Boo-tiful Nauvoo

October 24, 2021

This week can be summed up in two words - Boo-tiful Nauvoo! That was my main focus this week and did it pay off!!! First off, I never could have done it without all of the amazing Nauvoo Historic Sites Missionaries!!! They stepped up to the plate and hit home runs all week long! This was a fun assignment and I'm so glad that I was able to be a part of the planning and helping with it.

First - the wagon and band. Our district was volun-told  that they were helping me decorate the wagon for the parade and as a district activity. Several were not able to make it for good reasons (like they were going to the temple - an excellent reason!) but E/S Mills showed up for a few minutes to help before they had to leave, then E/S Snyder came and helped. Sister Snyder had some wonderful ideas and we ended up with a pretty amazing, decorated wagon! Everyone said it's the best they have seen. In the past, they've had missionaries on it playing kazoos but we decided to upgrade this year and had an actual band on it. I asked Sister Flanders to head this up and she did great! We had Sister Flanders on her fiddle, Elders Giauque, Macfarlane, & King on guitars, Elder Burns on banjolele and Elder Munoa on harmonica. The band was a hit and they all had a lot of fun! It was fun seeing children of all ages dancing to the music. Following the wagon was Elder Williams and his whip. That was a hit also!

Second - the Chinese dragon. I asked for ten volunteers for the dragon and that's what I received. Friday, Sister Wood and I took the dragon to Pageant Headquarters to assemble it (or at least figure out how to assemble it) There was a part that we couldn't figure out so, with a prayer in my heart that the Crump's would still be doing laundry (these sweet souls were washing all of the bedding left by the YPMs), we headed to pageant laundry and they were there. Sister Crump was able to come over and help me out - she was in charge of Boo-tiful Nauvoo when she was serving as site missionaries here. It was such a tender mercy to me and let me know that Heavenly Father is in the small details of my life, even in figuring out how the dragon head and tail attach. With a quick practice Saturday morning, they were ready to go and did a great job as they serpentined down the parade route. The only thing that could have made it better would be adding smoke from the dragon's mouth and maybe music of some sort. Thoughts to pass on for next year.

Elder Darton, E/S Stockle, E/S Mills, E/S Carlson, Sister Orton, E/S Smith

Third - Kettle Corn. Lots and lots and lots of Kettle Corn! I asked E/S Brown to head this up and they did an excellent job. We started making the corn Thursday morning at 8:00 and worked until 3:30 that day. Friday morning, we started again at 8:00 and by around 10:00 we had over  3000 bags and had reached our goal! We had so many come and volunteer to help. It was great to work side-by-side with so many missionaries that I don't often get to work with. Saturday night, while I was helping get the dragon going, etc., others were setting up the kettle corn stand. I had asked for two couples to hand out the kettle corn, in 30 minute shifts. When I made it down there after the parade and after the dragon was put away, I expected to see four missionaries  (really I didn't expect to see four because I know the missionaries here!) handing out kettle corn, instead I was not surprised to see probably 15-20 missionaries there, handing out the corn. Many had taken baskets of it and were walking up and down the parade route (Mulholland Street) handing it out to others. By 7:00, all 3000+ bags had been handed out, the display was taken down, the kettle loaded and we were ready to go and enjoy the festivities. 

👆 Making and bagging the kettle corn

👇 Handing out the kettle corn

Fourth - pumpkin drawing, gutting and carving. Although I personally was not in charge of this aspect, we were closely involved in it. Many missionaries and community members spent hours working on over 400 pumpkins that were then lined up and down Mulholland Street and lit for our enjoyment. I learned that I don't like carving pumpkins with intricate carvings. Give me the triangle eyes, nose and a mouth with a few teeth in it - that I can do! Haha

This week was a blessing to me to be able to work so closely with so many amazing missionaries, FM employees and community members. The evening was a great success and we ended it by buying us some pecan fudge from the Fudge Factory! YUM! (Dalynne, I finally had that piece of fudge for you!) I was going to buy Annie's frozen custard but they were out of Salted Caramel by the time we made it there.  Note to those who know and love Helen (the owner) - I was told Saturday that she is selling Annie's. The new owners will still sell the custard and will also expand the menu to include grab and go items like soups and sandwiches. Last night they also had pies.

In addition to all of the activities of Boo-tiful Nauvoo, we also said our goodbyes, Hurrah for Israel and sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" to our amazing YPMs as they were preparing to leave Nauvoo and head home. It was a sad time. They have been a wonderful addition to Nauvoo and they will be greatly missed until they return next April. When we were told that they were staying until October I thought that there would be no one here to perform for but I'm so glad that I was wrong!!! They had to do two of their last Sunday "Love of the Savior" concerts to accommodate everyone. They truly were a blessing to Nauvoo and to me personally. I will miss them!

We also said goodbye to our last group of YSMs. Now we only have the "Webb Sisters" left here. During the exodus, the Webb Brothers were asked to be among the last to leave. They owned the blacksmith/wainswright shop and were vital to the building and repairing of wagons for the exodus. We now have one companionship of YSMs here for one more month, the last of the YSMs to leave, hence, the "Webb Sisters."

Friday night, several former missionaries, including our dear friend, Maryjane, returned to Nauvoo and presented a fireside called "Nauvoo Musical Fireside". They sang original songs that told the story of Nauvoo and the Saints that lived here. It was an uplifting evening and I'm glad that we were able to go. 

This week has been full of exciting times, spiritual times - our now-on-Tuesday night training with Pres. Rizley was wonderful as he discussed Adam-Ondi-Ahman with us. It makes me excited for our trip there next month. I hope to learn a lot more about it before we go there again. Pres. Rizley also told us that he's been in contact with our new mission President but can't tell us much info because it hasn't been announced yet. It will be a sad day when they leave. I love them both so much and have grown especially close to Sister Rizley as we have worked together on different projects. She actually came and pulled weeds with us! She's amazing!

You'll definitely want to check out the blog when I get it up. It'll be full of Boo-tiful Nauvoo pictures and more!

I love you all! Have a beautiful and blessed Sabbath!

This perfectly describes Doug and me! I'm the puppy!

The temple and a full moon make for an awesome picture!

Oh Elder Perkins, we will miss seeing you here in Nauvoo 

but look forward to seeing what the future holds for you! 

You will do great things!

Doug and the pumpkin he carved.

E/S Snyder were a great help in decorating the wagon, 

as were E/S D Mills. We didn't get a picture with them.

It took some talking, but I finally convinced Doug to be in this picture!

Not the greatest picture but this is one that I carved.

The witch was a white scarecrow body that was not finished. 

We added some socks and a shirt from the mission DI 

along with the hat and we had us a witch! Pretty cute if you ask me!

Goodbye you beautiful Sisters! 

Go forth and serve in your outbound areas as you served here. 

You'll be missed! P.S. Pictures taken at night, under a streetlight, 

from across the street, don't turn out very well. Just FYI

 

How do my letters end up so long?

October 17, 2021

As I have sat today and listened to three of our recently returned YSMs give their "homecoming" talks, over YouTube, it has brought to my mind that there are many benefits that have come from the Covid pandemic. It was a blessing in my life to listen to these amazing young women give their reports on their missions. Pre-covid, this would not have happened. Another great benefit is the Virtual Zoom tours that we are doing in Nauvoo. Anyone, anywhere in the world can now "visit" Nauvoo via the virtual tours. If you'd like more information on how to do one, let me know or visit nauvoohistoricsites.org and schedule a tour. I'm being trained in "Women of Faith" and will start doing that in the next few weeks. I'm pretty nervous but also excited to be doing this. 

This past week we again said goodbye to 11 more YSMs.  It's so sad to see them go but I'm also excited for what the future holds for them. They are amazing women!

I had my first week in Conservation and my fingernails have never been cleaner! Haha! Working in the gardens, they were always dirt stained and had dirt under the nails. I do miss working in gardens but Conservation is pretty good also. The sisters that I am working with are amazing and so far, we work together pretty well. We had to clean and prepare five apartments this week, in addition to cleaning a few homes. I helped clean the Snow home. I cleaned the basement and that was kind of scary! I'm glad that I don't have a basement laundry! I was asked to remove the drapes and make them shorter and add tie-backs to them. I'm still working on them. I found that in Conservation we do a lot of laundry and cleaning but it's enjoyable with the group of sisters. 

Friday, the Nauvoo Brass Band gave a concert in the FM parking lot for us as a thank you for all we do for Nauvoo Historic Sites. It was a fun concert. We also made around 200 bags of kettle corn for the concert and missionary movie night, which we missed so we could see "Sunset" one last time. It was a good warm up for the 3000 bags we get to make this week for Boo-tiful Nauvoo. 

Since the YPMs are leaving this week and their last performance is tonight, we went to as many shows as we could. We attended "Sunset by the Mississippi" a lot! I love that show and the performers. We also went to "Love Of the Savior" today. Ugg! The mission is going to be so different with all of the YPMs and YSMs gone. However, they'll be back in March so we have that to look forward to!!!

A lot of the missionaries went to the Amana Colonies yesterday (Saturday). It's a fun collection of shops and eateries. There was a lot that I would like to buy but I came home empty-handed. I have to remind myself that what I buy has to make it home somehow. We all joined together for lunch and that was fun. 

Doug is still having his headaches. His MRI didn't show anything. They are going to try a few different things but still don't know what to do since the headaches caused from the Covid jab are all so new. It's a guessing game.

We had a great talk on faith today. I loved when Sister Urry said that faith will move mountains and then went on to say that those mountains aren't the dirt and rock mountains but the trials we go through each and every day. If we have enough faith to pray, even when we don't feel like we should, that's enough faith. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." I had never thought of that mountain as anything but a regular old mountain. I love the ah-ha moment that I had during the talk. Even at my old age, I'm still learning. I'm grateful for that and pray that I can continue to increase in faith.

I love my Savior and I love that He trusted us enough to serve in this beautiful city of Nauvoo. I love that He knows each one of us. I saw this the other day and really liked it. 

He loves each one of us - we are His children and He wants each one of us to return to Him.

Sending love to each of you!

Sister Burns

Group photo on my first day in Conservation.

Back: Sisters Peterson, Heward 2nd row: Me, Sisters 

Virgin, Wood Front: Sisters Darton, Brown, Levesque

Missing is Sister Law.

Some of the Conservation Sisters. We took a little side trip 

to see this beautiful, big tree!

This is the basement of the Snow home. I cleaned this. It was

kind of scary when I first went down but not so much after 

it was cleaned. I think the foundation is really interesting. 

Haha!!! This is what happens when you put the wrong

type of soap in the washer. I still don't know who did

this but we all had a good laugh! It reminded me of when I was dating

a guy (not Doug) and he put liquid dish soap in the dishwasher. 

There were suds all over the kitchen. That was fun to clean up! Haha

I bet you can't guess what song I was singing all day long!

Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo

Are you singing it now? Don't you love me?! Haha

Making popcorn for the Nauvoo Brass Band Concert and for

Friday Night at the Movies, Mission style. Also, it was a 

great practice for what's coming up with Boo-tiful Nauvoo!

L-R Sisters Bowman, Darton, Virgin, Peterson

Elders Brown & Bowman stirring the kettle

Sisters Levesque and Brown, catching the corn

Lunch with some of the mission at the Amana Colonies

A small glimpse of the street at the Amana Colonies

The Amana Colonies, looking the other direction.

A last picture before they all left. Sisters Bernhardt, Earl, Hughes and Sheppard

Goodbye our lovely YSMs! You will be missed. Good luck at home and

in your future endeavors! Keep in touch!

I really liked this thought.

Nauvoo Brass Band. They are small in number

but mighty in sound. 

Sister Gardner playing the "hosaphone" Haha! 

It was a crowd favorite. 

Some fun Halloween decorations.

 

One year! What?!?!?

The well at Lyon Drug

October 10, 2021

Hello everyone!

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that we have been here on our mission for one year today! It has really gone by fast, although some of my kids and grandkids might disagree with that! I thought about making a list of the top ten memories from the mission but I honestly can't narrow it down to ten. Among the top would be - drawing closer to my Savior, the YSMs and YPMs, working on the Lyon Drug gardens, being able to attend the temple again, the many eternal friendships that we are making, and everyday walking where my ancestors walked. These are just a few of the mission highlights. 

This week was super fun in that my brother and his wife, Layne and Charlotte, came to visit Nauvoo and we were able to spend three evenings with them! It's been a long time since we've been together so that was super sweet! We watched "Sunset" together, had dinner together twice and just enjoyed visiting! Family is the absolute best!

Also, this week, Rachel Fonseca came back to town (she was a summer YPM) to receive her endowment in the Nauvoo Temple. Although we were not able to attend the temple with her, we were able to see her and her mother and spend time with them seeing the YPM shows. 

We have been blessed by having the YPMs here for an extended time - they have truly brought the spirit here through their music and dance. They will be missed when they leave on the 21st. In fact, by the 21st, all of the YSMs and YPMs will be gone (except for one YSM companionship) and that will truly be a sad day for the Nauvoo Mission. I know I've said it before, but these young missionaries have brought so much sunshine and happiness to Nauvoo! I will miss them - a lot! 

This week, we received an email from the mission Presidency informing us that effective immediately, due to Covid, we were to return to Sunday meetings in Nauvoo and no longer attend the outbound wards. I felt bad because we had just been asked to teach Primary classes and I feel like we left the branch in a lurch since all three missionary couples were teaching/playing piano in their Primary. That being said, it was nice to be in Testimony today as many of the young missionaries, both YSM and YPM, bore their testimonies and it was a blessing to be able to hear them. The church is in great hands with these young people. They are solid and have strong testimonies that will take them far in their next steps in life. 

This week we also said goodbye to the gardens. After planting lots and lots of tulip bulbs (when all is said and done, there will be around 30,000 bulbs planted!) and saying goodbye to our sites, we returned all of the tools out of our trucks, cleaned them out and many returned their keys. I kept my keys for now because I'll be using my truck for Boo-tiful Nauvoo stuff. It was sad to say goodbye to Lyon Drug, especially since I still had things to finish in it, but say goodbye, I did. All of the garden crew had a farewell luncheon Friday. Sister Wood made chocolate haystacks so that I could have something sweet since the other desserts were full of gluten. She's so sweet!

As I was finishing up my work Friday at Lyon Drug, a lady came into the garden and thanked me for all of the work that I did in the garden. She said that she walks here everyday and that the gardens made her walk extra special. She was sad that the garden was being readied for winter but was excited to see what spring brings to the garden. It meant a lot to me that she took the time to stop and thank me. Sometimes a little recognition and thanks can go a long way and it definitely made me feel good. Thank you, kind lady! You made my day!

So Monday I start work in Conservation. I will miss working in the gardens but I am excited to start with Conservation. From what I've been told, we'll be deep cleaning the historic sites, inventorying the historic artifacts and cleaning them. We'll also help decorate the sites for Christmas so that'll be a lot of fun. It is nice that I get to experience many of the different areas in FM.  I'll still be working with Sister Wood in Conservation so that will be fun.

Another thing - I know, the letter is already so long but... - I will be participating in the "Women of Faith" vignette that is done every Thursday evening over Zoom. I won't be in it every week but it will be a new challenge and opportunity.

As we "sang in our minds" (we are no longer allowed to sing out loud  ) this song today, I thought, this is my testimony and I would like to share it with you.

1. 1. I know that my Redeemer lives.

   What comfort this sweet sentence gives!

   He lives, he lives, who once was dead.

   He lives, my ever-living Head.

   He lives to bless me with his love.

   He lives to plead for me above.

   He lives my hungry soul to feed.

   He lives to bless in time of need.

2. 2. He lives to grant me rich supply.

   He lives to guide me with his eye.

   He lives to comfort me when faint.

   He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

   He lives to silence all my fears.

   He lives to wipe away my tears.

   He lives to calm my troubled heart.

   He lives all blessings to impart.

3. 3. He lives, my kind, wise heav’nly Friend.

   He lives and loves me to the end.

   He lives, and while he lives, I’ll sing.

   He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.

   He lives and grants me daily breath.

   He lives, and I shall conquer death.

   He lives my mansion to prepare.

   He lives to bring me safely there.

4. 4. He lives! All glory to his name!

   He lives, my Savior, still the same.

   Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:

   “I know that my Redeemer lives!”

   He lives! All glory to his name!

   He lives, my Savior, still the same.

   Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:

   “I know that my Redeemer lives!”

I know this is true! He is there for each of us - He knows me and he knows you! He has each one of us graven upon the palms of His hands! He understands and has felt everything that we go through. I have a hard time comprehending all of that but yet, I know it's true. I have felt the burden lifted when I couldn't handle anymore. I know it is He who carried it for me and helped me through. I love Him and I'm grateful to be His servant here in Nauvoo.

I love these huge hibiscus flowers! 

This one is the size of a dinner plate.

The deer love Nauvoo and I love them - 

as long as they stay off of the streets and out of the gardens!

Getting everything trimmed back before winter hits.

One last look at "my garden" as I left it Friday.

This spot will always hold a special place in my heart.

Sisters Long and Saunders. We worked with Sister Long

at Pioneer Pastimes and had a great time with her!

I love seeing her and will miss her when she goes outbound next week.

Planting lots of tulip bulbs in the Women's Garden

The garden crew at our farewell luncheon.

My family!!! So glad that Layne and Charlotte

came for a visit!

Goodbye for now, my sweet Sisters. Go forth and bless the 

world with your testimonies and goodness. I love you! 

Sisters Kastigar, Harrison, Graham, Wimmer, Christensen, 

Schultz, Hays, Bybee, Holdcraft, Woods and 

Babcock (with her bare feet - always in bare feet!)