Last Saturday, September 6th was my grandson, Weston Port's Baptism Day in Ladera Ranch, CA. I wish I could have been there to be with all my beautiful family for this special occasion.  But they know I love them and was with them in my heart!

The Port Family
L to R
Michelle (my daughter), Sadie, Barry, Hayley
Whitney and Weston are in the front

My amazing 6 children with their Dad, Rob Holladay after the baptism
L to R
Greg Doyle, Brian Holladay, Heather Shaner, Chad Holladay, Rob, Matt Holladay & Michelle Port

The whole family group that attended the baptism!

There is some sadness in the air as more than 100 of our site missionaries prepare to end their missions and go home in the next few weeks. We had an early morning mission breakfast where they presented a very fun going away skit!

The Nauvoo Temple missionaries surprised us all and came by at the beginning of our breakfast to sing to all of us and say good bye to the ones leaving!

These are the missionaries leaving our Sarah Granger cast in their final performances last night.
L to R
Elder/Sister Thomas, Sister Salcido, E/S Stevens, E/S Allen

The rest of our cast saying goodbye in their farewell song to fellow cast members
L to R
E/S Allen, E/S Dahle, E/S Swapp, E/S Jones

My Nauvoo connections continue. I was driving home from a site and noticed Frank King by the Mercantile store reading a placque. So I pulled over to say hello and find out what brought him to Nauvoo! Frank and I were in OCMCO (now Millennial Choirs & Orchestra) and he was a long way from home in CA/AZ. Frank is also married to LeAnn Call King -- the daughter of my dear friends, RL (deceased) and Leona Call in Huntington Beach, CA. Turns out they were here in Nauvoo with LeAnn's sister Jeannette and her husband to see the church sites. So here we are inside of Zion's Mercantile store!

Frank, Leann, me, Jeanette and her husband

These are visitors, Wally & Marsha Marquardt, that came to Nauvoo all the way from Seattle, WA. They said that "seeing where it all began (meaning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is exciting and the feeling of the unity of the early Saints is tangible. We can feel the intensity of their comittment."

Fun times happen all around Nauvoo! This couple got "heart attacked" by the Young Sister Missionaries for feeding them every Wednesday as a way to say Thank You!

Elder and Sister Schultz by their well deserved "Heart Attack"

 Over a hundred of our Senior Missionaries are ending their missions this month and next.....we are going to miss them. So parties and gatherings are happening all over Nauvoo right now!
In Lands and Records site on Thursday we were gathering to honor the Site Leader, Sister Duncan, as she ends her mission.

L to R
New site leader, Sister Clark, Sister Herbold, Sister Duncan, Sister Fullenbach, me and Sister Coon.

Sane as before with Sister Olson added on the right!

Sister Jones (assistant site leader) and Sister Duncan have been great leaders in a very difficult assignment!
Sister Jones (left) is now the new "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo" show director!

Today at the Scovil Bakery I had a friend from Mesa, Joyce Smith, come by on a tour with her two cousins. It is always so fun to see long time friends here in Nauvoo!

Joyce Smith and me

Tonight after Rendezvous

Joyce, her 2 cousins and me

 This is what the women do in the "Green Room" during the show when the men are on stage!

Elder Schultz was hanging out with the ladies waiting to enter for his part!

I am trying to be as objective as I can when I say that the cities of Nauvoo, Carthage, and Warsaw are pretty much the same as they were in the 1850s. They are not thriving communities. Whereas, Quincy is a large city of about 55,000 people and fast growing! Why do you think this may be the case????

Here is a map showing the relation of Nauvoo, Carthage, and Warsaw. Montrose is where the Saints lived as they headed West when driven out of Nauvoo by the surrounding citizens in February 1846.

For the past 6 weeks I have been attending church each Sunday in the Quincy, Illinois 1st Ward instead of the missionary ward in Nauvoo. I have been going with Elder and Sister Scott. It has been a delightful experience, but the Scotts are leaving to go home from their mission next week so I will be getting another couple to go with. So after church yesterday we drove down to the Mormon Monument by the river where the early saints came into Quincy when they were forced out of Missouri. For those of you not familiar with our history you can go to lds.org and type in Quincy and read the history of why we love the citizens of Quincy to this day. 

Sister Thomas, my Public Affairs partner and I also had been in Quincy delivering brochures and making contacts earlier in the week and so I have begun to fall in love with the city of Quincy. After you see these photos, you will see why. It is a wonderful city that seems to be thriving (unlike many of the cities around Nauvoo).

The first place we went was down to historic Great River Road to see the Mormon Monument

The Monument is located here on the Mississippi between these two bridges.

Here is the monument

I believe the monument was done about 2002

The words inscribed on the front are these, "In 1839 the Latter-Day Saints crossed the Mississippi River at this approximate site and were befriended by the citizens of Quincy".

The back side has the following inscription, "The citizens of Quincy will be held in everlasting remembrance for their unparalleled liberality and marked kindness to our people when in their greatest state of suffering and want."
Quote of the Prophet Joseph Smith
"Eternal will be our gratitude for the people of Quincy who provided shelter to the homeless."
Quote of Gordon B. Hinckley, President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This fountain is right behind the monument and was a lovely spot to sit and ponder all that had gone on here in the past.

 We then drove down to the old Historic District where there was block after block of amazingly beautiful mansions. These are just a sample of what we saw!

The last stop on the way back to Nauvoo was in the town of Warsaw - which also has a history with the Latter-day Saints that is a direct opposite of the way we were treated in Quincy! Here is an overview of the story -- Thomas Sharp, editor of local newspaper, Warsaw Signal, helped found anti-Mormon political party. Due to persecution, LDS church leaders directed Saints in town to remove to Nauvoo. Five of the nine men indicted for killing Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith were from Warsaw. 

Even before the Prophet Joseph Smith went to Carthage, there were signs that his life was in danger: Illinois Governor Thomas Ford going to Hancock County with a force of more than twelve hundred state militiamen, Warsaw and Carthage citizens in mass meetings passing resolutions to “utterly exterminate” the Mormon leader, Illinois officials confiscating state arms from the Nauvoo Legion while allowing other militias to retain theirs.The events prompted Joseph Smith to say five days before his martyrdom: “I told [Colonel] Stephen Markham that if I and Hyrum were ever taken again we should be massacred, or I was not a prophet of God.”

This is a photo of the actual Warsaw Signal newspaper building in the center

 The following are actual photos of the inside of this building that I took through the front windows! The roof has caved in and the old printing press is at the bottom of the basement in a heap. You can decide what you think........as far as I understand there has never been anything done to this building since those times in 1844!

 These photos also gave me much to ponder!

I like this photo with the front of the Warsaw Signal on the window and Thomas Sharp's name as the proprietor on the front. That is me taking the picture reflected in the window and the buildings across the street in the background!

Looking down the street in current Warsaw.