"Sunset by the Mississippi"  is a fun variety show featuring the Senior Missionaries singing and dancing with the Young Performing Missionaries on an outdoor stage 6 nights a week! It is so much fun even though in this picture it doesn't look like it on my face!!!

A friend in the audience took this picture of me in Sunset by the Mississippi! 

For the next two weeks Brigham Young University's Living Legends group is in town and performs a

FABULOUS show after ours on the outdoor stage. The Living Legends group captures the essence of ancient and modern culture in a celebration of Latin American, Native American and Polynesian song and dance. I went tonight and saw it and wish I had taken more pictures. The costumes were AMAZING and their program was high energy and wonderful. 

 They have performed in Europe, the Pacific Islands, Australia, Canada, South America, China and Russia. They also performed at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and continues to communicate its message of hope to people all over the world. This group used to be called :The Lamanite Generation" in my days at BYU!

Last night we came out of our Zone Conference meeting and these clouds were in the sky. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures! Nauvoo is truly a beautiful place. When I got here the first week in April - it was still winter and everything looked so bare and dead. But now it is alive with green trees and grass and amazingly beautiful color everywhere!

My sister's birthday was this week......Happy Birthday to the best sister in the whole world - Marilyn Dalton Avarell! She looks as young today as she did in her High School Senior picture. I love you Marilyn!

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!