Yesterday as I was going to serve in the Bakery (as I do twice a week now) this little squirrel was peeking over the fence as I approached! I wondered if he was just hanging there! 

He was just perched there for the longest time - watching me!

Then he and I had other things to do so we parted!

The Nauvoo Brass Band plays everyday at the Cultural Hall just next to us. Love it!
The man standing next to the horses in the black vest is my 3rd cousin, Elder Bruce Dalton, from Panguich, UT serving here with his wife for 18 months!

When I was done with my time in the bakery I attended the adorable play next door in the Cultural Hall called "Just Plain Anna Amanda". It was so good! My companion, Sister Brown, is the the accompanist for it. She did a great job!

Nauvoo is also known for their great winery! In fact the oldest vineyards in Illinois are here in Nauvoo at the State Park.

The vineyards at the State Park on Parley Street. The Rheinberger Museum is the building in the background. I haven't been there yet, but it is supposed to be really interesting.

This is the vineyard just behind our home looking west.

This is the vineyard just north of our home. They looked really bare and dead when we got here! But they are coming back to life!

The flowers are starting to bloom everywhere now and it is a sight to behold. One of my favorite sites is the Sarah Granger Kimball home which was one of the homes that was here before the Mormons came here and has been continuously lived in ever since the 1830s. The flower gardens around it are so beautiful!

Here are Sisters Barnum and Swapp outside the home at the end of their day!

Me and my friend Sister Barnum

They showed me a nest with these blue eggs in it in one of the bushes!

I forgot to mention that my nephew, Billy Ginos and his wife Erin and their sweet family were here in Nauvoo over the Memorial Day weekend. It was so good to see them, even though I didn't get to spend much time with them.

 Today was my preparation day - basically my day "off" when I can (almost) make my own schedule! I had a meeting this morning at 8-9am and right before the meeting started the power went out - and it turned out that the power was out throughout the city of Nauvoo! But that didn't stop us from having the meeting...the facilities management hurried and got us temporary microphones and lights. The meeting was put on by the young Sister Missionaries - they did a great job teaching us how to better serve the visitors that come here.

Yes, I took this picture today! Amazing clouds huh?

Then I headed up to the Temple because I had scheduled a 10 o'clock time to perform baptisms for 5 of my ancestors and a noon appointment to do sealings for 9 more of my ancestors.(If you are curious what that means then you can go to mormon.org or ask the LDS missionaries to explain it to you). I wasn't sure if the power would be on at the temple but I had the time reserved and was prepared to go so I parked in the parking lot and had a little prayer in my heart and a little mind conversation with the ancestors that I was going to do the work for in the temple! I explained that I was doing my part to do this baptism and sealing work for them, but if the power was out then it was out of my control and it probably wouldn't happen today. So I said, if you want me to do this work and if there is anything you can do to make the power be available from where you are in heaven then I hope you will help me out.
When I walked into the temple the power was still out but they were using a few backup generators to try to stay open. As I handed my recommend to the men at the front desk the full power came back on!!! I don't know if my prayer and conversation with my ancestors had anything to do with it --- but maybe! Nauvoo miracles happen all the time here! I decided that I was going to start sharing some of them with all of you that follow my blog because they are special to me. I spent 5 wonderful hours in the temple and finished all the work I wanted to get done!

 I hurried home and got a bite to eat and then went to the Visitor's Center to see the play - THE PROMISE - put on twice a day by the young performing missionaries. It was fantastic and very professional. It was a wonderful story about the early pioneers in Nauvoo with a cute love story mixed in.

 When the play was over I was thinking a lot about Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum and their sacrifices for their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ and so I decided to drive down to their graves and property to pay my respects and ponder my gratitude for all they and the people of Nauvoo did for me. I am grateful beyond words for my heritage and the ancestors who sacrificed so much for me.

Heading down to the graves. The river is in the far background.

The markers at the gravesite where Joseph, Hyrum and Joseph's wife Emma are buried. Hyrum's wife went west. The house in the background is the log home where Joseph and Emma first lived in Nauvoo.
The white part was later added on.

These are Joseph Smith's parents graves. They both died in Nauvoo.

This is looking out from the graveside southward down the Mississippi.

This is the Mansion House where Joseph and Emma lived for a short time prior to Joseph's death. It was also used to entertain and board guests.

I am headed back to my car but wanted to show how wonderfully green it is right now. The trees, grass and flowers are coming back to life after a long winter.

I am more and more grateful everyday to be serving here in Nauvoo. I am finding out as I do more research that I have many more ancestors than I originally thought that lived here!

NAUVOO CONNECTIONS
Oftentimes here in Nauvoo I have found as I visit with other Elders and Sisters that we are distantly related and as we search our family histories we find the connection. Such was the case with Elder and Sister Robison. I am related to Elder Robison through the Doyle line and to Sister Robison through my Dalton line! As you can imagine, it makes you feel a stronger feeling towards them.
The other thing that happens quite often is that you make a connection with the guests that come to visit here in Nauvoo. That is what happened on Sunday evening when my companions and I went to experience the program put on by the young performing missionaries on the Trail of Hope on Parley St. As they divided the large group of guests attending into smaller groups of about 12 - 15 the group leader I was in was getting acquainted with us before the program started and asked where we were all from. One of the couples said that they were from Gilbert, AZ. I immediately thought - I have a daughter that lives in Gilbert, but Gilbert is a large city and what are the chances that they would know her - but I told the woman that I had a daughter living in Gilbert and she asked her name. I said, Heather Shaner, and a look of recognition came over her face and she came towards me to give me a hug and said "I love Heather - she has done my hair for over 4 years (my daughter is a hairdresser) and I was her visiting teacher in the Ward. I knew she had a mother on a mission here, but I didn't know how I would find her!" Well, the Lord took care of that! We had a wonderful visit after the program and again last night when they came to see Rondezvous in Old Nauvoo - which just "happened" to be our casts night to perform. Also as I was visiting with Joni, it turns out that she is also related to Elder and Sister Robison!
                    Below is a photo of the Robisons, the Hansens and me after the show last night.

From L to R
Elder and Sister Robison, Joni, Barry, Raquel Hansen and me.

On my morning walk I saw this lone flower growing in a field of green grass. I stopped and took a picture because somehow a message came to me in that scene. I thought that even though that one flower was alone to bloom, it still brought its beauty to the picture. Even though I am here on my mission alone among so many, I can still add my spirit and my talents to the whole to make it better and different just like the lone flower does to this picture of grass.

Just ordinary flowers on my walk that lifted my spirits with their rich color and beauty.

Back in 2006 my dear friend, Cathie Jones and I went on a Church History Tour together through all the early church sites and were here in Nauvoo for one day. It was pouring rain most of our time in Nauvoo, but we had a wonderful experience. Here I am back in 2006 posing with some of the missionaries in period costume -- now I am here as one of them! I'm so grateful....

Here is Cathie on the Trail of Hope back in 2006. I went on an inspiring event tonight on the same Trail of Hope - but it wasn't raining this time!

I was serving in the Nauvoo Visitor's Center today and there were over 1200 people that came through our doors! I went to Keokuk this evening to do some grocery shopping and I just kept stopping on the way back to take these pictures of the sunset on the Mississippi River. Enjoy! The beauty helped to soothe my aching heart and soul because just before I left to go shopping my dear, long time friend and college roommate, Cathie Lange Jones' oldest son, Bryce passed away today. He is in his early 30s and has a wife and young son. It is at times like these that I wish I could be in two places at once so I could go and be there to support her like she has for me through the years. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

The summer season has officially started as of today! All kinds of extra shows with the young singers is happening around town, our other big production "Sunset by the Mississippi" starts (our cast performs it 2 nights a week in addition to Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo 2 nights a week). The brass band took a break yesterday when I was serving at the Lands and Records so we got to hear them perform a number before they came in to relax for 30 minutes!

Today was my Preparation Day and I didn't have a zone meeting this morning and didn't have a performance tonight so Elder & Sister Curtis (from Crestline, CA) and I went to Springfield, IL to visit the historic Abraham Lincoln sites. It is about 3 hours away from Nauvoo, IL. What a very fun day we had. I am so grateful we had the opportunity to go and see.

This windmill was out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of green fields!

Me with the Abraham Lincoln family at the Lincoln Museum, It was a fabulous museum.

The Old State Capital

This is looking at the top of the new State Capital from the steps of the Old State Capital. We didn't have time this trip to tour the new State Capital building.

Across the street from the Lincoln Library and the Lincoln Museum

The Lincoln's home in Springfield, IL - we went inside on a tour.

The back of the Lincoln home

The side of the home

The Lincoln Memorial and current burial site for him and his wife and 3 of their children. The other son is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

This was the temporary burial site for Lincoln until the Memorial was finished.