President Lusvardi Leaps the Rail...
And Into our Hearts!!
Last week we were introduced to President and Sister Lusvardi at the Pot Luck dinner and overwhelmed with his announcement that the horses were back. Wednesday marked the first of what will undoubtably be many training meetings. It wasn't hard to figure out we had a whole new personality for a president. After the traditional welcome from President Hughes, and just before the opening song was to start, President Lusvardi stepped up the podium and announced; "This is the Illinois Nauvoo Mission and in the Illinois Nauvoo Mission we sing. If you don't sing loud enough we will sing the song again" We sang loud!
Using a microphone that attached inconspicuously on his jacket and instead of stepping forward to the podium for his training he started strolling around the stage like a motivational speaker you would pay a hundred dollars a head to see. First behind the rostrum, then on the stage, and before we knew it he was in the audience asking questions, listening to the comments presented, and then asking more questions. Side to side, up and down, climbing over vacant chairs. When he had to go from one side to another he didn't walk....it was a sprint. The highlight came when he leaped over the four foot wall the separates the floor from the audience....made a two point landing....and astounded everyone.
It wasn't so much the presentation that inspired. It was the message! His vast missionary experience and love of the gospel soon transformed the anxiety of some into an immediate love and respect for him and Sister Lusvardi. He taught us from Preach My Gospel as we all sat there mesmerized. I could feel in his message a change...maybe to the way Old Nauvoo will be presented but more of a change in the way missionaries presented it and the message of the Church. President Hall was an inspired leader preparing the way for the changes. The missionaries who resisted his changes are gone. The new missionaries here are fresh and unburdened by the past attitudes and social structure. they are capable and looking forward to the future to whatever may happen because they are prepared to accept the future of missionary work here in Nauvoo.
So here we are and soon we will go but as I walked out conversing with President Gordon I did make a comment about the meeting. I felt inspired, rejuvenated, excited. I felt like Agrippa who had heard Paul's stirring message about Christianity and was "almost" converted. "President Lusvardi "almost" converted me to be an extender. The future is bright and those who embrace it will be blessed.
Brigham Young and the Oxen.....
We have been so busy visiting places over the time we have been here we have missed the oxen ride. Seems like every time the family came they either did it while we were serving or the weather or desire prevented them so we just have pushed it into another day category. We seem to be running out of those "other day" opportunities so we have patiently been waiting for a nice day, in the middle of winter, to do it. Thursday became that day with the temperature rising to fifty. Soon our district heard about it and were all in and so we made it an activity.
Elder's Butt and Wayment were there and it was just like old home week. We had all put on our Nauvoo attire for the event although we really didn't look much like the hearty souls that traveled the plains in the wagons. The oxen were used out of sheer necessity. Most couldn't afford horses or a decent wagon. As they were forced out the oxen soon became a sheer necessity as the outcast Mormons made their way across the mud and muck of the Iowa Plains in 1846. It was slow going as the oxen struggled to pull heavily laden wagons. They were yoked together...held together with a heavy piece of lumber. That yoke kept them together and working together to pull the burden of the wagon.
This is the Savior's message. Walk with him...Yoke ourselves with him. In our obedience we will find peace through his atonement (Matt. 11:29-30). He will make our burdens lighter....not go away...but lighter.
So on an Oxen ride in Nauvoo we find a message of hope....behind a pair of oxen. Not to mention we had a lot of good times in that hour with our district members and fun loving and accommodating teamsters.
Elder Cornwell, one of our teamster missionaries made us a small yoke to remember the ride and our friendship. It is a fitting remembrance for us, the ride, and our time in Nauvoo!
A Message for the Ages....
Sister Gibson Tells The Story of
Lindsay Anderson Brady
Sunday begins a week of celebration and remembrance as we honor those beleaguered Saints who, after months of persecution, willingly began their exodus from Nauvoo across the Mississippi River on a journey that would ultimately lead them to a safe haven in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was on a cold winter's morning on February 4, 1846 that the first eleven wagons would slowly cross the river on a ferry. The process would continue until the river froze solid and allowed larger groups to cross on the frozen ice. The Saints continued to leave Nauvoo during the year as their circumstances permitted. In late summer the only ones who remained were those who simply could not afford to go, were not willing to follow Brigham Young, or those who simply gave up their beliefs to avoid the persecution. Starting in August the final cowardly push to expel those remaining began. It started with harassment, escalated to whippings and forms of torture, and culminated with a final edict to get out or be killed. On September 10, 1846 approximately 1,000 armed mobsters began an assault on those remaining. 150 armed men withstood them until September 14 when church leaders were wise enough to know that the battle was not worth the loss of life. Those remaining were forced across the river with many finding refuge on the islands in the Mississippi. It was at this time that the miracle of the quails occurred and saved the lives of the starving exiles.
That's the background. Here is the personal part of this story. The week of remembrance and celebration starts with a "sociable" the Sunday night before the Saturday re-enactment. The missionaries who are serving here are asked to research their ancestry and submit stories of any who might have been here. They are submitted to a committee who evaluate them and pick the nine best to be related at the sociable. Last year with submitted Joseph Stallings, my 3rd great grandfather. While the story was monumental to me it was received less enthusiastically by the committee and not selected.
Sometime after that we discovered that Sister Gibson had Nauvoo roots and her 3rd Great Grandparents, Lindsay Anderson Brady and Elizabeth Hendricksen lived here and were part of the exodus. His story was well documented and much more colorful. We submitted it this year and it was one of the nine selected. The story had to be synthesized to around three minutes and that became very difficult. Sister Gibson stressed and stressed about the time and ultimately got it to four minutes. I told her to wait and see at the rehearsal before making changes. One story was three and one half minutes and the rest went from there to seven minutes. She stayed with her story.
A lavishly decorated stage was assembled for the production. Sister Gibson had practiced it a hundred times, reading it over and over. On Sunday she stood tall, as the last presenter, in her pioneer dress, and read her story. All prejudice aside she and the story were the best!! I'd hike across the plains with her any day. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it and here is Lindsey Andereson Brady's for you to read:
Brigham Young and the Oxen.....
We have been so busy visiting places over the time we have been here we have missed the oxen ride. Seems like every time the family came they either did it while we were serving or the weather or desire prevented them so we just have pushed it into another day category. We seem to be running out of those "other day" opportunities so we have patiently been waiting for a nice day, in the middle of winter, to do it. Thursday became that day with the temperature rising to fifty. Soon our district heard about it and were all in and so we made it an activity.
Elder's Butt and Wayment were there and it was just like old home week. We had all put on our Nauvoo attire for the event although we really didn't look much like the hearty souls that traveled the plains in the wagons. The oxen were used out of sheer necessity. Most couldn't afford horses or a decent wagon. As they were forced out the oxen soon became a sheer necessity as the outcast Mormons made their way across the mud and muck of the Iowa Plains in 1846. It was slow going as the oxen struggled to pull heavily laden wagons. They were yoked together...held together with a heavy piece of lumber. That yoke kept them together and working together to pull the burden of the wagon.
This is the Savior's message. Walk with him...Yoke ourselves with him. In our obedience we will find peace through his atonement (Matt. 11:29-30). He will make our burdens lighter....not go away...but lighter.
So on an Oxen ride in Nauvoo we find a message of hope....behind a pair of oxen. Not to mention we had a lot of good times in that hour with our district members and fun loving and accommodating teamsters.
Elder Cornwell, one of our teamster missionaries made us a small yoke to remember the ride and our friendship. It is a fitting remembrance for us, the ride, and our time in Nauvoo!
A Message for the Ages....
Sister Gibson Tells The Story of
Lindsay Anderson Brady
That's the background. Here is the personal part of this story. The week of remembrance and celebration starts with a "sociable" the Sunday night before the Saturday re-enactment. The missionaries who are serving here are asked to research their ancestry and submit stories of any who might have been here. They are submitted to a committee who evaluate them and pick the nine best to be related at the sociable. Last year with submitted Joseph Stallings, my 3rd great grandfather. While the story was monumental to me it was received less enthusiastically by the committee and not selected.
Sometime after that we discovered that Sister Gibson had Nauvoo roots and her 3rd Great Grandparents, Lindsay Anderson Brady and Elizabeth Hendricksen lived here and were part of the exodus. His story was well documented and much more colorful. We submitted it this year and it was one of the nine selected. The story had to be synthesized to around three minutes and that became very difficult. Sister Gibson stressed and stressed about the time and ultimately got it to four minutes. I told her to wait and see at the rehearsal before making changes. One story was three and one half minutes and the rest went from there to seven minutes. She stayed with her story.
A lavishly decorated stage was assembled for the production. Sister Gibson had practiced it a hundred times, reading it over and over. On Sunday she stood tall, as the last presenter, in her pioneer dress, and read her story. All prejudice aside she and the story were the best!! I'd hike across the plains with her any day. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it and here is Lindsey Andereson Brady's for you to read:
Lindsay Anderson Brady
3rd Great Grandfather
Marilyn Kay Nance Gibson
My name is Lindsey Anderson Brady. I was born in Lincoln County Kentucky on June 11, 1811. I married Elizabeth Hendrickson on Oct 18, 1831.
In the Fall of 1835 two Yankee preachers came to our town telling about some crazy new religion with Angels and a "Golden Bible". If there is anything worse than Yankees it would be Yankee preachers and I wanted nothing to do with them. Elizabeth and her mother seemed interested and wanted to go to a meeting to hear what those two polecats had to say. I became angry, stomped my foot and refused to go with them. If those foolish women were so determined to go they could just go alone. I wanted nothing to do with such rubbish.
To cool down my anger and to get some honest work done, I went out into the woods where I could be all alone. As I was chopping wood I heard a distinct voice say: "Drop that axe and go to the meeting!" Some people say I told them I heard the voice twice but once was enough to scare me plenty. I looked around and I was alone. The only people who knew where I was had gone to the meeting! I dared not disobey so I dropped that axe and hurried to the meeting.
The two preachers were Wilford Woodruff and Warren Parrish. They spoke of strange things but it all rang true to me. Our families had never professed any religion but I felt something that told me I should be baptized and join this strange church. A few days later Wilford Woodruff took me into the waters of baptism and performed that sacred ordinance. Elizabeth soon joined me in this new faith but our families wanted nothing to do with it. Later, Wilford Woodruff ordained me a Deacon thus conferring on me the Priesthood of God.
After our conversion we were disowned by our families, so in April 1837 we traveled to Far West Missouri to be with the Saints. Persecution and hostility were intense. Once I was chased into a cornfield at gunpoint and hid in a large shock of corn. My attackers were so close that I could see "the whites of their eyes" as they parted the corn stalks but did not discover me and l escaped.
We fled across Missouri and crossed the Mississippi where the good people of Quincy, Illinois gave us refuge. We eventually settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. There I worked many days on the Temple with the Prophet Joseph Smith. We were in Nauvoo when the Carthage carnage occurred. We saw the bodies of those two holy men as they lay in state. We attended their funerals and later attended the meeting where Brigham young sounded and appeared as Joseph and we knew that Brigham was our new leader. I was made a Seventy in the Seventies Hall and Elizabeth and I were sealed in the Nauvoo Temple on January 1, 1846.
We crossed the great river in early February 1846 on the ice and made our way across the frozen and then muddy plains of Iowa with starved oxen. One died and I had to yoke a cow to help pull our wagon. I stayed near Winter Quarters for 3 years where I cleared land and grew crops for those fortunate enough to go to the valley. In June 1850 it was our turn and we arrived in Salt Lake September 19, 1850.
In the Fall of 1835 two Yankee preachers came to our town telling about some crazy new religion with Angels and a "Golden Bible". If there is anything worse than Yankees it would be Yankee preachers and I wanted nothing to do with them. Elizabeth and her mother seemed interested and wanted to go to a meeting to hear what those two polecats had to say. I became angry, stomped my foot and refused to go with them. If those foolish women were so determined to go they could just go alone. I wanted nothing to do with such rubbish.
To cool down my anger and to get some honest work done, I went out into the woods where I could be all alone. As I was chopping wood I heard a distinct voice say: "Drop that axe and go to the meeting!" Some people say I told them I heard the voice twice but once was enough to scare me plenty. I looked around and I was alone. The only people who knew where I was had gone to the meeting! I dared not disobey so I dropped that axe and hurried to the meeting.
The two preachers were Wilford Woodruff and Warren Parrish. They spoke of strange things but it all rang true to me. Our families had never professed any religion but I felt something that told me I should be baptized and join this strange church. A few days later Wilford Woodruff took me into the waters of baptism and performed that sacred ordinance. Elizabeth soon joined me in this new faith but our families wanted nothing to do with it. Later, Wilford Woodruff ordained me a Deacon thus conferring on me the Priesthood of God.
After our conversion we were disowned by our families, so in April 1837 we traveled to Far West Missouri to be with the Saints. Persecution and hostility were intense. Once I was chased into a cornfield at gunpoint and hid in a large shock of corn. My attackers were so close that I could see "the whites of their eyes" as they parted the corn stalks but did not discover me and l escaped.
We fled across Missouri and crossed the Mississippi where the good people of Quincy, Illinois gave us refuge. We eventually settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. There I worked many days on the Temple with the Prophet Joseph Smith. We were in Nauvoo when the Carthage carnage occurred. We saw the bodies of those two holy men as they lay in state. We attended their funerals and later attended the meeting where Brigham young sounded and appeared as Joseph and we knew that Brigham was our new leader. I was made a Seventy in the Seventies Hall and Elizabeth and I were sealed in the Nauvoo Temple on January 1, 1846.
We crossed the great river in early February 1846 on the ice and made our way across the frozen and then muddy plains of Iowa with starved oxen. One died and I had to yoke a cow to help pull our wagon. I stayed near Winter Quarters for 3 years where I cleared land and grew crops for those fortunate enough to go to the valley. In June 1850 it was our turn and we arrived in Salt Lake September 19, 1850.
Eventually we were some of the first settlers in a small town named Fairview in Sanpete County. There a new couple, the Nielsens moved in and needed help. I gave them a cow, as they were such good people. I hope it sustains them and that they have a righteous posterity. I know this Gospel is true and I thank the Lord every day that he sent his Holy Spirit to speak to me when all alone in the Kentucky woods so many years ago and start me on my journey towards Eternal Life.
Once Again....Before Re-Construction....
Once Again....Before Re-Construction....
....There Must be Destruction
Things went well until I asked about a steamer to remove the ancient wall paper. "We don't have one" was the reply. They do now.....enough said. The one thing I can say is that by the end of the week and removing tile, vinyl flooring, and putting down cement board I am officially very, very, sore.
Odd's at the End
I can't say we hadn't been warned.....Sister Beecher told us he was a "big" pack rat. We laughed it off until we went downstairs to a basement full of everything....but nothing. It took three fully packed vehicles to empty it. It is gone now....most to Good Will in Keokuk, some to Conservation, and some we won't talk about.
We had our monthly Brigham Young District Meeting on Sunday but over 50% of the district had fallen to the "crud" during the week and couldn't attend. So we looked around and found replacements.....President and Sister Lusvardi and Elder and Sister Oldroyd (the mission doctor).
Elder Corder pulled out the Traeger smoker/barbequer and grilled up three racks of ribs and a bunch of chicken we brought. It wasn't much of a district meeting but we all had a good time.
Elder Corder and I put on our best faces but I couldn't resist taking a picture of President Lusvardi taking one of our group....Smile, you're on Candid Camera!
Elder Corder pulled out the Traeger smoker/barbequer and grilled up three racks of ribs and a bunch of chicken we brought. It wasn't much of a district meeting but we all had a good time.
Elder Corder and I put on our best faces but I couldn't resist taking a picture of President Lusvardi taking one of our group....Smile, you're on Candid Camera!
No comments:
Post a Comment