"This is the loveliest place..."

Can I just say that we love it here in Nauvoo? I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but we really do.  We are surrounded by the greatest people; senior missionaries, President Lusvardi and his wife, and young sister missionaries.  We know that it is a gift and blessing to be here and serve, in some small way, in our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom.  We feel the same as Joseph Smith did of Nauvoo, “This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens.”

This week we had the chance to serve at Pioneer Pastimes together.  It’s a great place to be, to visit with people as they play pioneer games and just hang out.  Scott was in the Blacksmith Shop and at Browning Gun and he couldn’t be happier to serve there. He particularly loves the story of Jonathan Browning and his faithfulness.  I was able to tell the story of Lucious Scovil at the Bakery and, I have to say, if I could have just a small portion of Brother Scovil’s faith then I’d be in good standing :0)  He was so dedicated to the cause of the Gospel, clung to his temple covenants and gave his all.

One evening this week we went to the home of some members, Irene and Tomasi Tukuafu.  He is from Samoa and she is from California and they share their love of people and the Savior through music. Irene makes stringed instruments like harps, ukuleles, lyres, and guitars. So, they played and sang for us. She actually taught me how to play the bowed psaltery and it was amazing! I am so not musically inclined, but she made it seem so easy. It was a fascinating evening!

Our pday excursion was to West Branch, Iowa and the Herbert Hoover Museum.  To tell the truth, I knew nothing about him except that he was a past president.  Boy have I missed out on a great story of perseverance, hard work, compassion and trying to do what is right.  He was orphaned at age 10, eventually graduated from Stanford with a degree in mining and became quite professionally successful, as well as becoming the 31^st President.  But what impressed me the most was his work during the First World War in providing food and aid for the people of Belgium.  They were suffering during the war and he did everything he could for them.  He continued throughout his life to lighten other’s burdens.  What a great example for each of us.

A few of this week’s thoughts and lessons:

• The little things we do have the most impact.
• Be slow to judge and quick to love.
• The Lord can make so much more out of our sacrifices than we can even imagine.
• Elder Robison (one of the senior missionaries): We can have peace in the midst of the hurricane and even when the tears are flowing.
• The Lord always provides compensating blessings.
• I couldn't do this without Him, and I'm doing if for Him.

  

Our cast for "Sunset by the Mississippi".
What a great bunch of senior missionaries!
 

Sister McNeil, Elder Petersen, Elder & Sister Cook,
Elder & Sister Spencer and us.

HaHa! Proof we actually did sing!
Or at least lip sync :0)

Irene & Tomasi Tukuafu

Playing the Bowed Psaltry

Herbert Hoover Museum in West Branch, Iowa

I love this quote by Herbert Hoover.  He was orphaned by the age of 10,
yet graduated from Stanford, was a successful mining engineer and
went on to become the 31st U.S. President.

Herbert Hoover's birthplace.

Along the path to President Hoover's gravesite.

Hanging out with Hoover!

President & Sister Lusvardi and
Elder & Sister Schultz.
The Schultz' were in charge of all of the Young Performing Missionaries.

Yet another Nauvoo sunset...

Everything's good here :0)

As busy as things were from the middle of July to the middle of August, life now here in Nauvoo is just as slow.  But that’s ok.  It gives me time to get caught up on my journal and do a bit of studying. 

I think that I’m growing quite accustomed to the quiet life of Nauvoo.  There’s never any traffic, there are no shopping malls, or even grocery stores for that matter.  We can drive for miles and miles through Illinois or Iowa cornfields with just a few homes scattered throughout. I drive out to Mike’s Produce to get some corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and raspberries that he literally just picked for me.  It’s a peaceful place and I love it.

I also love the time we get to spend with the other missionaries; serving with them in the historic sites, spending time visiting at a mission dinner, learning together at Mission Training or hanging out for games and treats.  The senior missionaries each have a wealth of knowledge and life experiences that I certainly don’t have.  The young sister missionaries have been fun to get to know as well.  They bring an exciting enthusiasm to the mission.

On our pday we drove up the Great River Road on the Iowa side of the Mississippi to Muscatine.  The city is famous for making pearl buttons out of the mussel shells found along the river during the early 1900’s.  (Just a quick fact: by 1905 Muscatine had produced 1.5 billion pearl buttons annually.) We went to the Museum of History and Industry and it was really quite interesting to see the ingenuity of the people at that time.  We also drove out to the Pine Creek Grist Mill that’s on the way from Muscatine to Davenport, Iowa.  It’s a beautiful old mill next to a calm flowing stream. Very picturesque.  We want to go back in October when the fall leaves are on..

Scott had a great experience this week at the Browning Gun Shop.  On Tuesday, a man came in for a tour not long before they were closing for the day.  He works as a lawyer in a federal court in Saipan (one of the Northern Mariana Islands).  Before the tour began, he asked Scott some questions about the laws at the time Joseph Smith was arrested and taken to the Carthage Jail. Joseph had approved of the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor printing press, so it seemed as though the people had every reason to have him arrested.  Scott explained to him that, in the 1840’s, the freedom of the press laws applied to the federal government and not to individual states at that time.  They had a nice long conversation that answered many of the man’s questions.  Afterwards, Scott was concerned that he had taken up too much of his time.  Fast forward to this morning and Scott had a temple recommend interview with the mission president.  President Lusvardi had heard about Scott’s Browning Gun experience from the inquisitive man himself.  The man told him how grateful he was that Scott had cleared up many things and answered his questions.  Pres. Lusvardi expressed his gratitude to Scott for following the spirit as he taught.  It reminds me that we never really know the stories behind the people that we interact with each day and that sometimes, in some small way, we can be in tune and be the answer someone is searching for.

A few things I’ve learned this week:

• Every second is an opportunity to make a choice.  Choose well.
• Take time to step back and be touched by the things around us that we consider beautiful or sacred.
• Everything is good here :0)

A few pictures from the week.

 

Self explanatory

Mississippi River at Muscatine, Iowa.

Fountains in Muscatine.

A little picnic action.

A barge on the Mississippi.

Pine Creek Grist Mill, Iowa

Bridge at Pine Creek Grist Mill

Iowa farm country

The Seventies Hall on Parley Street.

The gourd arch next to the Lyon Drug.

Hanging out with Elder Hipple.