Fun, Family and Friends in and Around Nauvoo this Summer!

In June before the Pageant started in July, Nauvoo hosted the BYU group "Noteworthy". They were a very entertaining a cappella group. 

In July we welcomed David, Lana, Austin, Zoie and Nixen to Nauvoo. They saw all of Nauvoo and had a great time. This picture is taken in the home built by Joseph Bates Noble who is Bryce's 2nd great grandfather and David's 3rd great grandfather, and Austin and Zoie and Nixen's 4th great grandfather. Get the idea???

Stilts at the Fair before the Pageant were a BIG hit!!!

I really like this picture of all of us in the miniatures of Nauvoo.

Hotchkiss Street will never mean the same again,  I can tell you that!!!

David and Austin tried to beat the record but didn't quite make it. It was fun to watch them try!

Zoie and Nixen had fun in the sack race. 

Bryce was able to demo how bricks are made behind the scenes. He'd spent all winter making bricks so it was fun to show of his skills!  

Mom and Jack and Greta Floyd visited in July too and they saw all around Nauvoo. I love this picture of faithful members of today'Relief Society - standing in the parlour where the meeting was held to discuss forming a women's organization on March 4th, 1842

We went to Bentonsport which is an official part of the Mormon Trail in Iowa. Mom and the Floyds loved everything about Nauvoo and the surrounding areas. It was so fun to have them here. 

Sometime this summer, we went with our friend Stuart Deathrage to a few church history areas in Missouri. This one is where Parley P. Pratt preached near Clarksville.

This was Louisiana, MO where Stuart just had to take us to a favorite donut shop. There was a barge passing by and I got a great picture of it, don't you think?

Feeling discouraged, Parley P. Pratt climbed at the top of this rocky area to pray. The locals were very impressed with Stuart's knowledge of the area.  

It's been over a year that Bryce baptized Stuart and it only seemed fitting to take a picture by the sign of the Pittsfield Branch building.  

Then we went to an obscure cemetery that was full of Deathrage ancetors! We took lots of pictures and copied them off for Stuart. He LOVES doing genealogy!

We also had fun with Annelisa and Kyle. They saw everything. It was their first time to Nauvoo and they loved it! They saw the vignettes, the two Pageants, the Young Performing missionary shows, the street performances, Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo (starring us) and Sunset by the Mississippi (starring us)!!! Come to think of it, all our visitors saw all of these amazing things. No wonder they looked so tired at the end of their visits!

When we were in Bentonsport with Annelisa and Kyle, the Indian arrow head museum was open. This is the result of 60 years of one man collecting arrow heads in the area. It was impressive. He made all the wood displays and wall inlays himself! He'd built a cool barn for them all too - see next picture. 

Bryce caught this picture of the Mississippi. Beautiful!

By far, the best part of the summer performances are the two Pageants - the Nauvoo Pageant and the British Pageant.  They follow much of the history of the early Saints and the many inspiring stories about them and the Prophet Joseph Smith. The actor who portrayed Joseph this year was Dallyn Ballis. He was excellent.

Of course, there was lots of dancing and fun mixed in with the stories. 

It was always a thrill as a missionary to come up on the stage at the end of the British Pageant singing "Called to Serve". I took this picture and sadly, we do not have a picture of us up on stage. BUT WE DID IT, really we did!!!

Annelisa and Kyle and I talked with Dallyln Ballis after his "King Follett Discourse" vingette. He was very gracious and talked to us a long time about preparing for his role as the Prophet Joseph Smith.  As we have served here in the Nauvoo mission, our testimonies of the divine calling of Joseph Smith as a Prophet of God have deepened.  It has been an incredible journey for us. 

After the summer rush was over, BYU Vocal Point came to perform. They were AWESOME! Their director is a man named McKay Crockett. We'd watched him on TV when he sang with Vocal Point on the Sing Off competition a few years ago. We LOVED watching them every week and eventually coming in 2nd place. 

Well...he was nice enough to let us take our picture with him. I even told him how I like his name when I heard it on the Sing Off and hoped someone would name one of our grandkids "McKay". He thought that was pretty cool! 

Summer brought buying garden vegetables at the local Carthage farmer's market. It was alot of fun and a good chance to visit with the locals. It's all a part of missionary work! We have invited so many people to Nauvoo in our visits around Illinois and Iowa! Many people didn't even know there was a historic village in Nauvoo let alone about all the free shows and entertainment all summer! 

In August, we went to the Hamilton, Illinois tractor fair about 12 miles away from Carthage. There were a couple of hundred tractors displayed and in the parade. Never seen anything quite like it. Mid-westerners are very proud of their vintage tractors. And so they should be!

One day, we sat in Iowa's largest rocker. You had to be quite creative getting in and out of this in a skirt!!!

Bryce had a bit of trouble himself when he tried to drive this old gal! 

One night we were able to go out to dinner with Stuart Deathrage and the Sister missionaries also serving in Nauvoo whom we were with in the Missionary Training Center almost 18 months ago. They are Sister Hardy, Sister Webb and Sister Joines. 

ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF THE SUMMER WAS ATTENDING THE NAUVOO TEMPLE WITH STUART DEATHRAGE. It had been a year since his baptism and he was so excited to go to the Temple for his own endowment.  The Sister missionries are from left to right, Sis. Schenck, Sis. Stirling, Sis. Nelson, and Sis. Lynn. Sis. Lynn and Sis. Stirling taught him the missionary lessons. They and their companions were able to come to the Temple too. It was a great day!!!

It turned out that the man we'd asked to take our group picture was someone Bryce "knew". He was a member of the singing group "The 3 D's" which was a singing and comedy group from BYU back in the the 1970's. They had come to Calgary when Bryce was about 14 years old and made a big impression on him.  Small world.

I like this picture of me in my "Abigail" outfit. Bryce and I have been "Peter and Abigail" for about 16 months. It has been so much fun. And to think that we only have 3 performances left until we go home! Wow! 

The thing we will miss most about our mission is being missionaries. What I mean is that we'll miss wearing our badges and being official representatives of Jesus Christ with a mission to bring others to Him. We'll miss testifying of the great faith and sacrifice of the early Saints and how their examples strength our testimonies and our lives. We'll miss being in the historic Carthage Jail where we have had numerous opportunities to testify that Joseph Smith was called by our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ to be Their Prophet. His mission? To restore the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth in these Latter Days.  The title - the Prophet of the Restoration - has such greater meaning now!

Corn fields, Mounds and Carthage Visitor's Center

We've seen alot of CORN on our drives between Carthage and Nauvoo! See how tall the corn grows here!

One day we drove about 8 minutes north of Nauvoo on Main Street and happened upon a park of ancient Indian Mounds. 

There are 20 acres and 10 mounds. This is the largest one. They date 300 BC to 500 AD. 

You can see a mound up close on the right then another farther down on the right. 

At the Carthage Visitor's Center people are welcomed by these beautiful portraits and statue of the Savior.

In this room the visitor's get to watch a short video clip before touring historic Carthage Jail. I love the peaceful feeling in this room and the I enjoy the artwork around the room. 

The artwork follows the Restoration from the appearance of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ to the Prophet Joseph Smith...

to when the Prophet Joseph received the Book of Mormon plates from the Angel Moroni...

when the original apostles Peter, James and John restored the priesthood to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith...

to the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on April 6, 1830.

This oil painting is when the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum Smith left Nauvoo on their way to Carthage and looked back upon the Nauvoo Temple.

This original oil painting is of Joseph Smith teaching a small group by the Mississippi. The artist, Theodore Gorka, painted himself into the picture. He is the man holding the hat. The man holding his chin is the man who taught and baptized the artist. WE LOVE SERVING AT THE HISTORICAL CARTHAGE JAIL AND VISITOR'S CENTER.  It is quite an experience!

Our Pre-Farewell to Nauvoo ---- We're Moved to Carthage!

We have a new assignment and will now serve daily at the Historic Carthage Jail and Visitor's Center. As a result, we physically moved from our lovely upstairs apartment at 920 Hotchkiss.  Our move brought feelings of "leaving Nauvoo" even though we had 4 months to go! So, to celebrate our time thus far in the Illinois Nauvoo Mission, we thought it would be nice to reminisce a bit. 

Elder Walton made some improvements in the front garden while we'd been here. The first picture of the house is when we first arrived... and this picture above is 14 months later. TA-DAAA a beautiful garden.

While living in Nauvoo we made friends with the cardinals.

Elder Walton pounded rods into recognizable shapes, preferably small horseshoes.

Sis. Walton can't be "sterotyped" as your typical print-shop apprentice. She minds her "p"s and her "q"s, doesn't rearrange the furniture and knows what it really means to "cut to the chase". 

Elder Walton fit right in at the  Browning Gun shop as everything there is really old. 

Elder Walton welcomed many to George Riser's shop, 

and after the tour gave everyone "the boot".  

At the Post Office, Sis. Walton told many about the 1840's postage problems. Remember, there is never a problem with "knee-mail" (prayer). 

 We sometimes served together in the Family Living Center. Sis. Walton borrowed the "take-home" shawl loom and made 2 shawls at home. 

Elder Walton had a barrel of fun showing how a cooper plied his craft.  

Brick making is an ongoing work of art. Each brick receives personalized attention. In the 1840's it took 40,000 bricks to make a small home at a cost of 2 cents each.   

These souvenir bricks are made by the missionaries everyday and they stock up in the winter months. They have to stay ahead of all the visitors. 

Sis. Walton got cultured at the Cultural Hall. Even though we now live in Carthage, we still perform  in "Rendezvous" (on this stage) and "Sunset" (the outdoor stage). That's a total of 4 shows a week.

Sis. Walton's favorite places to serve were the homes of Brigham Young, John Taylor,  this pictured here - the home of Heber C. Kimball. 

 Elder Walton discovered that he likes pottery and might just take a class or two when he gets home.  He also learned how to make rugs on a loom. (see below)

The Land and Records site was Sis. Walton's "second home". (Note: relaxed position for photo only)

This was our temporary apartment until the apartment in Carthage was vacated. The Horlachers were moving into our old place and we moved into their place in Carthage. It actually all worked out well. 

This is the Bushnell House and it has 5 apartments in it - two apartments on the main floor, 2 on the second floor and one on the third floor. Our spacious apartment is on the main floor. 

We now take tours through historic Carthage Jail recounting its history and the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum on 27 June 1844.  It is a place of peace even though something sad happened here 172 years ago because we remember them and their accomplishments. In the Prophet Joseph's short life of 38 years he accomplished all that our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ asked him to do. He restored the gospel of Jesus Christ along with His priesthood which is the authority to act in God's name. He translated the ancient record - the Book of Mormon-which stands as a second witness of Jesus Christ. Through the Prophet Joseph, all the covenants and ordinances necessary for all of God's children to be able to return to Him were restored. Joseph truly  the "Prophet of the Restoration".