Randomness

Yesterday we went for a bike ride mid-morning.  I wanted to ride the 3 miles down highway 96 to see what kind of progress has been made on the bridge.  96 has been closed for the past six weeks and I'm already tired of going around on Connable Road.  

It appears that the concrete will be poured soon.  It is supposed to be open by the end of October.  I surely hope so.

We were in Menards a few weeks ago and saw the floor cleaner doing it's thing.  There was no human driving the piece of machinery.  Only a stuffed monkey.  As we stepped out in front of it, it stopped as the sensors "saw" us.  Strange.

Two weeks ago there was a praying mantis on our window.  I thought it strange since I haven't seen one here before.

With that said, today I saw another one.  They are such cool critters.  I recently saw a video of a praying mantis eating a murder hornet while it was still alive.  Good bug!

A few weeks ago, after a rain, we saw this sand pile with its mini hoodoos.  Another odd thing but still very cool.

The best part of living on the summit of Parley Street is that we get to see amazing sunsets.  This picture doesn't capture it the way I saw it.  The point is, there are beautiful sunsets because we are on top of the hill looking down to the river.  

I will miss these views when we leave.

Tuesday Nights

A few weeks ago I had a chat with Sister Carlson and told her about some other missionaries who would get together every week for dinner together.  Thinking about the fact that we have such a short time left on this mission, I wanted to make those friendships even deeper.  The first week we shared our evening with the Munoas. 

Since then, it has been Elder and Sister Bailie.  We have had some wonderful meals together.  The company has been equal to and even better than the food.

Sister Bailie made Texas sheet cake last week.  It was served with ice cream and it was delicious.  

Elder John Carlson had that enormous piece of cake.  It's been so much fun.  I look forward to the food, games and company that accompany each time we get together!

Haze

There are so many fires out in the western states that the smoke is high in the atmosphere and is visible even here in Nauvoo, Illinois!

I snapped this picture last week as we were going down Parley street.  One could look at the sun and it didn't even hurt your eyes.  The sun looked very orange and hazy.  I hope rain comes to quench the fires and the dry ground.  I'm once again thankful to live in the Midwest.

Phillip and Candace Munoa

Elder and Sister Munoa left us last week.  They left a few weeks earlier than their original release date and they didn't tell their children that they were coming.  What a great surprise for them!

Before they left, we asked them to go out to dinner with us.  We invited the Bailies to join us.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Hawkeye restaurant.  It was an opportunity to get to know them even a little better.  They served a temple mission in Korea a few years back.  She learned the entire temple ceremony in Korean although she does not speak the language.  He knows it since he served there as a young missionary.

Elder Munoa spent his career working in video production and television.  His final job was at BYU-TV.  He did a lot of work as a tech with the audio/visual things in the mission.  He has a great sense of humor.  He has a way of looking at things that is so practical but funny.

Sister Munoa worked in the office over the last several months.  She was in guest services which means that she took reservations for all the groups that are planning to come to Nauvoo/Carthage.  She is quiet next to him.  Although she has plenty to say.

As they gave their farewell remarks, he got out his guitar and played "God be with You" as his parting shot.  He said it was easier to say it this way than in words.  It was very tender.  

They are the last of the site missionaries who were here when we arrived.  It is a very strange feeling having all of our mentors/friends gone.  

Labor Day

Labor Day 2020 began with a morning walk down past the Community of Christ sites and back up Parley Street.  

The sun was just rising over the Seventies Hall as we made our way up Parley.

A barge greeted us as well.  The lilypads are beginning to wither and die.

We went on a road trip with Tom and Ricki Gibbons to Zelph's mound.  It is an ancient burial mound.

Many years ago the University in Chicago and the Smithsonian dug a swath through the middle of the mound to see what they could find.  It was only a few feet wide then.  Now it is much wider due to erosion.

This place was identified by the prophet Joseph Smith on Zion's Camp march.  The brethren asked what this place was and he inquired of the Lord.  The answer was that it was the burial place of an ancient white Lamanite prophet named Zelph.  They identified his remains by a femur that had once been broken and healed.  The prophet took his bones and buried them in an undisclosed place in Missouri so they wouldn't be disturbed again.  With the digging done by the Smithsonian, he would've been disturbed.  A farmer who owns the land next to this place says he has found many, many skeletal bones over the years as he has plowed his field.  Bones that he know to be human, including skulls. He takes the skulls and brings them back to this place as a way of showing respect for the dead.

After all of that, we returned to Hannibal for a branch picnic.  This year each family brought their own food.  Meg Voelkel is the girl with the long braids and her mom, Jenny is in the green shirt.  Jenny is a hugger.  She hugged me when she introduces herself to me.  

Tom and Ricki will be moving to Vegas later this week.  They have been our dear, dear friends from the first day we began meeting with the Hannibal branch.  They will be missed terribly!

Brother and Sister Massey are on the left.  He is a counselor in the branch presidency.  I have never seen anyone get so nervous at the pulpit conducting a meeting as he.  He makes Aaron High look like a master.  Next to his is Shetish Shethi. He is from India.  Such a wonderful, kind man.  He was a counselor when we first got here.  On the right is Fred Cruz and his wife.  He is the branch president.  We love him!

Here's Bev Wolfgram.  She is the primary president.  The first day we attended Hannibal she asked me to help out in Primary.  They didn't need me but I was glad to offer my services.  I did play the flute for a couple of songs.

Lights, Camera, Action!

The Trail of Hope is a wonderful place.  In the summer when the YPMs are here, they do vignettes along the trail as they depict some of the saints who lived here.

In early summer, the mission decided to cast three casts of actors to do the Trail of Hope  if we were able to have a soft opening.  

My companion and I went and read.  He was cast as one of three Brigham Youngs.

Elder Munoa has all the equipment and wanted to record each of the people doing their vignette.  At least all of the seniors. 

We went out one night and got four vignettes recorded.  When Elder Munoa went back to watch them, there was a loud buzzing noise that covered each one.

We went back another night and recorded them once again.  We had to wait for some barges to go past and cars and an airplane but finally got on with the recording.

After we left, he went to listen and none of the audio had recorded.

The Carlsons were still there so they were able to redo theirs.

Today, in the daylight, Pat went back down Parley Street and recorded it one more time.

This time it better take as Elder and Sister Munoa are leaving in the morning.  Perhaps it wasn't all that important to record but it was fun watching Elder Munoa in his element.

Elder Robertson’s Thoughts

I love Elder Bruce Robertson.  He's gone back to Laramie with his sweet companion Sherry.  They were site missionaries until Covid hit.  Sherry began working in the office just prior to that so she had a job to keep them here.  He has a lot of skills so it made sense to send him to FM.  

He became the handyman's assistant.  With Elder Robertson driving the "duck truck" he and Pat could get twice as much done.  He took care of a lot of the little things so Pat could work on other things.  One of the things he did was to repair the door frame on the Brigham Young outhouse.  The original door was rotten so a new one was built and Tom painted it all by himself.  Elder Robertson repaired and then installed the new door.  I went after him and sanded and touched up the paint where needed.

Another one of the things he did just before leaving was to create a new plow to replace the one in front of the blacksmith shop that had rotten wood.  He put things together and sent it to me for paint.  Pat tells him to do the best he can on a job and "then my wife will make it look good."

One morning he and I were talking and he told me of an experience he had the night before in a dream.  He referenced what Pat always says about me making things look good.  Then he  told me about his dream.  He said I do for him here what our Savior does for each one of us spiritually.  It doesn't matter how worn we are or what mistakes we've made, the Savior has already taken them and repaired them and makes us look good.  He was holding back his tears as he shared his thoughts.  Then he expressed his love for both of us.  It was very tender and I thanked him for sharing his thoughts.  

I said it at the beginning.  I love Elder Robertson!  And his pretty wife too!