So After The Call...

-59

     Things started out in cruise mode....we signed into the missionary portal where were were given a checklist of things to make sure we would  complete prior to our entering the MTC on September 19.  59 days seemed like plenty of time to wrap things up.  The problem is that this list gets longer each day rather than shorter.  Good news.....we heard from the Nauvoo mission directly.....bad news.....there is more to do.  For the most part the site apparel is now done at the sewing room.  What isn't is an anxious moment for Marilyn since sewing on a machine is not a strength.  Thank heavens for Judy Njord who has jumped in and helped with those items that need a seamstress.  As the days get closer the lists don't.  The missionary portal has all but been forgotten and there are still items requiring attention.  A mention in the Nauvoo letter about singing gets little attention as there seems to be more pressing things at the moment.
     About the singing....we soon received a CD with the cast performing the numbers and we found the words to the songs we were to learn.  And then the fun began.  It's not that Steve doesn't sing.....he just can't.  He can't  carry a tune even if its placed in a bucket and put it in his hand..  Then there is the memory thing.
Don't they get it....old people don't remember.  It's like the movie "Groundhog Day".  No matter how far we  get in memorizing.....we get to start over the next day...without remembering a thing.  We both do sing-a-longs with our headphones attached to our ears in separate rooms.  Mindy and Molly are constantly laughing as Steve belts out a chorus or two.... "he's very loud." I wonder how many times we have sung "Welcome to Nauvoo"?  Or for that matter "Farewell, Nauvoo"  Not to mention the street song which makes no sense since we have not seen the streets.
     We are discarding stuff left and right.  One good word from Nauvoo...."Please don't bring your food storage"  "There is no room in your apartment for it.  I hadn't planned on it but I guess someone must have showed up with it.  What do we take?  What will we need?
We have labored incessantly over what we should be wearing.  What if we make a mistake?
Will it result in the honor of us being the first on the frozen Mississippi River as the procession of pioneers  in the annual enactment  follow? 
     Five days to the MTC...................

                                  We don't lack enthusiasm

                                                                                                                           -5