A New Week......
         A New Change 

     As I returned home Tuesday, after another exhilarating day at the Maxwell House, Elder, now President Hughes pulled in right behind me.  After a little chit chat he invited himself in....for a minute to talk to us.  I've been here long enough to know that I was now standing on the train tracks in front of the tunnel and the foreboding light in the darkness was not the light at the end of the tunnel but rather a locomotive coming my way....

     The stress of organizing a heard of cats into a workable organization for the Nauvoo Community Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Christmas Walk was mounting and now this.....What's next?

We knew the new mission president was about to be announced but I was supremely confident that it wasn't me.  If he had the dreaded "Golden Ticket" he had concealed it was was  waiting for the opportune moment to spring it on us when we were least suspecting it.  The pleasantries were short.  "The President wants you two  to be   District Leaders over the newly formed Brigham Young District.  Sounded like up step up from the beginning.  After all, while Martin Harris was an eye witness to the plates of The Book of Mormon he wasn't the Prophet of God that led and organized the Saints after the Prophet Joseph Smith's martyrdom.  Certainly it would be more important and my missionary "status" was about to take a giant leap.  You and Sister Gibson will be the first district leaders in a "some day" created zone that will include only FM missionaries.  While we readily accepted the call we are waiting for someone to tell us what we are to do in our district. It doesn't appear it will be related to serving in the sites rather it will be learning and using Preach My Gospel.
     Little by little things are being revealed....For example Sister Lindeburgh was told Saturday of their impending release from outbound service in Fort Madison.  She will be replaced by an FM couple in our district.  In fact, it was explained to her, all the couples in the Brigham Young District will be assigned to outbound service.  We got that message at the same time that Sister Lindeburgh did....so I guess it was a two-fer in getting the information out from the mission presidency.
     Things are starting to change in the Nauvoo Mission.  There is a "master plan".... (whatever that is hasn't been revealed).  What we do know is that Rendezvous will be a memory, the Handcarts are gone, and the horses are eating hay and oats in the pasture.....and all FM missionaries now called to serve in FM will be called as couples to work in FM and they will not be involved in the mission activities....will they be a part of the mission?
    

     What we do know is that the new mission president will be Mark Lusvardi and his wife Juliane, director of public programs for the church's missionary department.  While his name wasn't a household word here with the missionaries in Nauvoo it soon became apparent that his presence has been felt for a long time.
     As President Hall indicated, he has been heavily involved in the, yet to be revealed, master plan.  So on the surface it looks like he has been called to help implement the plan that he has been working on.  We are all looking forward to the future now....some with optimism....some with fear.....all of us with faith!



It's All Maxwell........
                            .....All The Time

     Fall is upon us and winter is creeping in.  For the first time this year we dipped into the teen's for a low and the high was 32....all this while we have been working out side putting up the sheeting in preparation for the siding and the windows.  Since the furnace in the home has been disabled pending it's imminent removal we work  bundled up. I can only hope the dreaded winter cold doesn't happen. All is not lost, however, as we plow on.  Here in Nauvoo it is sometimes difficult to get the necessary materials we need....when we need them.  I could refer to it as a "head banger".  Two weeks ago we sat down with Kyle, our purchasing guru, and gave a material list for siding, windows, and doors for the exterior.  When checking with him this week,  on the status things, we started off on a downhill roll....Siding was at least a week away.....Windows maybe around Thanksgiving....the exterior doors.....ooooooops.  They hadn't been ordered.  I calmly walked over and shut his door....proceeded to bang my head on it....and left the office.  I think that picture was worth a thousand words (or even a couple of cuss words).  Later that afternoon he called with some good news....actually the windows would be here by the end of the week, the siding...the first of next week....and best of all Marcus had found exterior doors he liked in stock in Burlington and they would be here the next day.  What can I say......well...how about "where's the Advil?.....I still have the headache!!"
     Elder Archibald's hand was feeling pretty good but that all changed when he had   a bad  reaction to the antibiotics  and that quickly  put him down for a day.  He was back on track until Friday when his tooth was done in by a frozen Skittle he crunched on while working outside in the bitter cold.  Soon he was off to see "the kid" our youthful dentist, Zach Rodeffor in Hamilton.  Good ol' Zach to the rescue.   He's got to love the missionaries here...they are a goldmine for business.
    Some weeks are better than others......
Odds......at the End

 

     Nauvoo doesn't offer much when it comes to fine cuisine or dining.  It does have, however, Grandpa Johns for breakfast or lunch and the Nauvoo Hotel for their fabulous buffet dinners.  We hadn't been to Grandpa Johns for sometime so we made a stop for lunch.  There was something on the menu that intrigued us and so we bought into "The Worlds Largest Ice Cream Cone".  What more can I say?


 

 
     As you get older you sometime forget where you are in the cosmos.  The Hughes thought it would be a fun to revive our bowling skills.  Sure....they are "kids" and a lot younger than us "old folks" but I sized him up, thought about it, and figured he was just a rookie...easy picken's so to say.  So it was off to Burlington ahead of the Beecher's and Lindeburgs who we were meeting up with later for a show and dinner.  I had my first clue when I picked up a sixteen pound ball (which I questionably used the whole time) and it felt a lot heavier than I remember.  My first ball dropped behind my feet and I knew I was in trouble.  I soon regained my old form and broke 100 once.  Elder Hughes, on the other hand was a seasoned professional and came close to 200.  Sister Gibson was so sore she could barely walk for days.  If that wasn't enough by the end of the week she had managed to pull another muscle while she tried to help someone with something.
 
   


 


 

     Now that we represent  Brigham Young.....
One of our favorite sites to serve in here has been the Brigham Young Home.  There we talk about the home, his devotion to the Prophet Joseph Smith and his role as the Great American West Colonizer.  We use a visual of some broken pottery that was found buried in his root cellar when the home was being restored and even though it was broken and scarred the pieces, in the hands of the right person, can make it whole and beautiful again.  That's when we  testify to the Savior's atonement and how, through repentance we can be made whole.
    

    

     When we go to the Council Room we are reminded and remind others of all the important decisions were made in this very room through the keys of the priesthood that rested with the Quorum of the Twelve.  Again we testify of the importance to willingly follow the prophet.
     So it is with  a little dry humor I point out that he was not always the older bearded Prophet we often see.  At one time he was an  average height red-haired freckle faced robust charismatic leader.  At least I have red hair and freckles when I was younger.

    

     Sister Gibson's contributions to the blog start with her continuing war on those daring rodents who continually make brazen attempts to infiltrate the Conservation stronghold.  The little guys are a tough lot and do not go down easily.  The sticky pads the sisters have been putting down have been disappearing....leaving bits and pieces of fur to show their determined struggles as they carry the pads off into the nether reaches of the building....never to be seen again.
     Enough is enough and now the sisters in Nauvoo Conservation have taken their seek and destroy mission to a new level....they nail the pads to the floor.  While one problem is solved another appears....thank heavens for Sister Schmitt who is the bravest  and is willing to pull the nail and pose for the picture of triumph.  Grimace and all!!


    

    

    For those inquiring minds wondering what happens to all those craftily carved pumpkins proudly displayed at Bootiful Nauvoo Sister Gibson found their graveyard   in the FM mulching pit.  I don't think many of us have stayed up late at night wondering what happened to all those beautiful pumpkins but for  those folks who did here is your answer.  This picture will probably bring down the wrath and ire of those kind and gentle souls that feel they should be treated more kindly...like a Pumpkin Pie.