Various photos of Nauvoo

 Having just figured out how to put pictures on our blog that have been sent to us from other missionaries, we will post them all now, as we can't figure out how to not use them all.

 This series is of a tour that I was giving at the Times and Seasons/ Nauvoo Neighbor building.  They were taken by Elder Germer, my companion for the day.  This whole building ( as most of the sites we give tours in )  is the actual 175 year old building, not a replica.

 The first thing we do is explain to the guests that the "compositor" is the chief person in the print shop. He composes the story to be printed, at the composing table, a heavy ,solid marble table, taking type from the case.  The capitol letters he takes from the "upper case" and the small letters from the "lower case" behind him.  The type is placed in a composing stick and then transferred to the "galley", which is the "column" of the newspaper.  After a sentence or two are formed in the galley, then the compositor stops and inks and prints a preliminary copy of that set to date.  He then has someone else proof read to make sure that if there are errors, they can be corrected immediately.  This is very important to do now, rather than wait until the whole column is finished, as each piece of type is a different size and if an error is detected the whole phrase must be totally dismantled to  make space for the correct type size.  (We often mention that it is also instructive that as we detect errors (sins) in our own lives, it is so much easier to correct them sooner than later,  when habits have been formed and we then have to invoke the Atonement of Jesus Christ with its attending remorse and disruption of our lives.)

 We also explain several printing terms, such as moveable type verses stereotypes, Quioning a phrase, furniture, spacers, minding your P's and Q's, dingbats, the chase (cutting to the chase).  In the photos above and below we can see the case which contains all the type, behind me to the right.  On top of the case can be seen the lower and upper cases. Immediately behind me can be seen a rack containing all the furniture.  To the far left can be seen the press.  This is a true antique 1840 press.  To the right (out of the picture) is an 1830 press.  These are not the actual presses used in the building in the 1840's, but are true functioning antiques of the period.

 We then move over to the press and let the guests acually move the chase into the coffin, demonstrate how they would have inked it with a dauber and breyer, place a sheet of paper into the tympan under the frisket, roll it under the platen, pull the lever to lower the platen, and then placing the printed paper on the racks on the ceiling of the room to dry for 24 hours before printing the other side of the sheet.  The moveable type would then be removed and cleaned and "carefully" replaced back into the proper slots in the case by the apprentice called the "printer's devil".

 This is when I was serving at pioneer pastimes with Elder and Sister Russell, where children (and adults) play all kinds of authentic games of the 1840's, and  we dress them up in pioneer costumes, like we wear.

 While serving in the Browning Gun home and manufactory, a guest came in with a "monsterous " camera, obviously a professional.  I asked him if he could focus in on a plaque that Jonathan Browning placed on each gun he made. He emailed these pictures to me after he got home.  After Jonathan Browning was baptized in 1842, he was such a stalwart in the Church and so converted that he placed a plaque that read:  "Holiness to the Lord ---our Preservation" on every gun he made.  The plaque is so small and so old on the antique gun that Browning made that it is with great difficulty that anyone has eyes good enough to read it.  Now I have an enlarged print of it to use in the tours, so visitors can appreciate Brownings faith and dedication to the Gospel.

 These photos are of Rendezvoux  where we are singing a song called "Willingly"

 This is a photo of Sis. Ririe and I acting out the part of "Peter and Abigail".  Here, I am about to find  out that she is in the process of getting engaged to someone else(Ezra).

 This was a photo sent me by one of the visitors, where I was giving them a tour in the Family Living Center.  I am explaining how the Saints in Nauvoo made rope.  The fibers in my hand were scratched out of  a tall plant stalk, and then spun (as they would do in spinning yarn from wool) into a twine, which then would be mounted onto a machine they had in Nauvoo in the 1840"s.  And then we make a rope for them to take home.

 This is at the end of the play where I just found out that Sis. Ririe broke off her engagement to "Ezra", and just consented to going with me West.

 The above photo, I am being told that "Mrs. Wallace is here to see me.  She came all the way to Nauvoo from Warsaw.

This is where I "playfully" catch her in a "lie" of  why she came to Nauvoo to see me.

Some Catching up !

I know it has been ages since we've written in this blog, that was because we had issues with our computer, but thanks to Eric Kerns, we have her up and running again!

             I had to include this picture...It is a cruet set I saw in the John Wood home and museum in Quincy, Illinois...I fell in love with it and am looking for one to purchase...so every antique shop I go int, that is my mission to find one to take home...It is very typical of the time period of the mid 1800's...Isn't it beautiful...If you see one call me OK?

This is our Rendezvous cast..(Lucy Mack cast) Everyone but the Ririe's!  We have become like family..We have great fun together!

  We got to go to Springfield, Illinois to the Lincoln museum and Library..Here we are with the first family!
                   We loved the experience and highly recommend the museum for a family trip!

This is at the tomb of Abraham Lincoln..Thought it was funny that everyone must rub Lincoln's nose for good luck...notice the shiny tip of his nose...Inside there are several statures of Lincoln and they are about 2 feet tall and are amazing.  A very reverent place I might add.

                                           Lincoln's tomb inside the building !

                                            One of many statures of Lincoln...He looks so pensive.

             Dallin Oaks speaking at the Visitors Center about the Prophet Joseph.  This was all a part of the Extradition hearing re-enactment...He spoke and gave an amazing testimony of Joseph Smith and then there was an open house afterwards...Both auditoriums in the Visitor Center were full and the stake center (video feed) was full too.  There were lawyers everywhere..Judges too, people from all over the state and even out of state came to attend.  During the day there were scholars presenting in different places in the city about the different aspects of the extradition hearings in the 1840's.   We sat right next to Olene Walker, the past gov. of Utah.  Lot's of dignitaries in town.. The next day in Springfield, Illinois the re-enactment took place and was sponsored by the Lincoln Library and the Illinois State Supreme Court.  Actually was a big deal!

                               I'm opening the Post Office for the day...It is also a Dry good Store

                    This is the way people carried water..we have a standing joke that Mom would ask her son to run some water up to their father working on the temple....Nauvoo's first running water!  HA!

                              Sorting box for the Post Office...One of the first Postmasters was Sidney Rigdon..it was                                                                      on his kitchen table~!

   Served in Nauvoo on the Road, and we went to Donaldson to a jpumpkin celebration...I loved this idea and wish we could do this at our little farm...It is a rubber ducky race...two hand pumps and see who gets their rubber ducky back first...It was great!

                              This young man from New Jersey, Sergio Galvez was amazing.  We connected with him and were amazed at his testimony.  He has been a member for two years and was so thrilled to come to Nauvoo...alone, on the bus...took a taxi from Ft. Madison to Nauvoo !!!  He was documenting everything with his camera...He said that he couldn't believe it was real...He saw things about it on movies, but he is going to tell everyone that Nauvoo is real!  Loved him, he went to the temple 2 or 3 times in the time he was here.  Hope we can stay in touch!

                     This was fun, we went to a High School Football game (homecoming) in Ft. Madison just for fun...what great kids are here in the midwest...clean cut and great kids...This couple are friends who live here in our building ...the Pincocks from Rexburg, Idaho...Really sweet people

                                Elder Ririe and I  served in the Lyon Drug store together...he was a botanical kind of apothecary, and this is his herb garden, he would us the herbs here to concoct a medicine to prescribe to his patients...Isn't it beautiful

Carthage Jail October 27th, 2013

Today we served at the Carthage Jail Visitor Center

This is always one of the most spiritual sites in our service in Nauvoo. I, at least always get a little nervous when I see that it is on our assignment list which comes out every Friday for the following week. Giving tours of the jail is like spending the whole day in a very spiritual testimony meeting: it is very "draining".  I often feel like a "wet rag" as we drive back to our apartment in Nauvoo.  

Today was no exception, as we had a fairly busy day.  We would just finish one tour and there was another waiting for us as we entered the visitor center.  There were four of us senior missionaries assigned today.
When a guest arrives we show them around the visitor center and then invite them into the movie which is 18 min. long.  As soon as it is over we then start the tour of the Jail, first taking them into the summer kitchen (shown in the picture above as the yellow part to our left),(which was not there when Joseph was there---it was built on in 1850, but was not removed when the Church restored the jail in the 1960's) and then into the jail itself in the inside kitchen where Joseph and those with him ate meals prepared by jailer George Stigal's wife.  Then we go into the parlor and then into the debtors cell where Joseph spent the night of June 25th with 10 others of his group --all sleeping on the floor as there was no furniture at all in this cell.  While we are here, another tour is coming down the stairs from the martyrdom room.  When they leave, we go upstairs to the criminal cell and explain the aftermath of the martyrdom with Willard Richards hiding John Taylor from the mob, and then go into the martyrdom room, where we get to testify of the life and prophetic calling of Joseph Smith.  It is amazing, that every time, as I entered that room, I felt  like a "warm blanket" had just been placed over my shoulders, and I am enveloped in it until I leave the room. There are very few dry eyes on each tour.  We then take them outside through the front door of the jail, (which the mobs used to enter the jail), passing another tour that had just entered the jail through the kitchen.
We "orchestrate" four overlapping tours in this manner all day.
It takes some coordination...
       Dad left some room for me to say something...It always amazes me that the Lord really does know the beginning to the end....It wasn't by accident that two apostles were with Joseph and Hyrum in Carthage and they survived.  It is in keeping with the law of two witnesses...If they weren't  there we couldn't have had the account witnessed by them and all we would have had is the mobs version of what happened.  Think about it...Joseph had sent the other apostles on missions to keep them away...he prophesied that Willard Richards wouldn't have a hole in his garment, but he would witness bullets flying  and friends falling on his left and right..for a 300 pound man it was truly a miracle he didn't get hit in that small room with bullets flying everywhere...and John Taylor surviving at least 5 wounds and covered with a filthy mattress to hide him from the mobs...I know Joseph and Hyrum sealed their testimony with the sacrifice of their lives that sultry afternoon in June, 1844.  I love them.

JOSEPH SMITH'S NAUVOO

Sept. 23, 2013
Today Historic Nauvoo played host to the Illinois Supreme Court, as they presented an analysis of "Habias Corpus and the Courts:  Individual Liberties from Joseph Smith to Abraham Lincoln",
All day there were historical presentations by LDS and non-mormon scholars  in 11 different sites around town,  regarding the legal problems Joseph Smith had with the courts of 1840's, particularly as Missouri kept trying to extradite Joseph to Missouri to stand trial for perceived broken laws.  Had they been successful Joseph, for sure, would have been murdered the minute he crossed the Mississippi River.
This evening there was a presentation by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Twelve. He spoke for over an hour on the legal issues entitled "Behind the Extraditions: Joseph Smith, the Man and the Prophet.  Tickets were very scarce, but Sis. Ririe was on her post as Tickets and Tours the day the tickets came available, and she got us tickets in the same theater where he was speaking.   There were so many requests for tickets, that they transmitted by closed circuit to the other theater in the Visitor Center and then into the Stake Center which was almost full.
 We were thrilled with our seats as we were sitting on the third row amongst all the dignitaries, in fact we were sitting right next to Olene Walker, past govenor of Utah.  We had a good conversation with her and her husband.  Also present were several past Governors of Illinois and Utah (Gov Herbert was there), and a bunch of Judges and attorneys.
Elder Oaks gave a masterful talk, testifying of the Prophetic calling of Joseph and quoting many very intellectual  statements made by Joseph regarding the Constitution of the U..S. and its divinely inspired contents.  He presented Joseph in very believable fashion.  I hope all the non-members were as impressed as we were.
A very good evening!

A Lovely Scottish Connection in Carthage

     Dad and I were serving in Carthage on Monday, when a beautiful couple came in and wanted a tour.  We showed the 18 minute film, which is special in itself..He was a big fellow with an interesting speech impediment.  I notices hearing aids (too young for that), so then I figured he was hearing impaired, and his wife was a beautiful blond from Aberdeen, Scotland...(she knew right where Inverurie was, where Dad's  ancestors were from)  They really seemed to enjoy the tour, and in the martyrdom room they were really moved by the spirit..So touching...She proceed to share their story with me.
     She saw a Book of Mormon at her sister's home in a drawer tucked away...she pulled it out and read the testimony of Joseph Smith, about the first vision and something stirred inside, she really wanted to know more.  She proceeded to read the Book of Mormon and actually had a testimony of it before she ever took a lesson.  Finally she had missionaries teach her and she decided to be baptized...But she knew that her family would disown her if she did.  Her father had a falling out with a brother and hadn't spoken with him for over 40 years...she was petrified to tell them...and yes they did disown her.  She hadn't been baptized yet, but was at the church to play volleyball with other young adults, when she saw her (to be husband) in the hall way.  She said their eyes locked and everything became silent and she knew he was going to be hers eventually.!!!  He had the same experience...They only spoke a few words to each other...but later she had him baptize her..Then he was transferred.  She had to move out of her home.  They wrote when he got home and he invited her to America to meet his family...her family heard about that and the father and mother forgave her and had her come back home before she went to America.
      They have raised a beautiful family, and the Grandparents say there must be something good about this religion to raise such wonderful children...We talked about the amazing pioneers who sacrificed all for the gospel, but she is a modern day pioneer who sacrificed her whole family for the Gospel...The Lord blessed her, and many of her family members have joined the church and the parents hearts are surely softened.  We have experiences like this daily...Wonderful, faithful people who who love the Gospel and are here to gain strength from the Saints who came before...Wow!  I love this mission!  G'ma

Another wonderful day in Paradise

Sept. 9, 2013
We have just had  two of the most wonderful days!
Last evening we completed our performance in Rendezvous and as usual, we stand outside the Cultural Hall as the visitors leave, and we talk to them out on the street. A couple came out and started talking to us, thanking us for the play.  They seemed like they wanted to talk and we talked for almost a half hour, as they opened up about their lives.  The husband had  lost his wife (death) and became very bitter, but recently re- married and decided to come to Nauvoo, on a "fluke" (as in inspiration, I believe).  They had visited several sites and came to Rendezvous, capping off a wonderful day of change in his life.  He had to sit out of the Temple (worthiness), while his wife went through a session, and he has felt such a wonderful outpouring of the Holy Ghost here in Nauvoo, that he is now completely changing.  While attending our play, he wept as he felt the spirit of all us old people telling him through the Spirit to change his life, because life is so worthwhile, if you don't fight, but FOLLOW  the Spirit.

Then today we were assigned to Carthage Jail to give tours all day.   What a wonderful experience that is!!!
Sis. Ririe and I gave several tours together and separately by ourselves as there were so many people coming for tours.  Let me tell you:  that Martyrdom room is a powerful conduit for the Spirit of God to witness to each person that comes with a desire for it.  We felt it very strongly on every tour.  Bearing my testimony so much here in this mission  has strengthened me to the point that I can actually get through tours with only a couple of melt-downs of emotion as the Spirit is so strong. It is wonderful to see the changes that occur with people as they progress through the Jail,  and as they enter  the experience in the Martyrdom room, they soften into a person of faith.
Joseph Smith was and is such a perfect example of everything that we should be in our lives.  My study of his life and teachings has changed me greatly.  He faced such heavy trials everyday of his life, and yet he was so buoyant and optimistic about life in spite of everything;, he is everything I want to be.  He truly was the greatest of all Prophets who ever lived.  Walking along the same streets and in the same buildings that he did makes us feel so humble and fortunate.  What a blessing Nauvoo has become in our lives.  LIFE-CHANGING!!!

Sis. Ririe and I are District Leaders, and are to give the prayers at the upcoming Leadership Training Meeting next week with Elder Robert C. Gay of the Seventy, when he comes to our mission.

My big brother, Donny

My brother Donny

The shock of my life happened on August 3rd, when I was about to go to the Pendleton Log School and Home, when my phone rang and my brother Bill was calling to tell me that my brother Don had just experienced a major stoke...oh my!  I had to sit down...I never expected this...He was my oldest brother, but not that old, only 79!  By that evening he was gone.  I cried a folly of tears...then I realized he passed the way he really wanted...quickly!  I loved him so much and remember his legacy he left was that of service.  I asked anyone in the audience to raise their hand if they had ever had Donny fix anything for them...Almost everyone raised their hand!  He was always willing and able to help anyone who showed up on his porch!  I want to grow up to be just like him...I love you Donny!

Love this quote.  Dr. Seuss really gets it!

It was a beautiful day and wonderful reunion with family to celebrate Donny!

Rendezvous Cast (some of us!)

Craig being the curtain puller (a position he coveted)

Me being a prompter...both of us behind the scenes..which works for us!

Elder and Sister Jardine

I never want to forget these people!  They are amazing..from Denver, Colorado  They play the part of George and Agatha in Rendezvous!  Love them!

Elder and Sister Mengel

These two are wonderful!  They play our part of Peter and Abigail..so cute!  She is over the sewing room here and he works in FM, but has taken the Old Nauvoo Cemetery under his wing and cleans the headstones and plots where people's graves are located..Great People!

Elder and Sister Mayne

Aren't they darling?...They also play George and Agatha in Rendezvous..What a great couple, they are from Weatherby, Missouri.  Ranchers and the salt of the earth...They are so fun....We're going to the Rodeo with them this week!  Love those two!

Elder and Sister Stringham

I love these two...He serves in the sites and she is over housing...She is my walking buddy! and my inspiration..she always is happy and positive...one of my best friends here in Nauvoo!  They are from Kimmerer, Wyoming....Love them!

Elder and Sister Gillespie

I'll never forget these two...She is a riot!  Full of vim and vinegar!  Always up for a party...she is actually our social chairman...(self appointed) Ha!  They play Noah and Sophia in Rendezvous!  They are from Highland, Utah...so we should keep in touch when we get home!!

Elder and Sister Thompson

This is a perfect couple!  Classy lady and a great man...I love them..They are such hard workers, they do all of the watering of the plants here in Old Nauvoo and up on the bluff as well...They are so gracious..they drove all the way to St. Louis to pick us up when we had to go to Arizona...We absolutely love them.  They are from or will be from Virgin, Utah.  They are homeless right now and are going to build a home there!

They are Cast managers!  Awesome people!

  

Nauvoo Miracle

Vibeke and Anne Hansen....A special experience with these two!

Vibeke  (the mom), had just been baptized in Denmark before coming to Nauvoo to visit a friend who read the Book of Mormon with her on Skype.  That friend was Susan Stanton from Nauvoo First Ward.  Vibeke is a special lady with a burning testimony.  Her daughter, Anne had not been baptized and was hesitant to go to church with her mom and Susan, so they came to Old Nauvoo, the Blacksmith shop, while Elder Ririe and I were serving there on a Sunday afternoon.  I felt an immediate connection with them and told them all about the wheelwright, then Elder Ririe came in to take them to the Blacksmith shop and when he walked in, they gasped!  they thought he looked like he came from Scandinavia for sure!  (He does kind of look like that)  When I introduced them, I mentioned that Vibeke had just been baptized, but not Anne, and he shook her hand and said "but she will be soon!"   Wow, that was pretty bold...but I think there was a great spirit there.  Anne has an amazing story.  

She had just had surgery on her back for scoliosis...they put hardware in to straighten her back and she had grown 4 inches in 7 hours!  They gave her the clearance to travel from Denmark, but by the time she got here, she had Staph infection. She had to go to Iowa City to the Dr..  She had a blessing before she went and in the blessing the elder commanded all the foreign matter to leave her body, we were thinking that was the infection, ..but the Dr's determined they needed  to have all the hardware taken out and replaced, and it cleaned out!  Major surgery.  (When she woke up from the surgery, the first thing she told her mom was that she wanted to go back to the Blacksmith shop)..she is really a trooper....but that's not all...she was given medication with the wrong label and she was unknowlingly taking blood thinners as pain medication..Oh NO!  She became very weak and really almost died...she spent a few days in the hospital, and came home with IV antibiotics for a couple weeks and is now back in Denmark, doing well and going to school!  So happy for the miracle and the health that was given her...I will always remember her and pray she will eventually remember the feeling she had in the Blacksmith's shop, and come unto Christ!  Vibeke and I still communicate and will see each other this Christmas...She is coming back!  Yay! 

Elder and Sister Openshaw  

We really love this couple..he used to teach religion at BYUI and she is quite an artist...they are going home in August and we will really miss them.  Elder Openshaw played the piano in our cast and is so talented with music.  They will be sorely missed.

Craig and I in our Debut as Peter and Abagail in Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo!  What a hoot...we are actually starting to have a little fun with this now that we know our parts pretty well!

This is the Pageant Bagpipe band playing on the streets in uptown Nauvoo!  In front of Annie's Custard..Our favorite place to hang out after Sunset on the Mississippi!

                                                     June 27th, Martyrdom Commemoration

      On June 27th we went to Carthage to attend the Martyrdom Commemoration which is held at the Carthage Jail..It was a very emotional and sacred.  President Gilliland spoke and it was interspersed with music by the Young Performing Missionaries, the Nauvoo Brass Band and Vocal Point...absolutely beautiful. When you think about all that happened that day and the miracle that Williard Richard wasn't killed or even that John Taylor survived about 5 bullet wounds, you realize that Joseph had to seal his testimony with his life and they had to be preserved as witnesses.  John Taylor was destined to be a prophet and a great leader.  Brigham Young and Willford Woodruff were on a mission in Boston.  Joseph knew he was going to die and told the Saints that his work was done and was ready to meet God.

This is President Conde, the President of the Nauvoo Temple...He is an Emeritis member of the First Quorum of Seventy...Wonderful man with an incredible sense of humor...Love him.