Memorial Day

We have always had a picnic on Memorial Day.  At this time in Illinois it is acceptable to get together in groups no larger than 10 so we invited four other couples.  Somehow when we moved, we found that we have a gas grill on our back patio.  So the Carlsons, Flanders, Robertsons and Willmores came over and we had a lovely time toget

Everyone brought something to put on the grill and a dish to pass.  The food was delicious!  What was even better was having friends over and just visiting.

It all felt so normal and I was grateful for that.  Some normalcy in this pandemic felt so good!  These wonderful people make me so happy.

Orson Hyde Well

By midweek, Elder Carlson and Pleshek were working on the cover for the well at the Orson Hyde home.  It was a lot larger than expected.  But for safety sake, it needs to be this size.  It needs to cover the hole in the ground.  The four corner posts are not going anywhere since concrete holds them in place.  They needed to be far enough away from the well in order to be sunk into the ground without knocking the brick and stone into the hole.

There was something floating in the water and the men working there could not fish it out.  They thought is was a snapping turtle or a basketball.  It was actually a dead skunk.  Once the thing got punctured, they knew exactly what it was and then it sunk out of sight. 

Jordon, the FM manager, came over to inspect and wanted the skunk removed.  Therefore Darryl and Casey, the plumbers, were called and they pumped the water out of the well.  Then Casey and Elder Pleshek descended into the well to find it.  They couldn't.  It had disintegrated and was probably sucked out the hose with the water.

It's so interesting that below the limestone on top are bricks in pristine condition.  A lot of roots have made their way into the interior but they are still hanging tight.

The well is probably between 16-20 feet deep.  Two guys came up out of that well quite dirty.  Especially Casey.  What interesting experiences these FM missionaries and employees get to have.  We see a lot of basements and attics and other out of the place places and now I've even seen the inside of an historic well in Nauvoo!

A Quiet Evening

We try to go out for a bike ride a couple of times a week.  Of course that ride has to have a stop by the oxen so my companion can get his "fix" of farm life.  Porter came right over to get a scratch on the neck.  Usually its Brigham that comes over as Porter is a little more reserved.

As we made our way up the hill to Mulholland we saw something we have never seen before.  The street was completely deserted of both people and vehicles.  There's usually a car parked along the street somewhere.  Not on this night.  It was strange!

This is not the normal Nauvoo in May!  By now we usually have more business and visitors.  We still have a few visitors.  I'm not sure what they do, but they're here.

A Parade!

Last week in the  course of two days, our young sister missionaries came back to Nauvoo.  They came last Spring and stayed here for six months.  Then they left in October and were supposed to be gone for six but with Covid 19 they were gone for seven plus months instead.  Now they will be back here to finish out their mission.  In the mean time, they will train the new sisters who were supposed to be here already but will come on June 22nd.

Since all but two (Riddle and Pendleton served in the Iowa City mission so they didn't fly back here) are in quarantine for two weeks, we had a parade of cars go past their apartments to welcome them back.  Here was our sign. Sanguine means optimistic and hopeful.  It was used on the Trail of Hope to describe the saints as they left this place and traveled west.

Things are so different here since they left and we need them to be optimistic and hopeful about what they can accomplish as missionaries while the sites are still closed.  Anyway, we met in the VC parking lot and got our instructions as to the parade route.

Elder Munoa had all the young sisters get on Zoom for a meeting to begin approximately 10am.  Once the motorcade reached the Big10, he told them to go look out their windows.  We surely surprised them!

We were outside and standing fairly far apart and still so many wear masks.  At least when in the presence of President.

Some cars were very decked out.

And some people, like the Jensens, were very excited for the parade to begin.

It was rather touching being able to see their beautiful faces again!

They did a good job staying fairly separated by apartment.  Somehow I know that that isn't what's really happening.

They were so surprised and there was a lot of squealing.  It dawned on me that they know only about half of the senior couples still serving here.

Anyone that came after October 8th will be a stranger to them.  Nevertheless, everyone was really in the spirit of this thing and got involved.  Even though our historic sites and this town look like it has been abandoned, these young sisters bring such a light and enthusiasm into it.  So happy to have them back and can't wait to get to know some of them better.  I dawned on me that I only know a fraction of them too.  I know faces and names but not necessarily together.

Social Distance

Anyone who knows my husband, knows that he is a people person.  He loves meeting and greeting others.  He's had a really difficult time with "social distancing" since it just isn't part of his character.  He is drawn to people and loves to be up close and personal.  He is a hand shaker.

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In this crazy time, he found a new way to "shake hands" with Elder Green.  What next?

Flushers

Yesterday after we were finished with our day, I got a call from Casey, the plumber.  He asked if we could come to the Visitor's Center and bring all our friends to flush toilets.  Apparently there was a rock or some of obstruction in the pipe and Darryl figured that a lot of water running through the pipes would wash it out.

I called the Odums and invited them to the "party."  The Bailies showed up a few minutes later and with the six of us plus Casey we were able to flush a lot of toilets. 

These are the kind that are self flushers.  Well, if you hold the button down the water will just keep running.  So for perhaps five to ten minutes we held those buttons down and let the water run.

My companion laid on the floor and flushed two toilets at the same time.  Good thing the place has been closed for two months.  The floors were clean.  I was amazed at the rusty water that ran through due to the lack of use.

It isn't everyday that you find men and women hanging out in the ladies room.  Elder Bailie was singing Rock of Ages with some funky lyrics and making a lot of puns about flushing.  I have to say I've done some strange things on this mission, but this has to be the strangest!

The Mantle

There are two mantles in the William Weeks home.  They were both covered with layers of paint although they were original to the home.  Jared asked Sister Howard and I back in February to begin stripping the paint off.  We worked on the east one all day for three days.  I put some stripper on the west one and let it do it's thing. 

 Jared took it off either later in the day or the next day and found faux marbling underneath.

Jared called the history department to tell them what he found.  He was able to remove the paint to expose the original marbling. 

He cleaned it and then put a clear lacquer over the top.  Then he went about fixing the spots on the mantle that needed some attention.

This picture shows the original marbling.  The top part of this photo is the faux marbling done by Jared.  He did an amazing job!  I was amazed watching him work.  

He hasn't quite finished it yet, but it looks amazing.  On Saturday he was going to begin the marbling on the east mantle.  By the way, that one was completely stripped and was scheduled to be marbled as well.  Upon examination, Jared found that the east mantle was not marbled at all.  The gray he found under the paint was actually soot.  Therefore, he called the history department and they instructed him to faux grain it instead.  Pictures of both mantles to follow.