Mission Choir. 6-26-16

Today was our last Mission Choir performance for awhile. We will be taking a break in July. We sang "Praise to the Man" in honor of the martyrdom commemoration tomorrow at Carthage. It was a very difficult arrangement, but the choir did a magnificent job with a lot of help from the Lord.

During the meeting the mission president was impressed to change it from the middle of the program to the closing hymn. It was a powerful spiritual ending to the meeting for all of us. I'm so grateful for the incredible man Joseph Smith was and for all he sacrificed to bring forth the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hannibal Trip. 6-26-16

This week I went to Hannibal, Missouri with some of the single sisters. It has been a few weeks since I went anyplace on a preparation day. We had a great time seeing the Mark Twain sites, and Sister Cook met a man who was really interested in learning about the Church! He even came to Nauvoo to check things out.

Nauvoo Connections. 6-26-16

I met some Goodman relatives this week - Quinten & Tim Goodman who are descendants of Lyman Curtis and Lynn Goodman, Ralph's brother. They were wonderful people. I also saw David Eldredge who was in our Sandy ward. He now lives near Mark in Columbus, Ohio. What a small world!

Shoo Fly!!! 6-26-16

Speaking of my nose, I had a really funny thing happen on Tuesday. Remember the old lady who swallowed a fly? Well here's what happened to me!

I was playing the piano for our Rendezvous show. It goes so fast that I can't look away for a moment without losing about 16 measures. Well, as I was playing a fly lit on my face. For one entire song it crawled all over my face, which tickled like crazy. I could hardly stand it, but I had to keep playing. Then it crawled up my nose! I don't know how I made it through the song, but somehow I did. Yuck!

Summer Sun. 6-26-16

Hi Everyone. It has been a wonderful week! Tuesday I got the stitches out of my nose. The doctor said that over the next couple of months it should look completely normal!

I did buy myself a hat to protect my nose from the sun.

Keep Smiling! 6-19-16

The biggest lesson I learned this week is that if you really smile and love others, they don't notice the bandage so much. Here I am performing a few days later in Rendezvous. No one even asked what happened to my nose!

Have a great week!

Nose to the Grindstone. 6-19-16

The most eventful thing that happened to me this week was that I got in 10 days ahead of schedule on a cancellation to have Moh's surgery on a spot on my nose. I had a little basal cell carcinoma (self-contained skin cancer) removed. Everything went well. Here are my Before and After pictures. It should heal up with minimal scarring.

Happy Father's Day! 6-19-16

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful fathers. It has been a hot, dry, beautiful week here in Old Nauvoo. I met a lot of wonderful people, including my good friend Arian Spahr who was visiting. I also had the opportunity to share the gospel with some visitors who knew nothing about it. It's always a thrill to talk about the most wonderful thing in the world!

Answer to Prayer. 6-12-16

I had a sweet experience in the Post Office site a few days ago. I was giving a tour to a youth group. I got to the key message that although there are challenges with stamps, lost mail, and expenses, Heavenly Father is always available to hear our prayers.

At that point the Spirit burned within me, and the unmistakable prompting came to tell about my prayer in the police car after our car accident. I told them that when I couldn't find out what had happened, I bowed my head and began to pray. I was surround by warmth and received the immediate answer that my children were in His Hands. I explained how important it is to be close to the Lord now so we are prepared when we need Him.

I don't know who needed that message, but all the visitor's were deeply touched, and the Spirit bore witness so strongly to my words. It was really a special moment.

My Companions. 6-12-16

I have such awesome companions. I just love living with them! Sis Simmons is so happy and cheerful. She keeps us laughing. Here she is with an ice cream cone.

Sis Rollins is very perceptive and caring. I learn a lot from her. It's her birthday today, and we've been celebrating the last couple of days with lunch in Ft Madison and a movie on her laptop here at our house.

Mississippi River. 6-12-16

This picture is of a barge tow. It's kind of hard to see, but if you look closely you can see one tug boat pushing the whole thing. The barge tow is actually 3 barges wide and 5 barges long. That's 15 barges hooked together - 90 feet wide and 1,000 feet long. Together they hold as much cargo as 870 semi trucks, which is amazing! 60% of the nation's grain travels along the Mississippi River. You can see some water lilies coming up in the foreground.

Nauvoo Bugs. 6-12-16

I posted the wrong picture of a mayfly last week, so here's the real thing with wings pointed up.

You can also see a firefly sitting on my apron. I wish I could have snapped a picture with its light on.

Summer's Here! 6-12-16

-- Ahead of schedule! We hit 102 this week - with humidity. Everything is drying out, so hopefully we get some rain this week. There are no sprinkling systems here, and the grass is scorched.

Joy in the Journey!. 6-5-16

I had an unexpected pleasure this past week - the fulfilling of a small lifelong wish at a Rendezvous cast party. I walked on stilts for the first time in my life! It's something I have always wanted to do but never got the chance. I didn't even fall over! It was really fun!

Joy comes from so many things - and most of all from sharing the glorious message of the gospel with others! That can make you happier than anything!

Exquisite Moments. 6-5-16

Life is so good! Sometimes it's important to just stop and remember all the good things. And the little things - like this beautiful butterfly I found.

VIP Wagon Tour. 6-5-16

I got to do a wagon tour narration for a group of government officials visiting the city of Nauvoo from Germany. It was really fun to share with them some of the things I love so much about Nauvoo and the early saints who lived here!

Goodbye Provo Home!

Eric and Christy moved to another lovely home this week, and I'm so happy for them! That means I'll be finding a new place to live after I return from my mission. I'm not at all worried. I know the Lord will help me work out all the details.

I love the sunsets here!

Mayflies on the Move. 6-5-16

Greetings from Nauvoo! I didn't really know what mayflies were until I got out here! They are small, lacy little moth-like flies that only live a few days. They fly around like swarms of gnats do.

One line in Rendezvous says that a boy tied a mayfly to a thread and pinned it in Adelia's hair! Yuk! The second picture shows how thick they are right now. All the white you can see are blurry mayflies in motion!