mother, all flowers remind me of you. O Mother, I give you my love with each flower. To give forth sweet fragrance a whole life-time through;
For if I love blossoms and meadows and walking, I learned how to love them, dear Mother, from you.
Each time I see beautiful flower gardens, I am reminded of my own sweet Mother. She loved flowers and found joy in her flower gardens. She especially loved lilacs. She passed on 11 &1/2 years ago. My Dad had passed on 2 &1/2 years before her and when he left, she died of a broken heart. How grateful I am to know for a surety that they are together forever and very much alive. Here is a sweet picture of my parents that my sister came across and one that portrays them the way I will always remember them.
The Sarah Granger Kimball home is surrounded with magnificent flower gardens. My Mom would love to be tending those flower gardens. My faithful companion and I walked down to the Sarah Granger Kimball home earlier this week for a morning walk and we will share are some pictures of that beautiful spot. The Peonies are in full bloom and they are breath-taking! Outside along one wall of our home in South Jordan, we have a row of Red and Pink and White Peonies plants which originated in Nauvoo. They were brought across the plains from Nauvoo by James Allred and his wife, Elizabeth Warren. They were subsequently planted in Spring City, Utah where Pete's Mother, Edra Allred Peterson grew up. Next, those same Peonies plants moved to Payson, Utah to Pete's childhood home. We have moved those plants to 3 different homes where we have lived in Utah. Some of our children have taken starts from these plants and they are thriving, too. This is another reason why we were so enamored with these flower gardens pictured below.
Mother's Day just wouldn't be complete without paying tribute to our own family of children who bring everlasting meaning to the privilege and blessing we have of being parents. In their honor, we will share 2 pictures of our 6 children. The first was taken on Easter Sunday of 1989 when our oldest child was attending BYU and about ready to leave on his mission to Osaka, Japan. The second is a picture of our family all together the weekend before we left home last October 2016, to come serve our mission in Nauvoo. You will see 12 children in that picture, because each of our 6 children have been blessed with wonderful spouses and we claim all 12 of them as our eternal children. They are the parents of our 24 grandchildren and we will love them all forever!
( LtoR) Rich- 5, Scott-8, Jenny-11, Pam-14, Shelley-17, Paul-19
with our big blue van that took us on countless road trips
(LtoR)Paul&Erin,-Shelley&Paul--Pamela&Todd-Us-Jenny&Scott-
Scott&Jenny-Rich&Laurie
Wishing you a Happy Mother's Day everyday wherever you may be!
Love, Elder and Sister Peterson in Nauvoo
