Burns in Nauvoo: What a fun week!

March 20, 2022

Monday night we held a combined Illinois Historic Sites Missionaries and Nauvoo Temple Missionaries social. It was a blast!!! There was dancing, entertainment, more dancing, Elder Williams and his whip, and lots of food. It was so fun to dance again! It's been a long time and we were pretty rusty to start with but thankfully it came back to us and we had a blast dancing around the floor!

This week in Conservation we "spruced-up" a lot of homes that the incoming missionaries will be moving into. We have a lot coming in starting the first part of April and the YSMs start coming back mid-April!!! I am so excited to meet and get to know the new ones coming. The YSMs that I served with, that went outbound, are all heading home now from their outbound service. Several of the YSMs that we served with are engaged and it is so exciting to see the happiness and blessings that are coming to them.

We had a great surprise waiting for us when we arrived at the Temple Wednesday night. No more masks!!!! It was so great to see the faces and smiles of everyone that attended. We again did family sealings and it was a very special evening. They have also increased the number of patrons that can attend at one time. Sadly though, the temple closes at the end of this week for two months so they can replace the windows.

One day we finished cleaning the homes and had a few minutes left so I took the Sisters that I was serving with to the Pageant stage and toured them around it. It was so fun to see it up close again and it really made me excited for Pageant this summer!

We've had so many new missionaries coming in that I can't keep track of them all. It'll be fun to get to know them.

Doug is excited because one of the new Elders plays racquetball so he finally has a racquetball partner again and was able to play this week. He's also been working on the wagons and carriages, changing tires, brakes, bearings, etc.

Friday, Doug and I celebrated our 40th Wedding Anniversary! We celebrated by doing Missionary work and then spending the evening with Eric and Laurie! Yep, my brother and his wife were in town and we had dinner together Friday night at our place, then Saturday we toured several of the sites, headed to Carthage and then to Webster to see our 4th Great-grandma's gravesite. It is always special to me to go to her grave and to ponder on the life she lived and the faith she had. We also found a plaque that was placed in Webster, which was called Ramus when the Saints lived there. I love my family on both

sides of the veil!

Our grandson, Kennan, turned 15 Saturday. We love him so much and miss him a lot!

This coming Thursday, I will be portraying Sarah Grainger Kimball/Narrator in the Women of Faith virtual tour. If you'd like to join me via Zoom, go to nauvoohistoricsites.org and sign up for it. It lasts about 40 minutes and tells the story of some of the women that lived in Nauvoo, like Emma Smith, Sarah Kimball, Lucy Mack Smith, and Mary Ann Young. I have grown a lot by being a part of this vignette.

Nauvoo is starting to come alive again. We are seeing more visitors and the daffodils are popping their heads through the ground. Now, if the weather would quit being bi-polar! I walked home Thursday because it was so nice, then Friday it was cold and raining all day. Saturday was windy and cold. Today is pretty nice. Before I know it I'll be wishing for these cooler temperatures. Never satisfied, am I. Haha

I love all of the experiences that I have been blessed to have this week. I am thankful for and love my mission companion, who is also my eternal companion. Forty years have gone by so fast. It's been a roller coaster ride but I'm so glad that we hung on through the ups and downs of it all.