OUR LAST DAYS IN NAUVOO

Well, things have come full circle for us.  I have posted a Halloween in Nauvoo already on my blog and here is another opportunity to have Halloween in small town America.  It is actually a very sweet experience.  Everyone knows everybody, we have all worked together to put this celebration on and it is a blessing to be able to spend it with friends, who are family.  From popping popcorn, to filling treat bags and passing them out, to being in the parade and carving pumpkins, it has been a treat, no tricks involved.

This is my sweet, wonderful friend, Jerilyn Maughan.  She is from Sandy, Utah.  I loved her the minute I met her and we have become fast friends.  She was my assistant in Land and Records, and such a help.  We loved spending time together.  We were not in the same cast, which was a bummer, but always sat by each other when possible.  We had them over for suppers, and we loved doing things together.  She and her husband became Zone Leaders after we left.  It would have been wonderful to serve with them.  These are the people that I never want to lose contact with. 

Guess who is behind the face?  My hairdresser Margaret!!! She had to tell me.  She has also been wonderful.  She has saved me and done my hair better than anyone has in years, plus the fact it cost $14 for a haircut!!! She is a nice, good Catholic and knows more about the “Mormons,” than most.  We had a great relationship.  I improved her business considerably, sending all of the new missionaries to her. Thank you Margaret.

Richard and I are now both experts in the pumpkin carving category………………

So this is my darling friend, Sister Donna Mengel, from Rigby, Idaho.  I loved her like a sister.  She and I were in the same cast and had a lot of experiences together.  We really enjoyed one another’s company.  We ate together a lot, and did some fun things.  She is the site leader at the sewing room and very talented.  I loved her husband as well.  He was the missionary who got the cemeteries figured out and made a lot of progress towards making that much simpler to understand.  He is the one that taught me how to use dowsing rods!!! So before I left, I wanted to do something memorable.  Donna had never had a pedicure and so on to Fort Madison we went.  It was just in a small salon, one chair only and a fun experience.  The after shots….

My color, “Suzy Loves Cowboys,” Donna a pretty Christmas red.

This is President Spencer J. Condie, a General Authority, now the Temple President, a friend and “Agatha and George’s” biggest fan.  He came to Rendezvous so many times and just laughed and laughed each time.  He would always come up to me later and ask if I had seen the Vet!  He kept telling me that I needed shots!  I loved to see him in the temple he was always so welcoming and happy to see us.  We actually got brave enough to have him and the President over for dinner( including their wives of course), it was a delight.  We will simply never forget him.  What an example of the Savior, how blessed we were.

Another one of my sweet friends Sister Pat Davis.  I remember giving her a tour the first day that she came to Nauvoo.  She was scared spit-less, she is a single sister and what a leap of faith to come out all alone.  What fun as I got to know her. 

The Ballards from Snowflake, Arizona.  Oh my goodness, what wonderful, fun, happy, entertaining relatives. He is actually distantly related to Richard!!! So we had a good time with that.  She is hysterical, this cute little thing has nine sons!!! What a bonus to know them and to do things with them.  I hope we are friends when they come home.  We are supposed to meet in Branson after their mission!

FRIENDS, MEMORIES, PRICELESS!