One more week...

The cornfields have certainly grown!

This coming week is the last week that the pageants are performed.  Most days we had seven or eight tour buses of people, both adult tours and youth.  It has been a crazy busy few weeks but I think we'll miss it when it's all over.  Things will certainly quiet down, but we'll still have lots of youth groups until the end of August when school starts.  Actually, this week I believe we have one group of 350 youth coming from Texas. That definitely should liven things up!

In the early evening we went for a Sunday drive to the north and east of Nauvoo.  We drove along the River Road until it turned east onto a gravel road through farms of corn and soybeans.  I googled to see what soybeans are used for: food products like soy oil and proteins (tofu), soy milk, as well as non-food stuff like the oil for crayons, astro turf, paintballs, candles, wood stain, ink etc.  I had no idea!  At one point we were on the gravel road and came to a stop sign.  We stopped at the crossroads and it was an interesting view; high cornfields on all four corners and not a car to be seen in any direction.  The only thing we heard were crickets chirping and birds singing. What a different life here in Nauvoo.

  

Most of the time I really enjoy working at Pioneer Pastimes.  We get to be outside in the fresh air and things are never the same.  I love teaching people how to walk on stilts, play the game Graces, as well as a game kind of like Chinese Checkers called Fox and Geese.  It’s fun to watch people learn new games and become so good at them that they want to teach the other people who come.  They can play the pioneer games for hours with their families and not once pick up a cell phone.  They dress up in pioneer clothes and take family pictures.  It’s great to watch family interactions :0)  I do have those days, and Friday was one of them, when I want to give a few people, mostly parents, a swift kick in the pants.  Almost all morning I spent picking up games and putting them back where they belonged.  People would just use the stilts or whatever, and when they were done just drop them on the ground wherever they were and move on to a new activity.  In particular was a group that was there for a family reunion.  Parents, as well as the kids, were oblivious to the fact that the games should go back where they belonged so others could play with them.  Stilts were all over the field and there were about seven of the Graces hoops that people had just thrown up in the trees.  I was putting stilts up against the log cabin and a dad (the main offender) walked by me, stepping over all of the stilts on the ground, and said, “I bet that’s a never ending job!”  I said, “You bet it is.  Especially when people don’t know how to put their toys away!”  He just kept on walking.  That’s when I had to remember whose tag I wear on my chest and bite my tongue!

In contrast, this week I served at the Brigham Young home and it had been quite a long time since I was last there.  I had to do some reviewing of Brigham Young’s story.  The most interesting thing happened though.  Every…single…time…I began the tour and testified that Brigham Young knew, without any doubt, that Joseph Smith was just who he said he was, a prophet of God, and that he knew that the Book of Mormon really was translated by the gift and power of God, the spirit filled the little bedroom we were standing in and the guests could feel it.  It’s hard to put into words but, when I said that Brigham Young testified his entire life about Joseph’s prophetic calling, my own testimony of that principle became more firm.  I also shared how I felt when President Nelson visited our mission and that I knew, just like Brigham Young knew, that we have a prophet of God on the earth.  It’s a blessing to be able to serve in the homes of the prophets.

Wednesday night we went to the British Pageant and were able to go on stage at the end with all of the missionaries and sing the closing medley of songs with the cast.  It’s a unique opportunity that all of the missionaries have twice a week when the British Pageant is performed.  It tells the story of the early growth of the church in Great Britain and the mission of the Twelve Apostles. It's a highlight of the week.

Friday night we went with our "Sunset by the Mississippi" cast out to Bonaparte, Iowa to an Amish dinner. The place was called Sunrise Bakery and it’s run by an Amish family.  They bake delicious pies and pastries as well as put on a home cooked dinner.  The food was good, just down home stuff like mashed potatoes and gravy, meatloaf, a casserole with chicken and homemade noodles, green beans, fresh cabbage salad from their garden, fresh bread and hot cherry pie for dessert.  Definitely loaded with carbs, but not loaded with preservatives :0) It was fun to visit with the family.  We sang Amazing Grace with them when we were done eating, those that wanted to could go on a buggy ride.  It was a fun night to spend with friends from our cast. 

Here are a few pictures from the week...

At the Amish home where we had dinner.

With the Cooks, Williams and Pettits.

The sunset, push lawnmower and wash hanging on the line.
Typical Amish life.

The view from the backyard.

Scott with the "Courting Buggy".

The Sarah Granger Kimball home.  She and a friend had an idea to
sew shirts for the men working on the Nauvoo Temple...and because of
that, the Relief Society organization was born.

Breakfast with the Pinettes who are in the Nauvoo Mission with us
and the Roberts who are serving in the Indiana Indianapolis Mission.
We were all in the MTC together.

At one of the only places in NAuvoo to get breakfast,
Grandpa John's Cafe.

Scott marching in the Nauvoo Brass Band parade with the kids :0)