Weeks 41 and 42, April 7, 2014----April 20, 2014

Hello:

Greetings to everyone.  Our days are just full of excitement, activity and hard work.  It is very rewarding and surprising that we can do what we do.  We get special help every day from above and Elder Pincock is just so excited tonight that he has figured out a computer program to keep the www.historicnauvoo.net website updated.

We have a new Mission President.  He is President Larry Gibbons from Texas.  He has served as a member of the Quorum of Seventy.  He served in the Eastern Europe Area in Russia.  So he knows a
lot about Armenia and the area where we served our first mission.

Our Mission President, President Gibbons

A couple of weeks ago we experienced a remarkable sight when they burned an acre of prairie grass in the middle of Nauvoo to demonstrate the fears the pioneers would have had when a prairie  fire ripped across the tall grasses as they crossed the plains.

Elder Pincock standing in the prairie grass.  Notice that some is taller than he is.

starting the Prairie grass fire

we selected a place just across the street from the 1 acre burn

This fire  raced across the acre with remarkable speed.  I got some fantastic pictures.  It's a controlled fire and the fire department comes down with their fire trucks to  insure that all is safe.  But it was unbelievable how the grass burned in about 3 to 4 minutes and went out by itself immediately after it burned.

the fire was getting pretty large

then it got VERY LARGE and hot!!

It didn't take long to burn, just a few minutes

 The smoke cleared in seconds.

fire is out

over in  just a few minutes

It was a fun event with hot dogs, chips and kettle corn just before the fire.  There were about 600 people there. It sure made you realize the dangers pioneers faced on their trek west.

The five couples in our apartment complex decided to go in together and get a barbecue grill for the summer.  We had a patio party to celebrate our purchase.  We had steaks, hamburgers. hot dogs and Italian Sausage.  Everyone brought a side dish.  It was on one of the descent days of the spring, except for a little wind.  I think it will be fun for the summer.  We are now getting more and more good days with a few rainy days in between.  The grass and trees are getting green and we have this remarkable sight outside our kitchen window with the blossoms of a magnificent Magnolia tree.

Magnolia tree from our back door

We have dozens of new couples who have arrived in Nauvoo.  We are busy helping them to be trained for the sites and the variety show that starts May 24th.  The young performing missionaries will arrive the 2nd of May and will be busy practicing for their performances.  We  are looking forward to the summer activities.  I can tell you that we will be much more prepared for the Sunset By the Mississippi show this year.

As Public Relation manager for the Nauvoo Mission we spend time each week delivering brochures about Nauvoo and Carthage to the surrounding visitor centers and hotels.  It's fun to go out and meet people and we have seen some interesting visitor centers that are renovated from  old homes and have fun architecture. We see some interesting sights as we travel around.  Elder Pincock is doing such a good job getting things lined up for the summer entertainment.    With all his Chamber of Commerce experience he knows just what to do and besides his computer skills are skyrocketing.  I think he really loves learning so much  about the computer.

We celebrated our 46th Wedding Anniversary on the 11th of April.  We went to the Hotel Nauvoo to have dinner.

Sister Pincock on our 46th wedding anniversary

We go there almost every week to eat because we enjoy it so much.  The dining room is beautiful and the food is very good.

A week ago last Sunday I accompanied 6 sisters who sang "Lord I Would Follow Thee" for the musical number in Sacrament Meeting.  I had to work really hard on the music- it was hard but the performance was lovely.

On April 12th, the Young Sister Missionaries returned from their winter outbound assignments and are back in Nauvoo for 6 months to help in the Visitor Center.  We work with them every day as the site leaders of the Visitors Center and enjoy that very much.  It's so fun, especially because our darling granddaughter, Brenna, has entered the Missionary Training Center this week and as we work with the Sister Missionaries here we can just picture Brenna and the kinds of things she will be involved with.

Last preparation day we drove to Springfield, IL for the day.  We went partly to deliver Nauvoo and Carthage brochures but we also got to go to the Lincoln Museum.  It is a beautifully put together museum with displays, films and tours that were excellent.

One display in the museum is about Lincoln's boyhood and life up until he became the President and the other half is about his terms in the white House.

replica of Abraham Lincoln home

Abraham Lincoln family in front of the White House (replica)

Then we went to the Old State Capitol Building and saw the law offices, Senate and Legislature Chambers, including where his body laid in state after the assassination.

Original State Capital building in Springfield Illinois

We visited the Lincoln, Herndon Law  office original building and saw where Joseph Smith had one of his many trials.

Original law offices where Abraham Lincoln worked as an attorney

original court room where a hearing was held for charges against
Joseph Smith for shooting at Governor Boggs of Missouri 

It was fun to see other tours now that we have given so many  and see the differences and the similarities of their tours and ours.

We had a nice Easter and enjoyed making up and delivering several Easter baskets to various missionaries. We had a good ham and yummy potato dinner with 2 other couples.  We had E/S Thurston and E/S Ricks over for dinner.  The Ricks', Linda and Paul from Rexburg, just arrived here in Nauvoo a few days before Easter. It was very comforting to be with people from home.

Elder Paul Ricks and Sister Linda Ricks of Rexburg.  They are Temple missionaries

We had a delightful meal.  We also enjoyed hearing from our children about their Easter egg hunts.  We have always loved Easter with our children so it was a little hard to be away from home that day.

Yes, we did get up at 1:30 am to see the Blood Moon.  Did you are see it?

Blood Moon over Nauvoo

We miss being with our family and friends at home but we have so many great experiences here in Nauvoo. Working in the Visitor Center is great because we see almost all visitors who come to Nauvoo as they make their plans to see sites and do their activities here.  We get to talk with so many people and learn about their lives and their needs.  Last week we had a large family come in.  I greeted them and welcomed them to  the Visitor's Center.  It was a couple who had just finished their mission in Palmyra  and had met their 6 children and many grand children in Nauvoo for a reunion.  It was so great to see a happy, successful family come together and enjoy a wonderful experience together.  It reminded me of our family.  We are so grateful for the opportunity we have had to raise 5 children, see them marry wonderful companions, and have children of their own.  We all know how much time  and effort it take to raise a family.  I want you to know that the joy it brings to your life is so worth all the work, time, and effort.  We appreciate all that our family does for us and what they do for each other.  It's so great to unite in common goals and beliefs.  Our advise for everyone today is to spend time with  your family, gather then around you and enjoy life with them.

UNITE TOGETHER WE ARE FAMILY!!!
We love you all.
Elder and sister Pincock      

        

Weeks 37, 38, 39 and 40 March 10--April 6, 2014

Hi:

One of our daughters called today and asked if we were still alive!  I guess it has been awhile since we sent a report about our experience so here goes.  I will write this while David is opening the Visitors Center for Priesthood Meeting tonight.

I guess that is a good place to start with our recent news.   Elder Pincock and I were asked to be site-leaders of the Nauvoo Visitor Center about two weeks ago.  If we thought we were busy until now it was just a warm up.  Just before the really busy time in Nauvoo we are busy training 45 new missionaries to be able to help in the Visitor Center.  We are in charge of ordering the supplies, opening the building in the mornings, taking care of opening and closing the building whenever there is an evening event in the building, in addition to manning the building whenever there is a tour group doing an after hour film or fireside.  We have been training a new assist site leader to help us and writing training helps for missionaries to be able to help the guests.  At the Visitor Center we direct guests to the sites, show films, give tours of the displays in the VC and schedule horse-drawn rides and plays and activities going on in Nauvoo.   All this is going very well but it keeps us busy not only during our assigned hours but a lot of our evening time too.

In addition we have been asked to help with the public information program to schedule and work with the special entertainment groups for the summer.  We have been taking out brochures to the hotels and Chamber of Commerce in the surrounding towns, working with the Provo groups who are coming this summer and meeting with other people in public relation positions.  We have an office in the visitor Center one day a week to take care of this assignment.

Elder Pincock is doing a super  good job with his new part in Rendezvous.  He weaves the different stories together with his narration in the play.  It's the biggest part in the play and he is doing an excellent job.  He performs one night a week.  I do a fun much smaller part as the relief Society President in one of the vignettes.  We have also been doing the prompting and curtain puller parts once every two weeks. 

Elder and Sister Pincock in Rendezvous 

at the close of Rendezvous

Elder Pincock doing one of his lines

Sister Pincock as "Relief Society President" and the Sisters of Relief Society

I have had the opportunity to work with and perform with several groups doing musical numbers recently and I have enjoyed it a lot even though it's a little bit stressful.   I haven't made too many mistakes.

Elder Pincock wanted to go to the Nauvoo Hotel for dinner for his birthday.  We invited a few friends and had a lovely time.  I think we have been there 4 times now since it opened March 17th.  It's a wonderful buffet with really good food.  It's nice to have a few places in Nauvoo reopening  after the long winter.  The businesses in Nauvoo pretty much close down during the winter.  but we can pretty much tell that winter is over here.  The ice on the Mississippi river breaking up and floating downstream was an amazing sight.  It actually happened very quickly  (about 2-3 days).

Pelican's on the Mississippi (ice is was breaking up)

last piece of ice on the River (about March 20th)

We've had some severe lightning storms and still get some cold winds and cold nights but the good news is that it is warming up and we even get some pretty sunshiny days, like today. 

fisherman on the river

wishing that he had a fish in his mouth

For the annual Relief Society birthday celebration we did the reenactment  of the 1st Relief Society Meeting which took place here in Nauvoo.  We met at the Visitor Center where the horses and wagons picked us up and took us up to the Red Brick Store where the 1st meeting and organization of the women in the Church took place.

wagon taking Relief Society sisters to the Relief Society Re-enactment

It was hard to believe that we were in that very spot.  They reenacted the exact meeting, the songs, business items, the talks and the voting of the officers.  It was really a special event.        

Lady portraying Emma Smith at the Relief Society re-enactment

We have many good experiences in the Visitor Center with guests who come there.  I spent a couple of hours with an 18 year old girl who had just been baptized a member of the Church the day before.  Se was very shy but a sweet girl.  I took her around the Visitor Center.  She had been raised in a foster home most of her life and had just gotten back with her mother a couple of years ago.  She said she just went to the Church one day and told the missionaries she wanted to be baptized.  Her youth group had gone to the temple to do baptisms but she couldn't go yet.  She was getting confirmed  the next day. 

Another day I visited with a nonmember guest who told me that our Church is like "a light in the dark" and was very impressed with our views and teachings.  

AND to the members in our home ward in Rigby, please tell Alexis Codere that I had the opportunity to give her personalized Book of Mormon to a young man who was on a date with a girl.  They came to the Visitor Center as part of their date and they were very interested in all that they saw  and heard.  They asked for a Book of Mormon and said that they would read it.  I explained to them that Alexis was a teenage girl who had written her story and testimony in the front of the book.  I had the opportunity to  tell them about the book and bear my testimony.  Please tell Alexis that it was a great experience for me and to thank her for her gift.   I had been carrying her book in my backpack ever since Christmas waiting for the right opportunity to give it to someone.  What a priceless opportunity we are having in Nauvoo.

 What a happy day we had last Sunday when Rob, Nichole. Brenna. Cayden and Tanner arrived for a very wonderful visit.

Brenna's birthday party.  She enters the MTC on April 21st.  Love you Brenna!

 

Pincock's at Carthage Jail

They got to see every site, ride three horse drawn rides, watch the films, take the Martyrdom and Carthage tour, two shows of Rendezvous, visit the Old Pioneer Cemetery, and do baptisms at the temple for family names. and everything else that Nauvoo has to offer.  In addition they got to see things that the normal visitor doesn't get to see such as the horses coming in for the morning to start their rides, a tour of the Tukuafu home on the river,

Brother ans Sister Tukuafu at their home

watched an eagle catch a snake, watched a huge barge going up the river,

Barge on the Mississippi.  (view from the window of the Tukuafu's home

attended two Susan Durrant lectures, do baptisms for family names.  They also got to go to Cantril to the Mennonites Store and see the Mormon built community of Bentonsport complete with a pedestrian tour across the Des Moines River where we saw close up the nest of a goose with eggs in it.

Pedestration Bridge accross the DesMoines River

Goose eggs in a nest

We also went to Snake Alley (the curviest road  in the world),

Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa

I got to take Brenna and Nichole to Gypsy'stores to shop.  Then Rob and his family did a service project at the Women's Garden where they cleaned the 13 statues and "made them shine".   We ate at several really good restaurants and all in all had a fantastic week.  They had the "train adventure" and I think they liked it just fine.    We love  having our children here in Nauvoo and so much appreciate their visits.  We have many visitors coming for the spring,summer and fall and we look forward to these visits with all our hearts.  It's so much fun to have people see this amazing place. 
 

Dinner at the Hotel Nauvoo buffet

dinner at Big Muddy's restaurant in Iowa

Well this Blog is getting way too long but I need to report this last week so hang on for just a bit.  Tuesday night we had a talent show to pick the numbers for the Sunset on the Mississippi variety show.  There were over 20 participants and the talent was great-very enjoyable event.  Last Sunday we had a sociable with Richard Benedict, the actor who played several parts in 17 Miracles and the part of the "old" Ephraim Hanks in Ephraim's Rescue.

Richard Benedict (actor)

It will never work Elder Pincock!!!

His message was to help rescue people in this life who need help.  We need to reach out, go the extra mile and make a difference to those who need our help. 

Hope you all enjoy this Conference Weekend and feel the spirit of all that is said.  It's like the man I met this week who said our Church (The Gospel of Jesus Christ ) is like a light in the dark.  We are so blessed to have these leaders who guide the way.  Hope you are all listening.

Love,
Elder and Sister Pincock