Thursday 8/3
This is the last week of Pageant here in
Nauvoo. The Nauvoo & British
Pageants alternate the days they perform and
tonight the Nauvoo Pageant was presented.
A night scene in Nauvoo as a Woman wants
to be baptized .... she does not want
to wait until morning .... Not even one hour more !
The Temple is finished and the members
enter to receive their endowments even with only
a few hours left before they must leave
their beautiful City, homes & temple.
The finale with the "real" Nauvoo Temple
all lit up above the stage.
The Pageant is amazing and so powerful.
It acts out the stories we tell everyday here in
Nauvoo in our sites. The experiences of
the Saints are told by Parley P. Pratt as if he were
speaking with us .... modern day Saints.
He says when we are here in Nauvoo they are here.
They love when we come here to remember them.
Friday 8/4
Today was our P-Day and after a relaxing morning
we decided to go to ....
The "Old Fort Madison" in the city of
Fort Madison, Iowa
It is right on the Mississippi River Bank.
It served as a Factory or Trading Post
from 1803 - 1813 mostly for the Indians in the area.
We left Fort Madison and drove another
hour or so N/W to the little
town of Eldon, Iowa.
Eldon is famous because it is the where
this little white house is located.
If you notice the Gothic style window
upstairs you will recognize it as the
backdrop for .....
Grant Wood's "American Gothic" painting.
We now have our own version of the
American Gothic painting !
On our way back to Nauvoo we shared the road with ....
A little Amish Buggy !
Saturday 8/5
We have looked forward to seeing these ....
American Lotus plants again this summer ....
growing all along the Mississippi River.
The leaves are huge...like 2 feet across
and the flowers are beautiful.
This year we found one of these ....
A Weeping White Pine tree. It is just around the corner
from our house and right on the main Highway ....
(Not exactly sure how we missed it last year)
The White Pine needles
all drooping down are very unique & pretty.
On our way home from work today we just
couldn't resist stopping by the Lyon Drug Store
The Bottle Gourds just keep on growing and ....
what are these ?
They look like giant green beans .... amazing!
(might be a New Guinea Bean)
A type of squash from Africa
Tuesday 8/8
While serving at the Wilford Woodruff Home
today Linda gave a tour to a family.
Part way through the tour the father says:
"Sister Waite....I know you from Bend"
It was Jim Carey, Son of Jack & Shirlee Carey.
He is the same age as our daughter, Trudi.
We all lived in Bend together for many years.
It was fun to reconnect with him and
to meet his sweet family.
Later today they went to the Browning Gun Shop,
where Steve was serving, to say hello.
Wednesday 8/9
Over by the Lyon Drug Store is this ....
Weeping Beech Tree
We heard it is quite an amazing tree so we
stopped by on our way to work today.
1st Steve peeked inside .....
then he WENT inside ....
and finally he said ....
"come on in .... it's amazing!"
So Linda went in too, and ....
He was right is was amazing inside.
From outside you would never imagine it would
be like this .... a perfect kids clubhouse.
Tonight was the last time ....
S/Meikle & E/DeWitt
(they play Jimmy & Marie)
performed with our cast sooo .....
We took a cast picture !
We have come to love these missionaries and
we will miss them when we leave.
We have three casts here in Nauvoo
(Sarah Granger, Emma Hale & Lucy Mack)
We are part of the Lucy Mack Cast.....
and, of course, it is THE best Cast in the Mission !
(just ask them & they will tell you the same)
Thursday 8/10
Early this evening we had another ferocious storm.
This one came with very strong winds.
(but no tornado threats)
After the storm passed we drove around Nauvoo
to see what kind of damage had occurred ....
This tree lost two large limbs ...
one up high and one down low.
You can see our little red house in the background.
More damage across from the Tin Shop ....
several large limbs off a few different trees.
Right across the street from the Print Shop crews
were already working on clearing the road of this
damaged tree .... it split right in half.
And this happened just two blocks north of us
where our friends, the Witbeck's live.
That tree is the same
kind of tree that we have in our front yard ....
(silver maple...they rot from the inside out)
and we worry every time there is a wind storm ....
you can see why.
Elder Witbeck works as a FM Missionary
and this is his church-owned work Pick Up.
It is a blessing that no one was in it
when this happened ....
it must have made a terrible noise though.
There are limbs all over the place and the
FM ground crews will be busy
tomorrow picking them all up !
Friday 8/11
Our Final Sunset by the Mississippi Show
The "Dancing Grandma's" had kind of
a rocky beginning. But after some
refining we finally got it together and had a
good time performing in the
"Grandma's Feather Bed" number with the YPM's.
One thing we will miss here in Nauvoo is
the drive down
the "Great River Road"
In the Summer the drive through the trees
is beautiful.
and in the evening the Sunsets are amazing
the goslings in the spring are so cute
The American Lotus blooming all along the shoreline
and the barges are amazing to watch going
up and down the river
we have never gotten tired of these sights
as we have traveled along the
Mississippi River and we will miss them.
Saturday 8/12
Today was the last "performance" day for
the YPM's
(Young Performing Missionaries)
The Nauvoo Brass Band plays amazing tunes
as they travel down main street on their
horse-drawn band wagon.
They stop at the Cultural Hall, Pioneer Pastimes
and across the street from the Print Shop.
There were two Jimmy & Marie couples
this year and each cast had their
own Pa
Our cast's Pa was E/Spencer
S/Hipwell and E/Sykes performed the
Jimmy & Marie Vignette for the last time tonight
with our cast,
we also honored our director,
(it was her last night also), with a bouquet of Roses
so ..... we took another picture !
Sunday 8/13
Tonight we honored the YPM's at a
Mission Sociable.
They sang to us then,
We sang "Farewell Nauvoo" to them.
(Then they all hugged and cried)
These young people come here in the spring
bringing with them excitement, energy and
young, bright testimonies.
They work harder than anyone else in this mission.
They learn 65 songs and 10 shows,
including dance routines, in just
three weeks. They perform their hearts outs
all summer long from about 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
then one day it is all over
and they go home and Nauvoo is just not the same.
We will miss them !
Monday 8/14
Today we got our final schedule ....
ILLINOIS NAUVOO MISSION
Missionary Assignments by Name
For the Week beginning
03 September 2017
 |
There it is .... Wed 9/6 .... Fare Well
Kind of hard to believe.
For 18 months we have lived in Nauvoo and day after day
we have walked the streets and told the stories of
the faithful and courageous saints that sacrificed so much
here in the 1840's ... we will miss this place.
Today we picked up our
"Farewell Nauvoo" photos
Tradition is that when your Mission ends you give
each remaining Missionary a picture
for them to remember you by ....
This is ours ....
"These Are a Few of our Favorite Things"
Monday 8/14
Tonight we went out to eat ....
and not at a fast food place, but a real restaurant .... sort of.
Ogo's has an "All You Can Eat Chicken" Buffet
on Monday nights.
It's a pretty good deal and includes not only
the main course but also
the Salad Bar, Potato Bar and Dessert Bar ....
All for only $6.50.
It's kind of casual, but the food was good.
(we ate Waaaay toooo Much !)
Tuesday 8/15
Steve worked on the small loom today at the
Family Living Center.
He and Elder Judd unloaded the drum and
Sister's Winegar & Daines began cutting the
rugs and runners apart.
They cut between the spacer boards and once the
boards are removed it leaves fringe !
Today there were 2 rugs and 18 runners on the drum.
Now it's time to start tying knots !
240 knots on each piece
Today, just as we were finishing up our shift at
the Family Living Center, this family
walked in for a tour.
Jamie (Warby) Wing grew up in Bend, Oregon.
It is so much fun to see how all those
Bend "kids" have grown up and have beautiful
families of their own.
(Brian & his kids were also here .... again 😊)
Thursday 8/17
One of the things Elder Waite does here in Nauvoo
is make Prairie Diamond Rings
from horseshoe nails
these are the nails....a different size nail for each
different size ring and
the "fancy" machine that bends them.
slide a nail in the slot ....
rotate the handle ....
remove the ring ....
just as easy as that !!
Friday 8/18
Today was a RED LETTER DAY for
Kevin & Lani
Connor, Crew & Sydney
At 2:15 p.m. Kevin sent this picture in an
anxiously awaited text message
Our new baby girl....Mom & Baby doing fine !
8 lbs 14 oz delivered by C-Section
No Name Announced .... Yet !
don't you just love those chubby little cheeks?
Saturday 8/19
This little baby girl now has a name ....
Shea Elle Waite
(pronounced Shay L)
Tonight on Instagram this was posted by Lani ....
Crew, Connor, Sydney & Shea
"These sweet hearts are just smitten with our
little Shea Elle. I have 4 kids yikes!"
We love this little family of SIX !
and can't wait to meet her in person in just
three weeks from today.
Sunday 8/20
This is the way we do dishes in Nauvoo ....
you guessed it .....
NO ELECTRIC DISHWASHER
Every Sunday we make a
3 x 5 index card with our schedule for
the next 4 weeks.
This are our last 3 x 5 cards
only 3 weeks and the last week is
empty as far as serving in the sites is concerned.
Monday 8/21
Today the United States experienced
a Total Solar Eclipse
Our friends in Idaho saw this above the
soon to be dedicated Meridian Temple ....
Dark clear sky with the moon as it moved
in front of the sun.
In Nauvoo we saw this ....
Clouds !
Hmmm .... not such a memorable experience for us.
We did however, watch the eclipse unfold
all across the U.S.A. on our laptop
and it was amazing !
"The Diamond Ring Effect"
According to the internet,
This total solar eclipse was particularly rare because:
it's the first time since June 8, 1918,
that the path of totality exclusively crossed
the continental United States and ....
It's also the first continent-wide eclipse to be visible
only from the U. S. since 1776.
Wednesday 8/23
Today was one of the hardest days
of our mission.
At the end of our Mission Training meeting
we all viewed a short slide show
with pictures of all the Missionaries that will be
going home before our next training meeting.
Elder and Sister Waite are among that group.
After the Slide Show ....
we all stood in the front
of the theater and listened (and cried)
as the theater full of missionaries sang
"Farewell Nauvoo" to us.
We will leave the mission on Tuesday, September 5th
and plan on arriving home on September 11,
after visiting our
new granddaughter, Shea, in Bountiful.
All day long Missionaries continued to express their
sadness at our leaving them. Of course they
are happy for us, but they have left us with sweet words
of gratitude for our friendship with them.
they have become our family here in Nauvoo and
Yes .... we will miss each of them.
This evening we performed in Rendezvous.
Even though we have been part of
this show our whole mission, tonight we had
a couple of debuts !
We performed, for the 1st time, in the chorus of
the vignette, Noah & Sophia
and ...
as Thomas & Elizabeth in the show's new Finale.
Our MTC friends, the Trythall's performed with us
as George & Agatha
It was the first time Linda got to wear her
handmade "Fancy Nauvoo Bonnet" in the show.
Friday 8/25
Today we did some last minute souvenir shopping
at our favorite place.
The Allyn House - Nauvoo, Illinois
Here are some of the things we purchased ....
The last piece for our Nauvoo Village
the Red Brick Store
A Lantern
Christmas Tree Ornament
Joseph & Hyrum crystal etching
While shopping around we came across
this cute T-shirt
All True Statements !
Down the street at Zion's Mercantile
we found a couple more items ....
Scovil Temple Plate
Small Temple statuette
Saturday 8/26
Tonight was Linda's
Final Rendezvous Performance on the Piano.
She played it nearly perfect ....
Just a couple of unnoticeable mistakes.
At the end of the show
they introduce the Accompanist ....
she stands up .... waves ....sits back down
and continues to play the exit music.
Linda has done this 143 times ....
Well done Sister Waite !
Monday 8/28
Today Linda has been serving with two of her
favorite & CRAZY Sister friends ....
Sisters Duvall & Trythall
and yes....it is very quiet around Nauvoo right now
and we have lots of free time on our hands.
The Angel Trumpet plants at the
Visitor's Center are beautiful!
Thursday 8/31
The Last day of August and our last P-Day.
Only a few more days left on our Mission.
This morning after turning in our
Site Outlines notebook and
my Rendezvous Music Binder & CD
we stopped at the Mission Mail Room and
distributed our "Farewell Picture"
Leaving is getting more "real" every day !
And we made our last trip down to ....
Keokuk to go shopping.
Elder Waite's Site shoes have ....
served him well ....
so he said Farewell to them.
This afternoon there came a knock on our front door.
We opened it found .....
Bob & Sharon Hileman standing there.
It was fun to see these familiar, friendly faces here
in beautiful Nauvoo.
Tonight was our finale performance of
Thomas & Elizabeth
Elizabeth & Thomas Perry
Alias
Sister & Elder Waite
After the show we all gather outside the Cultural Hall
and greet the guests as they exit the hall.
Waite, Trythall, Cook, Barker, Gross
Waite as Thomas & Elizabeth
Trythall as George & Agatha and Noah & Sophia
Cook as the Editor & Relief Society President
Barker as the Doctor & Sister Hess
Gross as Jed & Annie
These are the 5 couples from our MTC Class that
were assigned to the Lucy Mack Cast.
We will all be going home next week....
where has the time gone?
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