Old Nauvoo Christmas Walk 2017....
     ....It will be Something to Remember!

     Our seemingly hectic days took a turn (for the worse) Wednesday October 21 when President Gordon, the President's 1st Counselor,  pulled us into his office and announced we have been called (assigned) to Chairmen  the 2017 Nauvoo Christmas Walk......our 1st thought.....what are you thinking?!!!  Our 2nd thought...."you're kidding"  Of course that was followed by the simplified explanation that you don't have to worry...you will pick a couple of other couples to help and they will be in charge of their committees and they will do the work....(Third thought....we'd better choose wisely!!!)  It's going to be a lot of worry, work, and stress!  Two sites are involved...The Visitors Center and Main Street Old Nauvoo and there are at least sixteen subcommittees.  Sure...they provided us with books that were put together with information from last years Christmas Walk...the only thing I saw of it was manning the parking barricades and risking my life telling fellow missionaries...."Thou Shalt Not Pass". We quickly went to pray for guidance and inspiration which we followed by submitting names for leaders of the Sites and Visitor Center Committees...and we met Monday for approval(President Hall likes to have his hands on everything).  That night we met for the first time and decided on the heads of events.  President Hall had a busy week and it wasn't until Friday afternoon that we received approval for most of the names.....remember I said..."Most" (That's a line from Rendezvous)

    During our meeting with the Presidency we were also asked to correct some problems that occurred last year...simplify a couple of the events, use all the missionaries,  and don't let it turn into a competitive event when choosing missionaries to be on committees......As it has been noted before....Can Anyone Heard Cats? 

     After reading the provided books and meeting with Elder and Sister Johnson2 (we have 4 Johnson's and they are designated with a number), who did this last year, but they are leaving in a week, we understood exactly where and why the guidance came as they related some of the things that needed to be improved upon.
    As of Saturday.....it has become a patience building exercise mired in frustration of unanswerable questions and a myriad of clarifications to the same questions and assignments.

                                            ......And So the Journey  Begins....
     

Sister Alderton Goes...Rendezvous Rolls......

          If the Curtain Gets Pulled!

     Our long time stage manager, prompter, and curtain puller, Sister Alderton, finished her service last week.  Sister Hipple gave Elder Hawkins the assignment....no training....just a book with all the instructions.  Now not to be critical...but realistic....everyone knows men have no interest in following directions.....even if they are pictures.  With any parts and pieces project they simply start relying on their own manly instincts, skills, and talents....before, in frustration, reverting back to the written word.  Elder Hawkins was certainly not the exception. 

So here's what happened:

     After our opening number, Welcome, all the missionaries leave the hall and the curtain is supposed to remain open so the editor, George, and Agatha, can perform their roles on the stage.

As the editor, I enter stage right(see how I am acclimating to these show biz terms?) somewhat distracted before noticing the audience.  I do my greeting as usual, get interrupted by Agatha coming in and head up on stage....then...and only then....do I realized the curtains have been closed.  No problem I will just push the curtain aside and tell him to pull it.....Not so fast.  To my amazement, horror, surprise....I find all of the missionaries for the next number already lined up and ready to go for the Noah vignette.  (Seems one of the elders saw the curtain pulled, and not listening to the dialogue that was going on, ushered the cast in an prepared them to start.....one scene to early).  With that I retreat off the stairs to the floor where we muddle through the scene....I only missed a couple of things.

     Things are a little jumbled during the next two scenes but in the third scene the wheels really come off and I get bedazzled and distracted finally making it to his cue line to open the curtains for the Relief Society segment.  The cue is a story I am only supposed to start telling before being interrupted by the Relief Society President (Sister Gibson) as other sisters come in to the meeting from the back.  Curtains don't open....story goes on....curtains still don't open....sisters are now filling the aisles and have no where to go as the curtain blocks the way.  Finally I end the story abruptly, turn around, cup my hands over my mouth and scream the cue line back stage....finally the curtains open.

     We had a second show and things went almost flawlessly.  The next day Elder Hawkins enters the lunch room, apologizes for the errors, explains his newness and lack of training, before proudly announcing that the second show went a lot better.....When he followed the prompters book and paid attention.    "And that's the way things are here in Nauvoo.....and most folks get along just fine"

                              ..........Another Rendezvous line!

It's a Dirty Job....

    .....And I am Doing It.......

               Willingly....Because I Want To

     When you spend the whole week doing sheetrock there really isn't much to write about.  It was a real plus that I was given Emmitt Skog to help for a couple of days as I moved onto hanging 5/8" sheetrock on a nine foot ceiling.  Emmit is the son of one of the FM employees and has just returned from a mission to Ghana.  He is a good worker and together we were able to get the sheetrock hung and I spent the rest of the week taping and mudding as he was pulled of to another job to help the painters.  I am almost getting used to working alone as I have found a new friend in Pandora.
     All that being said things changed a little on Saturday as I got a text and was told that the new elder who arrived last week, even though his skills are plumbing, would be assigned to help me  unless there was a need for him to help with the plumbers.  At this point any help is certainly appreciated.  Then again I can see that he would certainly like to find needs helping the plumbers rather than dabbling in the mud and grime of sheetrock.  The same text also directed a change to the Maxwell house.  I had torn off a section of siding to see what was underneath....it was plywood.  After waiting a week  the new plan is to cover the plywood with protective wrap and wait.  Good thing I didn't get to tearing it out down to the insulation  on three sides.....we thus avoided the Nauvoo way......this time

There's Always Time For A Goodtime....


                                        ....in Old Nauvoo

     As our stress level has flown off the chart as we grasp the enormity of the Christmas Walk and all the preparations for it Sister Gibson was first in line to help with the test run of the Kettle Corn we will be brewing for Bootiful Nauvoo that takes place the end of the week.  While I was engrossed in spreading sheetrock mud on the walls and my clothes she and her cohorts took time to do the arduous job of taste testing.  Then the Hula Hoop was broken out and the games began.  The reason for all this practice is that almost all of those who were here last year and participated in Bootiful Nauvoo are gone.  Their memory lingers(sort of)....but their experience is definitely missed.  She had a great time showing off those hip movements.  Just wish she had brought some of the test popcorn home for me to sample.  At least we got to sample it the next day as the sample bags had been thrown in a garbage can and left in the break room for the rest of us to try.  We believed it was good stuff and ate it anyway.....and it was!!

Odds....at the End      

 




Sister Gibson has risen to the challenge and taken a few pictures of her world.  The great mouse hunt continues in Conservation.  Trouble is those little critters aren't going down easy.  The particular strain of Conservation Mice are Super Mouse Like and are apparently able to carry off the sticky paper they get stuck on.  Sister Schmitt has apparently overcome some of her fears, however, as he proudly displays one of the unlucky ones.

    

    


Then there is the story of the adventurous squirrel.  It wasn't too long ago that I returned from work and found Elder Lindeburg sitting in his car gazing at my truck.  He explained that there was a squirrel that ran across the patio and climbed up the tire in the truck.   He wasn't to be found but one day I saw the little critter do the same act.  I am not sure what he was doing....it probably wasn't up to any good but that ended sadly as we discovered him near the wheel....somewhat flattened.  We could  have had squirrel stew but we passed on the opportunity.
     You will notice the trend here.....Sister Gibson is taking the pictures while others of us hold the ghoulish evidence of lost lives....Then again I remember those Armadillo's and I'm sure if they ever saw this they would get a good laugh.


 

It is a tradition that on your birthday you are dressed up in a silly costume while the entire FM group sings a sad rendition of happy birthday.  If you are fortunate to be in the inner circle (the office staff) they take you out for your birthday.  Barrant, our fearless It man, suffered such a fate recently.  Unfortunately he left town for a week after his birthday and the office staff couldn't wait for him to return so they headed off to his favorite lunch spot without him....they did think of him, however, as they blew up a picture and set in on a chair.  Sister Smith and Sister Schmitt surrounded him and made jokes about his nose.

     Saturday was one of the last days  the fall festivals in the towns in Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois are held.  There was one in Hannibal and Nauvoo on the Road was going to be there so we went to see what we might have otherwise missed out on.  Turns out this one was more like a giant street fair and the main street was crowded beyond belief.  The bright spot in the adventure was running into Mark Twain and Becky Thatcher and a charming lady who tried desperately to sell me a dulcimer even though I tried really hard to explain I had no musical talent.  That went by the boards when she pointed to numbers that provided all necessary.
   Nontheless I still don't own a dulcimer.