Week 16: October 14---October 20, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Our activities are so varied.  It sure makes life interesting.  I get to go to the sewing room once every two weeks.  Today I did some repair work on the dresses that the young sister missionaries use during the summer months and the proselyting missionaries use when they help at the Nauvoo sites.  When they all get back in the spring, their dresses will be repaired and ironed and ready to go.  We are in the Rendezvous Show two times a week.  On Monday night, we performed two shows.  We do two shows when there are lots of people in town.  It has been very busy here during October.  There are many tour buses that come here and a lot of people who take fall road trips with their family during the harvest break.  It is quite fun to put on this play.  We have lots of new parts that change every three weeks so we get the chance to do fun things.  Elder Pincock got to be a" kicker" this week.  The "senior" men do a couple of  chorus line kicks (like the Rockettes) that make the audience roar with laughter.  David was in the line and it was a hoot to watch him. 

On Tuesday we went to Burlington to do our shopping.  There is more color on the leaves this week and it is such a beautiful drive.  We are really enjoying the fall and the nice weather we are having.


fall colors are beginning to show

Yesterday in the sewing room a lady showed us how to make seamless pillowcases and so I got some fabric to start a new project.   I love my projects!

cute pillowcases

I spent the afternoon making cookies and then we went to the temple.  Elder Marshall works at the temple here.  Some of you might remember him from his service in  Rexburg when the temple opened there.  He is from the Portland area. 

We always have good training meetings on Wednesday morning.  Today we were instructed on keeping order in our sites and all the things we can do to be professional and keep things tidy and in order.  We got to go back to Carthage today.  This site makes me feel the responsibility of this mission.  I was feeling kind of stressed about doing everything right today.  I was provided with some "growing" experiences today on how to handle questions that are asked by the guests and how to keep calm when guests are not receptive to the message. It was a cloudy day today.  On cloudy days you can see this illusion  of Joseph Smith looking out the window of the jail.  It's a reflection of a picture of Joseph Smith that hangs in the Visitor Center.  The picture reflects through the window of the Visitor Center onto the jail window next door.  So when you look out the VC window over at the jail window it looks like he's looking back at you.  I got an excellent picture of this phenomenon.  They told me that many people try to get this picture with their cameras and that it is almost impossible because of the reflections from two windows and the angle.  I felt like I had received a gift that day.  I am sharing the picture with you.  Hope I explained it so you understand this story.

Portrait of Joseph Smith in the Carthage Visitors Center

Joseph looking out the window of the Carthage Jail

There are a lot of cute decorations in Nauvoo.  This is a picture of a cute house just up the hill from our apartment.

notice the pumpkins on the roof lines

We are busy carving  pumpkins,  filling candy bags and practicing for the "crazy band" for the upcoming events this weekend.  I will send more pictures of Halloween activities in the next blog.

We are busy everyday working in the sites.  We have opportunities everyday to learn new things and practice doing the things we have already learned.  I have included pictures from the Wilford Woodruff House.  There is a portrait of him while is was the 4th President of the Church hanging over one of the eight fireplaces that he built in his house to keep his family warm and cozy.  They only got to live in this house for 4 months and five days before they had to leave with the Saints to go west.

Wilford Woodruff

These two table settings are featured in his home.   Many of the items in this home are things that belonged to the Woodruff family and were preserved, handed down from generation to generation and then donated to the Nauvoo restoration.

dining room and preserved dishes

table in Woodruff home

The quilt is also an item that was in the Woodruff home during Nauvoo times.  It was hand stitched by Phoebe Woodruff  and preserved by the Woodruff family. 

room in Woodruff home

I'll end with this picture of a trunk that is displayed in the work room were they also have a couple of spinning wheels, a weasel, and a forerunner to the Murphy bed -a bed that folds up against the wall.  The trunk is pretty plain on the outside and the inside is decorated with beautiful paintings  We compare this trunk to people who we might meet in our lives.  Sometimes we judge people by their looks.  Maybe they are plain or homely so we choose not to be  friendly or get to know them.  We miss out on all the knowledge, personality traits, and virtues that others have just because we judge them by their outward appearance.  Each site in Nauvoo has a message that we share that goes along with the information we present at the site.  It gives a special insight into the person and items that we show to the guests who come here. 

Trunk in Woodruff home

So, have I convinced anyone to come and share their holidays with us?  There are lots of fun things coming up for the holidays.  Nauvoo is a  fun place to visit no matter what time of the year it is. Hope you are all well and happy.  We love you and miss you all a lot.  All is well with us.

Love,
Elder and Sister Pincock