Nauvoo: Beautiful City (Week Two)

Like I said before, we were in Nauvoo for two whole weeks! I can tell you that now I truly understand why the Lord said the Sunday (the seventh day) was to be a day of rest! Oh, boy, was Sunday a wonderful treat! :) We decided to go to the afternoon Church, but it was so hot that morning that we went for a Sunday morning drive along the Mississippi River! It was so BEAUTIFUL! As we were traveling we were trying to find the most scenic rout possible. So, here we were just turning on all sorts of back roads and trying to get lost without getting stuck! Then, suddenly as we came over a hill, there it was . . . the Nauvoo temple! We had come across Montrose, Iowa! This was the place where the Saints had crossed over the Mississippi on their way out West. It was kind of cool to see how literal it was, that they would look back one more time to see the temple and their homes, before crossing over that hill, leaving all they know behind.

After church we ran into a wonderful family, the Holts, who let us come hang out with them that afternoon . . . it was so hot that we would have melted! We had so much fun just spending time with our new friends, just talking and playing games! We learned a couple new games and new rules to old games! It is kind of funny how every family has different house rules to play by for the same game! :) Sunday really was for us a day of rest!

So, come Monday morning it was back to practice! Remember . . . practice makes perfect! :) We didn't have to practice as much after Monday's dress rehearsal . . . so we had more FREETIME! :) We could have gone around to some of the sites in Nauvoo, but we chose to stay close to home, because I wasn't feeling too great! :( Do to the fact that it was a billion degrees outside . . . okay, so maybe it was just 100 degrees with an heat index of 120 degrees, a wonderful family took us in for the second week.  They let us move into their house for the rest of the week . . . it was amazing! It helped just being able to be in air conditioning again when I was sleeping! The fun thing about this family, the Smiths, was that they had six kids ranging in ages from 2 to 14! Roland and I were able to help out getting the kids ready and see how things ran in a large family! It was good practice for when we start having kids! :)

The rest of the week went smoothly with every night being a performance night! One of the cool things was being able to do missionary work before the pageant started, while the Nauvoo Frontier Country Fair was going on, because the next family cast came in to fill our spots in helping out! We were able to meet more people, but probably one of my favorites, and Roland's, was a family from Peru, who spoke some English, but mostly Spanish! Roland had so much fun talking to them in Spanish! I loved just hearing their stories . . . something I love is how even though they live over 1000 miles away, we still have something in common with them, the gospel! Roland was nice enough to translate or at least sum up what the Spanish conversations were about, so I wasn't completely lost! On our last night of performing it started to rain while the Nauvoo Frontier Country Fair, there was some thunder and lighting, but it stopped in time for us to be able to go on and perform! The show must go on! It was interesting how different it was performing with wet (rain drenched) clothes!

It was sad to say goodbye to all of our new friends not knowing when we would see all of them again. I can't wait to be able to go back to Nauvoo next year just to feel that wonderful spirit of Nauvoo! Nauvoo is kind of addicting . . . once you have a little taste, you just can't get enough of it! We will all meet again someday . . . after all, all roads eventually lead to Nauvoo, and when you're here, we're here! :)

Nauvoo: Beautiful City (Week One)

Some snapshots of us through out the week!

In July, Roland and I had the great opportunity to serve as special representatives of the Church and do lots of missionary work in a unique way! We were part of the family cast in the Nauvoo Pageant! That means, that for two weeks we volunteered to go and spend our vacation time dressed up in pioneer clothes, learning how to sing new songs and dance on a stage, sharing the spirit of Nauvoo to thousands of people every night, meet many new lifelong friends, and having the time of our lives! Not to mention, sweat like crazy, get little to no sleep, and work harder than you have ever worked in your entire life doing something you would have never normally done if it weren’t for the fact you were in Nauvoo!  Yep, that pretty much sums up what we did! :)

Our Home Away From Home

 For the first week that we were in Nauvoo we stayed in a tent! It was a fun adventure! It was cool during the evenings so we could sleep comfortably! The bathrooms and showers were right down the road just a quick walk away! :) Most days went like this . . . get up, run down to the bathroom, take shower, come back to tent and eat breakfast (usually a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or something like that), then head off to practice! For lunch we would come back to our campsite and eat . . . then I would take a nap (Roland later as the week progressed started to join me!) Sometimes, all you need is just a quick fifteen to half hour nap, and you're good for the rest of the day. For me, it worked wonders!

Roland letting me nap so I will be in a good mood for the afternoon practice!

 For the first week we also helped out running the games of the Nauvoo Frontier Country Fair. We were asked to help out in the tug-of-war station! It was so much fun! I loved watching the young families come and do the tug-of-war! It would be all of the little kids versus the Mom or Dad! :) Sometimes some of the cast would challenge those who have come to visit Nauvoo!  Unusually right before the pageant would start there would be a large group of youth that would be challenging each other or the youth of the cast! It was fun to see the "modern day clothed youth" versus the "pioneer day clothed youth"!

 During the first week we learned all of the songs, dances, and all the things that we need to know to perform the pageant! In just one week we go from clueless to the experts! We learned all about leaves, angles, and how to be expressive in our movements! We learned a new language  . . . the language of movement! :)

Practice makes perfect, both on and off the stage!