Norm and Marge Nauvoo

The headstones for Hyrum, Joseph and Emma The headstones of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith The Young Performing Missionaries The three brethren reading statements from Joseph Smith III, Max Smith and Melvin J Ballard In Nauvoo, they do not celebrate the arrival of the saints in Salt Lake on the 24 th of July 1847.   Instead they commemorate the exodus of the saints on February 4, 1846 and the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum on June 27, 1844.   Today is the 174 th anniversary of the martyrdom and the 16 th anniversary of the dedication of the Nauvoo temple.  We attended the first of two commemorations of the martyrdom at the Smith Family Cemetery at 12:15. We celebrated the anniversary of the dedication by serving in the temple during the second commemoration in Carthage which took place at 5:00.   The service at Smith Family Cemetery was a joint effort between the LDS Church Restoration Branches ( a break off from the RLDS Church...

On June 5th Jen, Victor, Ali, Lizzie, Ryan and Peter arrived for their visit to Nauvoo.  The pictures below show a sampling of their activities while they were here.  They all had a great time and we enjoyed their visit. Family picture in front of the temple Grandma and Grandpa are still doing well Lizzie, Ryan & Ali in the preshow parade Every evening except Sunday there is a variety show called,  Sunset on the Mississippi .  Before it begins the children are invited to come up and make a hat and choose instruments to play as they march up one aisle and down the other around the audience accompanied by the Nauvoo Brass Band. It is a lively show with a lot of humor as well as great music.  The performers include the young performing missionaries, the Nauvoo Brass Band (the members are also performing missionaries) and the senior site missionaries, as well as some of the regular missionaries.  It is a must-see when you visi...

On Thursday, June 7th our friends Orvin and Judi Topham from Seattle stopped in to see us. They are on a temple tour visiting many temples.  It was good to see them. Thanks for the visit! Orvin and Judi in our apartment The Nelson's and The Tophams

Pat and her family came for their visit May 26-31.  That includes Marion, Pat, Diana, Jared and his wife Mikael. Trent couldn't make it but Saba came with Rehan. They flew into St. Lewis and drove the rest of the way.  They had accommodations at the Woodruff Hotel.  It was late when they got here so we went up and helped them settle in a little and then they came over to visit our apartment so they could see where we live. A Sunday Stroll in the Women's Garden Memorial Day Picnic On Monday it was Memorial Day so we went to the Nauvoo City picnic. As missionaries we are encouraged to support the local activities.  Grandma Pat with Rayhan Next we went to the Visitor's Center where we got tickets for the shows, "Just Plain Anna Amanda" and "The Promise".  Pat's family really enjoyed "The Promise" and saw it twice while they were here. We also saw another film about Oliver Cowdery and the translation of the Book o...

On May 21st we traveled two hours to take a tour of the Amish and Mennonite community of Kelona, Iowa. We started with a man at the visitors center giving us some background on both of these related groups.  Both started as a break-off of the Lutheran Church in Switzerland and Germany.  They immigrated to the United States and first settled in Lancaster Pennsylvania.  They have spread to many other productive farm lands.  The Amish in Kelona has about 1,500 hundred members.  Most of the local groups have about 150 members.  They have no church buildings and meet in members homes or barns every other week for services.  They have communion twice a year.  The local lay-leader is selected by a lottery system of drawing a name from a hat.  The services are held in German. The Mennonite groups are more liberal.  They have church buildings with a pastor.  They tend to be more liberal with their day-to-day rules as well.  The y...