Life in Nauvoo - June 2015

One day, Bryce was teaching people about making pottery on a wheel. You have to put the clay right in the center of the wheel or the clay won't become what you want it to be. It's the same in our own lives. When Jesus Christ is the center of our lives,  we turn out the way He wants us to be and we are better than we would have been on our own. 

This is Bryce's first attempt at the potters wheel! He did it right the first time! But, sometimes, mistakes happen when shaping clay. The potter, however, doesn't throw away the clay. Insead, he reshapes it and starts again. God is the Great Potter and when we make mistakes, He doesn't throw us away. He reshapes us and molds us to become like Him if we let Him. 

This is our cast performing one of our songs in the show Sunset by the Mississippi. We perform it every 3rd night May thru August. It's a variety show and so much fun to be in. 

This is the men's song called "Act Naturally". They really ham it up. That's Bryce in the middle in the blue vest. The crowd really loves this song. 

This is also our cast in Sunset by the Mississippi.

This is an arch built by the Saints in Nauvoo in the late 1830's. When the Saints first arrived in Nauvoo, it was a swamp land. Although right on the Mississippi River, it was a natural spring which had caused the swamp. So the Saints diverted the spring and built Nauvoo. Eventually there were 2400 homes and over 12,000 people here. It rivaled Chicago in it's day.  

Notice the Cardinal at the base of the trunk. This is not a great picture but it is my goal to get a fantastic shot of a Cardinal sometime in the next 16 months! They are all over the place. They are beautiful and have a distinctive song. 

Bryce and I are in a play that all the Senior Missionaries are in called Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo. We perform a vignette in the play called "Peter and Abigail".  Abigail comes to Nauvoo to visit Peter because someone has asked her to marry him but she likes Peter instead. It's a story of their interest in each other and also her lack of interest in reading the Book of Mormon and learning more about the church.  (Spoiler: it all works out in the end.) 

We are having a wonderful time. It's amazing to learn about the lives of those early Saints. They had such great faith and they lived it. Where else in the world can you talk about these things to the visitors who come here during the day and then sing and dance and act out their stories by night?  

There are 20 young performing missionaries here as well. They are amazing!! So talented. They perform in several plays, just them,  and dance, sing and perform funny skits in Sunset by the Mississippi.  

This is the Nauvoo Brass Band. Coincidentally, our neice Jamie Walton is the flute player. She's fantastic! They have concerts May thru August and play at all the shows. They're great!