Ahhh Fall...

It has been a very busy October! And now it’s coming to an end.  This week we lose four couples and all of the Young Sister Missionaries.  The sister missionaries head to their outbound assignments for five months.  It’s going to be a ghost town around here.  To run all of the 21 historic buildings we only have 10 men and 16 women.  The math doesn’t work out in our favor, even if we have just one companionship to a site each day. So it’s called “creative scheduling” :0) We actually have the town divided into regions, and companionships are now assigned to a region.  Like the Print Shop, Post Office and John Taylor home are all in a region, the Brickyard, Lucy Mack Smith home and Log Schoolhouse are a region etc.  So a companionship will take care of the sites in their region.  On paper it seems like a great idea.  We’ll see how it all works out.  The bonus, for me, is that I get to work in the sites a bit more because they are desperate for help :0)

The Mission Presidents’ Seminar was a success.  It was so great to have them all here.  They were excited to learn about Nauvoo and mentioned over and over about the spirit they felt.  Scott and I had the opportunity to give them all a tour of the Printing Office.  Teaching members of the Quorum of the Seventy was a bit nerve wracking at first, but once we got started it was a lot of fun.  The members of the Area Presidency; Elder Wilford Anderson, Elder S. Gifford Nielsen and Elder Brian K. Taylor were all so gracious and kind. And it was fun to have Elder Carl B. Cook here again too.

On Thursday evening we had the opportunity to have Elder Neil L. Andersen speak to us, as well as his wife, and Elder Carl B. Cook and his wife.  It was just such a heart-warming experience to hear them speak and testify of the reality of the Savior.  Elder Andersen said that “this generation has seen Him.”, referring to the Savior.  And to the senior couples he promised that generations that follow us will say, “my grandparents served in Nauvoo and they knew and had a witness of the Savior.”  He said, “I know He lives, I confirm He lives.  I am His witness.”  I hope I don’t become too accustomed to hearing members of the Quorum of the Twelve speak since it can happen very frequently here.

Saturday night was the largest Halloween celebration I have ever seen!  Boo-tiful Nauvoo had over 6,000 people in town!  Mind you, the whole Nauvoo population is only 1,100. There was a Halloween parade that the missionaries participated in, pumpkin launching from a catapult, over 500 carved pumpkins, and scarecrows lining the streets.  We handed out candy as well as over 3,000 bags of fresh kettle corn, made on site.  It was a crazy event, but fun to participate in!

For Pday on Wednesday we drove over to Peoria, Illinois.  We went to the Caterpillar Visitors’ Center, which was pretty interesting.  I had no idea how expansive and global the company is.  We also drove along Grand View Drive and boy was it a grand view!  The road runs along the bluff overlooking the Illinois River Valley.  The fall colors are changing and it was absolutely gorgeous.  The leaves here in Nauvoo are beautiful as well.  

Serving in the Print Shop.

Granger Street, near Brigham Young's Home.

Another Mississippi sunset.

A tugboat pushing a barge up river.

At the Caterpillar Visitors' Center.

Peoria, Illinois

The Illinois River Gorge from Grand View Dr. in Peoria.

Pumpkins to be carved for Boo-tiful Nauvoo.

Spectators line the parade route.

Our oxen lead the way.

The Nauvoo horses even made it in the parade.

 

The Nauvoo Dragon.

Missionaries cooking the kettle corn.

Our visit from Elder Neil L. Andersen and his wife Kathy.

Elders Andersen, Cook, Anderson and Nielsen shake everyone's hand.

Elder & Sister Carl B. Cook

The Cooks, Sister Andersen, the Lusvardi's, the Andersons and the Nielsens.