Dave and Connie: Week 18: October 28th ---November 3, 2013

Hello:

The time is going so fast. We were up to date with our blog writing and now we are behind again. Thanks to all of you who send us messages. We love to hear from you. Our congratulations to our friends, Max and Deanna Wade who received their mission call to Edmonton, Canada. We are so excited for them because the gospel is true and being on a mission is such a wonderful experience. They will be excellent in their support calling. We hope their preparations are coming along and all is well with them.

I'm going to start this blog with a story and picture of the "bee box".

The "bee box" the flour goes into the compartment under the "fake" floor of the box

In Pioneer times sugar was not used too much. It was expensive and it came in big, hard blocks that had to be chiseled off to get what you wanted. Honey was always in great demand and free if you could find a bee hive. To help that process, parents would set a bee box outside with a blossom or two in it. The children's job was to watch the box until a bee flew in and lit on the blossom. The children would quickly slide the door shut, trapping the bee inside. They would then take it to their parents. The parents would put baking flour in the bottom of the box under the trap floor, then drop the bee into the compartment with the flour. After slightly shaking the box the bee would be covered with flour causing him to fly very slowly when being released to fly home. This made it possible for the family to keep up with the bee following it to its hive. After lighting a small, smoky fire to scare away the bees for a little while they would be able to collect the honeycombs and get a supple of honey for their enjoyment. The family would put their initials on the tree for future gathering. In those days others would honor someone else's find and not use that hive if initials were already on the tree.

This next picture is of President and Sister Condie who were just released as the Temple President and Matron. We have loved knowing this sweet couple. Sunday night there was an Open House for them and I was disappointed when my camera batteries were dead and I couldn't get a picture of them. The next day I was serving at the Cultural Hall when they came in to see the Hall and the quilt collection on the second floor, that they had not had a chance to see while serving here. I got to be their tour guide. They were very pleased when I took them to the third floor and explained that this was the original dance floor where banquets and dances were held during the pioneer times-the very dance floor where Joseph and Emma and all the Nauvoo Saints would have danced.

President and Sister Condie

This next picture is kind of eerie to me.

It's a picture taken through the original bullet hole that would have killed Hyrum during the martyrdom. I am sitting on the window ledge that Joseph fell from after he was shot. I know its an unusual picture but people take the opportunity to get this shot and the site leaders of Carthage Jail took it while we were serving there last week. It kind of made me dizzy thinking about this historical event and the magnitude of it.

Next is Max.

Max

Max is a young man from Canada who is riding his bike from Quebec to Guatemala. He is planning on staying there for a couple of years to work as a diving instructor. He was drawn to Nauvoo when he saw the temple from some distance away. He stopped there only to find that the temple is not open to the public. They directed him to the Old Nauvoo Visitors Center, just down the hill from the temple. Max visited there then rode his bicycle to see a few of the historical sites. Elder Pincock was giving tours at the Tin Shop when Max came in at the end of the day for a tour. Imagine how surprised I was when I went to pick up Elder Pincock and he had a guest coming home for dinner! It was probably the first time since we have been here that I did not have a plan for dinner. But somehow our fridge was full of left overs that made a pretty good meal. And this young man was starving and ate every last bite of food. While Max was at the Visitors Center, Sister Gneiting (Elder and Sister Gneiting from Rigby, who some of you might know, he worked for Bank of Commerce in Rigby) gave Max a Book of Mormon and after dinner we had a nice discussion with him about it and he even started reading it while we were getting ready for our evening show. Then he attended Rendezvous with us and he greatly enjoyed it. We have many experiences like this one in our sites as we give tours each day when we get to answer questions and tell people about the gospel. Yesterday I had two ladies from Chicago who asked me many questions. I was excited to tell them things that helped them to understand why the saints were persecuted, killed, why they practiced polygamy, etc. When they left they said that what I told them was very interesting and helped them to understand.

Our days are filled with many experiences such as being called to be District Leaders, attending the temple, getting used to our new parts in Rendezvous (we've done it three times now), having to say goodbye to people who we have made friends with, playing the Farewell Nauvoo Song for the Farewell Breakfast this month, having dinner and parties with many- 5 or 6 this week! We saw the Jex's, Casper's, Bleggi's (Tracey Clark's parents) and others from Rexburg who were on a tour bus in Nauvoo this last week.

Who would ever imagine we could keep up with such a schedule? And what a blessing and priceless experience to be part of the Missionary efforts in the world at this time - 82,000 Missionaries are serving now. We are so happy to be part of this army and so excited for our oldest granddaughter, Brenna to have started her mission papers and her plans to join this great missionary force. And we will not be surprised if all 21 of our grand children serve missions. Thanks to their parents (our children) who are doing such a wonderful job raising them to do good and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all. We love you.

Only two weeks before we get to have family here to visit! We are so excited!

We leave you with some of the pretty scenes we have enjoyed this week of the autumn leaves here in the area. The leaves are starting to fall now and so these views are coming to an end. We have loved this fall with colors for over a month now.