Crump Crew in Nauvoo: Let the Pageants begin!

Nauvoo Pageant

British Pageant

Last weekend just kind of flew past me and I didn't get a blog post done. This one will have to cover two week's worth.

The Pageant season has started, July 10th - Aug. 4th, and there are a lot of visitors here in Nauvoo! Every historic site is packed with people. At Pioneer Pastimes we easily had 300 people at any one time and the Family Living Center had almost 1,400 people on Friday! There are a lot of youth conferences and tour groups that come. We’ve seen both the Nauvoo Pageant and the British Pageant and I love the passion the early saints had for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They lived at a time when there was such a religious fervor in their countries (both in America and the British Isles) and so many people were honestly seeking for a church just like the one Christ had established with apostles and prophets. When they found that church they were thrilled and would do anything to be baptized, including leaving family and country. I want to try each day to feel that kind of excitement for the gospel and for all that Christ has done for me. The gospel brings us true joy and I have no reason but to be the happiest person on earth!

Last Sunday we had the chance to serve in the Blacksmith Shop. Working there is fun because you get to tell about when the saints prepared to leave Nauvoo and how much work it took by everyone to make it happen. We show how wagon wheels are made and how a horseshoe is made on the forge. On Sundays they don’t fire up the forge but just explain the process. Then we give the guests a little horseshoe and prairie diamond ring. It’s a place that the visitors love to come.

That Sunday evening we walked down the Trail of Hope on Parley Street and listened to the Young Performing Missionaries do small vignettes about the people who left Nauvoo. They do such an amazing job portraying the early pioneers. They are able to convey the hope and love the saints had as they headed west, following a prophet and holding to the eternal covenants they made in the temple.

Thursday morning we had Mission Training and Pres. Lusvardi had us listen to the talk that Elder Oaks gave at the Mission Presidents’ Training Seminar in June. His whole focus was on Joseph Smith and his call as a prophet. I don’t think Elder Oaks said anything earth shattering but, for me, it was the conviction with which he said it. I could feel the certainty in his voice that Joseph was THE Prophet of the Restoration, and it was powerful.

Friday after we finished up with Pioneer Pastimes, we went to an endowment session. I just love the murals in the Nauvoo Temple. They are so gorgeous and just help me feel Heavenly Father’s love for me personally, and all of His children. President Ezra Taft Benson said, "In the peace of these lovely temples, sometimes we find solutions to the serious problems of life. Under the influence of the Spirit, sometimes pure knowledge flows to us there. Temples are places of personal revelation." I know this to be true. One of the reasons there is such a strong spirit here in Nauvoo is because of the saints' total focus on the temple. That's all they thought about, worked for and clung to.

Living in the Midwest brings it's own kind of weather challenges. On Thursday of this week we were suppose to perform "Sunset by the Mississippi" and it was canceled because of another tornado warning. Seeing the many tornadoes that touched down across the Mississippi River in Iowa made it all seem so much more real, and devastating.

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks...

Dinner plate size Hibiscus.

One of the calves that was born about a month ago.

Ahhh, I received a nice package from Sundie and her cute girls!
I ate the treats they sent while I took a minute to
watch some World Cup soccer in Matthew's honor :0)