Scoville Bakery and the joy of learning

I should probably have pictures of the neat things in the bakery like the sifter or the apple peeler, but since the cookies are one of the important things that we share....  I always tell people when I give them one that for the next couple of minutes I am one of the sweetest people in Nauvoo.  Then I tell them I hope they have a sweet day in Nauvoo.  Corny but true!!  The stairs down into the basement where we have freezers with the cookies are crazy steep.  

I have started learning how to spin wool from a sister here and so that is the newest excitement in my life.  It is definitely going to take a lot of practice to get it right, but am definitely enjoying the process.  Next  I plan on learning how to work on the big looms.  I figure there are so many skills that we talk about here that I want to absorb everything I can. 

 The Young Performing Missionaries gave their final presentation Sunday evening and have now left for home.  The fall slow down has begun so there will be many changes.  Each time of year here in Nauvoo comes with it's own challenges and blessings.  About half the missionaries finish and go home here in the next month or two, so that makes for a large change.  I am looking forward to learning lots of new things during this part of the year. 

 We have been asked to play Agatha and George in the Rendezvous performance for our cast and are working diligently on our parts.  They are the comedy relief and somewhat over the top.  It does mean that I get to climb the pole on the stage which I think is a hoot.  Have thought about putting a little bit of a southern twist on my lines...we shall see, first I just need to get them all down.  The missionaries that do those parts now finish their missions and leave the first week of September. 

So much fun watching all the performances that come.  This was part of Vocal Points last performance.There are also lots of other lectures and performances that go on throughout the rest of the year.  

Tonight there was a presentation and slide show on MesoAmerica and findings that support the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  Since some of it's focus was GUATEMALA and the Salama valley, we definitely enjoyed it!

Take his Yoke

What an amazing Week!  I have to be careful with that comment, because I think I might repeat it way too many times.  This week though has had lots of special moments.  Friday morning we had the farewell breakfast for those missionaries going home.  Never seen a place set up so fast for an activity, or cleaned up so fast at the end.  Magical what about 300 missionaries can do together!  The Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith family is having their family reunion this week in Nauvoo and Elder Ballard, of the Quorum of the Twelve is here.  Yesterday afternoon was a special closed meeting for all of the missionaries and we were able to hear him speak.  What a treasure to hear the words of an Apostle of the Lord.  To hear his testimony of Jesus Christ and love of the Gospel.  To top it off, when he finished and they started to take him out the side door, instead he detoured down and came out to shake hands with us as he was leaving.  Elder Spradlin and I both had the opportunity to be with him, listen to his counsel and to shake hands with him.  When I realized that we were going to get too, my eyes just started filling with joy.


Today I worked in the Post Office and Dry Goods store.  Letters were expensive to send at 6 cents for up to 30 miles, and a quarter for up to 400 miles.  They were charged by the page, so you made that paper count for sure!

Take Christ's Yoke  The burden is light, because we become stronger as we become more like Christ.  We will pass through the trials and will become stronger as we leave behind the things in life that would weigh us down.  So much to learn in everything around us! 

We heard Vocal Point perform on Thursday night, then when we were on duty in the Visitor's Center on Friday  they came in to ask if they could warm up in one of the theaters.  Oh yes, excited!  No problem from me letting them use one of the stages, thinking  I would get to peak in and listen.  They were fine with that, but then we kept having visitors come in - something about being a missionary and serving.  

One of the neat parts of working in the homes in the central part of Nauvoo is walking out and hearing the band and getting to watch the Young Performing Missionaries.  Leap Frog Anyone?

This is one of my favorite quotes I have read here.  I think if everyone would apply it - we could change the world.

Most Reverent

Having Laryngitis the last few days in Nauvoo has made things interesting to say the least!  It started Tuesday night, and by Wednesday morning a whisper is all that was coming out.  I know they are short on having enough missionaries in the sites, so I just asked to switch to a home that had less visitors.  No problem!  I still ended up helping with a couple of tours and giving about four.  It was funny, I used hand gestures and spoke very softly, the tour in turn was whispering back to me when they had comments or questions.  Amazing what we express with the tone of our voice.  The tours were great.  Nothing wrong with lowering our voices for sure.
Thursday was harder when I got sent to Family Living Center, figured I would just be able to do the counting, but we had tremendous numbers of guests coming in, especially when it began to rain outside.  I ended up doing tours on spinning and weaving by using some sign language, demonstrating and pointing to a couple of signs.  The groups were so sweet, appreciative and helpful.  We just keep smiling away!
Today is our prep day and so I am able to give it a rest, poor Elder Spradlin - he keeps trying to ask me questions, and not getting much answer from me!  Lemon, Honey, Ginger and cayenne all make for good friends and soon I will be back up to full speed.  Grateful that laryngitis didn't stop us from being able to go to the temple!
Tuesday morning I had a question on my heart, and I wanted understanding.  I felt that if I asked, the Lord would send me the answers I needed. The name of a specific sister came to my mind, when I went to my site, that was the Sister I ended up working with, and I had only been with her one other time in the last two months.  She did have what I needed to hear, in fact it was super neat as she shared with me stories of her ancestors and what they had written in their journals while they were here in Nauvoo. In the afternoon a Sister I had not seen in years showed up on my site and as we bore testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the importance of holding on to the truths the Gospel brings we were both strengthened.  My question of the morning led to me being in the frame of mind to hear the needs of my sister in the afternoon.  Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.  He knows our needs and wants us to reach out to Him, but we have to be ready to Reach and to grow.
Wednesday morning for our Mission Training meeting They had the Core Cast from the pageant come in and do two of the Vignettes, One of them was on the missionaries who left to go teach the Gospel in England from here and the other was the King Follet sermon given by Joseph Smith.  Then they sang.  It was amazing, feel so blessed by all of the opportunities we have here.
Lehi's Dream showed a terrible darkness covering the Earth, we have that today in so many ways with the confusion, chaos, strife around us.  We must do as he admonished by holding tight to the Rod and not ever losing our focus on  the Plan our Heavenly Father has given.  It is all about change and growth but by the pattern we have been given in the Plan of Salvation.

overachievers, family and fourth of July

This one could have so many names!  but it is dedicated to the dedicated missionaries here in Nauvoo!  This  can become humorous, like this past week when our cast had Rendezvous.  Missionaries have started bringing refreshments to eat in the green room during performances because many don't get a chance to get home and eat between site duty and the performances.  I had it worked out with some of the sisters that she and I would bring food this past time and told the sister who is in charge of that kind of for the cast.  I wanted to make sure I had enough, so did a lot, and showed up with it.  As I was going in I saw another sister bringing in some cupcakes, then the sister I was doing it with of course brought hers and she also did a lot.  Later a brother showed up with some cookies he had made, then there was a birthday and another sister brought a whole bunch of food because of that.  It got to being hilarious how much food showed up! Talk about a funny lack of communication, or miscommuniation!   Most of mine, except the fruit salad was freezable so I took it out to the car to take home and freeze.  It was pretty awesome that we all cared that much, I got surprised and tickled though when one of the sisters was afraid I was going to have my feelings hurt because of it.  My thought was that only someplace like Nauvoo would you have so many wanting to help so much.
There are many examples like this but I think one of the most amazing is a sister who works in the mail room.  Her work doesn't take very long, so she gets up early in the mornings unassigned and goes around looking for weeds that need pulled, or things that need done before she starts her assignment. Caught her this morning when we were out for our early morning walk, she was out pulling weeds by some flower pots on Main Street.  It was awesome having the time to stop and help, just for the joy of making things better.

Jessica and Bill were able to come visit us last weekend and it was so great having family in town.  We were able to give them tours in the sites we were working in and spend some time with them when we weren't "on duty"  They got to come watch Rendezvous, we agreed with them when they said it was kind of overacted.... What do you expect from us old geezers!
Jessica brought me my new dulcimer that David found for me at an estate sale last week so am now working hard to get better!
Fourth of July they had a 7:00am flag raising before we had to go on site.  Loved the bagpipes!

Early morning walks

Nauvoo is right next to the Mississippi river and so early morning walks can go next to the river or through the old town.  Both are amazing with their flowers, birds, squirrel, rabbits, and other surprises along the way.  I keep expecting to surprise a deer, badger, or such down by the river.  This post though is to inspire you to my early morning Nauvoo.  Just wish you could feel the cool breeze and hear the birds singing like I did!

The Wildflowers are amazing!

And out pop the bright colors

The sky here is full of insects.

Shady paths

I love how the sunlight plays through the trees

Brigham Young Home

The older homes have beautiful flower beds

It was worth the strolling, so hope you enjoyed the scrolling.

Heber C Kimball home and being a guide in Spanish!

The joy and consternation is that so much goes on here that sometimes my head spins. We went and practiced for the finale of the British Pageant last night after doing Sunset.  Stopped in the Visitor's center for a minute and one of the Sisters said, "oh, there you are, we were trying to find you"  another young sister hung up the phone, turned around and told me they needed someone to help a family in Spanish for today.  Was excited to spend half the day showing them Nauvoo.  One of the homes they wanted to see was the Heber C. Kimball home where I was earlier this week.  I didn't show them, nor mention the door to the cool balcony!!!

The Heber C Kimball home has a beautiful parlor, most of the homes have a spinning wheel in them.

Linsey Woolsey blankets are special to that time period as the material is no longer made.  It is a combination of linen, made from flax seed, that is a 3 year process and the material won't accept dye so it it is always beige.  It is woven then with wool that they would dye, thus this one is blue and beige.
One of the joys of being a missionary here is the opportunity to study and learn about the people who lived here, also getting to open doors...  like the one we found to the second floor balcony!

The story of dedication and sacrifice of these early saints is pretty remarkable.  They were willing to do whatever it took to follow their beliefs.  The Kimball family had been from Kirtland to Missouri, lost everything in Missouri.  Made it to Nauvoo where they first lived in a lean to before they were able to build a home.  The brick home they were finally able to build they only lived in for four months and five days before they had to leave to make the trek west.  The question then I pose myself is am I willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to follow the Lord.  Sure trying to make sure the answer will always be a resounding YES!

When we are in the homes waiting for tour groups we are able to study, visit, write letters....  My problem at first was that I was getting bored, so I started a project.  Last week when I was in the Family Living Center I was helping cut strips for the looms.  To do those strips they sew them with a bias, which means that for each strip they were cutting off and throwing away triangles on the ends.  I started to collect them to hand sew a baby quilt.  I went back a few days later to take a zip lock bag and ask them to collect more triangles, only to find out that the sister I had been with had labeled two large plastic boxes where they were putting all of the scraps for me.  A lot more than I will need for sure!  We are going to use them to make quilts this fall and winter for humanitarian services.  Those will be done though by machine!

So Many Sites

Welcome to the Lucy Mack Smith Home!

 The children's room upstairs,  super cute teacup set

 The cooking area in the main room.  You can see the bustle oven right behind me.

 The alcove for Lucy Mack Smiith

Out back for the smoke house and area for making lye soap
Everyone talks about the steep stairs going to the upstairs living area in the Lucy Mack Smith home, but if you ever look down to the basement where we are supposed to go in case of a tornado, it outdoes any I have ever seen in a home.  Looks more straight up and down like a ladder.

Each day we switch to a different site, so we are getting to know many of the homes and areas of Nauvoo.  Lucy Mack Smith was a very strong woman who stood up in defense of the gospel and her family.  She stood up for what was right, and didn't care who was doing the asking!  She lived in this home for four years close to the end of her life.
Saturday evening we were able to borrow bicycles and go riding through the town which was a fantaastic end to a very busy week, although each day is so full and busy it is hard to keep your head from spinning.  I love one of the things we were taught last week in training meeting.  Nauvoo is about growth and change and we are here to help. Hard to imagine still being in a place where over 250 people are here, all of us because of our love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ with the desire to serve and help others.  Makes for a great place to be!  There are so many things to learn, trying to apply some of that learning in my life.
This morning I got to work with a crew in the gardens, pulling weeds and mulching.  It was hot, hard and exhausting.  I think I was the youngest one out there and left with great admiration for the women I worked with.  Had a great time, and worked!  Luckily afterwards I was able to come home for a shower,  dose of Benadryl and a nap.

After our bike ride on Saturday, Harold went to get the mail, then called asking me to grab the camera quick.  We headed up and got these amazing shots of the Temple.  Then afterwards we went into the town and got frozen custard.  Have I mentioned that life here is pretty fantastic?

Yes, I know they are sidewise, but I can't get the computer to let me switch their directions on here!  They are turned straight up before I put them on the blog.

We have to figure in advance when we are able to fit in the temple, with programs to be in four nights out of the week, then our schedules in the sites, it stays very busy.