Sunday, February 9, 2025
Death on the Mississippi (Well Almost)
Our little Nauvoo Pearl of Great Price did her FIRST BIG job. Hauling all the decorations, Cooking tools, and food to and from the Exodus Event. She did well! Unfortuneately I did not do as well. Sunday afternoon I began to feel heavy and ill in my chest and head and by the middle of the night was engulfed in fever and confusion like I have not experienced in decades! It was rather symbolic as so many of the pioneers fell dreadfully ill during the exodus back in 1846! Unlike them, I had the luxery of a cozy, dry, warm bed.
Two days later Elder Cullen hauled me to Carthage where I was tested and found negative for Influenza and COVID, having an ear ached in the ear that didn't hurt, but no ear ache in the ear that did hurt, was told my lungs were clear even as I hucked thick wads of goo and eventually passed out in the chair. LOL I was a mess. I was given a cough suppressent so I could sleep and antibiotics just in case the infection went into my lungs and sent on my merry way. I was "dead" to the world for six days and recovered just in time to go to church the following Sunday and give a talk and sing a duet. Elder Cullen started to go down on Friday but was fine by Sunday. It was an asked for miracle.
And life continues to crush and amaze us as we focus on Christ.
There and Back Again: Week 15 (14 skipped)
A week ago last Saturday, was the highly anticipated Nauvoo Exodus Commemeration walk! My daughter, Autumn, from Iowa City and one of her sons (Emmet age 7) came. Unfortuneately her 2 year old Taran was very sick and stayed home with daddy Aaron. My Son, Ben, from Kansas City, MO and his sweet wife, Courtnie, and little Wells also came. We got an air BNB so everyone could have their space to play and rest. It was two blocks from our apt.
I really felt my prayers had been answered, the weather was "warm" at 35 degrees and sunny. People enjoyed the breakfast Elder Cullen and I planned with our crew and it was beautiful and delicious. (the warmers kept tripping the cicuits and that was stressful but not enough to ruin it) The Lord blessed us even in our trials and everyone was fed.
It filled me with joy to see my children teaching their children about our ancestors.
Emmet walked for a relative who was about his age when Joseph Smith was assasinated. This little boy and his father helped to bring Joseph's body back from Carthage. After the walk was over, We cleaned up and I babysat Emmet and Wells as the rest of the kids went to the Temple with Elder Cullen to do sealings for his side of the family and my side as well.
I would have LOVED to have been there with them as they sealed husbands to wives for all eternity and children to their parents for all eternity, but it gave me greater joy knowing that my children were together in the temple with their amazing father doing work for their dead. It was a very very wonderful day and full of family on both sides of the veil.
Sunday, January 26, 2025
There and Back Again: Week 13
I took this picture of the statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith riding from Nauvoo to Carthage for the last time of their mortal lives. Last Tuesday, at 6:30am in negative 10 degree weather, our beloved Suburban of 20 years and over 300,000 MILES blew it's engine on that VERY corner and when it got towed it got towed to CARTHAGE. I felt it was strangely symbolic somehow. That beautiful old car is burgening with all kinds of memories. It has carried us across country so many times to visit relatives, camp in the mountains and on the beaches, haul students on field trips and all the while kept us safe and protected. It broke down, got banged up, but always in conveinent places and "just in the nick of time" and always came back running great. It was our beloved miracle car that we purchased brand new with the money Elder Cullen received when his parents passed away. It brought us to Nauvoo!
We took that day and the next off work and did a deep dive to research replacement cars. BUT first we read our scriptures and prayed for help finding a new car. Our friends took us to Carthage to rent a car so we could get around until a replacement was found. We really were meticulous and every time we found a car we thought would be good and in our price range I would google."What's wrong with _________________" (fill in the name and year of the car) and BOY everything I read was terrible! Transmission would go within 3 to 5 years, computer fails, wiring of soy based material which attracts rats and mice, group law suits agains Toyota, KIA, FORD. It was very discouraging. ALL I wanted was my old car back, with all its quirks and dents and kid marks inside. I felt wretched. Then I felt impressed to google search, "What's wrong with a 2004 Chevy Suburban?" AND WOW...the worst reviews..all of which were totally untrue for me. Then the thought came gently into my mind. "The Suburban ran beautifully and was easily repaired because you were always praying over it. Pick any car you want and pray over it and I will bless it too." ALL of my stress just washed away. We searched the best car we had found and discovered that there were three of them in Burlington, IA. Off we went. Our salesman was a lovely young man with SIX kids. He was so low pressure, we drove and looked at many cars and settle on a KIA Sportage 2025. It's pearl white...so we dubbed it the "Nauvoo Pearl of Great Price" Our sweet new friend who will take us on more adventures in life.
She's AMAZINGLY high tech, which makes us nervous. We are already including her in our prayers that her computer chips will function properly, that the engine and systems will safely take us where we need to go, just like with The Suburan. We are so grateful for the power of prayer and personal revelation. Heavenly Father can be so humerous as we mortals fret and stew about things that don't really matter in the long run, but matter a lot to us right now. God is GOOD! If things aren't working out in your life, just hold on. It means God's work is still in progress and it will end up Good.
Sunday, January 19, 2025
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!
Thursday, January 16, 2025
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!
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
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.
Thursday, January 9, 2025
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!
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