It is Pageant Season and things are getting very exciting here in Old Nauvoo! The actual dates for the Pageants are July 11th - August 5th.The Nauvoo Pageant is on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The British Pageant is on Wednesday and Friday. We are looking forward to both of these, however, many other interesting activities have already begun here, making Nauvoo the happening place! As we drove down the River Road a few days ago, we saw the above sign announcing the Pageant. As you can see, even the geese are flocking in to join in the excitement which we are experiencing.
Since pictures tell the story better than words, most of our blog today will be filled with pictures of the past couple of weeks' happenings all leading up to the Pageant. We hope as you "PICTURE THIS", you will be able to sense the wonder of Pageant Season in Nauvoo. It is such a blessing to be here to participate in everything during this special time when we are not serving in the Temple. Speaking of the Temple, we began our Pageant schedule this past Monday in the Temple which will continue for the next 4 weeks. We pray for sufficient energy and health each day to carry on as the Temple opens earlier and remains open throughout the days.
Fireflies! We love seeing them! Look really hard and you
will see what looks like a little yellow comet....that is a Firefly!
Liz Lemon Swindle came to Nauvoo for the commemoration of The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith which was on June 27th. She displayed several of her paintings featuring various aspects of The Prophet Joseph's life. She ended her presentation with a video presentation entitled, "Silent Night", featuring David Archuleta and the Tabernacle Choir, composed of her amazing artwork depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. It was filled with the Spirit.
Liz Lemon Swindle
As we left this special presentation, we enjoyed the
beautiful flower gardens surrounding the Visitors Center
The Bees were enjoying the flowers, too!
One of the special things the Young Performing Missionaries (YPMS) do during Pageant Season is put on several little vignettes along the Trail of Hope just as darkness begins to fall on certain nights during the week. Their whole group sings sweet music that brings in the Spirit at the beginning as you line up along Parley Street at the Seventies Hall. One of the YPMS led each group of 20 along the trail, carrying an oil lantern to light the way. Our guide was one of the French Horn players from the YPM Brass Band. At each station, some of the YPMS shared a little pioneer story from Nauvoo Pioneer journals that helped you understand their challenges and their faith filled testimonies. Torches lit the trail and the Temple shown brightly through the darkness. We were very touched by the whole experience..
the Blacksmith's Shop is the stone building
of Hope and the Light of The Holy Temple
The moon was a tiny sliver on this special night
We have been using our time on Tuesday mornings to attend the Temple as patrons since we serve on the PM shift that day. On our drive back to our apartment one Tuesday, we took the route along Main Street and arrived at the Cultural Hall just in time to enjoy a little concert by the YPMS in the Brass Band. It was very enjoyable!
We proceeded along Main Street and this time we were just in time to hear the YPM Singers doing the "Songs of Zion" performance. Between watching these talented youth perform all around and serving with them in the Temple from time to time, we have grown to love these very talented and devoted Missionaries. They always act so happy when they see us come to watch them, too!
of the commemoration of the Martyrdom
Sister Austin (My Hero!) is a student at
BYU Provo with Sister Peterson
We have gone to "Sunset on the Mississippi" 3 times already and are sure to attend several more times. It is such a light hearted, faith building experience. Here are just a couple pictures from our latest time there.
Sister Smith and Sister Austin-
YPM Companions
We had a surprise on Saturday, July 8th, while we were serving in the Temple. Both of us happened to be serving in the Celestrial Room area of the Temple exactly when 2 of our special friends, Dan and Judy Gustafson, from our Founder's Park Stake where we live in Daybreak, South Jordan, Utah, were there, too. It was a sweet reunion. He was Bishop Gustafson to us when we first moved to Daybreak 7 years ago. After our shift at the Temple ended, they came to our apartment and admired our small but perfect missionary lifestyle. We all went to Hamilton and had an early dinner at El Camino Real, our favorite Mexican restaurant in the area. It was so great to visit with them and hear a bit about life back home. Missionaries appreciate special times like these. After dinner, we joined them at the "Sunset" production described previously.
Dan and Judy Gustafson feeding the missionaries
Something Nauvoo breeds in the Summer is BUGS! One particular night a couple weeks ago, the annual Mayfly population hatched and attack the surrounding areas over night. Our neighbors, the Cordovas, had their family visiting and they had driven from Carthage back to Nauvoo. Their rental car became a graveyard to hundreds of Mayflies that night!
On a more pleasant topic, on Saturday, July 1st, we all gathered on the grass across the street from the Temple to watch fireworks which were being launched across the river in Montrose, Iowa. The fireworks were small in comparison to most 4th of July fireworks displays we have witnessed throughout the years, however, they were the BEST ones we have seen this year! Mostly, it was good just to be outside on a beautiful Summer's night in clear view of the Temple, surrounded by friends and remembering what a blessing it is to live in this great land of America. The sunset prior to the fireworks illuminated the sky with colors of orange and purple and gold. Of course they were the BEST fireworks, because they were orchestrated by the Creator of us all!
(we have 3 Brown couples) and Elder& Sister McBride
Both of these couples are from Arizona
For our July 2nd "Break the Fast" meal, we were assigned to attend at the home of Elder and Sister Perez. They are from Orlando, Florida right now. They met in France and both have awesome accents! We had a very nice time getting to know one another while sharing a delicious meal.
(L to R) Sister Campbell- Arizona
Elder & Sister Perez- Florida
Elder & Sister Meadows- Georgia
Elder & Sister Peterson- Utah
Afterward, we all went to the outdoor pageant stage to see a special production put on by the Pageant Core Cast entitled, "Our Story Goes ON". They are only doing this show twice, July 2nd and July 30th. We will be going again on July 30th because it was excellent. They portrayed life from birth to death following the generations of a family. They used various music from different musicals and hymns to unfold the story. It was very moving and filled with the Spirit. One of the most inspiring parts was seeing the Historic Nauvoo Temple on the hill as the backdrop. It looked so majestic and powerful. The sky behind the Temple changed colors as night set in, first orange then purples then black. We felt very blessed to be part of this whole experience. Everyone truly has a story and we are currently writing a very powerful chapter of our own story as we serve as Full Time Temple Missionaries here in Nauvoo.
The Finale
We will never forget the wonderful 4th of July celebration we were blessed to be part of here in Nauvoo. We work the PM shift on Tuesday and the 4th fell on Tuesday this year. One of the missionaries that serves on our shift always held a huge 4th of July breakfast back home. She worked with her neighbors and together they organized this memorable event. They put on a full blown Yankee Doodle Dandy 4th of July Breakfast. It was complete with patriotic songs, stories, flags and lots of Red, White and Blue! Elder Vern and Sister Georgia Anderson are from Overland Park, Kansas, and they opened their home. Tables that overflowed with delicious breakfast foods from casseroles to biscuits and gravy to fruits and bacon and ham and scrambled eggs abounded. There were countless cinnamon rolls and delectable pastries. This is what happens when 25 missionary couples join forces and their cooking skills! Yummmm!
all the men waiting their turn to get food.
They let all the women go first!
Sister & Elder Borrowman- Sister Cole
Sister Anderson-Elder R Brown-Elder Callister-Elder Anderson
The Party Planners Table
After our splendid breakfast feast, many of us stayed and visited and waited for the entertainment we were expecting from the YPMs' Brass Band. We looked quite like a retirement center on a field trip waving our American Flags!
(L to R) Front Row- Sister Hall- Sister Steel- Sister N Peterson- Sister Borrowman
Middle Row- Elder & Sister D Peterson- Sister Anderson- Sister Udall- Sister Hurst
Standing- Sister Bird- Sister Cole- Sister Callister
The Brass Band wasn't able to come by. However, Elder Hurst and Elder Anderson ran down to Main Street and brought back some of the YPM Singers! We were blessed to have a private show put on by them which was literally the perfect way to end our 4th of July Spectacular here in Old Nauvoo! At the end of their performance, we rewarded them with a huge tray filled with yummy cinnamon rolls which made them pretty happy as you will see in the pictures below!
In the midst of all this excitement, the crops are growing like crazy all around us! Each week as we have driven from Nauvoo, Illinois to Mt Pleasant, Iowa for Church, we check out how much the corn and soybean crops have grown since the previous week. The corn isn't "as high as an elephant's eye" as the song from the musical, "Oklahoma" claims, but it is getting very tall! Here are some pictures of the beautiful green fields we saw this past Sunday, July 9th.
This week the Corn Stalks are taller than I am !
encountered to get these pictures of the Corn field
This past Sunday, July 9th, our little Mt Pleasant Branch held a Farewell gathering for our recently released Branch President and his family as they move to Wisconsin to begin the next chapter in their story. We have enjoyed serving with him and send our love with them. We have been serving with President Mayo in the Mt Pleasant Branch for 9 months.
The other 4 children are the Sowell family and
belong to President Sowell, our new Branch
President. Sister Sowell is the Primary President.
We end our blog today with a quote by President Howard W. Hunter which is printed each week in the Mt Pleasant Branch Sunday Program in conjunction with the Nauvoo Stake Theme for 2017, "Come Unto Him".
"If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel, nothing can go permanently wrong." ("Fear Not, Little Flock": address given at BYU, March 14, 1989)
We testify to you that this is true as we send our love and prayers your way.
Elder and Sister Peterson in Nauvoo
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