7 July 2016

Step right up and get your sets for the 2016 Nauvoo Pageant! The pageant is in full swing and there are thousands of people who have come to town to see the show.

Last week the Mariners were here to visit and see the wonders of Nauvoo with their two children, Roxy and Burton. We enjoyed having time with them, going to the sites, Sunset by the Mississippi, the Martyrdom Trail, dinner in Hamilton, pickle ball at the gym and much more.

Sister Russell and I are shift coordinators on the new Monday PM temple shift. We are also baptistery coordinators on the Thursday AM shift. Last Thursday we started baptisms at the temple at 4:30 AM and did not stop until nearly 2:00 PM. The tour groups and families just kept on coming.

On Saturday we are the endowment coordinators on the PM shift. This assignment is much more relaxing and we have met so many friends from the past while serving here. The Al and Kathy Barrus were here and we saw Charlene and Jon Giles from Yuba City. Last month the Louis and Laurie Stubblefield were here as well as the Spendloves.

The summer rains have finally come. The corn and soy beans are growing incredibly fast. Everything is deep green. The warm summer air and rain have made this an agricultural paradise.

We have two more months here in Nauvoo before we leave. We are also the P Day supervisors for our P Day group of five families. Tuesday is our P Day and today we visited the Atkinsons in La Harpe. Bro. Atkinson fell in the temple and has had to have surgery on both knees.

The end of the month has brought us to limited travel since we have been extra busy with assignments at the temple: Shift Coordinators on Monday PM, Baptismal Coordinators on Thursday AM and Endowment Coordinators on every other Saturday. Plus we have been the group leaders for our P Day group. This week we arranged for an outing in Carthage, Ill. to the Kibbe Museum. Then we drove to Macomb to go to the movies and say Star Trek Reborn 

Now we are winding down for the month of July. Each night the pageant continues and we sing on stage on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights at the end of the performance. We also attended the King Follet vignette which was an outstanding representation of Joseph Smith’s famous speech on the dead.

Lastly, we are anticipating the Kurowskis coming in August for a few days. We will enjoy sharing our famous Nauvoo with the family. We plan on eating fresh sweet corn and BBQ. The summer is quickly passing.

Corn grown high

Mississippi Lily Pads

Dawn along the river

In the Tom Sawyer Cave at Hannibal

Hannibal Missouri

Tom and Huck

Nauvoo Pageant

Kevin and Cindi Backes' Family

Burton and his scraper rock

Find Waldo!

Cinderella on a sheep!

Bro. Atkinson in the hospital at La Harpe 

Spendloves at Sunset on the Mississippi

Dawn's new Amish quilt

Birthday cherry pie

Burton on the bear strings

Nauvoo Pageant

Mariners in Nauvoo

06 June 2016

The month of June was quick in coming. Our challenge on the mission is to keep up with the growing number of tourists visiting the temple in Nauvoo. 

The tour buses are arriving with hundreds of youth to do baptisms for the dead. They are coming from Georgia, Wisconsin, Texas and many other groups are scheduled to arrive in July as well.

For example, we worked in the baptistery twice this week and a full day at the Arrival Center. The two days at the baptistery I was the coordinator. One day we had 22 different groups come in the morning shift. Then of Thursday another day with hundreds of youth to be baptized and Friday we had over 200 youth at the Arrival Center with their adult leaders staging to be escorted to the temple each hour for their turn in the font.

President McArthur talked to us on Tuesday and said, “now then it gets busy at the baptistery, we will have to step up our assistance”. I wondered what is BUSY!?

Dawn and I did manage to get to the BYU performer’s Sunset By The Mississippi stage show and the BYU fold dancers before the rush.

Also, the Aylworth’s were here with Tanis taking out his endowments on Saturday the 4^th of June. His dad, Jared and paternal grandparents were here. As a result we entertained them for three days by taking them to the sites and shows on the flats. Stephanie was not here because she had hurt her back and stayed home. Tanis is leaving for a mission in July to Montreal Canada (French speaking).

Just a note to say the fire flies have their lights on! How exciting to see them again after years away from Kentucky.

The corn is growing however, it is extremely hot and we need rain! Very dry outside.

President Spendlove and his wife Tina, were here for a few days. We delighted in having them here for a visit.

Our FHE group spent last Monday with Cal Christensen as we visited several mounds in the area. He attached possible geographical sites with events in the Book of Mormon. There is so much evidence that the Nephites and Lamanites lived in this very area.

We are now ready for July. Dawn and I are the shift coordinators for the Monday PM temple shift. This is an added responsibility and will keep us busy the entire month of July.

Mounds of Nauvoo

Missouri Mounds 

Everything is growing here

Petunia waves

Tomato plants

My new Hoka one one's

Bro Smith and Hansen at golf course

Young Missionarys

Tanis and Grandma Dawn

Alyworth family

Horse carriage ride

Noteworthy singers

Captured Fire Fly

05 May 2016

The beginning of this month marks the beginning of our summer temple missionaries arrival. We hosted the Cluffs and the Streulings. We had dinner with them the first Sunday and assisted with their luncheons for the first week they were here during training meetings.

We were able to meet in the assembly room at the temple for training of the new missionaries. Much of the training included the events of the dedication of the Nauvoo temple.

Also, this month Dawn and I traveled to Pella after our Sunday visit to Galesburg. It was fascinating seeing the Dutch houses and businesses throughout the town. They arrived there in 1847 from the Netherlands to avoid the religious persecution and economical down swing in their country. The highlight was the Vermeer Windmill. Unfortunately, we say a deer slam into a car right in front of us traveling at high speed. It scrambled around before getting to its feet and ran off. There was major damage to the vehicle but no one was hurt. This is a very frequent event in this area.

The Thompsons are traveling with us to Galesburg each Sunday. We trade off driving. They are delightful. On our first visit to the ward we were all invited to the Dobsons for dinner after church. It was a very nice welcome for the Thompsons.

Recently, we have made new friends with the Kessengers from California and the Gentrys from Utah. They both play Pickelball. Dawn and I team up at the Motley Gym each week to play. We both have new paddles and are improving.

Sister Russell and Sister Fellows organized a group activity for the entire Temple Missionary group. We scheduled our group to meet at the outdoor theater here in Nauvoo to sit in on a rehersal of the Young Performing Missionaries who have just arrived for the summer performances. It was a great hit. At one point several were dancing on stage with the performers.

Another activity we arranged with the Moons was an excursion to several of the camp sites of the pioneers going west ( Bonaporte, Bentonsport, Richardson’s point and Cantril). We visited the arrowhead museum in Bentonsport. It was outstanding with thousands of artifacts collected by a local gentleman 74 years old.

Shopping at the Dutchman is always enjoyable and visiting with the Holmes on our way back to Nauvoo was pleasant.

Lastly, we are participating in a 5K fun run “Wonder Warrriors” sponsored by Motley Gym on Memorial Day.

With all that in mind we are geared up for the Aylworth’s visit the 2^nd-4^th of June. Tanis will be here to receive his endowments at the Nauvoo Temple before going on his mission. We are excited.

Sister Dobson and Dawn

Wave petunias at our apartment

Goslings

Growing fast!

Turtles on the Mississippi

Blue Winged Teal at the Deer Run Golf Course

Pella, Iowa

Dutch Bakery

Dutch culture

Right out of Amsterdam

Vermeer Windmill

Tulips

Wooden Shoe Maker

Corn is starting to grow!!

Sarah Grander home

Peonies at the SG home

They smell so sweet

The best ever flowers

Indian museum at Bentonsporte

Arrowhead museum (fantastic)

Richardson's Point

Amish barn art

Motley Gym Wounded Warrior 5K