There and Back Again: Week 12

Elder Cullen's nick name for me is "My Little Percheron" because even though I am short, I am very strong. Here we are posed with two very BIG Percherons. Two of the 15 or so that they have here in Nauvoo for their wagon tours. It was a balmy sunshiny day of fourty degrees so we decided to adventure on a tour after work. There are so many interesting things to learn in Nauvoo.

This weekend We ventured into Keokuk (named for Chief Keokuk) for Bald Eagle Appreciation Days. It started with actually viewing the eagles on the banks of the Mississippi while they fished and then perched and digested. They were beautiful. The State Parks rangers were there with binoculars and site scopes for all! Then we went to the First Christian Church where the Bald Eagle Appreciation Day Celebration was held. There was SO much going on, Native American lectures, dances and singings, booths with very cool artifacts and items to sell. Live Raptor Programs presented by the World Bird Sanctuary of St. Louis. Travis Hays, “the Snakeman” with exhibits & interaction of reptiles, Phoencian Ship replica with native items showing how some tribes came to this land by ship! (Look up The Heartland Project) there was SO much going on and so many community members there. After having a really wonderful conversation and lunch with some of the First Christian Church ladies in the kitchen I went out to listen to the Native American Singer talk about the history of the Natives in that area. So imagine a giant lecture hall full of people selling things, talking, petting snakes and tarantulas, making crafts and eating...and then there's the low stage on one wall with several chairs in front of it and this man is talking to us about his people's history. I listened with facination and then as he spoke I started to feel very uncomfortable. Not with what he was saying, but with the fact that what he was saying was so tender that everyone in the room should have been sitting quietly and listening with attention. He spoke of his people being moved out of their villages, and their drums and eagle feathers taken from them, they were not allowed to practice their religion, their children were taken from them and "reprogramed" in public schools. He talked about how in the 50s they were allowed to be who they were but by then no one knew who they were and they had to work hard to bring back their culture and recreate it. Here was a native man who willingly and lovingly was sharing his culture with the people who's government had decimated his culture and most of the people in the room had no idea he was even talking. The chairs were filled, but it was only a fraction of the crowd. After members of his tribe danced he invited us to come up and join them. I DID! It was fun and it was beautiful. Then they ended with an ALL TRIBES dance which included everyone in the room. I helped clear the chairs away and then could not resist going to the craft tables and telling people to "Pause" what they were doing and come join the dance. I went to the animal petting place and encouraged them to come join the dance. I walked to the place where people were eating and invited them to come join the dance!!!

Some came, many were too embarassed to dance. Others just looked the other way, it was just too uncomfortable to engage with the smiling lady and reject her invitation LOL so better to not give her a chance. I did not get discouraged. I kept inviting. The lead dancer seemed excited that so many people were coming. "Keep Going" he mouthed to the singer/drummer as he lead all the people in the great circle. Then I gave up and joined the dance myself, not wanting to miss out.

Later as Elder Cullen and I continued our day we found ourselves in Montrose looking across the Mississippi at the Nauvoo Temple. This was where the Saints camped after being driven out of Nauvoo and eventually out of the United States. They looked back at their temple and their beautiful city they had sacrificed so much to build.

Then pressed forward with hope and faith in Christ and took their culture with them to the Great Salt Lake Valley (although they didn't know where they were going to go at the time). As a missionary I sometimes feel like that Native American man. I am also sharing our story and the beauty of our religion with the country who had driven us out. And our message is the same. Everyone is welcome. Come join the dance, come dance, it will bring you joy come dance!

YOU ARE INVITED!!! EXODUS MEMORIAL 179 years!

This annual event in Nauvoo, Illinois, is dedicated to remembering and honoring the departure of the Saints from Nauvoo in 1846. As the Saints left Nauvoo, they carried with them an unwavering faith in God, a bright hope for the future, and the empowering strength of their sacred covenants. Throughout their journey, they did not leave behind their covenant community; instead, they brought it with them. Our theme for the event will be Step Forward with Faith, Hope, and the Power of Sacred Covenants. Elder Cullen and I have been asked to be in charge of food for this huge Exodus Event that commemorates the fatefull day when mobs drove the members of the Church of Jesus Christ out of the United States. We're expecting 300 people to attend. When the exodus actually happend, thousands of people were driven across the frozen Mississippi. We've been told up to 500 have come in the past. We are counting on a "Widows Flour and Oil Miracle" with regard to the food if that's the case. So we're excited to do this. Hot Oatmeal (butter, brown sugar, raisons, cimmamon), Hot Biscuits and Gravy, Hot Corn Muffins with honey and butter and HOT Apple Cider. Wondering why all the food is going to be HOT? Because the temperatures are in the single digits! The day starts with grab and go HOT breakfast and picking up a name to walk for if you didn't find your own.

I have had a very fun time researching my ancestors for this event so I can walk in their name. Our daughter, Autumn, and her family are coming to walk and so is our son, Ben and his family. I have found 125 names of direct ancestors who lived in Nauvoo. Great Great Grandmothers and Grandfathers, Great Great Uncles and Aunts and Cousins from both my Mother's Mother's side and my Father's Mother's Side. Elder Cullen found 19 cousins who lived in Nauvoo that were part of this exodus and he thought he was the only member in his family!

This is Eliza Doty. When her husband Austin died in Nauvoo her brothers offered all the comfort that their money and wealth could buy for her if she and her children would leave Nauvoo and return back east to live. She remained with the Saints. She received her endowment just weeks before the temple had to permanently close. She made the journey alone with a newborn baby, four daughters and a young son, all under the age of 15. One child died on the trail, the rest arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on Sept 11, 1850. Or little Aaron Thomas Goff who was 6 years old at the Exodus and died the following year.

Elias Hicks Blackburn who had the gift of healing. He wrote in his journal, " My father died when I was one year old. In 1833 my mother moved with her family to Ohio and later to Illinois. In April 1845, I was baptized. At Nauvoo, Ill, I assisted in finishing the Temple, and in 1846 I took part in the exodus from Nauvoo. I witnessed the starting of the Mormon Battalion and spent the winter of 1846-47 in aiding the families of those who were in the Battalion. I married Sarah Jane Goff in 1847." And on and on it goes, a 4 month old, a 2 year old, a five year old, a 68 year old, family members in their 20s, 30s, 40s...all ages, all levels of finances, all walks of life, all sacrificing all they had for the right to worship Jesus Christ as they pleased. I am honored to walk for my family in Nauvoo. I will tell you how it goes when the event happens!

There and Back Again: Week 11

What does a fridge full of abandoned food, a very dirty house, and a pizza party have to do with the Grace of Jesus?? Well, last week we were getting a LOT done, we spent three days organizing our own office and supply room. Think 9 amazing hardworking women who don't need to be micromanaged, cleaning out closets, drawers, and cupboards then sorting, organizing and labeling everything so that all the processes you do in that space are streamlined. COOL EH? Our last day of the week we ventured out again to clean an apartment that had been vacated just before Christmas. We just needed to reset it for the next person to come in. It was a one bedroom/one bath apartment. We put two other apartments on our list of things to do that day, just because we knew it would be a quick and easy job.

OH NO! The fridge was FULL of food, there were clothes, shoes, garbage, boxes, papers, overflowing garbage cans, etc in all the rooms. The bathroom and kitchen looked like they had never been cleaned ever.... At first we thought we had the wrong place...was someone actually living here? OH My! There were several minutes of astounded exclaimations as we investigated each space. Then we unloaded all our cleaning gear from the cars and started in. At first there was a general disgust and maybe some justified frustration/anger. How selfish can you be? How can two nice rational adults just walk away and completely ignore the clean check? Who was their supervisor who was supposed to check them out? Don't they want their expensive bicycle pedals, nice jacket, etc? These were our questions. Our awesome Cleaning Fairy Boss put on a conference talk by the prophet, Russel M. Nelson..."Think Celestial" we listened as we scrubbed, soon we settled and just worked as hard as we could. We would not be getting to our other houses today. We began to laugh at the crazyness of it. Then one wise sister said, "We're not cleaning this up for the people who made the mess, we're preparing for the next people who come so they will feel loved!" She was right. It made me think of our Savior, Jesus Christ...who without disgusted and frustrated exclaimations, willingly comes to our aide to make right all that is wrong, ugly, and unexplainable. Jesus, who makes clean what is dirty and does it with LOVE because He actually DOES clean up messes for the people who make them so that they will feel comfortable and loved in His Wonderful Presense with Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the angels he sends in my life to help me overcome my sins and weaknesses. I am grateful for my angel friends who love me with all my faults and enjoy being with me as I am. I in turn can be an angel for Jesus and help strengthen others, take the load when it's too heavy, and delight in just being together.

Surprise ending: I happened to know the person who had left and texted them, "Hey ___________, did you know you were supposed to clean your appartment before you left?" They were embarassed. My friend didn't realize that 8 sisters were going to be there seeing and cleaning the mess that had been left behind. My friend apologized and ordered pizzas for our lunch to show gratitude for the service and grace we gave them. That pizza totally hit the spot after hours of cleaning. The Grace of Jesus is more delicious than Pizza! Alls well that ends well.

KEEP IT CLEAN!

During Covid I started making cleaning videos to help parents teach their kids how to do a good job cleaning. Now that I'm here in Nauvoo there's talk of making cleaning videos to help the missionaries with check out! I'm so excited to volunteer to help with this project. This video below was an unpracticed draft...rather meandering...but a good first try!

The Parable of the SPONGE

Elder Cullen bought a sponge from Amazon. He read all the negative reviews. Some ridiculed that sponge saying that it was way too skinny and not worth buying. Elder Cullen read the positive reviews and decided to buy the sponge anyway. Sure enough it came super skinny.

However, after opening the package and imersing it in the water, the sponge began to GROW and became a wonderful Sponge! Those negative people hadn't even OPENED the vacuumed package!!! So many times when I try to share the Book of Mormon with my friends I feel like they have heard things that make them feel it would be a worthless skinny "sponge" but I promise that if you read it and have an open mind as you read, you will find that it is FULL of knowledge and truth and that it will cause your life to be filled with joy and peace. Don't bother with the negative reports of people who haven't even USED the product. Read the Book of Mormon today and start feeling the joy.

Abraham Lincoln

Elder Cullen and I went on a romantic get a way to the Land of Lincoln. I was very impressed by the weight of negativity Lincoln was pounded with. Evil and darkness tried to crush his soul. He was accused of doing TOO MUCH and NOT ENOUGH! He was working with millions of people who insisted on slavery, despised it, felt the union should be preserved but not slavery, and the union should be preserved but include slavery, and people who felt the union wasn't work preserving. At the cost of a lot of blood and blame he perservered to push that slavery should NOT persist or be allowed in any more states and work towards elemination in all other states. Because he persevered and did not let the social media of his time make him give up, we now are still a UNION and slavery was abolished. I can only imagine how much better off we would be if he had been allowed to live and accomplish his design for our country. I am grateful for his sacrifice. The country was not ready for his efforts, hence the civil war, but we still benefit from his efforts today.

There and Back Again: Week 10

As you can see, these homes are not built for big people! Elder Cullen and I were blessed with an additional calling this week. We've been assigned to be Site Coordinators for the William and Caroline Weeks Home and the Elizabeth and William Jones Stone Pavillion. This means we are responsible for shoveling the snow from the sidewalks and stairs, keeping the home clean inside and making sure the site missionaries fill out the visitor forms and have what they need. This job has added some extra hours to our week and extra blessings!

The stairs to the basement/kitchen are SO narrow that my shoulders touch both walls when I use the stairs and the I can barely squeeze past the turn due to the wall bulging out near the bottom. Elder Cullen didn't even try. I cleaned the basement myself while he cleaned upstairs.

It was wonderous to look at the architecual plans and think, "This is where Joseph and William Weeks designed the Beautiful Nauvoo Temple! How did they do THIS without modern tools, electricity, hydraulic power, etc?" The saints built this sacred edifice at great sacrifice. They were finishing it AS the mobs who had attacked and destroyed many of their homes and killed many people, threatened to come do it again if they didn't leave the country. Up until the last minute they, at the risk of their very lives, stayed to receive their covenants of eternal families before fleeing from the country to find a place where they could be free to govern themselves according to their beliefs.

The temple was rebuilt to the same plans and design about 10 years ago. (The mobs had burned it out) I can feel the sacredness and power of this house of God. Find a temple near you and just go and touch it. You will also feel it is a sacred place.