One sweet week!

February 20, 2022

This week we cleaned the brickyard and I'm so excited! After not making bricks for a while and being told that we would no longer be making or giving out bricks after the  supply was gone, we are making bricks again!!!!  Each time we have come to Nauvoo, we have received a brick. Each one of my children have a brick. These bricks are treasures and are reminders of not only our visits, but of special memories for each of us. I love it when my grandchildren ask me about the bricks and I can share stories and testimonies about Nauvoo. My bricks sit on a shelf in my "Nauvoo Room" guest room. Yes, ask my guests back at home - we have a room decorated with our Nauvoo memories. We love it and so do our guests, since most of them have been to Nauvoo also!

We had a huge storm this week and Doug spent hours out plowing. Because it was so cold and icy, we in Conservation spent the day making fleece blankets that will be donated. This is part of our Community Outreach from the Mission. Elder Burns and I have been blessed to be on the Community Outreach Committee with E/S Hokanson since not long after we arrived on our mission. It has been a wonderful experience and I have loved every moment of it. We have had food and personal hygiene drives for the Nauvoo Food Pantry, we have collected and donated items to the rest home in Carthage, we helped with the Nauvoo Interfaith Christmas Bright Angels, in helping provide Christmas to 11 families, along with providing backpacks and supplies. I know that I have mentioned all of this in previous letters but it's a service that is close to my heart and I'm so grateful that we were asked to be a part of this. 

This week I was able to portray Sarah Kimball/Narrator again in the "Women of Faith" vignette. It is something that I love to do but is so hard to do. It stretches me and that's a good thing. This week was the day of the storm - it was snowy and icy and cold! I just wanted to stay in my warm home and not go anywhere but once I get there, I'm enveloped in the spirit and am so glad that I went. This week I was able to serve with Sister Wood, who portrayed Emma. It was her first time and she did amazing!  I'll be doing it three times in March. I'll try to remember and post when they'll be so you can join if you'd like. It's a virtual tour.  Sister McDougal runs the camera.

A miracle happened this week! We gave two tours at Lucy's home while I was serving there Tuesday! These were the first tours that I have helped give since before Christmas! It is always a sweet experience to be in Lucy's house and share her story and testimony with others.

This weekend was the Stake Conference in Ivins (where we live when we aren't serving a mission) and one of the speakers asked this question - "What is one thing that I can do this week to draw closer to my Savior?"  I invite you to take this question to heart and ponder on what you can do to draw closer to the Savior this week.

I had a friend write to me last week and she was trying to share a spiritual experience that she had had. She told me that she was having a hard time putting it into words. I struggle with that also. I hope that you can feel the spirit of my words, even as I struggle to put my feelings into words. 

I love serving here in Nauvoo! I love that I get to attend the temple weekly and feel the love of my family and most importantly, the love of my Savior. I love that each Sunday, I can renew my covenants with my Heavenly Father through taking the Sacrament, repenting and doing those things to draw closer to Him. We were talking with President Dalton tonight and we mentioned that at times we feel like little children, still learning so much. I feel like that at every devotional and training. Isn't that what this life is for?  We learn, do the best we can, mess up, try again, improve a little, mess up, repent and keep trying! I love knowing that Heavenly Father's love is unconditional. I know there are times that He must shake His head at me and say, "Oh goodness!" Then I imagine Him saying, "My daughter, I love you! Keep trying! I'm always here for you! Never give up!"

I love you! Have a great and blessed week!

I don't usually take food pictures but couldn't resist on this one.

That meal fed him for three meals. It was huge!

I love the Conservation sisters. This is us cleaning Browning Gun.

The frozen ice on the Mississippi is mesmerizing. Also,

if you look close, you can see an eagle on the ice. We took a

drive to Keokuk and saw so many eagles. Of course, most of them

were in locations that we couldn't pull off of the road to take a pic.

This is coming over the bridge to Fort Madison. The wind was 

blowing and the snow was dancing on the ice.

 

Life is good, then it's hard, then it's good

I woke up Monday morning to a message letting me know that my cousin, Sherry, had passed away. Sherry was a year older than I am and had special needs. When I read the message, I immediately had a vision of sorts, of Sherry running freely into the arms of her mother and her Savior. I can only imagine the sweet reunion they had on the other side of the veil. I like to think that my mom and dad were also there to greet Sherry. I love the knowledge that I have that this life is not the end but that it continues on the other side, where we are joined with family and friends that have gone on before. The prophet, Joseph Smith, taught that the social relationships we enjoy here, which make life so sweet, will extend into the next life, only there to be coupled with glory: “And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory” (D&C 130:2 )

This week we said hello to a new couple, E/S Wilcox and farewell to another, E/S Bowman. I know I say this often, but farewells in the mission are hard and this one for my dear cousin was hard. When the new couple arrived, there were so many that arrived to help them move in that we had their car unloaded pretty quick. President and Sister Dalton were also there to help.

This week we continued deep-cleaning the historic sites - what a privilege it is to be able to clean them, even though sometimes I forget where I actually am and I have to remind myself that I am cleaning the home that Wilford Woodruff or John Taylor or Brigham Young lived in. How cool is that!

We were able to attend the temple again this week. I love that we have the temple so close to us and that we can attend weekly. I just saw this quote and I love it! “Death cannot sever families sealed in the temple. They understand death as a necessary part of God’s great plan of happiness.”

Russell M. Nelson

 Life is not always happy or easy.  I've struggled the last few weeks. I've been in some sort of a funk that I'm blaming on the cold and gray.  I am feeling much better now. It's still cold but we have blue skies and sunshine and that makes all the difference for me! I was (still am!) missing my kids and grandkids and really want to hug them and spend some time with them. My daughter keeps reminding me that "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven." I know that is true and I know that I have been blessed beyond measure for serving my Savior here in Nauvoo. It is a sacrifice that I am willing to make! On a happy note - it's supposed to hit 50 on Tuesday! 

Happy, happy news! Elder Young and Sister Magleby, YPMs from this summer, became engaged this week!!! I am so excited for them!

I love my Savior, I love His sacrifice for me and for each one of us! He loves us and he knows each one of us by name. I love the missionaries that I serve with and I really love my companion! He's the best companion a girl could ask for! This mission has been good for us! I love each of you, my dear family and friends! May you each feel our Heavenly Father's love for you!

A beautiful view from Wilford Woodruff's home

I really like this chest in Woodruff's home. It's lined with

fabric.

In Conservation, we gather each morning for a devotional and prayer

before starting our day. We then get our assignments for the day

and head out to accomplish them.

My missionary and eternal companion!

This week, our Director over the Historic Sites, Kai Hintze, came to

visit Nauvoo. We had a morning meeting with him and Pres. and Sister Dalton.

All three of them spoke to us and it was a special morning.

 

"In Their Footsteps"

Taken on Parley Street, looking back at the Temple.

February 6, 2022

1. A marvelous work has begun to come forth among all the children of men.

O ye that embark in the service of God, give heart, mind, and strength unto him;

For prophets have spoken and angels have come to lift the world from sin,

That Christ may reign over all the earth and bless his gathered kin.

Chorus

2. Those marvelous Saints who embraced this great work and shared it in lands far and near;

Who gave all their heart, mind, and strength to the Lord with wisdom and vision so clear;

Now stand as examples of virtue and faith, of souls prepared to hear,

Of knowledge sure, born of humble heart, and love that banished fear.

Chorus

3. If we now desire to assist in this work and thrust in our sickle with might;

If we will embark in the service of God and harvest in fields that are white;

Our souls may receive the salvation of God—the fullness of his light,

That we may stand, free of sin and blame, God’s glory in our sight.

Chorus

Chorus

With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord;

And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord.

The mission choir sang this song at the Exodus Memorial on the bottom of Parley Street, as we concluded the Exodus Reenactment. It was a powerful ending to a bitter-cold reenactment. When we started it was -6. When we ended it was about 9. Here are some of my random thoughts about the reenactment.

* I walked for my 5th great-grandmother, Lucinda Bybee. Lucinda and her husband, David Layne,  were converted to the gospel but before David could be baptized, he was taken ill and died two weeks later, leaving Lucinda with 8 children under the age of 13 and pregnant with another child that would be born 6 months later. Lucinda was baptized in 1841. In 1842, she, with her children and in the company of her father and other family members, made her way to Illinois. When the Saints were expelled, Lucinda sold her small brick home and 10 acres of good land for $11.00, paid in "the blackest, bitterest flour you can imagine."  In May 1846, Lucinda and her children left Nauvoo, ferried across the Mississippi River and headed into Iowa Territory. She arrived in Salt Lake in September 1852.

*Doug walked for his 2nd great-grandpa, John Lambert. John was a stonemason on the Nauvoo Temple and later, the Salt Lake Temple. He was born and joined the church in England and came to the United States. He made his way to Nauvoo, where he was also a member of the Nauvoo Legion. He eventually made it to Utah and settled Kamas, originally called Rhodes Valley. There is a monument that sits on the site of his first home.

* Elder Burns and I were assigned to be in charge of medical so I walked the reenactment by myself, watching for any medical problems that might arise. As I walked along, I saw little children playing in the snow along the side of the roads, laughing and having fun. I thought, surely, as the Saints left Nauvoo, there were children who were doing that, unaware of what awaited them. 

*There was a little two-year-old girl that cried most of the walk. Her mom was approached numerous times about getting her warm, wrapping her in a blanket, etc. but we were told that the child was just being grumpy. Once we finally got the child and her mother into our warm vehicle, the child settled right down and fell asleep. She was so cold and her mom felt so bad. We talked about the Saints as they left Nauvoo. This mom was able to take her child to a waiting, warm vehicle and then to a warm home. The Saints, as they left Nauvoo, left their warm homes and didn't turn back. I think I would have been tempted to turn around and go back home. I hope that I would have had the faith to continue on. I'm sure grateful for my ancestors that continued on and stayed strong to the faith.

*As I approached the Blacksmith Shop, E/S Heward was there with the oxen and wagon, waiting to join the walk. As they joined in, the oxen were excited and kind of took off. Elder Heward was able to control them but Sister Heward and I watched to make sure the path was clear. I thought about the stories that I've read about how they took cows or young oxen and tried to have them pull the wagons. It didn't always go well.

after the parade, the oxen were tied up to a tree and I'm not sure what happened, but one of the oxen went down. They were still attached to the wagon and to each other with the yoke. The teamsters worked diligently to remove the yoke and get the other ox up. They were successful and all was well. I wish that I had taken a picture of it but I didn't think of it at the time.

*President Dalton spoke of the pioneers, both from the 1840's and present day, of the sacrifices both have made. Sister Dalton joined the church as a young teen and is the only member of her side of the family. He spoke of those who have joined and lost all they had because of that. I am grateful for them and the sacrifices that they have made to be a part of this great Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

*I'm grateful for thermals and fleece lined pants and that my pioneer dress is large enough that I could wear them under it! None of the histories that I have read talked about the clothing that was worn as they left Nauvoo but I'm sure they didn't have the warm clothes that I do.  I also wore my warm coat under my pioneer shawl and had hand warmers in my gloves and toe warmers in my warm boots. 

* Again, I am beyond grateful to my ancestors for the sacrifices they made, for the faith in every footstep that led them from New York, Indiana, Ohio, England, Wales and other places, to gather with the Saints, wherever that was at the time. I love them!

As Conservation sisters, we were able to put away the flags and Nauvoo Legion props that were used during the Exodus Reenactment. I found this tag that was worn by one our missionaries in the Nauvoo Legion reenactment. Ira is my 4th great-grandpa!

This week, we also were able to attend the temple again. I love having a temple a few minutes away and that I am able to attend it so often. I feel such peace while I am there. 

A winter storm came through this week and the Governor of Illinois declared a state of emergency. There was no mail or Amazon delivery for three days. Thanks to our amazing FM and city plow drivers, we were only delayed two hours in starting work. Doug was up and out plowing at 5:00 a.m. and didn't get home until 4:00 that afternoon. 

I was also able to do "Women of Faith" again this week. Two of the couples that were on will be joining us soon as Illinois Historic Sites missionaries. They are excited, as are we! One of the couple's has a son that works with our son, Austin. What a small world!

Friday night, we had a "Welcome to the Mission" for President and Sister Dalton. It was supposed to be a dinner and program but because of Covid, it ended up just being the program but it was a great program with a lot of laughter and great talent! 

I love being a missionary here in Nauvoo! The Lord has blessed me so abundantly! I love Him! I love the Prophet, Joseph Smith and all that he did to restore the Gospel to the Earth. I am thankful for the wonderful parents that I have, whose birthdays I celebrated this week. They are both in Heaven so I celebrated by attending the Temple. I'm sure they were both there and happy to see me also there and serving here. My mom and dad set the example for me by serving a mission not far from here.  They were able to serve at the Nauvoo temple open house. That was a special experience for them.

Thank you, my friends and family, for your love, support and letters. We love you!

Following the Reenactment at the bottom of Parley. Can you tell it was windy?

I am still in awe of the sacrifices that my ancestors made. I honor them.

Pictures from the Reenactment. We were busy and didn't get many

pictures so I used some from the Church News. Some are ours.

President and Sister Dalton

 

On the banks of the frozen Mississippi.

Two tags I am proud and humbled to wear.

The frozen ground and river in the background the morning of the Reenactment.

Pictures from the "Welcome to Nauvoo"

Elders J Mills, Neve, Hokanson, Webster, Stockle, Barney

Elder Maples, Sister Snyder and Price, our emcees for the evening.

The Aloha Strummers 

Elder Phister, Sisters Rasmussen, Virgin, Thiemann, Heward, Elder Burns

Sisters Jensen, Mills and Coffman

Elder Downard, our bagpiper.

The staircase in the Gheen home is skinny!

We're a Blessed Generation

January 30, 2022

This week was busy with our duet practice, Exodus choir practice, Exodus planning meeting, Exodus Fireside rehearsal, and attending the temple, in addition to our regular work day and Tuesday night training. Do you kind of see a theme here? We are working hard and working to make this Exodus Reenactment a success, especially after only having a very small one last year. This coming Saturday is the Reenactment and we are excited and praying for not-freezing temperatures! Elder Burns and I will be the medical people, along with our mission doctor. I'm hoping to sneak in a lot of pictures!

Today, we sang our duet, To Those Who Came Before Me, during Sacrament Meeting. It went really well and we received a lot of compliments on it. People were surprised that I have a good singing voice - I guess that's one talent I've kept hidden - not purposefully though. I love choirs or larger groups, but duets and solos really stretch me. Doug has such a strong voice that I stood right in front of the microphone and he stood to the side and behind me and it worked great! I love this song! I had the thought today that the last time I sang this song was at Martin's Cove. Doug has a 3rd great-grandfather, Richard John Blakey, who died at Martin's Cove so it was also a tender time to sing it there. 

This is their story, copied from his wife's Family search page.

Caroline married Richard John Blakey/Blakely. They were taught the gospel by Wilford Woodruff (whom Caroline called her “Gospel Father”) and baptized in 1840. Caroline and Richard took their sons John Moroni Blakey (born February 4, 1849—age 6) and Richard Brigham Blakey (born September 27, 1855—age 2) and sailed from Liverpool on the packet ship “Horizon” on May 22, 1856 with a company of 856 Saints from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the Netherlands. They left their daughter Caroline with her grandparents and she would come later. After the 6 week voyage across the ocean they took a steamer and train to Iowa where the rest of the journey would be by handcart. On July 28, 1856 they left with the Martin Handcart Company.
Many of the Saints became ill from the extreme hardships and exposure. Caroline’s husband, Richard, was among them. Caroline put her little boys and her husband in the handcart and pushed it day by day, praying and trusting in God to take care of her family. One night Caroline made Richard comfortable in the cart and put their little boys in the arms of their father, one on each side. The next morning when she went to see how Richard was, she found that he had died in the night, the boys still asleep in his arms. Richard was buried in a shallow grave with seven others.
The story of the Martin Handcart Company is well known, so I will not go into depth about it. Caroline and her sons experienced the same hardships that others in the company did. One morning Caroline even awoke to find that her hair had frozen to the ground and it caused her hair to turn white. She was among those who were saved by the rescue parties and entered the Salt Lake Valley on November 30, 1856.

Our Exodus Fireside was tonight and I presented a small portion of the story of my 4th great-grandfather, Joel Hills Johnson. He was one of the poor saints that could not leave with the initial group that left in February, 1846. He wasn't able to leave until the spring of 1848. His faith never wavered, even as he was run out of his home and all of his possessions taken. He lived a hard life but rejoiced in the restored gospel. I've posted the story at the end of the letter if you'd like to read it.

I love our family history - it's so full of faithful, strong members of the church. They sacrificed so much - I am grateful for them. President Dalton spoke at the end of the fireside and talked about how our ancestors would be proud that we were sharing their stories and happy that they endured to the end in righteousness. He mentioned that our ancestors, now with an eternal perspective, are grateful that they endured for that small moment in time so that we, their posterity, can have the gospel in our lives. He also said that as much as we love them, they love us even more. I'm thankful that they stayed faithful. I love them.

                   Some views from work while cleaning the Hunter Home and walking up to the Hunter                              Home.

A beautiful day in Nauvoo. It was chilly but the sky was blue!!!

After the Fireside because, why not! Do we look like official pioneers?

Another view of me telling about Joel Hills Johnson

 

This is the story of my 4th great-grandpa that I told at the Fireside tonight. It is taken from his journal and greatly condensed.

I obtained the Book of Mormon, and read it some, but was too filled with prejudice on account of the evil reports in circulations, that I returned it before I had read it through. But soon there arrived two Mormon Elders who preached in a schoolhouse nearby.  After much study and prayer, I concluded that the work was of God, and embraced it with all my heart and soul.

I lived in Kirtland, then when we were driven out, I moved to Carthage, then settled in Ramus, Illinois.

After the death of Hyrum and Joseph, the mob supposed that the church would be broken up and scattered, and that would be an end of Mormonism, but in this they were mistaken, for they found that the church was more determined than ever to carry out the measures of their beloved and martyred Patriarch and Prophet. When they saw this, they were infuriated more than ever, and in September 1845, they commenced burning houses, and other buildings and destroying property and driving the saints from their homes, with a full determination to drive the whole society from the state, which they succeeded to accomplish sometime in the spring of 1846.

I was then running my saw mill on Crooked Creek, and sometime in March while myself and wife was absent to Nauvoo, an armed mob surrounded my house and told my little children that if their father and family did not leave the county immediately that their lives would be taken and property destroyed. 

But I had no means to get away with, for I could not sell my property for anything that would move me away, so I kept on running the mill and fulfilling a few small contracts that I had made in order to raise a little means to help myself away, until the first of may, when about 2 o’clock in the morning I was awakened by the tramping of horses and heard a voice calling me to the door. I arose and went to the door, and discovered that my house was surrounded by a mob of about one hundred men, armed with guns, swords, pistols and dirks, who asked me if I was preparing to leave. I told them that I was. They then said if I did not leave the county by the first day of June, that my life would be taken and my property destroyed, and after warning and threatening me very sharply, they left.

I made every exertion in my power to get away by the time specified by the mob and the last week in May I left the mill and left for Knox County.

I am poor, destitute, and distressed, having been robbed of all that I possessed and driven to this place and sickness compels me to winter in a cabin twelve feet by sixteen square without any floor, with a family of eight persons. 

I supposed that by the spring of 1847 I should be able to fit myself for a journey to join the saints in the west, but I found myself compelled to stay another year, (contrary to my will). In the spring of 1848 I made every necessary arrangement in my power for my removal to the west, and having obtained three wagons, five yoke of oxen and steers and a few cows and sheep with necessary provisions, etc. I loaded my wagons and started for the city of Great Salt Lake. 

We came to Nauvoo where we then crossed the river to Montrose and stopped with my brother Joseph for one week, sheared my sheep and sold the wool etc. We then started for Winter quarters and had a very bad crooked road and had to repair and build many bridges. We arrived at Winter Quarters the first week in June, here we tarried four weeks. We started from Winter Quarters in W. Richard’s company, for the place of our destination and after much fatigue, many hardships and difficulties, and the loss of one yoke of oxen, one heifer and twenty two sheep we arrived in the city of Great Salt Lake on the 19th day of October 1848. Having accomplished a journey of fifteen hundred miles from Knox County, Illinois to Great Salt Lake City.

My testimony is “That I know God Lives, for I have felt His hand and heard His voice and I know also that the dispensation or fullness of the Gospel brought forth through Joseph Smith is God’s handy work! For His voice has declared it unto me. This is my living or dying testimony to every human being upon the face of the whole earth, even so, Amen.” Joel H. Johnson