BROADWAY HERE WE COME!

So today I worked in the Riser Boot and Shoe Manufactory. I worked with one of the most fun sisters here.  Her name is Sister Meier and this is the second time we have worked together, but we will get to work together one more time this week.  She and I can talk the whole time, non stop, which is mostly her because as we all know, I never have much to say!!!! She is originally from California, but lives in Idaho now, up in the panhandle.  So we gave 20 tours today and it isn’t even as busy as it is supposed to get.  So far it has mostly been members, but I have had at least 20 non LDS since I got here.  It is really kind of fun to give the tours, especially when I know the facts.  I will be working at two more homes this week that I have never been too.

Captive audience.  I had a mother come up to me today and say that the tour I gave was wonderful for her children.  I guess my college degree is finally coming in handy Daddy!!!!!


Tiny shoes for little feet.  It took one entire 12 hour day to make a pair of shoes.  George Riser trained for four years to be a shoemaker. 

Some of the tools of the trade.

A pair of shoes would have cost $1.50  and a pair of boots $5.50.  Consider that most people in Nauvoo of the time, if they were doing well would make about a dollar a day.

Shoes were made so that they fit either foot.  There were no left or right shoes. They suggested to alternate them every other day so they would wear evenly. 

The Amish still make their own shoes the very same way that they were made in Nauvoo.  This is a barrel of them that we have to look at.

There is about a fifteen step process and these are some of the “lasts,” or shoe forms. These little pegs, hand whittled, are part of the process.


Some shoes that women would have worn. 
Then tonight was our premiere at “Sunset” We start by cleaning off all the seats.  That is our assignment this month.  Some missionaries direct parking, etc.    I was nervous but so excited really.  The audience was full and so many people who have come through my tours wave and holler at me.  It was actually fun.  Now if I could just get all of the parts down pat then I could really enjoy it. 
Tomorrow I have to be up and at a Mission meeting by 8 AM.  Plus Richard and I have to give the prayers.  I think the mission president is checking me out to see exactly ………………..Well you know.  He is still looking at me a little sideways!  Tomorrow night we are going out with Kyle and Jill Franklin and they are gong to show us the HOTSPOTS!  One of the single sisters that came out with us from the MTC has invited us over for dinner on Sunday, and guess what??? MY SON, DAUGHTER AND THEIR KIDS ARE COMING ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surprises Around Every Corner

I am so grateful that our children got us a new camera and I carry it with me everywhere.  Today was a good example of why I take it with me.
Started off my day kind of rough.  I was working in the Scovil Bakery today and went at 15 minutes of 9 just to make sure that I was on time.  9 AM came and no other sister, so I opened up the bakery by myself.  I have the secret code to the secret keys that get me into places, isn’t that neat.  It comes with the badge.  So at 9:30 I go next door to the Cultural Hall and ask more seasoned sisters, what to do?  Seasoned being anyone who has been here over two weeks!  They call the scheduling missionary and he tells me someone will be right over.  So at 10:30 Sister Ellis shows up.  I am a little anxious by this time but have gone over my notes so way prepared…..just for the bakery that is.  Anyway, while I am waiting and turning people away, because I can never be alone, (see mom) this is what I see.

These young performing missionaries can do anything and everything! 



Love horses.  Jerry and Joe today pulling the Nauvoo Marching Band.
So later on in the afternoon as a new group of people come in, I look up and see a youngish father and thing, “This boy has to be a Langford.” As I get up to go speak to him, in walks Nancy Langford from Overland Park!  I knew it, I am so good…..


They used to be people that were in our ward when we first started  out in Overland Park First Ward.  Isn’t it amazing, it was just like yesterday.  So happy to see her and her family and visited with her about 20 minutes.  So, thanks kids for the camera!!!!  Now I must study the part of the lovely Agatha , and then on to Rendezvous, twice tonight.  Oh what am I going to do with all of my free time???
Went to the show tonight to watch it twice, and guess who was there"?  Yes, another couple from my past in Overland Park!!! The second bishop I ever had, Bishop and Kathy Halvorson!!! Can you believe it?

I knew them immediately… I was a teenager just before going to BYU when he was bishop and then when Richard and I were first married and back in OP.  We used to go to their house and play NERTZ!!! They are now in the temple presidency in St. Paul. This is going to be a fun place to serve.  Then a woman came up to me at the show and said I was the best guide ever, she had her picture taken with me and wrote down my name…….what will happen next, stay tuned!

So Much For A Lessened Learning Curve!!!

So today greeting people at church…….We sat by Jill and Kyle Franklin and we saved them a soft SEAT!  Love that I am able to be with one of my teenage friends and such a wonderful person.  What a tender mercy to be here with her.  Then on to Relief Society.  I don’t even think that we have a president, guess we don’t need one……. Then on to the brickyard!  Home for a little nap and then back for Zone Conference.  The Mission President and his wife and just so amazing.  They are wonderful motivation to do my best, but besides that they are doing one thousand other things.  They know everyone by name and are even in the shows!  Talk about going above and beyond.  But their topic tonight was about enduring…..
He said that enduring is not about “just surviving” our trials but about how we make it through that and each day of our lives despite our adversities.  It’s about how we live well in spite of the trials we are called to bear.  Trials are tailored for us by a loving father who wants us to be the best that we can be so that one day we can live in His presence and be like Him. We can go away from our trials or grow through it by living it well.  He said that so often we look too far ahead.  We need to look at our adversity one day at a time and do the best we can on that particular day.  President Monson’s quote is , “If you take it by the yard, it is hard, by the inch, it’s a cinch.” To overcome our trials we have to realize that they were made to not be done alone.  We have to and are supposed to turn to our Father in Heaven, that is the point of the whole lesson.  Our lives are designed to be more difficult than we can do alone.  If you are just hanging in there, you are missing the point.  Overcoming is a process and we are to be happy in our adversity.  Then we can say, “I have fought a good fight , I have finished and kept the faith.”  I know that my life, especially in the last several years have taught me these things, I am hoping my children and grandchildren can see life in this way as well.  Just grow and enjoy and try to love each day…….
BIG NEWS!!!!!  Richard and I have just been assigned two of the BIG ROLES in the play,’Rendezvous.”  I mean big roles, and this play is given every day of the year except Sundays…….We are going to be George and Agatha.  It says…….”This couple adds humor and sparkle to the show.  Agatha is well educated.  She feels threatened by the Mormons being in her community.  Agatha is a devout member of the American Benevolent Movement.  She has a controlling personality. ( No snide comments!) She never stops talking.  George is like a puppy following Aggie around.  She has him wrapped around her finger until a certain point.  He is well liked in the community!!! (Can’t you just see that we are perfect for the part.)  We have 12 pages of script to memorize in three weeks!!!!!!!! Prayers increase at this point……
Jonathan and family are coming this weekend !!!! Tender Mercies!

I can’t get enough of seeing these beautiful creatures.

Look Mom, I am actually crocheting!!! Only for my granddaughters would I try this.

Me in a brickyard??

Trees in my backyard…..

Storage shed…..

My neighbor’s garden that I am praying I get a tomato out of……….

P-DAY!!!!! HOORAY!

Today was our preparation day which means that we get to do some things that we want and we are basically off.  So we started our day with me sleeping in. Then mowed the grass and off we went to the temple.  This is my favorite temple, of course, I haven’t seen Kansas City’s yet.  I love the history of the temple.  Found out a new insight today.  When you look closely at the temple you can see smaller stones leading up only so far, then a line of stones is run around the temple and from there on up the stones are larger.  I guess when the Prophet Joseph was killed the temple had only been built up so high, They stopped production.  Then Brigham Young ordered for the temple to be finished and they didn’t have much time so the stones became larger.  So much was finished after the prophet died, and yet they knew that they were getting ready to be driven out.  It’s completion was a tribute to their God. 

I love the architecture!

It is so beautiful inside and the spiral wooden staircase is my favorite. The celestial room is so inviting with it’s yellow and white decor and the high, high ceilings.

We went to the brickyard to get a tour before we work there tomorrow.  These young people and this church historian were there doing this archaeology survey.  They have found a foundation right next to the brickyard using this new technology.

This machine is new technology, it sends sonar rays down into the ground.  They measure the ground in one foot grids both ways and then put the information into a computer and it  maps out what is underground!  Imagine!

We were seeing history being recorded.  This place is amazing.

After we went to see Sunset tonight we drove around for awhile.  Pictures simply do not do this place justice.  The weather has been so wonderful.  So we drove around and ended up at the Joseph Smith Cemetery. 









Sun shining through the trees, oh how I wish I could paint!

Landing where the Saints crossed the frozen Mississippi.
So much to see and do here, but I am grateful for the quiet moments that we have to just sit and absorb the beauty and spirit that is Nauvoo.  Someone told me today that it is a special privilege to tell these peoples stories.  I hope I am doing a good job.  This week I will be working at five new places.  So much to learn and we will start to perform as well.  Tomorrow we have to be to church at 7:15 am to greet people for church.  Who wants to be greeted at 7:15!!!!  Then we have RS and then on to work at the brickyard, then a Zone Conference tomorrow night.  Not much time to even eat.  So, I will try every day to blog, but that  is if I am still standing.  I am ready for the learning curve to lessen a little bit.  What a busy summer.  I will be sending out the schedule.  I guess the Pageant is spectacular.  There are professional actors from England and other professionals.  It is the only pageant written by the First Presidency.  The BYU Ballroom Dance Team will be here in June, as well as the Native Performers from BYU.  The Smithsonian will be having an exhibit here through the month of September so not a lack of things to see and do.  Signing off.  My bed is calling my name.  7:30##**&&&&&&%^^^^^^^^^^^^^

So much to do, so little time!

This show is called Rendezvous.  Your father and I will be IN IT starting next week.  I am shaking in my boots.  So many songs to learn and actions and when we are supposed to be here and there.  Besides this we are also working on Sunset on the Mississippi, which I actually have my first solo part in next week!!!!! I am in the song about “Away With Rum,” . My part is about alcohol back rubs being a crime……..it’s worse that straight gin, just think of the liquor absorbed by the skin!  Pretty cute. 
Besides these things of course, your dad is working all over the place, this week.  He’s been installing the pipes for their air compressors.  By the time we get  home I am hoping he is able to build our own house.
So I am working sites and hardly ever in one place more than a day.  This week I am going to be in 5 different places!!!!!  There are pages of scripts to learn for each site.  My head is just spinning……

She is supposed to have a pickle face!

Don’t these hats just FLATTER each and every sister?  It’s a wonder anyone ever got married!


This is our cast.  We will be with these people until we are done.  They are wonderful and I have great friends of all ages.  I think that I am the youngest one but such  great people.

I worked in the John Taylor home for two days this week!  It is a beautiful home and such a sweet spirit.  He was an amazing man and became the third prophet of the church.  He was with Joseph Smith when he was killed in the Carthage Jail.  There are wonderful stories that go along with his conversion and his life.  I quite enjoy taking people on the tours and learning about who they are, where they are from, and getting to know them.  It isn’t as hard to share my feelings about the gospel. 

This toy horse was made by John Taylor for  his son, Joseph.  When they were driven out of Nauvoo, his son was crying because they had left this horse behind.  After crossing the frozen Mississippi into Iowa, he went back in the dark of night, back across the river to retrieve this horse for his son.
Kitchen.
Children’s bedroom. “Sleep tight don’t let the bed bugs bite came from these hay filled mattresses.

Potty chair for Delaney!!!

John Taylor’s shaving stand and hat box.

The parlor.  This house is truly so pretty, it is one of four houses that have consistently been lived in since the l840’s.  It did not have to be rebuilt.
Beautiful staircase.  Anyway, between getting home so late at night, trying to memorize, and meetings.  I AM TIRED BUT HAPPY…