Diamond Fork Hot Springs

My roommates, friends, and I went on this beautiful hike in Spanish Fork. My mom and sister Amanda, and her friend Emily are in town, so Amanda and Emily came with us, and that was a lot of fun. The hot springs are BEAUTIFUL! I had so much fun putting my head through a hole in a rock to go through the waterfall and then swimming around in the natural hot tubs.

As we hiked up, I noticed that the water changed a different color. It looked kind of misty or foggy. As we got to the hot springs, I learned that it was whatever is in the hot springs that made it that way. The interesting thing, though, is that there was red water and blue water. The red water was really hot and the blue water was usually warm or cool. The waterfall was cool water, but directly below it and to the right was really hot water because that is where the head of the hot springs is. On the left side it was cool water. We got there fairly late, so the light was not good for pictures, but they are still pretty good so you can get an idea of the beauty of this place.

Word of caution if you ever decide to visit here: People do skinny dip. Fortunately for us, the people there at the same time as us had a little bit of decency, but some in the group did have some extra unwanted scenery. I didn't, so I am glad about that!

 In the picture below you can see the red and blue water.

Above is the head of the hot springs. It just bubbles out. It is very hot water!

Rejoice, again I say, Rejoice!

A couple hours from now I will be headed across the Mississippi River on my way back to Utah. It's hard to believe I've only been here two weeks because I have learned and grown so much. Yesterday I finally had a chance to visit the flats and see some of my favorite sites. As I sat at Joseph Smith grave, the Nauvoo Brass Band played the hymn "Rejoice! The Lord is King," hymn number 66. I found it very fitting for how I was feeling at that moment. Usually upon reaching the point where I know I will soon be leaving Nauvoo again, I am sad and depressed and think of how my leaving is similar to how the early saints left. This time it is different, although I think my feelings are more like how the saints felt when they left than I earlier thought. I feel to "Lift up [my] heart, Lift up [my] voice" because of the experiences I've had. How could I not rejoice? I have fulfilled many of my dreams-being a missionary for the church, being a part of the pageant, wearing a pioneer costume here, and even, as of last night, going on stage. (That happened because someone fainted during a scene and she was needed in the next scene, so they hurriedly asked me if I would take her place on that scene. It is one of the most powerful scenes of the pageant where the temple is being raised up, so I am incredibly grateful to have been a part of that.) To me it is evidence that God is mindful of my righteous desires and when I am engaged in His work, He blesses me according to my needs and wants.

So much is going through my mind and heart right now that I can't express. I feel that I came here for a purpose (everyone does) and I feel that have accomplished that purpose, plus some. I came here knowing it was a choice opportunity and that I was here for someone else, not me. It turned out that I was here for more than just one person and people were here for me in return. If you ask anyone in my cast why I was here, they would probably say my example of being a missionary. Everyday without fail I've had at least one person ask if I was on a mission or have or will serve a mission and had them comment on my skills and testimony. It is humbling to be told that since that is always been my desire. Last night I got 11 referrals and had extinsive conversations with some very special people after the pageant. I bore pure testimony to them and it felt good and right. Two of these people was a non-member couple. They were ripe and ready to harvest after the pageant last night. As I spoke with them and bore testimony, even when they were interrupted by others, they would immediately turn back to listen to what my companion and I had to say. They were drinking it all up. They already will be getting a cd and so I invited them to learn more about the church as I bore testimony of it's influence and benefit in my life. It will be a treasured experience that I won't soon forget.

I began and ended my mission here by reading Alma 26. It really describes how I feel:
1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we astarted from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?


2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how amany of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made binstruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

4 Behold, athousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.

5 Behold, the afield was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the bsickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your csheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.

6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the astorm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the aharvest, and they are his; and he will braise them up at the last day.

8 aBlessed be the name of our God; let us bsing to his praise, yea, let us give cthanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever.

9 For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with ahatred against us, yea, and they would also have been bstrangers to God.

10 And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying: Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting.

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not aboast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my bjoy is full, yea, my heart is brim with cjoy, and I will rejoice in my God.

12 Yea, I know that I am anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will bnot boast of myself, but I will cboast of my God, for in his dstrength I can do all ethings; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

13 Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of ahell; and they are brought to bsing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?

14 Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the achains of hell.

15 Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting adarkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting blight, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.

16 Therefore, let us aglory, yea, we will bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

17 Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, and apolluted state?

18 Behold, we went forth even in wrath, with mighty threatenings to adestroy his church.

19 Oh then, why did he not consign us to an awful destruction, yea, why did he not let the sword of his justice fall upon us, and doom us to eternal adespair?

20 Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting agulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls.

21 And now behold, my brethren, what anatural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is bnone that cknoweth these things, save it be the penitent.

22 Yea, he that arepenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good bworks, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the cmysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be dgiven to ereveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.

23 Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they alaughed us to scorn?

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the aincorrectness of the btraditions of their fathers, as cstiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the dshedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

25 And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us.

26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.

27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to aturn back, behold, the Lord bcomforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with cpatience thine dafflictions, and I will give unto you success.

28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.

29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their asynagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been bstoned, and taken and bound with cstrong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.

30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our ajoy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the afruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are bmany; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

32 For behold, they had rather asacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have bburied their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren.

33 And now behold I say unto you, has there been so great love in all the land? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, there has not, even among the Nephites.

34 For behold, they would take up arms against their brethren; they would not suffer themselves to be slain. But behold how amany of these have laid down their lives; and we know that they have gone to their God, because of their love and of their hatred to sin.

35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all apower, ball wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a cmerciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a bbranch of the tree of Israel, and has been clost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, dwanderers in a strange land.

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every bpeople, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.
 
 
I don't know how many people have or will be influenced by the things I have done here, but I know that I can leave here rejoicing for what I have tried to do and what they have done for me and for the many seeds I have planted.
 
When visiting the sites yesterday, I felt like I needed to go to the Heber C. Kimball home. I love visiting the homes anyway, but I really felt like I needed to. I soon learned why. The sister missionary guiding the tour told me about the Kimball family crest that was hanging in the front room. She said that the words on it translated mean, "Courage, not fear." It really impressed me. That is exactly what the early saints had as they worked to establish Zion where ever they were. At the end of the tour, the sister felt that she needed to bear her testimony. She testified that we never go through trials alone IF we ask God in faith for help and the things that we need. She said that when Joseph Smith went into the grove, he KNEW that he would recieve an answer to his prayer. That is the kind of faith we need when we ask God. I know from my own experiences that God hears prayers and fulfills all His promises to His children, so I can also ask in faith KNOWING that God will grant me the help that I need according to His will. I can pray with that kind of faith and have the help I need as I go through trails. When she testified of this, I thought about my walk down Parley Steet and the impressions I had this past week when I did that. I am never going to walk down the equivalent of Parley Street in my life alone. I have friends and family around me to support me and bear the trial with me. I am never alone. At church today one speaker said that as we leave Nauvoo, Nauvoo is in us, we take a part of it with us. It's not a tangible thing I am taking with me, but something inside of me. I know that a part of me is staying in Nauvoo, too.
 
So, although I may shed tears as I leave, they are more joyous tears of rejoicing than they are of saddness. I will be back. I don't know when and I don't know now what my purpose will be, but I will be back and I am taking a bit of Nauvoo with me. Nauvoo has changed me once again. I hope to apply what I have learned to be a better sister, daughter, friend, roommate, visiting teacher, gospel teacher, and eventually a wife and mother.

19 Referrals

Last night I got 19 referrals, the most ever in one night. I love being a missionary! The pageant president asked me to talk again at the missionary meeting before so that I could tell people what I do. One man came up to be before the pageant started and said he applied what I said and he got 11 referrals. That is how many I had at that time, too, so that was cool to know that I helped him.

Jeff Dickamore, who portrays Joseph Smith in the pageant gave a vignette of portions of the King Follett sermon. It was at King Follett's funeral and talks about amazing gospel principles and truths. It was very powerful to hear Jeff do it. It was as if I were listening to Joseph Smith give it himself. And with Jeff's added testimony before and after, it was incredible.

My cast is performing! Those are my kids and friends!

Walk down Parley Street with the Buckners.

View of temple from Sarah Granger Kimball home front yard. Pretty amazing.

Sarah Granger Kimball home. She is one of the women who helped start the Relief Society by sewing shirts for temple workers. This home was here when before Nauvoo was begun, when it was Commerce. It managed to survive everything after Nauvoo and stands here today. Pretty cool.

"Nothing can erase what Nauvoo has given us"

I am so grateful to be involved in the Nauvoo Pageant and have the opportunity of going to one of the most beautiful and historical temples in the church. On Tuesday, many of the people in my cast and I did a session in the temple. It was awesome! Afterwards we went up to the fourth floor to wait for a sweet treat. The windows of this room were the red, white, and blue stars that you see at the top of the temple from the outside. How cool is that?! It was awesome to look through it and see the Joseph and Hyrum statue and look across the Mississipi. But it got better! We were taken in small groups to climb up a narrow and steep staircase to the top of the temple tower where the bell is! It was super hot, but awesome! I climbed up as far as I could and touched the top of the dome and then I touched the bell! It rang while were were up there, so that was cool. The view of the tower was incredible. If you think the view coming out of the temple is awe inspiring, that was nothing to this! You could see for miles around and everything was just so beautiful. I couldn't help but picture the city blocks filled with houses and carriages and the early saints walking around.

That night my cast performed it's first show. It was a little down because I was backstage and not able to watch them or perform with them, but now I know that I am performing in a different, but just as important way.

Yesterday was awesome, too. I did sealings and inititories in the temple before going down to the baptistry to help the youth in my cast do baptisms for the dead. I love it down there because it brings back memories of my first experience in Nauvoo when I went there every week. Going to the temple to do the work has a even special feeling with it when I know that this is the place were it all was restored again. This is the place where my ancestors were endowed and sealed to their families for eternity. This is the place where they first learned of baptisms for the dead and first did those. It is sad to think most of them never saw it finished, but it has often been quoted here that Joseph Smith saw the temple illuminated in a vision. What temple did he see? The one they built or this one? We know they could not have illuminated their temple back then, so it is amazing to think that he probably saw this one. This is his temple that he dedicated to the Lord. It is just so inspiring to see it and be around it everyday.

In the missionary meeting before the pageant last night, I was asked to be the one who begins the congregation in reciting "The standard of truth" quote. It is a very powerful quote that talks about how nothing can stop this church from progressing. I was honored to do so because I know that it's true. I feel it when I am here and especially as I am serving as a missionary here. So many times these past two weeks I have felt like Alma in the Book of Mormon as he was serving his mission. The joy of testifying and bringing others to Christ is like nothing else. Wanting to preached to all people and help them feel the love and blessings of the gospel fills my soul. All these things gave me power and motivation last night as I went to the fair. I have started having companions to go with to talk to people. The Buckners like to compete for referrals, but I really just want to talk to people and testify. However, yesterday I had in the back of my mind that it would be nice to get 10 referrals that night, although it would be a stretch. I first talked to people with Josh Buckner, who is 16 or 17 and then I went with Sarah Chapple who is 14. I had many good conversations and got 3 referrals. Although, I went up to a large youth group and strongly challenged them to each give two referrals by the end the night. I was bold with them, but I have a feelings they will follow through. I just wish I could have followed up with them after the pageant, but that is impossible with the crowd.

Last night was my cast's second peformance and I was the kid catcher on the front side of the stage, so I got to watch and record parts of the pageant. I recorded parts that have lines that have come to mean things to me or are ones that are just funny. The whole thing is good, so I recorded a lot. :) While watching it I was really impressed by everything it said about the temple and it's blessings. I was especially impressed as it talked about families being together forever through the sealing power in the temple. I think it was because I had just done sealings in the temple earlier in the day, but it really increased my testimony of eternal famililes and what it much have meant to them to know that their families would be together forever whatever happened as they went west.

After the pageant I went around with Sarah as my companion. After most everyone had left, we had 9 referrals!!! I wanted to get one more to make it 10, so we went to a new bagpiper and got one from him. I got a total of 13 referrals last night!!! It was incredible! It's not so much about the referral cards as it is about the people who will be getting the cd of the pageant and having access to the spirit that it brings. I am excited for tonight.

I titled the blog as I did because that is what we printed on our cast shirts and it is very true for me. I've learned things here in visits past, but I've learned so much about myself and about the gospel and the early saints that will never be erased. Mostly I've learned how to be a missionary, what works, what doesn't, and how easy it is to testify to people of the truth.

One last thing. This morning I went down the trail of hope with lots of people in my cast. I was able to walk down with the Buckner family and my two family support friends. Members of the core cast stood along the trail and portrayed different said and things that they said. It made it come alive and even more real. I felt chills as I heard the horse hooves coming down the street as carriage drivers took people down Parley street that way. The people, the sounds, just everything made me feel like the early saints were there. Someone was playing a violin, and in the distance we could hear the bagpipers playing by the Mississippi river. In the past I have always walked down Parley street in solitude because I wanted to feel the Spirit and sacredness of it. However, I realized today that I was missing out on the greatest experience ever. I realized that not one of the early saints walked that trail alone. Every thing we heard and read as we walked down the street testified of how much hope and faith the saints had as they were leaving. They were sad, but not sorrowful or depressed, which are the feelings I usually feel when I walk down that street. Today, however, I began to understand a little better how they had that hope. They were not alone. Just like I had an adopted family to walk down the trail with who I know love and care for me, the early saints, who had little to nothing and even some without family, walked down Parley street as a community--family. The Zion-like community brings faith and hope and bouys a person up and let's them know that it's going to be okay. The other things that I feel led them to go forward across the river with faith, joy, and hope is their knowlege that they were following God's prophet and they had made covenants with God in His holy temple. Brigham Young has a quote where he called it "The fire of the covenant." It is what gave them the strength to leave and the strength and motivation to go back to rescue others who were stuck on the plains years later. The covenants gave them peace, power, protection, and perspective to endure the wilderness.

I wish I could put into words all the feelings and thoughts I've had on this, but I know that there is a reason why they had to finished the temple and be endowed before they left. I know that the saints took the Zion-like community with them across the plains and that is how they made it through. That feeling is still here. They are here. The pageant begins and ends with the lines, "When you're here, we're here." The final scene of the pageant movingly explains why that is. They took with them what they built in Nauvoo and taught it to their children, and they taught their children and it has been handed down from generation to generation until now we have the church that we do. Coming to Nauvoo is like experiencing the seeing the roots while tasting the fruit. You can feel the early Saints here every where. This place is sacred. Yes, the weather is terrible... it's hot, you're always wet with sweat and dehydrated, but you get used to it because everyone who comes here, comes for a purpose and I feel it in everything I do and with everyone I meet.

Performing this week!

 I am very excited for my Blue cast. They are performing this week! We had a dress rehearsal last night and they did fantastic! Granted, I was backstage and didn't see it. I will get to see them on Thursday and Friday when I am one of the kid catchers sitting up front in case a kids runs off the stage, or falls off. It's happened... From the comments I heard, they did amazing and I am not suprised. They worked so hard and have learned their parts so well. I plan to record my favorite parts of the pageant as they perform it, so you can see it. It is truly an incredible pageant.

Last week I decided to be bold and ask the costuming people if I could wear a costume at the country fair. They said yes, but for some reason it was up for debate and so I wasn't sure if I could keep it. I haven't heard so far that I can't keep it, so I will be wearing it again tonight and I am pretty excited. I am going to put some pictures of things I'm doing and if I have time I will caption them. In just a bit I will be going to do a session in the Nauvoo temple. I am VERY excited about this!!!! Because my cast is performing this week, I have freetime during the day to see the sites and rest. Yesterday I did the tour of the sites owned by the Community of Christ. I found it very ironic that I had to pay three dollars to have a tour of Joseph Smith's homes when if he were here, he would have welcomed all of us in, showed us around and even fed us and all for free. The tour person even said that they welcomed everyone to there home. It just made me kind of sad and wonder what Joseph would think about that.

Enjoy the pictures!!

Stone Arched Bridge, just south on the highway about 1/4 mile of Nauvoo. A scene of the Joseph Smith movie was filmed here. I know why... It's beautiful!

Kids LOVE catching little frogs and fireflies. They are really easy to catch and fun to hold.

Two of the core cast got food poisoning the night before this, one plays Parley and the other plays George Fordham who is supposed to be in this scene where he asks the prophet to tell the story of the first vision. Here is little brother David, the blonde one in front, did his lines for him and I thought this was the cutest picture ever.Another funny story is there is a scene where two little kids get stuck in the mud and Joseph pulls them out. One day at rehearsal, Jeff, who plays Joseph, said his line to the kids wrong and kept doing it until he just said something like it. Then, he changed a line. He is supposed to say, "Don't mind the mud, we all get stuck sometimes," but he changed it to "Don't mind the lines, we all forget them sometimes." It was very funny.

This is a powerful scene of the martydom. Joseph and Hyrum walk off the stage together side by side. At the performance, the whole stage is dark except for a spot light on them that follows them as they walk off the side ramp into the audience then the light leaves them. It is very powerful.

My former roommate Annette Miles is serving a mission this summer in the Nauvoo Brass Band and I saw her while visiting the sites. 

Back stage of the show just before it is starting. You can see the metal piece of the temple that they eventual put cloth on and put up.

Finale scene, also very powerful. I can't put it into words you have to come and see it for yourself!

 Easton, Kate, and Lauren backstage with us between scenes they are in. They are my favorites... I have lots of them here.

View of puppet show. I won't be doing this this week, but I did last week. This week I will go around talking to people doing missionary work!!

Easton needed naps during morning rehearsal so I held him and watched. One time he fell asleep with a chocolate in his mouth and got it all over my shirt sleeve. We pulled most of it out, but when he woke up, he ended up eating the rest of it. 

All the kids and family support after an amazing time playing water games at the high school.

My district family, the Chapples. I help them do their hair in the evenings. They've kind of adopted me these two weeks.

I had to take this picture... it's a classic.

We got our dresses!!

The other family that adopted me, the Buckners. Br. Buckner was a session director of EFY that I had. The oldest son is missing in this picture, so we will take another one. They are lots of fun. I feel like the boys are like my brothers, we tease each other  so much.

Backstage view of the show.

Bloomin' Bloomers!

Yesterday was amazing! The weather was great and even better the humidity has lessened. In the afternoon I have about an hour to myself before the next rehearsal starts, so I decided to go to costuming to ask them if it were at all possible for me and the three other girls who do family support this week could wear pioneer dresses for the fair. After going through the right chain of approval, they said YES!!! I am very excited for have my dream of dressing up as a pioneer in Nauvoo come true. This is legit! I went through the same costuming process that the family cast goes through. They have a huge room of all the pioneer dresses assorted by color. The color you wear is determined by which district you are in. I am in Anna Fordham's District, so I am going to wear red. We looked for my size, but they didn't have dresses made in my size, so they learned that they need to make them. Instead, I had to get a bigger size and they make it fit me. They pin in and hem the bottom. They do this for everyone who comes to the pageant, so you can imagine how busy they are! If they finish it, I should be able to wear it tonight for my last time leading the puppet show. Next week at the fair I will go around talking to people. I'm very excited!

The picture above is of Megan Chapple. We had a debate about who's slip (or whatever they called it back then) was bigger. She kept saying her's was and we didn't believe her until she took it off and whoa! it was huge!! We have a picture of four of us fitting into it at once! They told her it was an one size fits all, but there were definitly smaller ones!

Last night was amazing for many reasons. I got four referrals, three at the puppet show and one after the show. I am learning what approach is best and what questions are good to ask. It is much easier to talk to and testify to people after the pageant than before because people are so impressed and softened by the show. It really is so amazing! I don't think I will ever, ever get tired of watching it. I am blessed to get to see it so many times while I'm here. The finale is just incredible. Last night, like the first night, the weather was perfect and we had a huge crowd. The Spirit was strong and everything was just.... I don't even know what I can do to help anyone who was not there understand what it felt like, but it was amazing. Douglas, the youngest of the Chapples was asleep on my lap for the finale, but his grandma knew I wanted to talk to people, so she said that she would take me. I am so grateful because had she not, I would have missed a priceless and memorable experience.

I decided that I should just talk to everyone, whether or not they have a sticker that indicates they had already been talked to or even if they are members. I talked to the first couple I came across. It ended up being non-members, one from Illinois, and the other from Ugunda. I always start my converstaion with people after the pageant by asking them how they liked the pageant and then I ask them what part  of the pageant impressed them the most. This is a golden question that really opens up the way for really great conversations and testifying. This couple said that they were just really overwhelmed by everything, not just the pageant, but Nauvoo and the spirit and the people. They said something that made me want to ask them how they found themselves in Nauvoo. They said that they were wanting to get away for the weekend and online they saw something about Nauvoo and another place south of here. They just kind of decided to come to Nauvoo, not knowing what they were going to do or what they should expect. The woman asked me how someone could go into the temple and I explained to them that only members could and even then they have to have a special recommendation. I then explained and testifyed of the things that happen in the temple and it was just really amazing. The thing that really amazed me was as I talked about the temple and testified of famillies being together forever, they said that tonight was the first time they had ever heard of that idea. Wow. Having grown up in the church, I think we take that knowlege for granted sometimes and don't realize how it really does shape our lives. I asked them if they were interested in having the music from the pageant and they said that they already filled out a card for the cd. Before they left they said that they were so impressed by all that the people here were doing and he wanted me to thank everyone for them. Just as they were leaving, I really felt like I needed to plainly testify of what they saw and how the gospel has influenced my life and so I did. I really felt the spirit strongly as I spoke with them and even got emotional, which is a bit weird in a conversation like that. He responded by saying that he was glad that I had such a strong belief in my life and was thankful for all that we are doing here and that he will study it out for himself. I recommended him to visit http://www.lds.org/ and http://www.mormon.org/ to learn more about our beliefs. I really hope that he does and will see that the pamphlet from the anti's that he was holding is not true about us.

I love this pageant. I am so grateful to be a part of it. I know that this is where I am supposed to be and that I have been prepared to be a missionary here. This is my mission. I love the spirit that is here and the opportunities I have to serve and testify and learn from others. I do hope that I can come back next year or some year in the future to actually perform in the show, but I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be this year.

Rehearsals

Yesterday and today are about the same in regard to schedule. In the morning, I am at the Groves at 8 am. The stage for the pageant is right next to that, so the families rehearse for a couple of hours. While they rehearse I am at a tent with a bunch of toys and activities for the kids to do if they get tired of rehearsing and need a break. Yesterday I had fun pulling a little two year old in a wagon. Today we had some pioneer games that we did with them and that was a lot of fun for them. At about 10 am we have District meetings. My district is Anna Fordham and I am with the Chapples. They have adopted me and it is a lot of fun. It is a widowed mother, a grandmother, and their 3 girls and 1 boy. They are all so fun. After district meetings we rehearse for another 2 hours until lunch. These past two days I've gone to lunch with the Buckner family. I met their dad doing EFY a couple summers ago when he was the session director of a session I did. They have three boys and one girl. I love teasing the boys and they tease me right back. As I type this, I have their little girl in a stroller asleep because she really needed it, so for the past hour and a half I've been stroller her around as they've rehearsed. After lunch we meet at the jr. high for more rehearsing at two. We get the kids and do activities with them during that time. Yesterday they made sock puppets and learned a song in the pageant. Today they made wagons and learned a missionary song. We then have dinner. Yesterday it was at 4:30 but they moved it up to 4 so we have more time to get ready for the evening. After eating dinner, I go with the Chapples to help them get ready. This week they conduct the Frontier Country Fair in their costumes and then go on for the finale. Because the Chapples have so many girls, it is a great help for them to have me and I really love doing their hair and helping them out. We have to be at a missionary prayer meeting at 6 pm, but the last two days we've been a little late because we were getting ready. Hopefully, the earlier dinner will make it better for us to be on time. I sure hope so because at the beginning of the meeting they stand and recite "The Standard of Truth" quote, which is really powerful. We had a general authority, a seventy, speak to us yesterday, so that was pretty cool. After the meeting is over, we stand and sing "Called to Serve." It's really cool to sing it and know that I really am a missionary singing it! Actually, a couple people asked me yesterday if I ever have or wanted to serve a mission because they said that I am really good at talking to the people and trying to get referrals. I secretly loved that. It's not as hard as I thought it would be to talk to people. I got one referral yesterday from a member. We ask them if they know anyone who might be interested in the soundtrack to the Pageant. Only nonmembers can have it. It makes getting referrals easy. We also give everyone we talk to a sticker so we know if they have already been talked to. After the pageant, the stickers are void because we can testify to anyone. People are more receptive after the pageant and it is very easy to ask what impressed them most and then to testify of that thing. It is really fun. The only hard part is that there are so many in the cast that it's hard to find someone that isn't already talking to someone in the cast. I forgot to mention that on the first night, there were about 3,000 people in attendance. That is the biggest they've every had, they said. Last night we had a lot less. It most likely is because of the rain and that it wasn't opening night. The worst part was that lots of people left because it started raining. It didn't pour, but a lot of people left because of how wet we got as we watched. It didn't stop the pageant though, so that was good. Keep the prayers coming, though, because we want people to stay and watch the show. It's amazing.

Last night numerous things in the pageant stuck out to me, but the biggest one was that everyone is needed, even the children. Everyone has a part and is warmly welcomed the take part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The other part that I think will be a theme of these two weeks is what is quoted on the back of our t-shirts "To give more than we had, we gave of our ourselves." It is coming to mean so much to me that I don't know if I can explain it. It goes along the lines that this life isn't about me, it is about others. It's about having charity and serving others as Christ served.

Just as a side note, the guy that plays Joseph Smith in the pageant is pretty much amazing. It is interesting that on and off the stage, he has mannerisms that remind me of what the prophet Joseph was like. He's pretty busy so I haven't talked to him much, but my district grandmother insisted that I take a picture with him really quick before we had to go down the the country fair.

The country fair starts at 7 pm. We do that until just after 8. The pageant parade to the pageant stage is at 8:30. It begins with the bag pipers and flag bearers and then other cast members marching to the stage. We then sing the National Anthem and say a prayer. From there, the pageant begins with Parley P. Pratt entering the stage whistling a catchy tune.

Sorry I don't have pictures. They would all the look the same to you because it is just the kids doing different activities or of people rehearsing on stage. I will try to get a picture of my district so I can put that on here.

Premier Show

This family is was assigned the puppet show. They do the show while we hand out sock puppets to the kids, beads that they get at each activity, and talk to people who come. During the show, when the kids hear workers, the dogs, or Mom and Dad, they say certain things. It's really cute. They love the show and it is fun to see the kids get the puppets. The puppets my ward made were handed out last night and they loved them!

Mariane, Joclyn, Aubri, and I are the Family Support crew for the Blue Cast. Blue cast is in Nauvoo for two weeks. The first week they are rehearsing, the second week they perform in the show. The first week they also are doing the activities in the Frontier Country Fair, which is a bunch of preshow activities such as a puppet show, dance, cart racing, and other things.

I finally got to see the pageant. It was amazing!! Even better than I thought it would be. I get to see it every night this week because my cast is not performing. Next week I will be back stage. The thing that stood out to me last night was that families are eternal. It seems that most of the pageant, if not all, is centered around families. In the "welcome dance" families make up their own family dance. I have adopted a family that is in my district and I learned their dance with them yesterday when I rehearsed with them. It was really fun. I also helped the girls do their hair before the show. They went on stage for the finale.

After the show I went around and talked to audience members. It was amazing to look around and see so many cast members talking to people, even the kids. It was eaiser to talk to people and bear testimony after the show because they are all so impressed by it. I ended up only talking to members, but I gave them all referral cards and many said they could think of someone who might want a musical cd of the pageant. I am excited to talk to more people tonight.

The weather is okay right now. It started raining a bit during the show last night, but I think enough of us were praying for it to stop that it did. I met one woman yesterday who thought the pageant was last week and when it wasn't, she and her five kids camped out for a week to see the show. It was amazing! She was so excited to see the show. I don't think anyone comes here without paying the price of sacrifice, even those of us in the cast. Everyone here is here for a purpose. The cast is already feeling like family, like Zion. That feeling can't be descibed except to those who have experienced it before. In Nauvoo, I always feel the spirit of Zion with those who I am with. I love it!!

The Nauvoo Belle in Swampy Nauvoo

Day one consisted mostly of meetings and organizing things for the pageant. Families in my cast began learning their parts and we oriented the kids briefly. Today our goal was really only to get to know each other. The kids are really awesome and we can tell they are very excited to be a part of the pageant. We gave them a journal to record their experiences and helped them make pens and a tote bag to carry their things in. The kids' ages range between 4 and 11 years old. It is obvious that many of the parents have put a lot of hard work into preparing their kids for this experience and it is paying off. Tomorrow is the big day. We have lots of rehearsing to do and lots of things to learn so that next we our cast is ready to perform. I will learn my role in the puppet show, which is before the show and part of the Frontier County Fair. We give away sock puppets to the kids as part of the show. I am very excited to get started and learn more about what I am to do.

Right after our district meetings this evening, it started raining, actually, more like pouring. So, we all gathered in this tent and sang hymns and said a prayer to wait it out. It stopped just long enough for the casts to practice the finale, but right after that, it really started pouring. I mean, sheets of rain, thunder, lightening, swamplike grass, flooded streets... Yeah, remember how Nauvoo used to be a swamp? Now I see why. I have to admit, I was sad not to see the rehearsal since I've never seen the pageant, but it was fun running in the warm rain across the grass in Nauvoo. Now I understand why my midwestern roommates love the rain so much. Anyway, we all waited in our cars for about half an hour, but the storm didn't let up. I went out in the rain to confirm the cancellation of the show and then proceeded to walk through the swamp to each of the families cars to tell them. I can't believe they waited, it was pretty obvious it would be cancelled. I laughed at what I must have looked like. I was soaked and walking in ankle deep water in a thunderstorm. It was funny and fun at the same time.

The rehearsal for the finale. Missionaries were there talking to the few who came to watch the show tonight, although it doesn't officially start until tomorrow. That is why we need people to pray that the storm will let up so we can start performing. So many have sacrificed and prepare to come here for the pageant, to perform in it, volunteer like more, or even more important, to view it to have their testimonies increased or knowledge about the church increased. One thing we talked a few times today about was the fact that no one comes to Nauvoo on accident. You don't just happen to come by Nauvoo. Everyone comes here for a purpose. Some may not know what that purpose is, but they come. Something draws them there and they make the effort to come. That is why it is so important that we do this show. Not only to increase our testimonies and our understanding of the early saints, but to help those who come looking for something to improve their lives. We all have stories of what brought us here. I can't wait to hear the stories of those I meet who come to see the pageant.

Entry One of the Diary of the Pageant Princess

I arrived in the beautiful city of Nauvoo at 5 pm this evening. I still can't believe I am here, but I am loving it already. I am staying with a friend who I met when I did the Semester at Nauvoo program. She was actually my visiting teacher. :) Tonight we went to a show put on the core cast of the pageant called "Our Story Goes On." It was AWESOME! It was a story of the journal of life, from birth to old age. The lesson of the show was to enjoy every moment of life, don't be afraid of the future or ambitious about the past. Life continues on, we can learn from our parents because they have experienced the same things that we have or will. Families are forever and love is the greatest thing we can possess.

Before the show I was run down (almost literally) by two sister missionaries- namely Sister Westwood and Sister Miles. It was so fun to reunite with them. I am excited to see them and work with them for the next two weeks.

Tomorrow morning starts my orientation and training. I will be at the junior high school, which is just five miles down the road from where I am at. I'm not sure what my schedule is yet except that where ever the cast is, I will be there to do things with the kids.

Return to Nauvoo

Yep, that's right! Tomorrow I am leaving for Nauvoo!! I can hardly believe that I am going back! I am very excited to be a part of the pageant and work with the kids and their families that are in the show. I'm all packed except for the little things that have to wait until right before I leave. This last Tuesday I was set apart as a member of the Nauvoo Pageant and special representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... that means I'm a missionary... finally!! Most of my missionary experiences will be as I do the puppet show before the pageant starts and talk with audience members after the show. I will try to take pictures on my phone and send them to people and put them on my blog. I am staying with a friend I met when I did the Semester at Nauvoo program, so I might be able to use her computer to send updates and pictures. Right now I know that I am in the Anna Fordham district. She is the wife of Elijah Fordham who was had his arm miraculously healed, if I remember right, which led to their family's conversion.
If you want to write to me while I am in Nauvoo, you could send it either of the following addresses:
Michelle Kelly
c/o Nauvoo Pageant
P.O Box 267
Nauvoo, IL 62354-0267

or

Michelle Kelly
1885 Young St.
Nauvoo, IL 62354

You could also do email, but I don't know how much access, or time for that matter, I will have to respond. With my new phone, I can read your messages, I just don't know yet if I can respond on it.

For the Fourth, I will be flying, so today feels more like the holiday than tomorrow will. I will be seeing a really special show that the core cast of the pageant puts on in the evening only once a summer in Nauvoo, so that will be awesome to be there in time to see that. It's called "Our Story Goes On." Today Stephanie Barron and I are going to a place called Cascade Springs. It is a boardwalk around lots of pretty waterfalls and streams. After that we will get pizza, play games with friends, then watch the Stadium of Fire show from up on the hill above my apartment complex. It is the best view of it, I think. I'm pretty excited!