What a Week!

September 20, 2021

This week has been non-stop and I need a day of rest! Haha! This is our week in a nutshell!

Monday - work and fleece blankets

Tuesday - work, orthodontist, fleece blankets, Boo-tiful Nauvoo meeting

Wednesday - pick-up coal 5 hours away, training

Thursday - Work - Browning Gun gardens, Doug to Dr. in Burlington

Friday - Work, Mission party and talent show

Saturday - Cheese making, prep day, Sunset on outdoor stage

Sunday - church, Primary program, introduced us to Primary kids, IC, "Love of the Savior" concert, Mission Devotional.

Are you tired yet? We sure are but we wouldn't trade it (except maybe the doctor visits!) for anything! We love being here! Now, I'll fill in the details!

We have been working on fleece blankets with the YSMs but they are also so busy that they haven't made it in very often to work on them. We have a group of twelve that are leaving this week ;-( and they were put into "isolation" to keep them healthy and covid free before they leave. We decided that it would be good to take blankets to them and have them tie them, so Monday and Tuesday, several Senior Sisters gathered and we cut the fleece and prepared them so that the YSMs could tie them. We dropped nine off to them Monday and then Tuesday, we prepared several more. I'm sad that I didn't get any pictures but we had a great time working together. Most of the missionaries that came to help were Site Missionaries and I don't get to work with them very often so it was a treat for me!

My teeth have always been straight but they have started moving - a lot - so I made an appointment with an orthodontist here and it was pretty much a bust!  Anyway, he told me that he wouldn't treat me since I was a missionary and wouldn't be here for 2 years. Has anyone tried the Smiles Direct or Byte at home orthodontics? I'm thinking of maybe trying them.

After getting back from the orthodontist I went straight to the Sewing Room and worked on fleece blankets again. After that, I went immediately to a meeting for planning Boo-tiful Nauvoo.

Wednesday we had to go to Murphysboro, IL to pick up coal for the forge in the blacksmith shop. It was a five hour drive each way, plus stops for fuel and food, made it a twelve hour trip. We arrived back in time to grab dinner, shower and head to our Wednesday evening training. When we arrived at the place to get the coal, they asked us how we were going to load the trailer. Elder Burns said that he thought they would load it for us. They said they would, for $20. Best $20 I've spent in quite a while! Can you imagine loading 2 tons of coal by hand? We'd still be there shoveling! Haha!

Our training meetings are always so spirit filled and I never want them to end! I do wish that I was better at taking notes, but I do know that when I need the information, it will come to me. It's buried somewhere in that brain of mine!

Thursday and Friday, we worked on pulling the annual plants out of the Browning Gun gardens and planted some perennials there. I love when we all work together. Friday we took a quick break from planting to watch the YPMs "Hymns of Zion" performance. It's only 15 minutes and I could have easily listened for another 15+! I love watching them perform. 

Thursday we were finally able to get Doug into a doctor for his asthma this time. It's been getting worse. The doctor is from India and we had a really hard time understanding him but he put Doug on some medications that seem to be helping him with the asthma part. That's been nice - now to get the headaches gone!

Friday night we had an all-mission dinner and YSM talent show that started at the outdoor Sunset Stage but had to be moved indoors because of lightning and rain. It was so fun to watch the YSMs share their talents and we had a great evening! The dinner was pulled pork, baked beans, coleslaw, watermelon, rice and dessert. Yumm!

Saturday morning, I was up early (for a Saturday) and Sister Elia and I headed over to the branch in Fort Madison for a cheese making class. Since the bridge is closed, we have to travel all the way around through Keokuk so instead of a 20 minute drive, it's now 50 minutes. We learned how to make mozzarella cheese and it's actually pretty easy and really good.  After we returned home from that, we did laundry, cleaned the house and all the typical prep day stuff. That evening, we went to an outdoor performance of "Sunset by the Mississippi". It's the only performance outdoors that the fall YPMs will do. It was a blast!!! All of the missionaries were invited and man, can those YSMs scream and cheer! It was so much fun!!! The YPMs also got a taste (literally and figuratively) of what it's like to perform with lots of bugs on stage. I hear a few of them actually ate some. Yumm! Not!

Sunday - It was the Primary Sacrament Meeting program, then we were introduced to the Primary children that we will be teaching starting after General Conference.  We will be teaching the 6-7 year-olds. It's been a while since we've taught Primary but it should be fun. They asked us take a few minutes and introduce ourselves. I know everyone is getting frustrated with Covid and one of the young Primary girls, while giving the prayer, said, "Heavenly Father, make covid go away!" We can all say AMEN to that! After church, we grabbed lunch, then headed to the VC for our Incident Command shift. After that, we watched the "Love of the Savior" concert, then ran home for a quick dinner, then back for our devotional. Who said Sunday was a day of rest?!?!?! I love it though!

So, like I said earlier, it was a busy, crazy week but it's been a busy, crazy week in Nauvoo and you can't beat that!! I love serving here! Life is great! Also, I'm so thankful for Marco Polo so I can watch my grandchildren grow and see my children while we are here. I don't know how couples did it before Zoom and Marco Polo!

Random thought - when I see pictures of Doug with his mustache or beard, I think it looks weird! Haha! Never thought I'd think that!

I love my Savior, I love serving Him here in Nauvoo. I'm grateful to be a member of His church and for the many blessings that that brings into my life.

Another beautiful butterfly that emerged from it's cocoon

From the Primary President: Getting new teachers in primary has many perks…

looking forward to more talent sharing! We love our senior missionaries!

"Sunset by the Mississippi" on the outdoor stage,

one last time for this season.

YPMs performing "Hymns of Zion"

Our first group of outbound YSMs. These sisters were all called to

foreign missions but were not able to serve there because of

Covid restrictions. They leave for their reassigned areas on the 22nd- all stateside. Oh, there 

will be an empty space in my heart for them.

Sister Bernhardt and Sister Melling! Love them!

The cheese making demonstration.

This is an amazing drawing by Sister Sheppard, one of our

amazing YSMs. She is so talented and also gives the

 best hugs!!! Excuse my shadow on the picture. 

👆👇The geese are back! They kept walking away from me 

as I was trying to take their picture. They must be shy geese! Haha

Joseph and Hyrum statue across from the temple.

Some cotton that we grew at Lyon Drug. It's so soft!

We took a short break and listened to the Nauvoo Brass Band. 

They are small in number but great in sound!

 

Lots to do!

Sept. 13, 2021

Hello dear friends and family!

A lot of this week was spent working on talks that we gave in Sacrament Meeting at the Fort Madison Branch. We were asked to talk on "what it means to live a Christ-like life". I chose to speak on charity, the pure love of Christ. Elder Burns spoke of some of the attributes of Christ.

Doug was finally able to see a doctor about his headaches. When he told her that he has had continuous headaches since he had the Covid shot, she told him that she has had many patients come to her with the same thing. It was nice to have validation that it was from the shot. She told us that this is all so new that they aren't sure how to treat it yet. Doug will be getting an MRI to get a baseline reading and see what's going on (pending approval from insurance). As the doctor left, she told us to hope they could find something that'll work and to have faith. After almost four months of constant headaches, he's ready for them to be gone! His asthma also kicked up a few notches after the shot so he's been struggling with that. He goes to a doctor for that this week. I'm hoping they can get things under control. I've been sleeping on the couch for several weeks now because his wheezing and coughing was keeping me awake. I'm ready to sleep in a bed again, although I have to say, we have a very comfortable couch so I've been sleeping fairly well. I often joke that I'm going to take the couch home with me. Haha

I spent time this week digging out more lemon balm and a lot of the annuals from a couple of beds around Lyon Drug. We then planted perennials in them and then mulched the beds. I'm so thankful for the other garden sisters and their help. 

In a few weeks, the General Relief Society President and I believe the General Primary President will be here, along with another General Authority for Stake Conference and some other activities. They will be doing something in the Women's Garden so we spent time there pulling weeds from the brick walkways and will be working on getting that area as beautiful as we can before then. The gardens have been closed all summer. They are getting new bricks on the walkways and they were supposed to be done last May. Due to a lot of different things, etc., it is still not done. 

I feel bad! We worked really hard planting all of the flowers and no one was able to see them. We'll see how much they get done before Stake Conference since they are actually back working on it. 

We went to Iowa City on Saturday and did a Costco run! It's been awhile since we were there and I forgot how expensive it can be! Ouch! Haha

I can't believe that our first group of YSMs leave next week. That's come way too fast! I am going to miss these sweet sisters so much!!! They bring such a great spirit and so much joy to my heart! I sure love them!!!

We are staying real busy here but we love it and are so thankful to be serving in this beautiful city of Nauvoo!

If any of you are interested in being in the Nauvoo and British Pageants here next summer, go to nauvoopageant.org and fill out the application.  It's a great way to spend your summer vacation! If you are interested in being a YPM, they are also taking applications at https://research.churchofjesuschrist.org/jfe/form/SV_9G48J0Lb7VNTg9w?lang=eng

Love to all!

Sister Burns

Each day we get to water the flower pots and garden areas that don't have water. 

This was my turn watering. The mornings are now cool, so it's jacket in the 

mornings and sweating in the afternoons.

                                                       Some of the Lyon Drug gardens.

This is a quote that I really like! 

This has been fun to watch! This last little bit, we have had a lot of caterpillars. They have now made their cocoons and some have emerged as beautiful butterflies. It's amazing to think of all of the things that Heavenly Father created for us! Some of the sisters and I were saying the other day that some of those creations could have been left off of the ark - mice, snakes, skunks! Lately, wasps and hornets could be added to that list! E/S Elia both were stung multiple times and so was Sister Coffman.

A fun memory that popped up from a few years ago

We took a few minutes and watched "Youth of Zion". The Elders on the back are 

kind of hid but it was a fun show and I love hearing them sing!

Doubt Not, Fear Not!

September 5, 2021

The Nauvoo Temple as drawn by Elder Burns 👉👉👉👉👉👉👉👉👉👉👉👉

Today was Fast and Testimony meeting. A little 9-year-old boy stood at the pulpit and bore the sweetest testimony I've heard in a long time. In a nutshell, he said that during the pandemic, a lot of people have been afraid and had fear but that if we look, we will see lots of blessings that have happened also. Then his sister stood up and talked about the influence she's had from "influencers" around and how she's really had to rely on the Lord and her testimony to get her through the tough times, when she is tempted to do what the "influencers" want her to do, instead of what she knows she should do. It was so sweet to feel her tender spirit as she relies on the Savior to help her through the ups and downs of life. We've been told that we need to become like little children and these two were great examples of that today.

Another testimony was given by a man who is meeting with the missionaries. Before he stood, several talked about the commotion going on in the world and how we know things are going to get worse before the Savior comes. He stood and basically said that with Jesus on our side, we should not fear but look to Him to help us. That by following Him, we have no need to fear. I love that! We can have the spirit with us as a constant companion if  we let him. What comfort that gives to me. I love the scripture in D&C 6:36 - "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." 

This week has been a great week! We went with E/S Elia to the temple and did sealings - we sealed many daughters to their parents, one son to his and several couples to each other. A sealing is where we join them together as a forever family through the Priesthood Authority that was restored to the Earth through Joseph Smith. It was wonderful to be there and to feel the spirit of those whose work we did. 

The deer found the garden and have really been feasting on it. I'm glad they are enjoying it - haha NOT! 

We did a lot of work in the flower beds around the sites getting them ready for this weekend - Labor Day and the 83rd Annual Nauvoo Grape Festival. Saturday the Grape Festival had a 5k walk/run which many of the missionaries, old and young, participated in. We were going to go cheer them on but, due to me misreading the clock (that's what I get for looking at it with tired, not-yet-awake eyes), we missed most of it. We did arrive in time to congratulate them at the finish line, after most of them had crossed it. It was fun though to mingle with the YSMs and other Senior Couples. 

After that, I spent the day cleaning, doing laundry and fixing dinner for Sisters Bowman and Harrison. They came over to teach us a discussion about faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  They, and many other YSMs, are preparing to go outbound soon so they are teaching discussions to the SC (Senior Couples) so they can transition from site missionaries to proselytizing missionaries. That's a big change for them but they did an amazing job and will be great missionaries!  We also fed them dinner and they loved it and even did the dishes! I've said it before and I'll say it again - I am going to really miss all of the YSMs when they leave! 

I was also able to work with more YSMs on the fleece blankets and that is time spent with them that I will treasure!

Several of the YPMs returned for the weekend and it was so fun to see them again and get hugs from them! We were all at "Sunset by the Mississippi" and we sat behind them. I had more fun watching them than the show. They could not hold still - they were singing and dancing in their seats and I loved every minute of it!!!

After church, we served our Incident Commander shift at the Visitor's Center, had a nice phone visit with Austin and Sydney, then we topped the weekend off by having a "Sundaes on Sunday" District meeting at our place. It was a fun evening spent with wonderful friends. Also, Elder Burns was released this week as our District leader and we welcomed  Elder Snyder as our new DL. Who said Sunday was a day of rest? Haha

We love serving here! We love being missionaries for our Savior! He lives and I am grateful for that knowledge! 

Sister Burns

Sister Harrison and Sister Bowman. Love these Sisters and

I'm going to miss them! Also, I cut my hair this week! 

The trailer Elder Burns has been working on for

leaf pick-up. It's getting there! He's doing a

great job!

From the Women's Garden. It's been closed

all summer, which is really sad. They are putting in

new brick and have had many setbacks.

A unique flower. I really liked it.

👆👇 Pictures from the Exodus Memorial. We were weeding

the flower beds here and I had to stop and take pictures.

There is so much beauty here in Nauvoo!

This HUGE spider was in the flower bed I was weeding

and I was not a fan of it! I quickly left that area! I'm not

messing with that one!

The sprinklers were on the other day when I arrived at Lyon Drug,

which is very unusual. They wouldn't stop so I had to call in for help.

There was a beautiful rainbow in the water but it didn't come through on the picture.

This I find interesting. They are doing work at Lyon Drug and 

this is the front door. Notice the layers of brick that make the wall. Pretty cool!

I can say that I've worn my shoes out in the service of my Lord.

I bought these just after we arrived here and have worn them

every work day since. I wondered why my feet were getting wet -

this would be why!

The missionaries after the 5K.

Making fleece blankets. These sisters are obedient and 

wore their masks the whole time. They removed them  

quickly for the picture because I want to 

remember their sweet faces and smiles!

Our Partridge District

Back L to R E/S Snyder, E/S Burns, E/S Macfarlane, E Webster

Front Row E/S Mills, S Webster

The mission saying good-bye to E/S Bingham and E/S Chapman and Cooper. 

E/S Lancaster also left and headed home.

Another Week in Beautiful Nauvoo!

August 29, 2021

Hello friends and family!

This was a fun week in the gardens! At Lyon Drug, I pulled a lot of the lemon balm out of one of the garden beds and we planted a perennial garden there. This week I'll be pulling the annuals from another bed and planting perennials in it. It'll be fun to see how they look next summer when they get larger. I'm sure it will be beautiful! I also cut down a lot more plants - all of the sweet fennel. The sweet fennel is interesting - it looks like dill weed and smells like black licorice. I also spent a lot of time removing garlic chives from the mint flower beds. It doesn't matter how much I remove, the next day they are back. It reminds me of repentance - I also have to do that daily. I repent one day and the next day, I get to do it again. Little things are always creeping in and trying to take over, much like the chives in the mint beds. It takes constant work and effort to keep our lives on the path back to Heavenly Father. 

I attended the planning meeting on Boo-tiful Nauvoo this week and it's going to be a fun time! There are many on the committee so my job will be a lot easier than I initially thought. I will be coordinating the mission side of things - seeing if the Teamsters will have a wagon in the parade, organizing the missionaries to carve pumpkins, and organizing the kettle corn making and bagging. I know the mission will come through with a lot of help. 

I also attended a meeting with the FM Outreach Committee where we discussed some ideas to help the community - things like a blood drive, an outdoor movie night and several other ideas. This was the first meeting that I was invited to. I love planning things to help the Nauvoo community,

You guys, Nauvoo is so beautiful! As I go around right now, the flowers, the grass, the trees, the cornstalks, everything is so beautiful and brings me so much peace. There will be a lot of pictures on the blog this week because everywhere I went, I saw beauty and I took a picture! 

Every Thursday evening, the YSMs present "Women of Faith", an online live tour that portrays the beginnings of the Relief Society. We met this week as Senior Sister Missionaries and watched the performance. If you'd like to watch it, please go to nauvoohistoricsites.org and schedule a tour. You can also schedule several of the other sites for live tours over Zoom.

Nauvoo is still a happening place - we are still giving tours, the YPMs are still giving performances that are amazing and as I mentioned before, Nauvoo is beautiful! I went to "Sunset by the Mississippi" this week with Sister Elia. It is now indoors but is still a great show! 

As of tomorrow, the State of Illinois is once again requiring masks in all indoor areas. BOO!!! I really hope we don't end up in lockdown again.  

Doug and I were asked to speak in church in two weeks on "What it means to live a Christ-like life". If you have any stories, Conference talks, scriptures, ideas, that are on that subject,  I'll welcome them!

Elder Burns is working on a leaf trailer to hopefully make gathering all of the leaves easier. He said if it doesn't work then it'll be a mighty expensive failure. Haha! I'm sure it'll work. He's really great at designing and fabricating things that the mission needs. 

A quick funny that happened this week - a group of YPMs of the Nauvoo Brass Band came to see the gourd tunnel. One of the Elders walked in and said, "This is gourd-geous! That was a good one! Haha!" It made my day! 

 I forgot to mention that E/S Dixon left and this week several more head home. It's always sad seeing them leave. 

I'm grateful for the blessing of serving as a missionary here in Nauvoo! I love the forever friends that I have made! I love my Savior and the peace I feel through Him. 

The "after cutting back"

The "after removal and before planting"

The "after we planted the new perennial garden"

It's going to look so nice!

The "leaf gathering" project that Elder Burns has been

working on. 

The gourd tunnel is looking sadder

everyday but people still find it

amazing and love to see it.

Sister Shingleton & Sister Christiansen

👆👇 I spent the evening with both

companionships working on fleece blankets.

It's a great way to spent my time!

Sister Bybee and Sister Bliss

These caterpillars are all over the garden and

we love it. They will become monarch

butterflies. They are a welcome addition 

to the garden.

The bunnies, however, are not welcome in

the garden! They eat everything - including

the vines to the gourds. 

I can't remember what this is called, but it's

from a tree at Sara Granger. It's not edible but

sure looks cool.

Since the interns have left, we now get to do the

 watering of the planters.  This was us filling up 

with water on my first day doing it.

View from the Visitor's Center

"Sunset by the Mississippi" is now indoors. I 

miss the outdoor stage but the show is still

amazing and full of energy!

A pic of Lyon Drug garden.

This hibiscus is huge. It's called a dinner-plate

hibiscus for a good reason!

I forgot to post this in last weeks letter

but it was great being on a call

with all of my kids for my birthday!

It's so beautiful here!

The Nauvoo Historic Sites Mission August 2021