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!