Farewell President Lusvardi

Friday was the last day that President Lusvardi met with us at the FM prayer meeting.  Jordan presented him with a utility tool rather than the NRI flag that all other departing missionaries receive.  Jordan told him that he would need to fix his own physical facility issues now that he was leaving us.  No more putting in a work order.  

He then left us with a few departing words.  He told us that we were the key in keeping Old Nauvoo beautiful.  It was the task we've been given and he was so appreciative of all of our efforts. 

I expressed my thanks to him for his service and let him know he would be missed but looked forward to getting to know the Rizleys.

Later in the day we received this email from him along with the attached photo.  He will be missed as he gave such powerful mission trainings.  I now know how missionaries feel about their mission presidents.  Thank you President Lusvardi!

Dear Friends,

What a wonderful day this is as we welcome President and Sister Rizley to the Illinois Nauvoo Historic Site!

It has been such a blessing serving with each of you.  Thank you for your kindness and generosity towards Sister Lusvardi and me.  We can honestly say that we have loved every day of our missions.  The following verse from Moroni chapter 8 is on my mind this morning.  Verse 3 -   “I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.”

President and Sister Rizley are marvelous and you will love them instantly.  We know that Heavenly Father is watching over Nauvoo because He has evidenced that by calling the Rizley’s.

You may have noticed that this message has come from my personal email account.  In the future, if you wish to contact us, may I suggest the following:

Julianne Lusvardi - jlusvardi@gmail.com    801-380-7080

Mark Lusvardi - mlusvardi@gmail.com  801-718-4482

President and Sister Rizley will not use the mobile numbers that we have used in the mission.  Sister Lusvardi and I will continue to have those numbers as well so if you may also use those numbers if you wish.

Our heartfelt prayers go out to Heavenly Father to bless each one of you.

With much love and appreciation,

President & Sister Lusvardi

Bald Eagle Appreciation Days

Who ever heard of such an event?

Yesterday we attended this event in the mall if Keokuk.  There were lots of vendors and some of them had really beautiful wares for sale.  The most interesting thing we did was to go to the movie theater where there was a presentation on bald eagles and other raptors.

Apparently a raptor is a specific type of bird.  It depends on their beaks, talons and something else.  At any rate, bald eagles, hawks, great horned owls and falcons are all in the raptor family.

This great horned owl was super cool to learn about.  As Amber took her around the theater she made these very neat sounds. It was a really fun exhibition.  It was much too cold to take the shuttle to go watch the eagles near the lock in Keokuk.  There are many bald eagles in the area since the water is always open and doesn't freeze due to the dam. 
There was a box of bird feet passed around that had the feet of the different kinds of raptors.  I was amazed how sharp those talons were.  Then a big wing was passed and I was again amazed at how soft the feathers were.  I expected them to be a bit more coarse.  It was a fun event!

#loveinasandwich

Sometimes, my husband gets an idea and I just have to let him go forward with it.  Recently, he just goes ahead and doesn't tell me what his plans are.  On Friday these letters and heart came in the mail.

He already knew what he wanted to do with them.  I gave him another idea of where to put them but he had it already planned.  He purchased them specifically to put around the painting that Cierra made for us. 
Sammi asked if the letters were for Patrick and Heidi or Pleshek and Hoffman or better yet for Patrick Pleshek and Heidi Hoffman.  I guess all of the above work.  Sometimes he has good ideas.

Browning Gun

This week we started working at the Browning Gun Shop.  The bathroom is being redone and the furnace needed to be re-positioned so it was a good time for us to do the painting.  There were a lot of places on the wall where the paint is pulling away from the wall.

It was our job to scrape those spaces off of the wall and peel the paint and mud away from the wall.

Then after the peeling is done, we scrape the top layer of paint off what stayed on.  Some places it was just a little and other places it just kept peeling once you started.  Then the wall needed to be vacuumed and then new mud placed over.

This spot was cleared and the only thing left was this little Scottie dog.  I didn't know I had such artistic talent. :-)

Once the new mud is dry, then the wall is sanded with the big sander (lying on the floor).  Then the small hand sander is used to go over the places where we could make the wall smoother.

Sometimes, we got extra help from the grounds crew, Sisters Bailie and Barrow.

Then there is the spot on the wall where the plaster was removed to leave a poodle on the wall.

This process was repeated over and over again until we are ready to paint.  On Monday, we will be ready to paint.  One person will roll the paint on the ceiling/wall and two others will be going over the paint with brushes.  There were no rollers invented in the 1840's so we need to remove all the roller marks.  Jared, our painter, is really OCD about removing the roller marks.  I will be excited to see the finished result at the end of the week!

37 Years

Each Saturday morning, my husband gets up early and cleans our apartment before I even get out of bed. My job on those days, I make a good breakfast for us. Saturday, January 11th marked our 37th wedding anniversary.  My sweetie bought this beautiful bouquet for me.  

We never do anything special to celebrate, but this year was special for me.  I think it is because we spent it all alone.  As much as I love our children and grandchildren, it has been really fun for us to be alone.  

Having this man by my side has been the greatest blessing of my life.  He is the best decision I ever made.  My life is better because of him.  He is my support and my rock.

When life is difficult, I can always depend on him and know he will lift me and help me become a better person.

The day we married, we ate KFC for supper.  For the past few years we have been getting the same thing for dinner and this year was no different.  

How I love our life together!  I wouldn't change a thing.  Life is better because I took the chance and married this guy.  He's my best friend, my better half; the love of my life.

Elder and Sister Pinette

Elder and Sister Pinette have been the grounds missionaries over the Visitor's Center, mission home and Widow's row areas since we got here in June.  As missionaries we are asked to work for six hours each day.  The Pinettes are such hard workers!  Each day going home about 1pm, they would still be hard at work.  I think they decided what needed to be done and worked until it was finished.

They were scheduled to leave the first week of March, but his mother who lives in Florida, needed some help as she had taken a pretty bad fall.  Elder Pinette's brother visited their mother over Christmas and said that he either needed to come or she needed to go into a facility. 
They had to leave earlier than planned.  They will be missed and difficult to replace. 
We asked them to take over the refreshments at the Christmas Walk.  She said she had never done anything like that before so this was a real test for them.  Still, they were such great sports and did it anyway.  We came to love them dearly.

Dinner and Games

We have had the opportunity to get to know Rick and Sherry MacGregor who live right here in Nauvoo.  Rick is the maintenance man for the Community of Christ church and takes care of their visitor's center and the historic sites.  He attends our prayer meeting each morning at 7am.  

In October they attended the farewell party for the Paxmans.  They are from Canada and so is Rick so they were good friends.  I asked Rick if they had a choir at in their congregation as I was trying to put together a choir for the Christmas Walk.  He told me that they didn't but that Sherry loved to sing.  I asked her and she became part of the choir.  She and Sister Carlson both sang soprano and they struck up a friendship as well.

In the past two weeks we got together at the Carlsons (they have the largest space to get together) and had dinner together and played games.  We've had such a wonderful time together.  When Pat and I were first married, we used to do this on occasion and always had fun with the other couples.  Since having children, we really haven't done this.  What a great time to start doing it again!  I look forward to many more night playing games and visiting with these great people!

Farewell Sister Lusvardi

We had a Farewell Sister Lusvardi get together last night at the mission home.  Not all the sisters attended which was really kind of sad but still it was a fun event to be able to listen to her testimony and feel of her love and the love that we have for one another.

Sisters sat at tables or in small groups and just visited.  Here are Sisters Thurgood and Stapley.

Sisters Schmidt, Bailie and Howard were sitting  in this corner together sharing their snacks and conversation when Sister Prettyman wanted to take their picture.  Next thing we know, all the FM sisters were invited to be in the photo.  How I love these ladies!

Sister Lusvardi shared with us that she is really a very reserved and shy person.  But, she will sing all day long for you.  I'm just the opposite.  I'll sing WITH you all day long but it's easy for me to get up and give a talk or presentation.  

Her demeanor reminds me a bit of my sister Susie.  Both of them are extremely kind.

Sister Mecham Robertson, Richards, Peterson, Prettyman, Quirl, Scott, Richins and Whiting are all sharing some time together.

Sisters Lusvardi and Monaco

This is the original photo that prompted the all FM sisters photo above.

In the end, President came out and took this photo for us.  My heart is filled to overflowing when I look at the faces of so many whom I've come to know and love over the past seven months.  These are friends that I never knew I needed in my life.  Only because of this mission have I been able to meet them.  There are some that have already gone home whom I love dearly and I'm sure there are those yet to come that I will love just as much as these dear women.  

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints offers me opportunities that I would never have had if I hadn't done certain things in my life.  I count this mission as a definite highlight where I made eternal friendships.

God bless you Sister Lusvardi in the next chapter of your life and in all you do.  You will be missed.  Thanks for thinking that I'm entertaining!

Elder Meyocks

When we first got to the Nauvoo Mission, there were so many missionaries here that it made my head spin and I only knew two...the Bailies whom we met in the MTC the week before.  So many of them were young sisters and I can honestly say, I only really knew a handful before they started going home and outbound.  

We got to know the FM missionaries pretty quickly as we were with them every day.  Slowly, we got to know the site missionaries and teamsters.  Still, there are many that I really don't know at all.  Being in Sunset By the Mississippi was the best way to get to know the others.

Teamsters are probably the missionaries I know the least except for the ones in our zone and district and those with whom I associated with while I was the FM secretary.

These are the Meyocks.  Pronounced Meeks.  They are teamsters.

This is Elder Meyocks.  He grew up in Iowa but spent the last 10 years in southern Utah.  He and his wife sold their home prior to coming out here to serve.  He went to Cedar Rapids area on Christmas to visit his mother.  On their way back, they were in an automobile accident.  Both of them were taken to the University of Iowa hospital in Iowa City, the best hospital in the state.

He was doing well except for some discomfort in his left chest.  Tests showed no cardiac problems so it was decided that it must be bruising from the seat belt.  The next morning he went into cardiac arrest.  Despite all the modern medical know how, they were unable to restart his heart and he left this life.

Today was his funeral here in Nauvoo.  The teamsters paid tribute to him one last time by walking beside the horse-drawn wagon as they took the casket to the parking lot at the Visitor's Center from the stake center.

From what I can discern, the teamsters are a pretty close bunch of individuals.  It makes sense.  They all have this love of horses and they are the only ones taking care of the animals.

One last photo with them leaving a spot for their fallen brother.

We didn't attend the funeral since we didn't know him, but it still affected many of the missionaries.  What a way for President Lusvardi to end his mission.  Speaking at the funeral of one of his missionaries.  Sister Meyocks would like to finish the mission.  She'll need time to heal from her injuries before coming back here.  She will also need a new companion.  Single senior sisters do not serve here anymore, so this will be interesting.

I understand she has no where else to go and she wants to finish what she's begun, but I surely would not care to have a new companion especially while I'm mourning the loss of my husband.  I wish her the best.

New Year’s Eve Talent Show

On New Year's Eve, actually starting about 5pm, the missionaries had a talent show.  We had about a month to prepare for this event if we chose to be a part of it.  With so many very, very talented people in our midst who are capable of singing and/or playing an instrument very proficiently, I talked to my husband about us doing some kind of skit.  Who would do it with us?  The Bailies!  They were in as soon as we mentioned it.  Did we ever chose well!

Elder Monoa and Sister Mensel did a tribute song to Elder Meyocks who died on December 26th of a heart attack.  It was beautiful and so fitting.

Elder Holmstead did some poetry which was really thought provoking.

Sister Wadley sang "Unforgettable".  I believe it was just for the Lusvardis who will leave us on January 17th.

Sister Flanders, Elder Monoa and Sister Warner on the piano gave us quite a show.  There was a piano trio, more music both serious and fun, cowboy poetry and Carnac the Magnificent.

Then there was us.

The Four Clucks

We did Ray Stevens' In the Mood to the chickens clucking.

The Bailies and I were the backup cluckers while Elder Pleshek was the head cluck.

We had so much fun.  Even our practices were fun.  Being in the costumes was even better.

As soon as Sister Bailie walked out where she could be seen, the laughter began.  I knew it would.  We looked ridiculous.

We came up with some choreography and just went with it.

As usual, given the spotlight, my husband took off and did what he does best.  Shines!  For days people have been either clucking at us or telling us how we "stole the show" or how much they enjoyed it.  That was our goal.  Make them laugh!  We succeeded big time.  Too bad we won't be here for it next year.  We could do it all over again and only a few people will have seen it.

Christmas 2019

What a blessing to be serving in a place where our family loves to visit!  They came a few days after Christmas and spent five days here.  It was marvelous!  I didn't get photos of everyone but here are a few that I did capture.

Little Henry looking very serious.

Cami helping Brock and Butch see the temple through the fog while looking out the upstairs window in the Cultural Hall.

Tom with his gag gift, which he loves.

Cami with her gag gift!  This made us all laugh.  I think she should regift it next year.

Cierra with a maternity dress that Tom got for her via Sammi.

Me, exhausted, with children piled on top of me while they watched a movie.  I took a nap with them on top of me.

Tom going to work with his dad on Monday morning.  He LOVED it!  He worked with me on Tuesday and was actually quite helpful.  He texted me yesterday, after they got home, to tell me how much he loved working in Nauvoo.

Making rope in the Family Living Center.

Cami with Lydia.  She's such a good helper.

Erin with her gag gift with Christian looking on.

Sister Nash teaching us about making bread in a beehive (bustle) oven.

Butch and Eli riding the sheep during the spinning demo.

Butch laughing while Jeff pinned him down.

Cami and Evie making rope.

Two turtle doves for Sammi was hardly a gag gift.

Elder Jensen allowing Brock to assist in making his own horseshoe.

Jeff received something Iowa themed.

Lydia at the feet of the Savior (Christus).

Butch with his stingray shaped cinnamon bread.

Butch making rope.

There was a lot of fun and games, good food and laughter and lots of loudness with three one-year-olds in the house.  Gifts were given and received.  I believe everyone got what they wanted or didn't know they needed. It was just short of being perfect since Andrew wasn't there, Cierra left early and Erin was ill for a couple of days.  I didn't feel well on Sunday night but after a blessing, I felt the fever leave and health return.  Another "Nauvoo Miracle".  

How I adore my family!