Spring Is Here, Again

As April began we passed the one year mark and we are starting to see things happen for the second time on our mission - new leaves on trees, warmer weather, larger crowds and the arrival of new missionaries.  We can say for sure that our only winter here was a milder one.  We have now experienced both one summer and one winter and despite our fears for what those seasons would bring it has actually not been as bad as we both expected.  There were many rainy days in April and even some days on the cold side.  It was wonderful to see the many tulips planted by our Facilities Maintenance people bloom in the Women's Garden:

Our days have become busier with the assignment as Sunset by the Mississippi Coordinators for the senior missionaries. Sister Rober is teaching choreography to three different casts of 50-60 missionaries each.  I am helping her on the technology and music side.  That means we are at rehearsals every night except Sunday until the show opens on May 27th and at every show until August 12.  This has been a blessing in that it allows us to be around every missionary in the Mission on a weekly basis.  Normally you are with the same cast four nights a week and have two nights off. We are enjoying the challenge and the experience.  We are over half way through our rehearsal schedule.  There are only three weeks left and the last two will be coordinating with the Young Performing Missionaries who have just arrived in town.  The casts are becoming familiar with the show and I can feel an excitement building for opening night.

During our first year we did not take the opportunity on very many personal days (one per week) to travel around to nearby communities and feel the spirit of the Midwest.  We decided in April that we needed to take this opportunity so we took two trips to Iowa for spring festivals.  The first was to Kalona which holds a quilt show every year. It is one of the many Amish communities nearby. You know they are serious about their quilting when you see quilt patterns inlaid on the side walks in the city center. Almost all missionaries take home one special item as a remembrance of their mission. We bought a hand quilted bedspread to be our special keepsake.

Our other trip was to the town of Pella.  It is a Dutch community that holds a tulip festival every spring.  It was a very festive day.  Many of the townspeople dress in authentic clothes.  There is a parade, lots of Dutch specialty foods and a tour available of the town windmill.  It was a perfect weather day and a fantastic experience.

The visitors in Nauvoo continued to increase in April.  We are called as Missionaries to tell the history of the people who lived here 1839-1846 at the 25 various sites.  I am the Site Coordinator for our Brickyard.  In the Brickyard we tell about how the bricks were a symbol of permanence and beauty for the Nauvoo saints.  We explain how they made bricks and how the bricks are a firm foundation for building a strong house. We relate how our Savior Jesus Christ can be a strong foundation in our personal lives. As missionaries we make miniature souvenir bricks for our visitors. Most of our production takes place in the winter when the crowds are sparse. In the summer, we are very busy with the tours and pass out bricks from our inventory. Here is a picture of our store room. We are going into the busy season with almost 19,000 bricks in inventory.

We are so excited for many families members who will come and visit this summer and feel the spirit of Nauvoo. We are missing children and grandchildren but know they are being blessed as we serve here a Missionaries.

March - A Month for Baptisms

Looking like the beginnings of spring

Visitor Center flowers

The March weather here in the mission made me think I was back in my childhood in Seattle.  Can you say rain?  Lots of rain with mild temperatures in the 40's and 50's.  Looking forward to seeing some sunshine soon.  The trees are starting to leaf out and the tulips are breaking through the ground. The grass is getting greener and the farmers are happy with all the moisture as they prepare to start planting their corn and bean crops for the summer.

We had two large groups of new senior missionaries arrive from the Provo Missionary Training Center.  We have two other large groups arriving in April and May.  We started to have larger crowds in March from spring breaks in Utah, Colorado and Texas.  It is wonderful to see the earth replenished and bring forth beauty and start to feel the excitement build for the busy summer months. We are going to be down 10-20 missionaries from last summer.  There will need to be compromises on how the sites are staffed to get by with our reduced missionary force.  It is my understanding that the number of Senior Missionaries serving in the church is down 20 % this year.  We are taking our reduction along with all other senior missions in the church.  So everyone - turn in those mission papers and begin to receive a great blessing in your life to serve the Lord wherever that service may be needed!

During the slow winter months, I spent many hours in the sites working on a church missionary system called the Teaching Center.  It is a combination of call center, chat forum and a place for people to request for more information about the church. Senior missionaries here in Nauvoo, young Missionaries on Temple Square and young sister missionaries here in Nauvoo during the summer can participate.  We can monitor incoming communications from all over the world that originate on the mormon.org website. This could be people who want to chat about the church.  It could be people who want a free bible or Book of Mormon.  Our job is to answer the requests and work with the people on the other end.  If possible, our goal is to have young missionaries throughout the world go to their homes and deliver a free Bible or Book of Mormon and share a message about Christ and the restored gospel.  I communicated with 800 people during the winter months.  From these 800, I was able to refer close to 400 people to local missionaries in Africa, Australia, the Philippines, South America, Europe and all over the US.  In March, I was blessed to learn that the local missionaries were able to baptize nine people that I had referred.  Overall, thirteen people have been baptized by local missionaries during my time using the Teaching Center.  It was such a special feeling to receive this news and follow up with either the missionaries or new converts to learn more about their baptisms.  The Teaching Center efforts will be a mission highlight memory for sure.

In March, Sister Rober and I began our assignment of teaching the senior missionaries their song and dance moves for the summer show Sunset by the Mississippi.  Make no mistake about it - Sister Rober is doing the teaching.  I am background technical and moral support.  The show opens on May 27th and runs until August 12th.  It is a high energy variety show featuring the very talented Young Performing Missionaries who will be arriving in early May.  Our goal is to provide joy through music and entertainment in this show on the outdoor stage every night except Sunday.

Sister Rober teaching Sunset show to senior missionaries

This month I would like to share some pictures of homes that future presidents of the Church lived in while they were in Nauvoo - Brigham Young, John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff.  They are still beautiful homes today.  They were continuously lived in following the exodus in 1846 until the Nauvoo restoration began in the 1960's.  This is the reason they were preserved so well.  What you learn on the tours is that the future presidents lived mainly in log cabins and wood homes while they were in Nauvoo and only lived for a short time in these beautiful brick homes before being forced out.  I like how the church history department has made it a point to have all the dining room tables set with nice china in each home.  This teaches the principle of how important it is to have family dinners together each night especially in today's world.

Brigham Young Home

 Brigham Young Dining Room

 Brigham Young Council Room where many important meetings took place

John Taylor Home

John Taylor Dining Room

John Taylor Parlor

Wilford Woodruff Home

Wilford Woodruff Dining Room

Wilford Woodruff Parlor

February - Is Winter Over?

February has come and gone.  The weather was quite variable.  We actually had two days that were in the 70's and some days that were in the 20-30's.  According to the locals, we have been blessed to have a mild winter.  Our mission covers two summers and one winter so maybe the cold is behind us. In about 4 months we will be wishing for some winter weather.

The crowds were small during the month.  We were lucky to have two very different horse rides during the quite time. The first was a sleigh ride across snow in the cold weather and the second was a ride on the mission limousine carriage during the warm weather.

Valentines's Day was on our Preparation Day during the month.  We were able to take a day trip to St. Louis for a celebration.  St. Louis is a three hour drive from Nauvoo.  It was quite shocking to be in a big city for a few hours with freeways and traffic.  We both love Thai food and have not had any since we left California.  It was a treat to celebrate the day with a Thai food dinner.  I have to admit I don't miss the freeways, traffic and big city.  It was good to drive back into our little town after the day. Unfortunately there are no In-N-Out burgers here in the Midwest.  It looks like that will have to wait until we return home.

One of the special treats for the month was a large migration of bald eagles along the river.  No one ever mentioned to us about the eagles.  They were so exciting to watch.  It was not uncommon to see 10-20 each trip to town.  The town of Keokuk, Iowa which is 20 minutes away, actually has an eagle festival event every February.

Take Off (Photo, Elder Johnson)

Six Eagles on Frozen River (Photo, Elder Johnson)

Snow Geese Arrived for Just a Few Days

Since other news for the month was quite, I thought it would be good to include a section on the animals we see here in Nauvoo.  We are loving the seasons and seeing all of the wild life and mission animals around the grounds of the mission.

Mission Horses

Turtles on River

Cardinal

It is starting to feel like spring is right around the corner.  Our tulips are coming up, the days are getting longer and the first batch of new senior missionaries has arrived for the year.  In three weeks we begin practicing for the summer show Sunset on the Mississippi.  We are excited for the summer because 5 of our 8 kids will be visiting during the Pageants in July this year!

We left home about one year ago.  This mission is a special blessing in our life.  Come and visit us if you get a chance!!

Love to everyone

Elder and Sister Rober

The Exodus Reenactment

Preparing for the Exodus Walk Program

On February 4, 1846 the Mormon people in Nauvoo began lining their wagons up to begin crossing the Mississippi River for the west.  Their Prophet, Brigham Young, knew in late 1845 they were going to have to leave their beautiful city to flee for safety and avoid a civil war.  After taking an inventory of the people and wagons on hand, he determined they would need to build over 1,000 wagons in a few months time.  He asked everyone to help the local blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and wainwrights with this monumental project.  This was going to be an exodus unlike any other in United States history.  An entire town prepared to leave to find a new home where they could be safe and worship as they desired.  At this time the population of Nauvoo had grown to around 12,000 which was very close to the population of Chicago.  They had only been in Nauvoo for six years but in that time had made it into a beautiful city which included 350 brick homes.  They had just finished construction of their temple on the bluff overlooking the river. It took 5 years to complete just months before they left.  Crossing the river was only the beginning.  It would take the saints many months to cross Iowa to Winter Quarters (Omaha, Nebraska) where they would stay for the winter of 1846-47 before Brigham Young's Vanguard Company left for the rocky mountains in April of 1847 to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.  Can you imagine the faith it would take to walk away from their beautiful city, their homes and the temple?  Can you imagine the courage it would take to climb in a wagon in sub freezing temperatures that would continue across Iowa and begin a journey to an unknown location?

On February 4, 2017 our mission had a reenactment activity to remember the great sacrifice these people made to leave Nauvoo.  It will be a memory of our mission that Sister Rober and I will never forget.  We walked down Parley Street to the river on a day when the wind chill factor was 18 degrees wearing name tags of ancestors we had who lived in Nauvoo.  At the end of Parley Street was a flag ceremony and program honoring the many pioneers who died en route over the approximately 20 years they crossed the plains.  We were outside for the walk and program for slightly over one hour. It took a few hours to warm up after that.  We felt that when we snuggled in our warm bed that night, the pioneers didn't have that luxury. They endured the bitter cold in their wagons. There were even 9 babies born that first night. It would be months before they would be warm again.

The Exodus Reenactment will be a highlight mission memory.  It was a significant spiritual experience that will change my view of Parley Street forever.  We know that the hand of the Lord was with these people on their journey.  They could not have done it without the help of the Lord who they put their trust in.  They did have great faith and courage.  They were obedient to their Prophet who said they must leave for their safety.  Brigham Young had seen in a vision the place they were to settle. One and one half years after crossing the Mississippi the pioneer companies began arriving in the Salt Lake valley.

Several faith promoting stories of ancestors in Nauvoo were shared at a Mission Exodus Fireside. Nahum Curtis, great great grandfather of Sister Rober had an amazing conversion story. In 1833, in Michigan, after Nahum and his wife, Millissant Waite,  had head the missionaries, they were laying in their bed conversing about principles they had heard for the first time, when they noticed their room began to get light. It got lighter and lighter until it was as bright as noonday. They then heard a voice say: "Nahum, the Book of Mormon is a true record of the ancient people who lived on this continent." Their whole family was then baptized and they joined the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. Later, in Nauvoo at the time of the Exodus, Nahum and his family packed their wagon and walked through the difficult, muddy streets to leave Nauvoo. His family camped for 2 weeks while Nahum went back and forth to and from Nauvoo helping others cross the Mississippi. He wore himself out helping others then died in Nauvoo in March, 1846 before he, too, could leave with the saints. He is buried in the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Nauvoo.

Exodus Reenactment activities:

Sister Rober Sharing About Nahum Curtis at the Fireside

Staging for Walk

Parley Street, Flags from Ancestor Countries

Program at the River

The Nauvoo Legion

Elder Lowe Facing West Playing Taps to Honor the Memory of Those Lost on the Plains

End of a Remarkable Day in the Nauvoo Mission

Farewell 2016

It seems hard to believe that 2016 has come and gone.  We left home March 1st for the Missionary Training Center.  It has been a wonderful experience and continues to be a blessing in our life to serve the Lord as missionaries in the Illinois Nauvoo Mission.  It was different and difficult to spend Christmas away from home.  We definitely missed our families,  There were many mission activities associated with Christmas and New Years that made it a fun and spiritual holiday here with our fellow missionary family.  We did have our son Kirk visit from California for Christmas.  It was definitely a climate shock for his California blood.  We took him to Hannibal, Missouri (1.5 hour drive) on one of the days to visit the Mark Twain museum and sites.  It was a fun day.

Mark Twain Home, Hannibal

Kirk and Mom on Main Street, Nauvoo

December was the coldest weather so far of the mission.  We had one night that got down to -8 F with a wind chill factor of -25 F.  There was one good snow associated with that storm but within a few weeks it was all melted.  The crowds are sparse this time of year.  There are many days where no one comes to the sites.  In our production sites this time of year it is a time to work on building our inventory of bricks at the Brickyard, horse shoes at the Blacksmith Shop and ropes at the Family Living Center. Our goal is to have 20,000 bricks, 4,000 horse shoes and 3,500 ropes.  In the summer when the crowds are so large we spend all of the time giving our tours and handing out items from inventory.  In the non-production sites, I am spending most of the spare time I can on the Teaching Center doing missionary work with people who call in from all over the world.  Other missionaries are spending time making quilts, hats and scarfs for humanitarian projects.

December was filled with many holiday activities for the missionaries.  In last months posts I covered the Christmas Walk and Live Nativity Production.  Other December activities included a holiday open house at the mission home, carols in Carthage, a cast Christmas Party at Elder and Sister Wilsons, a mission Christmas dinner on Christmas eve and a mission New Years Eve Party at the Pageant Building.  We also found time for a Preparation Day trip to a Swedish town called Bishop Hill which is north of Nauvoo (2 hour drive) in Illinois.

Sister Winegar, Sister Bowler and Sister Rober at Mision Home Open House

President and Sister Hall at Carthage Christmas Carol Activity

Emma Hale Cast Christmas Party

Elder Wilson, Elder Rober and Mark Rober Christmas Sweater

Elder and Sister Leemaster at Mission Christmas Dinner

Preparation Day lunch in Bishop Hill

Games at New Years Eve Party

It's onward to 2017 with anticipation of family visits, the return of the Sunset by the Mississippi Show and the Pageants.  We wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

All our love,

Elder and Sister Rober