Nauvoo is a happening place! Everywhere you look, missionaries are busy getting things ready for opening! Those in Conservation are busy cleaning missionary homes and getting them ready for the YPMs - Young Performing Missionaries - that are arriving in ten days. They are also working in the Site Homes making sure everything is perfect! They are wonderful Sisters and I'm blessed to know them! Others are working hard on the install at the Visitors Center. It's going to be wonderful when it is done! I'm so excited to see the finished product! I think everyone will love it! Others have been installing a new floor on the "Sunset by the Mississippi" outdoor stage, those of us at grounds have been busy pulling weeds, and pulling more weeds and did I mention, pulling weeds? They grow quite well here!

Then there was the time this week that I thought I was pulling weeds and it turns out that it wasn't a weed but was a plant called Tansy. Oops! Thank goodness that Richard is very patient. He told me that he was meaning to thin that plant anyway. (Side note - I was just looking up how to spell Tansy and the definition is "a weedy perennial flower that grows..." so there you go!) Honestly, it did look like a weed that we had pulled earlier. I'm learning a lot working in Grounds and I'm loving it!

Along with the weeds, we pulled tulip bulbs! Lots and lots of tulip bulbs! Over 5000 just from two tulip beds and we pulled around 12 beds. Now, when the weather cooperates and quits raining, we'll be replanting all of those beds with other flowers.

With sites opening Saturday, Sister Koop had the great idea to get cinnamon rolls and take them to the Site Missionaries as a "we are thinking of you and good luck" gift. We bought them from a place that usually has large rolls but they were so little. We called them Cinni Minnies. Everyone said that they were really good despite being so small. It was fun taking them around to everyone. President Rizley has a saying, "A missionary is a missionary is a missionary." Here in Nauvoo, there are FM, Site, Teamster, YSM and soon to be YPMs. We are all doing different "jobs" but all of our focus is on serving the Lord the best that we can.

Elder Burns was put in charge of preparing an Emergency Action Plan for the mission and has been working diligently on that. He spent Saturday and part of today, Sunday, at the Family Living Center (it's acting as the Visitors Center until it's finished with renovations) training others in how to be Incident Commanders. They'll be trained in what to do if there is an accident, injury, tornado, etc. He has a lot of training to do with the missionaries and is really using the skills from his years as a firefighter.

This week has been a busy, fun-filled week! It's also been tiring and I was feeling overwhelmed one day. I opened my phone to my scripture app and this scripture was pulled up. It's from 1 Nephi 9:6. At this point, Nephi had been commanded to make a second set of plates and he didn't know why he needed to make that second set. Verse 6 reads, "But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen." Heavenly Father and Jesus knew what was going to happen. They knew that Nauvoo would be shut down because of Covid. They knew that one day it would open again and be even better than before. I know that through them, we will be given the strength and power to accomplish all the work to be done here in Nauvoo to prepare Nauvoo to receive those who will be coming to visit this summer and beyond. There is a lot of work to do but we will do it and love every (almost!) minute of it! ;-)

Even with the ups and downs, I love serving here, I love my Savior and I love those who walked these streets in Nauvoo, who sacrificed so much so that I can have the gospel in my life today.

I love all of you!