Here we are again:
One of the fun sites that I enjoy going to is the Pendleton Log School House. This week as I served there I had many good memories of teaching school. It's fun to give the spelling test which we have shared with you before (the phonetic spelling of words). The math test goes like this. In Nauvoo during the time of the pioneers there were 350 brick houses, 650 frame houses and 1400 log homes. How many houses were there in Nauvoo in 1846? And also for your information, there were 12,000 people who lived in Nauvoo.
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| room at the log school house |
We are learning a really cute Christmas song that we will sing on Dec. 6, at the Christmas Tree lighting at the Visitor's Center. You can view it on you tube "at light up a tree" if you would like to hear it. On that same night we will have many activities for all the guests to attend and participate in. There will be caroling around big bonfires throughout the town. At many sites there will be Christmas stories told all evening. And all kinds of cakes, cookies, candies and breads will be served at the Family Living Center. It sounds like a fun, old-fashioned Christmas. There will also be horse drawn sleighs for all to ride on. Elder Pincock and I will help with the decorations and we will be leading a group of carolers around one of the fires.
This week we all (missionaries) had to write a paper on How to Recognize and Understand the Spirit. It's been fun to study together at our sites and share our ideas and experiences with each other. We will share our papers with everyone at our District Meeting this Sunday then turn them in to the mission president.
Monday we had dinner with our friends, the Jones' who we came to Nauvoo with us from the MTC. She has been sick ever since we got here. One of her problems has been carpel tunnel in her wrists. She invited us for squash soup, which was really good and asked for a blessing before her surgery on Tuesday. Everything turned out well for her and she is recovering this week.
On Tuesday we went to Hannibal again. This time we went to the Mark Twain Caves. We had a good day and enjoyed the caves. They had interesting formations and the tour was very fun. We have included some pictures of our adventure.
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map of Mark Twain Caves (red lines are main trail and
white lines are secondary trails) |
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| our guide in the cave |
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| us and E/S Reidhead |
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| sketch of Mark Twain on cave wall |
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the black marks are called Bat Tracks. (body oils left from bats
on the cave ceilings) |
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| cave hideout of Jessie James |
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this is called the Grand Piano rock formation in the cave
(notice the piano bench )
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Alligator (this is a long rock formation that looks like an
alligator). You rub it for "good luck" |
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| Elder Reidhead and Elder Pincock whitewashing Tom Sawyer's fence. |
At our training meeting this week we had a cute presentation on teamwork and how all of us are important in order to make everything run in the right way here in Nauvoo (or in any situation or place). They used a cute story that you might like for your FHE or to share with others (with a plate of cookies). The story is at the end of this blog.
We have been busily preparing for Christmas and Thanksgiving activities. We have been preparing food for Thanksgiving. Todd and Shannon and family will be here for Thanksgiving and we are so excited. They even got an assignment to be on the program after dinner Thanksgiving Day! Oh, Oh that might scare away future visitors.
Over the weekend we enjoyed the BYU game even though they lost. Sunday there was a fireside to meet the new Temple President and his wife. They are from St. George and are the owners of the Temple View Mobile Home Park where Max and Deanna live during the winter. McArthur is their last name. We also got the news this week that our new Mission President is from Salt Lake and their last name is Hunter. He is Howard W. Hunter's son. Jennifer is in the same class at ISU with their daughter-in-law.
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| President and Sister McArthur (President of Nauvoo Temple) |
This last week or two I have had fun taking pictures of all the stairs that we have to climb each day. There are many, many stairs in the sites and we use them every day. The stairs in the Nauvoo home are very steep with very narrow treads. Stairs seem to be a common denominator of our two missions. First the 135 stairs we had to climb and descend every day in Armenia and now this collection. Hope you like them.
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Carthage Jail stairs (these are the actual stairs that the mob
used to get to the upper room to murder the Prophet Joseph
and Hyrum) |
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| Heber C Kimball home |
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stairs in the Lyon Drug Store (these are the stairs going to
the apartment of E/S Gale Harding when they were here. |
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| Lyon Drug stairs going down to the basement |
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| Sarah J. Kimball home |
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| stairs in the Lucy Mack Smith home |
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| stairs in the Skovil Bakery |
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| Seventies Hall stairway |
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| Stairway in the home of Brigham Young |
The visitors to the sites this time of year has really slowed down. We each work in the sites about six hours per day with sometimes only one or two tours. It gives us a good chance to catch up on scripture reading, indexing, journal writing and some times we even put a puzzle together while "working" at the sites.
We are having a grand time and love serving here. We do stay busy and have some wonderful experiences being missionaries.
We did have a new couple move to an apartment in our building. Their names are Elder and Sister
Gary and Deborah Jones from Burley Idaho. Gary was a business advisor for Zions Bank while living in Burley. (small world)
We love and appreciate each of you so much. The Parable of the Ingredients is below.
E/S Pincock
THE PARABLE OF THE INGREDIENTS………..
Once upon a time, a Baker went to the store and bought
ingredients. He bought FLOUR, BAKING
SODA, SALT, BUTTER, VANILLA, EGGS, WHITE SUGAR, BROWN SUGAR and CHOCOLATE
CHIPS. He took the ingredients home and
put them away in the cupboard and refrigerator.
Before the ingredients had always liked in the grocery store with other
ingredients just like themselves. It was
a very secure feeling. They had seen
glimpses of each other across the store aisle, but they had never met. Now they had suddenly been put together and
they were nervous and scared.
Their fear took different forms………
For instance, Salt
felt small and plain. He knew that Sugar tasted better, and that he
couldn’t put as much work into a recipe as Flour
could. “Surely, they wouldn’t want to
talk to someone like me,” Salt
thought.
Vanilla was
afraid that she smelled too strong, so she tried to stay away from
everyone. But the rest of the
ingredients thought she was just being arrogant. Most of the ingredients were suspicious of
the Butter and Eggs. They lived in a refrigerator. Why would anyone in their right mind live in
a refrigerator? And so it went. Instead of talking to each other and learning
more about each other, they just kept to themselves. They studied each other when they thought
nobody was looking – and made judgments such as: “I can tell by the sack Flour is wearing, that he’s boring and not very smart.”
“What would the other brown sugars back at the store think
if they saw me hanging around Chocolate
Chips?”
“Look at that Butter
in shiny blue and gold foil. I’ll bet he
thinks he’s really something.”
“Eggs are cry
babies. Every time we went over a bump
on the way home from the store, they gasped and cringed.”
A few day s later the Baker’s young daughter came into the
kitchen and took the ingredients out and placed them on the counter then went
to finish another chore.
Out of boredom, Flour
started reading the writing on the back of Chocolate
Chips. Suddenly, a chill raced down
his bag!
“What could the Baker be thinking???!” he exclaimed.
“Hey everybody!”
“Come look at this!”
Now, not all of the ingredients knew how to read, so he read
the recipe out loud to them.
“That’s crazy!” said Sugar. “We’re too different to be mixed
together! Can you imaging how we would
taste? The thought of it makes me sick!”
But that’s not the worst part,” Flour went on. “It says here
that we are going to be put onto a pan in separate spoonfuls and baked in the
oven at 375* for 8 to 10 minutes!” At
the thought of the intense heat, Vanilla
fainted and Butter began sobbing.
“What will become of me?” he cried.
“I will melt and burn!”
“There, there,” one of the Eggs said soothingly. “I’ve
been thinking about this for the last few days.”
“What do you mean, the last few days?... asked the Baking Soda.
“I rode next to Chocolate
Chips on the way home from the store and read the recipe on the way. I just don’t believe the Baker would mix us
all together just to make an awful tasting mess. Perhaps the Baker knows something we
don’t.” He probably does,” said the Sugar thoughtfully. “To be honest, I’m the only one I know
anything about. I can only guess what
the rest of you are really like. But I
want to know more about you before we get baked.”
And so they asked questions they wanted to know about each
other and exchanged small tastes. They
found out Vanilla wasn’t really arrogant, and she found out she didn’t
smell too strong, so she wasn’t afraid to get closer.
White Sugar and Brown
Sugar found out they were both from
Hawaii and had the same great-grandparents. Chocolate
Chips was not only tasty, but very generous. Baking
Soda admitted that he had no idea
what he was good for, buy the others assured him that he must have been made
for some important reason.
Their pleasant conversation was interrupted by the Baker who
was ready to make cookies. One by one,
he started stirring them together. It
was so much fun, they even forgot about the hot oven. As the Baker poured the teaspoon of Baking Soda in, his young daughter
asked why he had poured the teaspoon of Baking Soda in. “Baking
Soda is what makes the cookies rise as they bake,” he answered. “I knew I was good for something!” Baking Soda cheered.
Then the Baker reached for the Egg. The other ingredients
had grown fond of the Egg and so
when the Baker raised it in his hand and started to swing it down to the side
of the bowl, they all screamed for this the STOP!!!!- but it was too late, and
he dumped the Egg on top of the
rest. They stared in horror at their
stricken companion. A few made feeble
attempts to comfort the other…but then the Egg
started coming back to his senses!
Imagine their relief that he was alive!
“Are you okay?” they were all
asking. “Yes, yes, in fact I feel better
than I’ve ever felt,” he said
smiling.
The Baker’s daughter asked for a spoonful of dough. As she tried it, she got a funny look on her
face. “This doesn’t taste quite right,
Daddy. Something is missing.” The
Baker tasted it and knew right away that he had forgotten the Salt.
He added it and then the dough tasted much better. “I didn’t know that one little teaspoon of
salt made such a difference.
Now the Baker was stirring the ingredients again and Chocolate Chips joined them. But they were not having fun anymore because
they knew what came next! THE HOT
OVEN!!! It’s only for then minutes at
the most,” encouraged the Egg. Maybe
if we try really hard to stick together, we’ll come out okay.”
“So long everyone,” sniffed the Butter. “It was nice knowing
you.” But the other ingredients held him
tightly as they went into the oven and told him to lean on them and they’d make it. In ten minutes they emerged from the oven
smelling and tasting better than they had ever imagined they could! And
they realized that by helping and loving each other, recognizing their
strengths, they had become the best they could be.
