Sun. Sept 30, 2018

I have just realized that the videos that I post here are not playing back for you....not sure why but until I figure it out, I will post them on Instagram.  This has been a great week!  For one thing, the weather has cooled down and the humidity has been bearable.  We got some rain yesterday and it was only about 10 - 12 degrees but it sure felt good.  Apparently, we will have a couple of days this coming week that will be in the upper 20s but that is fine because the humidity is not so high.  Colors are just barely starting to show. According to the locals, they will really be on show for Halloween which is a really big deal around here.  They do a big parade downtown and we carve about 500 pumpkins to line the streets.

  This is one picture of the sunset that I was telling you about last week during the s'more roast that we had....I forgot to include it.

We have a district service project once / month and on Friday, we were assigned to clean and tidy around the oxen ride.  After we were finished, we all took a ride on the oxen wagon and helped to put the oxen into the pasture since they were finished for the day.  We cleaned all the signs along the walkway and picked up garbage, etc.  It is a typical way that we FM missionaries are behind the scenes keeping Nauvoo beautiful.

L-R   Elder / Sis. Schmitt (district leaders) from Idaho..they are 10 years older than we are but do an amazing job .  She is in conservation which is keeping all of the sites in order and historically accurate as well as providing living essentials like dishes, utensils, etc. for all of us missionaries. He is a handyman/carpenter and does all of the work orders for fixing things in our apartments. 
Elder / Sis. Pollock:  They worked with me in the paint dept. until the grounds crew needed extra help with the mowing and then they were moved over to there. I think that I posted a picture of them on their mowers a couple of weeks ago. They have just received the assignment to be moved to Carthage to do all of the FM out there until they go home....in the middle of Nov.  They are from So. Utah and we have really grown to appreciate them and their "salt of the earth" attitude.  Shortly after coming out on their mission, their son committed suicide and they went home for a month to take care of details and his family but came back out to finish.  We have great respect for their faith and diligence.  They are great examples to us.
Elder / Sis. Naef:  are missing because she has come down with pneumonia and he wasn't feeling great either.  They are from Wyoming and are older in age, as well.  He has had a stroke but you wouldn't really know it....he is just slower in moving. He works in the mechanics shop as well as heavy equipment while she is in housekeeping.  She makes sure all of the apartments are cleaned and ready for new occupants when they are vacated.  That has been a big job lately....we have had 34 couples leave as well as all of the temple missionaries apartments.  They have all left because the temple is closed until Dec. for maintanence.  Most of them have been released. It can be confusing because the temple missionaries are in a different mission (under a different Mission pres.) but we are responsible for the maintenance of their grounds & living areas.

As you can see, our mission accomodates all ranges of abilities and situations.  Each couple here have a story to tell and it is so strengthening to see their faith and to feel the faith of those who lived here.

We had a Nauvoo Stake Women's Conference yesterday from noon to 2:00 but when I got home, Jim and I went on an exploring drive.   We drive down the Mississippi River on the Illinois side to go to Keokuk to do our grocery shopping.  You cross the bridge there and then you are in Iowa.  We noticed a road(several times) that goes along the river on the Iowa side and decided to find it.  We did!! and followed it to Montrose.  It is across the river from Nauvoo and is where the Prophet Joseph would go for safety when the mobs were hunting for him.  You can see the view of the temple from across the river.

As we continued on to Fort Madison to get to the bridge to cross the river, we stumbled by this plant.
It is the Siemens Gamesa plant that builds the blades for the wind turbines that we have.  Look this name up on Google and you will see pictures of all the different places that they do this....including offshore wind turbines.  The world headquarters for this plant is in Denmark and they have done amazing things.  Anyway, we stopped along the road and took a couple of pictures.  Sometime, we would like to go and take a tour.

We have had a very normal week.... working hard to keep Nauvoo beautiful and getting it ready for winter.  I have been painting storm windows which they have built to put on homes while Jim has been taking down fencing that they have decided to get rid of and rebuilding others that needed replacing. 
Have a great week and know that we love you and think about you daily but are very happy and busy here.  Our respect and love for the early pioneers has grown and so have our testimonies of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  No other cause could have withstood the persecutions that were heaped on the fledgling Church except one that is based on the Savior Jesus Christ and the will of the Lord.  We can have the ability to do the same as we base our foundations on Jesus Christ and His Atonement.