YSMs Meet Tom

On Sunday my husband sets up giving the sacrament to the Elizabeth Ann Whitney district.  Tom is able to help for the past few weeks.  

We used to do this in the Visitors' Center but since that is being torn apart, other spaces have come into play.  We use the Cultural Hall.  One of these districts came at the wrong time so we had two.  Shh, don't tell.  We're supposed to keep under a certain number of people in a group.  

We were able to introduce Tom to these Sisters who, I'm sure, had no idea who he is.  He was very excited about that.

 

Happy Birthday President Rizley

 

Today is President Rizley's birthday.  Prior to our Zoom worship meeting, we made signs to give a silent birthday greeting.  It was fun to see his face as he recognized that we were all wishing him a happy birthday.  

Thanks to my companion for this fun idea!  I wish I would've taken the picture when there were more signs up.  But then I was holding mine up.

Another Sign Needs Attention

When we arrived in Nauvoo back in June of 2019 we noticed that the sign on the front of the stake center needed some cleaning.  I have some experience in doing this and we thought that we needed to accomplish this task before leaving.

Thursday was a pretty nice day.  We had temperatures in the mid 40's  so we decided it was the day to clean that sign.

I've done this in Iron Mountain several years ago and I had an amazing spiritual experience in pondering it.  I didn't expect the same but I knew there would be a great satisfaction in doing so.

I began on the south side and used my sander to clean the grit and grime off of the name of the Savior's church.

My sweetheart worked on the north side.  His circular sander worked a lot better than the one I used.

This job went a lot faster with two people.  A courser sandpaper helped make the task faster as well.  The final thing that made it faster was the fact that there are no letters "Visitors Welcome" attached to this building.

When all was done, I used the circular sander and a finer sandpaper to buff the letters.

I think the final project looks terrific!  It is once again a privilege to give this service that no one asked us to do.  All I could think of is President Nelson saying, "The Lord loves effort."  This was an effort that I am honored to give.

Big 10 & Tom

Once I finished the work on the Carthage Cottage, I was asked to go to the Big 10 and do some painting.  The dishwashers have been removed and the appliance garage has been removed from the upper cabinet.  Most of the cabinets were taken down and the counter tops were removed.

In the six apartments that we've already painted, the job was very easy and took less than a day.  I needed to paint the corner and the spot where the upper cupboard above the fridge was removed.

In the four apartments that haven't been repainted yet, I needed to paint the small north wall, the bigger east wall and the even larger south wall.

I did the cutting along the ceiling and the corner of the southwest wall.  I gave Tom the roller and taught him how to paint the walls.  He did a pretty good job considering he was new at this.

Tom told me that he "loves painting" and that "It's fun!"  Jared would be proud of him.  Jared told me that I needed to teach him how to cut.  That's not happening.  In one apartment I didn't start in the southwest corner and Tom did.  He slopped paint on the west wall.  I needed to go back the next day and paint one more wall.  It will be a lot easier for the painters who come after me.  They won't have to paint the kitchens.

Carthage Cottage #1

 Jared gave me a specific job that was just for me.  He asked me to paint Carthage Cottage #1.  Not just do some spot painting but to actually paint the entire house.  I started it prior to Christmas and actually had Erin come with me to help on a couple of those days.  

Then Covid struck the mission and all of the missionaries were asked to stay home.  There were no virtual tours or FM work.  In fact, Jordan sent the FM employees home for three days just in case.  

After our two week quarantine, we went back to work on this house.  My husband and Tom helped since we couldn't work with anyone that didn't live in our house.  Things loosened up a little and the Polls were able to come over to the house and assist in our job for two days.  On the third day, Elder Poll was hospitalized and we needed to take Sister Poll to the hospital in Peoria.  Therefore, we didn't finish on that Friday when I thought we would be done.  One more day the following week and we had it finished.  We helped the Polls place the furniture since they would be moving in to this place.  It was a fun project but needed a lot of repairs in the plaster walls.  No sheetrock here.  I learned a lot again.

Anniversary #38

I think this was the first time in years that we didn't have KFC for our anniversary meal.  I did receive these beautiful flowers though.  

I think about our life together and feel thankful for it.  Let me list some of the things that I love.

1.   Creating a family with 5 wonderful people as our children.

2.   The ability to work together.  I enjoy being able to work together.

3.   Being able to support my sweetheart during all of his many callings.

4.   Going to SLC for General Conference

5.   Taking a vacation on the beach.

6.   Performing in the City of Joseph pageant together.

7.   Being temple workers together.

8.   Serving together as Temple & Family History Consultants.

9.   Having him by my side as we watched my father take his last breaths.

10. Going on walks together.

11. Date nights.

12. Motorcycle rides.

13. Going to the temple together to do our family work.

14. He thanks me for marrying him.

15. He buys me dresses and other chothing.

16. No matter how I look, he thinks I look good.

17. He always encourages me to be a better version of myself.

18. Watching him create things

19. Watching and listening to him greet our youngest grandchildren.

20. Listening to him open up the scriptures to me.

21. Setting goals and seeing them come to fruition.

22. Serving a mission together.

23. He makes a plan and listens as I propose an alternate plan.

24. We both like to camp.

25. He provides for us/me.

26. He helps with household chores.

27. We love to dance together.

28. He "interviews" those men interested in our daughters.

29. He supports me when I decide to throw a party/picnic

30. His generosity and charity for others.

31. His ability to make friends.

32. Pushing me out of my comfort zone.

33. The desire to serve our community.

34. His ability to fix just about anything.

35. His listening to me when I have a thought.

36. His dedication to the Lord, Jesus Christ.

37. Projects that we work on together.

38. Our family.  How we love our family.

Quarantine and Temple Building

Many of the FM missionaries tested positive for Covid just after Christmas.  Since I tested negative, I had a longer quarantine than my husband.  I went for a second test and that too was negative.  All the FM missionaries were told to stay home and not work for almost two weeks.

I decided I needed to make some beaded temples for some special people here.  The Manti was made for the Rizleys.  They were very surprised with this creation that sits on original wood that came from the Heber C. Kimball porch.

I didn't have a pattern for the Los Angeles temple but I made one anyway.  This one was for the Ballards.  They too were pretty surprised.

The Salt Lake City temple was made for the Binghams.  They weren't home when we delivered it.  They called later in the evening and were blown away.  Both of them!  They said they were going to turn off the lights and just watch it like a Christmas tree all lit up.

I'm so glad they all liked what we created.  Quarantine was long but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  At least I was here with the love of my life.

 

Christmas Day

 Erin and Tom came to Nauvoo on December 19th to spend Christmas with us.  Tom was happy as usual to get any gift.  He got jello from Erin.

Erin was the first of our daughters to receive her hand made cutting board.  

Tom received his new FM sweatshirt.  He was very excited about that.  He also got a new cell phone.  I don't know if he really needs a phone, but it is nice that he has one.

Erin was also the first to receive her horseshoe necklace made by Elder Jensen.  We also got her a fuzzy sweatshirt.  

The other thing both of them got from us was Covid-19.  We didn't feel well when they arrived and by Wednesday both of them didn't feel well either.  It didn't last very long and they both felt better.  Erin left for home on the 27th.  She called the next day to say she tested positive for Covid.  We both went for testing.  Pat was positive and I was negative.  Tom tested positive on the 29th.

Covid.  The gift that keeps on giving!

Erin in the Wood Shop

Erin and Tom came for a visit for Christmas.  On one of the days when we didn't have to work, Pat took Erin to the wood shop to have her help him prepare our new benches.

She was cutting out some of the pieces on the band saw.

She did some routing and ultimately she did some sanding.

These new benches will go around our fire pit at home.  They will need to be assembled in the spring, but they will be a nice addition to our yard.   I'm glad she got to use the tools in the shop as we are no longer allowed to use the wood shop or any other shop for personal use.

YSM Christmas Walk

We as senior missionaries had the opportrunity to create a "Chirstmas Walk" for the young sisters.  It was held on the 23rd of December.  They had the same route as we had several nights before.

When they returned to the the Family living Center, Elder and Sister Burns sang to them.

At the Visitors' Center, Sister Chestnut and ElderWessman played a few clarinet and oboe duets.  They were amazing.  Elder Wessman made up the harmony parts.  He plays in the Orchestra at Temple Square.

Elder and Sister Poll sang to the sisters at the Seventies Hall.

Elder Dixon gave the Grinch at the Cultural Hall.  He was really good.

We had the opportunity to tell/act out a story at the Browning Gun Shop/Home.

We used Thomas S. Monson's "The Christmas Train."  

I played the part of Tommy's mom while my companion had a great time being Tommy Monson.  The Sisters really enjoyed watching my husband play that part.  We had a lot of fun too.  
 

Cloud Formations

Last week one day this bank of clouds was coming in from the west.

When I say it was like a blanket, that's exactly what it looked like.  It appeared to be a blanket of clouds coming in to cover our bright blue sky.

Earlier in the day the reflection of the sunrise made the bank/blanket of clouds look like they were pink.

I had to stop on my way to the Engel house and snap a few pictures as there's not a good place there to get such a sight.  It's always interesting to see what God can do with his paintbrush and our sky.
 

Senior Christmas Night

There may not have been an official "Christmas Walk" this year in Nauvoo, but we certainly had one or two.  One on the 21st for the senior missionaries and the other on the 23rd for the young sisters.  The young sisters put together some beautiful things for us to enjoy.  

One group of sisters gave us the Nativity in the west theatre of the Visitors' Center.  They sang to us and it was really beautiful!

The teamsters took us around on the wagons to the various stops.  We were distanced on those wagons and out in the cold wind it was rather nice to wear a mask to keep our faces warm.

We were given blankets and a hot brick to help keep us warm!

Our second stop was the Cultural Hall where we were sung to by several of the sisters.

Back on the wagon to make our way to the Seventies Hall!

There was a lot of singing on our wagon as Cooper Chapman was with us.  She certainly liked to sing!

I always  like the decorations put up by the Conservation sisters.  This Nativity is made all out of rope.

In order to keep our groups small, there were four wagons of senior missionaries.

At the Seventies Hall we were told a story,

sung an original song,

and sung to by a group of sisters.  So pretty!

Finally at the Browning Gunsmith we were told a story and sung to by Sister Yorgasen.  Some of these sisters have absolutely angelic voices!  It was a pleasure to listen and enjoy.

Mortals Awake with Angels Join

President Rizley had this idea to have some missionaries sing outside the Mansion House for Joseph Smith's birthday.  He needed to have permission from the Community of Christ to film it since it is their property.  He didn't get it.

Before we knew we didn't have permission, we still practiced this song.  It is not a song I would ever choose to sing on purpose.  It was very high.  Still, it was so much fun to sing with those other couples.  Looking back, a lot of those missionaries were later diagnosed with Covid-19.  I do not know about the Burns but both Dixons, both Polls, Sister Carlson and my husband all tested positive.  

Any song written with four sharps is just plain cruel!  I also found out that Elder Poll can sing any part.  He was quite the task master.  I suppose it is from his years singing in the Tabernacle Choir.