Completing the Office

We as the paint crew were called away from our painting project at the Big10 where the young sisters live when they are here.  We were asked to paint Jordan, Trischa and Ben's offices along with the copy room and the space where the secretary greets people.

We did all of the spaces except Ben's office as his was being used to store things from the other offices.  On Tuesday, Sister Odum and I went and painted the ceiling.  All four of us came back on Wednesday and painted the walls in his office.  It went so much faster with all of us chipping in than it would have it only two of us did it.  While we were there, this handsome Elder came by to put the Historic Nauvoo sign back up behind the secretary's desk.  The H and the N are both upside down and it makes me a little crazy.  He unscrewed them and we flipped the N right side up but decided to leave it upside down as the varnish underneath would need to be fixed.  We are not about to create more work for anyone.  So, back up it went.  And, no one notices unless I tell them.  The downstairs part of the office looks great!  Not sure when the upstairs gets painting.

Riding the Baby Oxen

Okay, let me clarify.  The twins didn't exactly ride the oxen, they just sat on them.  These are the babies.  They have quite a ways to go before they will be full grown.

Henry liked sitting on one.

Elder Droste, a temple worker who lives on the flats in missionary housing, trains these animals.  He had them out on Saturday morning and the kids got to pet them.  He showed us how much they like having their faces rubbed.  He was also impressed that Lydia went by him so easily.

We know that there were a lot of people who left Nauvoo with ox teams pulling their wagons.  I don't know if he was giving the kids rides in his little wagon, but sometimes he does.

Just another piece of the Exodus day.  The Mensels were in charge of the event.  There sure were a lot of moving pieces.  I'll be they were as happy to have it over as we were to have the Christmas Walk over!

2020 Exodus Re-enactment

Sammi, Tom and the children came for the weekend as they wanted to be part of the Exodus re-enactment.  Each person that walked down Parley Street was able to walk for someone who was actually there, or another relative.

These two cuties didn't walk but they had tags on their stroller for some babies that left Nauvoo.

The Nauvoo Legion walked in the front of the parade.  We, carrying flags walked directly behind them.  My sweetie carried the colors at the head of the legion.

These are the people behind us.  Flags from all over the world were represented.  Unfortunately you cannot see how long the procession was.  At the rear were wagons and carriages pulled by the horses for those who didn't choose to walk.  They did, however, carry a lot of people back to the Family Living Center.

Tom carried a Russian flag, while I carried a German flag and Evelyn carried Great Britain.

It wasn't too cold but the breeze made it feel colder.  You can see how our flags are flying in the breeze.

There was a short talk given at the end of Parley Street.

Another shot of the legion.

We were asked to wear our period clothing with our modern jackets.  

Elder Pleshek had a very moving experience carrying the colors while we marched down Parley Street.  One other thing that happened as we waited to turn off of Main on to Parley was that there was a huge fly over by a flock of very noisy geese.  It was pretty impressive!

Elders Pleshek, Bailie and Green suited up as part of the Nauvoo Legion.

I was amazed how many people came out to this event.  They came from miles around.  There was a TV station out of Quincy that came and covered it as well.  

Let’s Go for a Sleigh Ride Again!

Another dump of clean white snow gave us the opportunity to go out for another sleigh ride.  This time we went after work and with the Keetons.  Sister Keeton was a doll and took these photos for us.  

Snuggling in the sleigh.

We dressed in our pioneer garb so we could have some good photos for next year's Christmas card or perhaps for our departure card.

Elder Davies was our driver again.  He makes me laugh.  Unfortunately he and his companion have gone home too.  They left on February 1st.

I spoke to some of the teamsters about the horses.  Each time we have gone for a ride, I've noticed that the horses are lathered in sweat.  If the sleighs pull so much easier, why are the horses so sweaty?  The answer was easy.  The horses can pull it so much easier so they don't just plod along like they do in the summer.  They trot and get themselves moving.  Also, they are all really huge!

Departures

I think the most difficult thing for me on this mission is the departure of our friends as they leave us here at FM (facilities management).

Lee Noe retired in December and promptly went on vacation so we didn't get to say good-bye and have a party for him until mid-January.  Lee has a great sense of humor.  His comedic timing is great!  When I worked as the FM Secretary, he would come downstairs and visit  with me occasionally.  I grew to really love this guy.  He came back to receive his flag, which I knew he didn't want, but more importantly to say his good-byes.  He also played his guitar for us which was amazing!

The Pinettes were scheduled to leave the first week of March but due to Elder Pinette's mother's health, they needed to leave us in January.  They worked the grounds at the Nauvoo Visitor's Center as well as the taking care of the lawns around Widow's Row and the President's home.  They were the hardest working missionaries in the mission.  When it was 1pm and other missionaries were calling it quits, they were still hard at work.  They will be missed.  And, it was only fitting the Richard was able to give them their flag.

Allan and Colleen Schmidt left us on January 31st.  He is amazing with his skills in the carpentry shop.  He expressed how much he learned while serving here for the last 23 months.  We bought a Nativity scene that he made with a scroll saw.  It really is quite beautiful and I'm amazed at the workmanship.  Sister Schmidt was in charge of Conservation.  She kept that place running so smoothly.  She has such a fun sense of humor and writes some pretty silly poetry at times.  I came to love her tremendously.  These two fine people have left a hole that will be difficult to fill.

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!