Sunday, Mar. 3, 2019

Changes..part of life

Another week has flown by and there are more changes ... to the mission and to our assignments.  First, we have been called as zone leaders....alittle daunting but I am sure that the Lord will help us out. "Whom the Lord calls...the Lord qualifies", right?  We are depending on that !!  We are not the only ones...they have made 4 zones instead of 3 and are anticipating a BUSY summer season !!  Last year, they had 6500 guests here in Nauvoo and at this point, they have had notification from several groups and are anticipating over 10,000 guests so everyone has to be ready and prepared to assist in the smooth operation of all the sites / attractions. 

Our neighbors (upstairs)  Elder & Sister Schmitt have reached the end of their service and have left to go home.  It was bittersweet for them....happy to see family and sad to leave.   As each set of missionaries go home , that leaves us to carry on.They have been our mentors and you don't realize how much you depended on them until they leave.  Also....our house seems awfully quiet.  We don't hear any noises from the upstairs apartment....but that will change by the end of the month when we get another 16 missionary couples in the mission.  That fact has had me very busy getting housing ready and organized for them.  Then the single sisters will be coming in on April 1....this year we will have 73 as compared to the 52 from last year.  They have been renovating the apartments that they live in to accomodate 6 instead of 4 so that means that I have been moving in 2 more mattresses and beds into each.  Actually, I get Jim and his service elder buddies to help me but I have to organize and locate everything that needs to be moved. 

So the deer have reappeared in our back yard.  During the cold snowy part of winter, we only saw them once or twice...we don't know where they went to "hunker" down for protection but we are glad to see them back.  We sit at our table and watch them while we eat our meals.  The babies have grown up and are nearly as big as their mommas.....the twins still stick close to each other !

This is a house that we pass by on our way to Keokuk to get groceries.  We call it the "Mafia" house...haha!  It is the biggest thing that we have ever seen and sits on the Mississippi River....I would never want to be that close to the river (snakes)  You can look this up on Vacation Rentals for Hamilton, Illinois.I think that it rents for $10,000/ night....RIDICULOUS!! You know that you have too much money when....  Just a little bit of trivia !!

Nauvoo has a community orchestra that puts on a concert twice a year that is REALLY good.  It is a full orchestra with all of the instruments.  We attended it last night and I was impressed with the quality of the music and the high level of musicianship there.  For a small town, they are really something.  They have also just started a community chorus that had several missionaries in it as well as community members.  They sang an acappella rendition of "O Danny Boy" that was beautiful.  I felt really uplifted by attending.

Here's a thought for the week:  Elder Baker gave this at our prayer meeting on Friday and it spoke to me as I was feeling a wee bit overwhelmed at the time and it helped me.....so here you are:
                                                  "Come to the edge, " he said.
                                                  "We can't, we're afraid!" they responded.
                                                  "Come to the edge," he said.
                                                  "We can't, We will fall!" they responded.
                                                  "Come to the edge," he said.
                                                   And so they came.
                                                   And he pushed them.
                                                   And they flew......................Guillaume Apollinaire

May you have a happy week !!  Know this.....you are loved ALOT !   We are happy and healthy and loving our time here in Nauvoo and would love to share this amazing place with all of you.