Week 14--September 30---October 6, 2013

Hello:

It sure seems that these weeks go by REALLY fast!

We started our Monday morning by calling our daughter Annette and wishing her a happy ??? th birthday.  It is always fun to talk to our children and grandchildren. 

Sister Pincock spent the day at the sewing room and made three day caps for sisters.  She really enjoys making different costume items at the sewing shop.  She even gets to take a lunch hour when she serves there. At  the other sites you have to take a lunch and eat between tours or wait until you get home to eat.  We  must be doing it right because we have not lost a whole lot of weight.(yet)

We had the musical " Rendezvous In Old Nauvoo" on Monday.  There was only one show scheduled but a group traveling on a bus was late so we stayed and did a second show for them.  Missionaries are on duty 24-7!

We would like to tell you about 2 special experiences this week.  One is about a historic tour in Eastern Iowa and the second is about our missionary assignment on Saturday with  "Nauvoo On The Road".


TOUR

Tuesday was our preparation day and it was a great day.  We had been invited by a few other couples to go with them on a tour of some of the historic sites just across the Mississippi River in Iowa.  When the saints left Nauvoo they  crossed the river and they exited in the Montrose, Iowa area.  Our tour guide was a man named Michael Foley.  He has spent many years researching historic sites for the State of Iowa and the County Historical Society.  He was very knowledgeable. 

our tour guide, Michael Foley

Stop 1:

We began our tour in Montrose which is just across the river from Nauvoo.  We were standing on the banks of the Mississippi river and looking back across the river to see the Nauvoo temple. It was a hazy morning and the picture is not real clear but you can see the temple. 
 

Nauvoo Temple from Montrose Iowa

As we began the tour there along the river our tour guide explained how the first people to arrive were men in the U. S Army sent there to establish  the first Fort Des Moines.  The purpose of the soldiers and fort was to protect the land as a place for half-breeds to settle (kinda like a reservation) and the army was to keep others out.  But with so few men in the army they were not able to control the land and others moved in.  Our guide pointed out where the different barracks and cabins were located and where in later years  Brigham Young's  wife  and John Taylor's wife lived while the men   were serving their first missions. 

drawing of Fort Des Moines showing location of buildings (lower left)
along the Mississippi River

Stop 2: 

We then went to a little gazebo/memorial located exactly where the saints exited off the river when they crossed from Nauvoo.  Our guide pointed out to us the many different locations where the wagons entered Iowa after crossing the Mississippi from Nauvoo.  (see map)

the 7 or 8 lines going from the Mississippi River and joining the Mormon trail
are where the majority of wagons entered Iowa from Nauvoo

This is the point where the thousands of quail  flew in and provided the Saints with food as they first set out to the west.  (If you remember that story).  It was actually the last of the Saints who left Nauvoo.  They were the poor and the sick who were not able to prepare properly.  The mobs forced them all on a boat and dropped them off on the west shore without food or provisions.  They were hungry and destitute when the birds came and the people were able to pick them up and it provided them with food for a few days until the others came back and picked them up and helped them to catch up with the other wagon trains. 

this Memorial was built and is maintained by families of early pioneers.  It is near Montrose, Iowa

Stop 3:

We drove up a hill to get our last view of the temple before we got over the top of the hill.  It must have been the last time the saints got to see their temple and probably had no idea of the hardships that lay ahead of them in Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming.  The saints drove their wagons up this same hill and had the same view as we did.  It was a very spiritual moment to realize that we were seeing the exact view they saw.

Nauvoo Temple as seen from the top of the bluff in Iowa that gave the pioneers
 their last look at the temple after leaving

Stop 4:

We then drove to where the little town of Zarahemla existed in 1839.  Zarahemla was a small community that was living the United Order.  There were not many homes in Zarahemla and the town is now located on  family farm  property (Conlee Farm) but they have allowed people to use a path along side of their corn field to get to the town and cemetery. We went to the cemetery where our guide showed us the headstones of some of the many people that were buried there.  He showed us how some rods (like divining rods) are used to find graves and other historic spots that are under the ground.  He showed how the rods worked to determine the exact location and size of the grave.  We thought to ourselves that he was somehow tricking us but he gave us all rods and THEY REALLY DO WORK!!!!!   No one is more cynical that I am but I am here to tell you that they really work.  We could find graves ourselves and also to tell us where wagon wheels had disturbed the ground.

 

where homes were located in Zarahemla

Zarahemla Cemetery on the Conlee Farm

Cemetary Plot with a few of the grave markers

Elder Pincock using "divining" rods to find and verify graves in cemetery

Stop 5:

We then drove to Sugar Creek where the first wagon train to leave Nauvoo lead by Brigham Young stayed the first night after leaving Nauvoo.  Along the way we were shown some other private property where very large pioneer cemeteries were located.  It is really unbelievable the number of pioneers that died leaving Nauvoo and  beginning  their journey westward.

 

Sugar Creek  (its a  little dry this time of the season)

field where 1st wagon train to leave under Brigham Young camped the
first night after leaving Nauvoo

Stop 6:

Our next stop was at the tiny town of Argyle Iowa where we saw the cabin of James A. Newberry.  The cabin was built in 1838 and still exists today.  Newberrys were members of the Church and owned the surrounding 3000 acres.  Often the saints traveled along trails that crossed property of members because they felt safe and so that they would not be harassed by mobs.  There was a cemetery near the cabin.  It was interesting because the cemetery was located  near the main wagon trail but on a wagon turnout.  So what the historians believe is that as people died the wagons would turn off the main trail at the turnout, bury their dead and then just go back onto the trail.  (like our rest stops along the freeway today.  We turn off the road to rest and then go back onto the highway)

Map showing main wagon trail and turn out to cemetery (graves marked with little boxes)

Newberry cabin

The tour lasted about three hours and was very interesting.  It was well worth the time to learn about more of the early pioneer history.

After the tour we went to a temple session at the Nauvoo Temple and had a wonderful experience with our session leaders, Bro and Sister Durrant. (Susan Easten Black)

Nauvoo On The Road


The second great experience was our site assignment for Saturday.  It was called "Nauvoo On The Road"(NOTR).   As the communities around Nauvoo have celebrations of any kind, county fairs, community days, etc. they invite NOTR to come to their celebration.  Nauvoo On The Road consists of some of the activities that we do here in Nauvoo that people enjoy doing.  The activities we take with us are: rope making, brick making, pioneer games (stilts, table games) gingerbread cookies and candle making.



our Nauvoo on the Road crew

So on Saturday we were assigned to go with NOTR to Donellson, Iowa to the Donellson & Harvestville Farm.  They were having family days and it was wonderful.  They had some great activities for kids and some wonderful displays made of pumpkins, squash and other fall crops.  The gift store was huge and we were treated so wonderfully.  They were glad to have us come because kids love the activities we provide and it is all free. 

We have attached some pictures of our day. It was so fun and we got to meet many, many nonmembers.

Harvestville Farm



gift shop and decorations




cute decorations



the activity center

Kids activities

play in corn kernels (kinda like playing in sand)



this is a fun activity where you put a rubber duck in the top tube and pump water
to wash the duck down the tubing.

jumping on the corn stalk (trampoline)

Nauvoo On The Road Activities

 

walking on stilts

rope making

girl scout troop that had fun at the Nauvoo activities



our Nauvoo On The Road Van and trailer

When missionaries are leaving the mission field in Nauvoo there is breakfast held to honor them.  The group leaving has the opportunity to go up on stage and do a skit to say farewell.  So on Friday morning we had the farewell breakfast for those that were going home in the next few weeks.  There were about 20 missionaries that will be going home soon.  You will recognize the MC for the leaving group as Gale Harding. ( he was in his comfort zone!)  You can see Judy Harding in the background. 

Friday morning farewell breakfast staring Elder Gale Harding (his hands were behind him)

On Friday evening we had three couples over for dinner and then we watched BYU play football.  They won!!!

Saturday night we had a cast (our show group) party and had a wonderful view of the Nauvoo Temple from the room where the party was held.  It seems like we party a lot but we work hard so that we can enjoy the parties.  After the party the men left and went to Priesthood meeting.



Temple with dark rain clouds in background

Sunday we enjoyed the first session of General Conference and then we went to work for the afternoon at the Lyon Drug.  E/S Gale and Judy Harding live in an apartment above the drug store and they were just preparing to leave for home so we got to say good bye to them and give them a hug  before they departed.  It was fun to be in the same mission together.

We love you  all and hope that you always do the best you can.  "Unite Forever, we are family" and friends.

E/S Pincock

PS  I just passed the one year mark of my first surgery last year and the 6 month mark of the last surgery.  I have worked back up to the point where I can walk on the tread mill for as long and fast as I was doing before all this started.  I feel really good.  I am truly blessed to be able to keep up with all that we do. 

Week 13--September 23 to September 29, 2013

Hello again:

Another fantastic week!!  We are so very excited about the things that we got to do this past week and we are behind this week so this news is from a week and a half ago.  Sorry.  We just keep getting busier and busier.  What a great life!

Elder Oak's at Joseph Smith hearings

Elder Dallen Oaks was here again.  This time it was for a very interesting event.  Some of you might have heard about "the games lawyers play" here in Illinois.  Each year they get together and retry a case from the past.  Last year they retried Mary Todd Lincoln.   Apparently she was put into an institution because of some of her erratic behaviors.  The state of Illinois had a mock  trial to determine if her time in the asylum for insanity was legal based on current Illinois law.  Anyway, they found her not guilty.  So this year was the trial of Joseph Smith.  Elder Oaks is the defense lawyer for the case.  Monday night he presented his case to us here in Nauvoo.  His presentation was called "Behind the Extraditions: Joseph Smith, the Man and the Prophet".  There was a very nice reception in the Women's Garden.  Many mayors and government officials and lawyers from the state of Illinois were here.   The next day was the reenactment of the trial in Springfield,  Ill.  Many of the missionaries here in Nauvoo went to the trial (the ones who had their preparation day on Tuesday).  They said the evidence was overwhelmingly in favor of Joseph Smith.  I'll let you know the verdict when we hear.  They said that the outcome will change what is written in the textbooks here in Illinois.    It was extremely interesting to be part of this event.

Illinois Governor John Wood Mansion in Quincy

We spent our Preparation Day in Quincy.  We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Mississippi River.  It was lovely.  Then we went to the John Wood Governor Mansion and took the tour.  It was fun and we saw some interesting things including a room called "The Lincoln Room"  where the original keys to the Nauvoo temple are displayed. They were given to a man for safe keeping because he had helped the Saints, handed down through his family and then donated to the Museum in Quincy.   In the Nauvoo Temple is a set of duplicated keys and a few of the originals that the church has. 

John Wood with piano shipped to Illinois from Europe

original keys to the Nauvoo Temple

doll collection from all over the world.  (Notice the porcelain dolls on the table)

On our way home that day, we went to Warsaw and saw the town where many of the men from the mob that Killed Joseph and Hyrum lived.  The newspaper office is still in downtown Warsaw.  Sorry about the reflection of me taking the picture and the buildings behind me.  If you could see into this Warsaw Signal window, you would see complete devastation of the inside.  The roof has collapsed, the floor has collapsed and the printing machines are in the rubble.  It's the newspaper that printed all the lies about Joseph and stirred up the mobs and caused the hatred of the Saints in Nauvoo.  All in all the whole little town is sad.  It's dirty, the properties are unkept and the feeling is dreary. 

front window of the Warsaw Signal with reflection of buildings across the street.

Warsaw Signal building (pink front)

On Wednesday, we had the honor of serving at the Carthage Jail.  What a humbling experience to be giving the tour of this sacred place.  For a few hours the site managers were off, and we with another couple who were there for the first time, (the four of us being new)  were there alone to give the tours and give testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and tell the story.  It was a humbling experience.  We found that we were not alone,  The Holy Ghost was there with us.  We loved being there and hope we get the opportunity to be at Carthage again soon. 

Carthage Jail.  (the upper window above the well is where the Prophet Joseph fell from when he was shot)



Martyrdom Room

Carthage Visitors Center

Flowers at Carthage



Cicada bugs.  They make lots of noise and in some parts of the world people eat them.

On my last three assignments to the Family Living Center I have been working on this piece quilt.  I sewed the pieces together and felt quite proud of myself because I have never made a piece quilt before.  We decided to cut it in two pieces and make two lap quilts to donate to the Assisted Living Home.  The next time I am assigned there I hope to finish one of them. 

Sister Pincock with the quilt she sewed

dinner just before the Women's Conference

On Saturday night, the women met before our Conference broadcast and had a very nice dinner.  This is the cultural hall at our Church building which we share with the two wards here in Nauvoo.  The Women's broadcast was televised in the chapel after the dinner, but it was our casts turn to do Rendezvous and so we had to leave early to do that.  We have a rigorous schedule but it is so fun.  This week we were given new parts in Rendezvous.  We will be the lead couple in a vignette called "Noah's Chorus".  It's very  musical and rhythm challenging.  Elder Pincock  has many  more parts than I do.  But I received another call to play my first song in Rendezvous.  It's for a duet, done by a couple in one of the vignettes.  It's called "Farewell Nauvoo"  and it's a very sad part of the play.  I start on Monday, so please pray for me. 
  

It's been a very busy and rewarding week.  We often think of our family and friends at home and miss you very much.  I want to leave you with a thought that we use in our family when we get together for family dinners and fun.   It's part of our Family Motto from 11 Nephi 1:21    "And be determined in one heart and one mind, united in all things."   May we all be determined to unite in our cause to live the commandments and be worthy to return to live with our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ.   Hope  you all have a happy and safe week.  We love you.

E/S Pincock

Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa

Aunt, Uncle and Friend 

 

 

Week 12--September 16, 2013---September 22, 2013

Hello again:

We had another great week.  The weather is cooling off some here and even though we had a couple of warmer days in the 90's you can feel a change in the air.  There are so many trees here that we are looking forward to fall so that we can see what the trees are like as they turn colors.

Monday Sister Pincock was assigned to work in the sewing room.  She really enjoyed being there  and while there she made 2 of the work caps that the men wear when we do our tours.  She learned some good sewing techniques that will help her  as she does her personal sewing projects.  Elder Pincock worked in the tin shop on Monday and likes telling people about the special mouse trap made from tin and bearing his testimony about the importance of following patterns in our own personal lives.  Patterns such as: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, following the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the end.


sewing room

That evening we shared dinner with E/S Brough who live in our building.  They are the couple that followed us to the hospital when Elder Pincock was having his nose problem.  They kept checking with us that night to make sure that everything was okay and we so much appreciated their staying up all night to provide that service to us.  We had a great dinner in our apartment with them.  He is a teamster (drives the horses) and they will be going home in a few weeks.

After dinner we went for a walk around the Nauvoo State Park campground which is right across the street from our apartment.  We had heard that there was a lake in the park so we went to check it out.  It was there! We enjoyed taking a few pictures of the beautiful surroundings and enjoying the sunset as it gleamed through the trees and over the calm water.  It was a great walk.

near our apartment

Lake Horton

On Tuesday morning we had our weekly training meeting with Elder Robert C Gay of the Seventy speaking to us again. He works on a committee with the Church that is over the Humanitarian Services which includes water projects, employment services, wheelchairs etc. We were particularly interested because we taught the employment program in Eastern Europe.  He spent the hour answering questions from the missionaries.

It is always good to have General Authorities visit and talk to us.  We get to see them a lot.  Next week Elder Oaks will be here to participate in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum sponsorship of "Individual Liberties from Joseph Smith to Abraham Lincoln to Guantanamo:  "Habeas Corpus and the Courts".  Individual liberties will be discussed and we wish that our son-in-law Lucas Ingram, who loves history, could be here.  We are told that there will be Governors here from Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Utah and other "legal" dignitaries.  We are expecting to have busy days in our sites.  There will probably be over 1000 people listening to Elder Oak's next Monday where he will be talking on the theme of "Behind the Extraditions: Joseph Smith, the man and the Prophet".

After Elder Gay's talk on Tuesday morning we took care of some personal things here in Nauvoo and then went to the Nauvoo Temple.  We love being able to attend the Temple.  It is so beautiful but there were not many people there but it was a special session for us.

flowers at the Temple grounds

After the temple Elder Pincock got his hair cut and then we drove the 15 miles to Keokuk for dinner and shopping.  It had been a long day so we enjoyed our evening out at the Hawkeye (Iowa) Restaurant and Walmart. 

On Wednesday Elder Pincock served at the blacksmith shop.  He had not been there since his nose bleed so we were a little anxious about the heat and coal dust from the forge because they do make horseshoes there.  He made quite a few horseshoes and the smoke and heat did not seem to bother him so it was good. He had made only 1 horseshoe before and now he had to work all day there and had to make horseshoes all day.  ( They give the horseshoes away to the guests).  Elder Pincock got a little training and then made about 10 shoes during the day.  A couple of pictures are attached.  The first picture is of the first horseshoes he made and the 2nd picture is the last 3 that he made.  I think he made good progress during the day!

first horseshoes made at the beginning of the day.  (notice how uneven they are)

at the end of the day.  (notice how much more even the shoes are)

After Sister Pincock finished giving her tours at the Wilford Woodruff home she went to the Land and Records Office to look up some names of ancestors of Reenie Blakely (she is our neighbor in Rigby).  There were people living here with the name that we were looking for so we put the information on a CD and mailed the information to Reenie.  Hopefully there will be a connection.

Sister Pincock on a slow day at a site working on doll clothes

On Thursday, we got to serve together in the Riser Home and Boot Shop.  It was great to serve together. George Riser was one of about 13 shoemaking establishments in Nauvoo.  George was born in Germany and immigrated to America with his family as a young boy.  They settled in Ohio and when George turned 18 he began learning how to make shoes.  By the time he was 22 years old he owned his own shop in Ohio   The business was prosperous and growing and George needed to hire additional employees and hired a Mormon by the name of Ebenezer Kerr.  Ebenezer talked about how the church was growing in Nauvoo and George wanted to learn more so he sold his business, bought a wagon and team of horses, loaded up his wife and infant son and drove about 600 miles to Nauvoo to check out this new religion.  Soon after the Riser's  arrival their baby, John Jacob, became very sick almost dying.  George asked Joseph Smith and Orson Hyde to give a blessing to John Jacob and upon completion of the Priesthood blessing the baby was immediately healed.  This event greatly influenced the Riser's conversion.  They were soon baptized in the Mississippi river in December where a hole was cut in the ice to perform the baptism.  The next spring John Jacob became ill again and passed away.  The parents were sad to loose their baby but felt that John Jacob's mission here on earth was to bring them to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The Riser's left Nauvoo in 1846 and arrived in Salt lake City in the fall of 1847.  George opened the first shoe shop in the Salt Lake valley.  After arriving in Salt Lake George was called on a mission to his homeland, Germany.  On his way he stopped in Ohio and taught his father the gospel and then baptized his father before leaving for Germany. 

After telling the story we demonstrate how shoes were made in the 1840's.

On Friday Sister Pincock was not feeling well so she took the day to regain some of her strength and get some rest.  Working with Elder Pincock the previous day must have been pretty difficult!  Sometimes a little extra rest can be very beneficial.  Elder Pincock worked in the brickyard today "hacking" bricks and giving a few tours.  The numbers of visitors is sure dwindleing quickly.  That evening we had two Sister Missionaries come for dinner.  One of the Sister Missionaries is Sister Newell.  Her father is Lloyd Newell and he does the speaking for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast.  After those two Sisters left we had the 3 other Sister missionaries come to practice their discussion lessons.  It was an enjoyable evening.

Saturday was a busier day in the sites.  Sister Pincock worked at the Lucy Mack Smith home and enjoyed giving the tours there and particularly enjoyed working with her companions.  Elder Pincock worked at the family living center during the afternoon.  We ran home after work and had a quick dinner and then went back to the Cultural Hall for the musical Rendezvous.  We had two shows because so many people were visiting on Saturday. 

After Rendezvous we drove by the Temple to see the beautiful evening with the full moon.

full moon with the Nauvoo Temple

Sunday we had our Church meetings and then we went home and rested and prepared for our District meeting that we were hosting at our apartment that night.  For the discussion during the meeting we discussed and reviewed our notes from Elder Gay's talks earlier in the week.  Then we had ice cream sundaes and brownies.  A picture of our District group is below.  E/S Thomas are from Driggs.




The members of the Willard Richards District (E/S Maughan, Sister McCann, Sister Brown, E/S Thomas and E/S Davis

We had a great week and hope that you all are safe and healthy.  We feel your prayers and love and are grateful for your support.

Love you all!

E/S Pincock

Week 11 (September 9 -- September 16, 2013)

Hello:

We had a great week!!!!!!

Sunday evening we went to a "sociable" fireside tonight.  The speaker was Mr. Lachian Mackay who is the director of the local Community of Christ Church (Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  He talked about the lives of the children of Joseph and Emma Smith.  It was a very informative and interesting meeting. 

Sister Pincock served at the Cultural Hall on Monday and while there got to play the piano for the Smith's audition, a new couple that just arrived for their mission.  The Smith's sang the hymn "Called To Serve". 

On Tuesday we went to Hannibal Missouri with one of the couples that live nearby and have the same preparation day as us.  Hannibal is where Samuel Clements lived (the famous author whose pen name was Mark Twain and wrote the famous story of Tom Sawyer).  We visited the sites that Clements  wrote about in the book the "Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn".  We visited the Huck Finn house, (actual home of Clements best friend, whose real life name was Tom Blankenship),   the Becky Thatcher house (actual home of the girl that lived across the street) , saw the Tom Sawyer picket fence and many of the other historic sites in Hannibal.  We also went on a river boat ride that took us past Jackson Island which is where Tom Sawyer had some great adventures exploring and being pirates. The island is just down river from Hannibal and looks like it would be a great place for kids to hide and play.  Mark Twain wrote about the island as being an escape and provided for many exciting times in the life of Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher.  




Tom Sawyer house ( where Samuel Clements actually lived)

Elder Pincock's sweetheart at Becky Thatcher's home

Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher!!!


We were going to go through the Tom Sawyer cave but the afternoon was getting late and we still needed to get our shopping done so went back to Quincy and did our shopping at Sam's Club and Walmart.  (yes, we did buy some raspberries at Sam's).  It was a very fun day and we will go back sometime and see all the things we missed.  We did get back to Nauvoo in time to take some beautiful pictures of the sunset on the Mississippi again.  Wow, what a sunset spectacular!!!

another sunset on the Mississippi

Wednesday we served together at the Nauvoo Visitors Center.   Our training meeting this morning was about the value of senior missionaries.  Wow, senior couples are sure needed.  Elder Pincock is good with the visitors that come to the center.  He enjoys talking to them and is not afraid to say "hello".  Must be from all those years at greeting customers that came into the bank.

On Thursday, Sister Pincock worked at the bakery.  It is a fun spot because the visitors get a gingerbread cookie, so it is always busy.  She served with  Sister Brockbank who is a single sister
serving her mission here.  Sister Brockbank's husband passed away many years ago when they had 11 children at home.  She raised them alone and the family is expecting her 70th grandchild this year.  What a great example of a faithful mother.

On Friday Elder Pincock worked at the Family Living Center making ropes and also making rugs on the looms.  Sister Pincock worked at the Land and Records office where she helped people search the records for information about their ancestors that lived in Nauvoo.  She is getting very good at using the computers and understanding real estate legal descriptions.  Way to go Sister Pincock!!!!! Computers????

We attended the  nightly musical of Rendezvous.  We went because Elder Pincock has a part on our show tomorrow of being a "horse" and he needed to see where and what a "horse" does.  Being a horse is not difficult but requires the person to bend over at the waist, and some of the senior men can not bend over too well so the "younger" (Elder Pincock??)  Elders get to be the horses.

Sister Garner, Sister Holt and Sister Richardson

Tonight the young Sister missionaries came to our apartment to practice teaching us.  The young Sister Missionaries are getting ready to receive their reassignment for their missions for the next six months.  They are called to serve in the Nauvoo Mission and spend six months here during the summer working at the visitors center. (the church cannot have proselyting missionaries in Nauvoo) When the summer crowds are gone the Sisters are reassigned to another mission somewhere in the United States for 6 months.  Then the next spring they come back to Nauvoo again for the busy summer months. So in preparation for their reassignment to be proselyting missionaries they come to the senior homes to practice teach and we act as investigators.  It is fun to have these young wonderful spiritual women in our home.  Tonight they taught us about the Plan of Happiness. They drew a picture of the Spirit World, the veil, earth, death, spirit world and degrees of glory.  It was a cute drawing so we have included the picture.

Saturday night we went to the local high school booster club fund raising dinner.  It was BBQ beef with salads, chips, drinks and some yummy dessert.  It kinda brought back some fun memories of all the years Elder Pincock supported the Madison Booster Club.  A lot of the senior missionaries supported the fund raiser so hopefully the school should be happy to have our donation.

On Saturday, Elder Pincock worked at the brickyard.  Elder Excel, who is the site leader, said that we need to make 15,000 bricks before spring so that they have enough inventory to get through the busy summer months next year.  That is a lot of bricks!

Elder Pincock performed tonight as a "horse" in Rendezvous.  He did well for the 15 seconds the part lasted.  We had two shows to perform because there were so many people that were visiting this weekend. It was a fun evening.  We enjoy doing these shows because the audience likes them so much.

The weather sure has changed.  It was very warm during the week but we had some rain on Sunday and the high temperature was only about 70 degrees.  It is supposed to be cool all week so maybe summer is about over.  We had some good church meetings today and then we went to the Land and Records office to work for the afternoon.  The historic sites are open on Sunday's because they are National historic sites. Elder Pincock caught on very quickly how to help people do the research and help them determine where their ancestors homes were located and he learned how to burn a CD for them.  The CD's give all the historical information about the family members that lived in Nauvoo, their real estate, what ward they lived in etc.  All the historical information the Church has about the people that lived here.  Any one who had ancestors that lived in Nauvoo  can let us know and we can get the information for you on a CD and send it to you.  Just let us know.

Elder Pincock at a computer in the Land and Records Office (looks like he is at home)

While we were at the Lands and Records office we found a book with names of all the women who donated to the Woman of Faith Statues that were originally displayed in Salt Lake City and now are displayed here in Nauvoo.  The names were listed by Stake and Ward and we found names of people that lived in the wards where we lived as kids.  We have attached a picture of the record of women living in the Pocatello East Stake, 14th Ward.  If you look closely you can see the name of Elder Pincock's mother, Shirley Pincock.  We found the names of other relatives, Becky Pincock, Aunt Winnie Sharp and the names of Zola and Paula Hancock that are our friends that lived in Pocatello at the same time.  It was fun to see all the names of people that we know.

Pocatello Idaho East Stake, 14th Ward

Women of Faith ( one of 13 statues)

Elder Robert C. Gay of the Quorum of Seventy is here for a couple of days doing a mission tour.  Elder Gay spoke to us on Sunday night about some of his experiences while serving as a Mission President in Ghana, Africa.  he gave a powerful testimony and while he spoke we thought about our friends, President and Sister Shulz, who currently serving as Mission president in Ghana.


We had a wonderful week with many different experiences.  The very best though is the opportunity to be here in this historic spiritual place and invite others to "Come Unto Christ".


We love you all and hope that you have a great week.  Do your best always!

E/S Pincock

Week 10---September 2 to September 8, 2013

Hello again.

We just cannot believe that another week has passed so quickly.  It seems like we get up one morning and eat breakfast and then its one week later!

Thanks to all of you that responded to our blog last week about the phonetic spelling of three words.  You all did really good.  No one got all three right but some were pretty close with two right.  The one that seemed to stump everybody was the first word which was "Beauter Tishes", correctly it is Pewter Dishes.  Pewter is a metal that was used to make dishes.  The other two words were "Youtenshels ( utensils) and wereenaparil (wearing apparel).  The winners were the Christian and Annette Buhler family, Mary Ann Ricks (lives in Menan) , The Todd and Shannon Ricks family, Patti Petersen (lives in Provo)  and E/S Blunck. ( currently serving in the country of Georgia)

Our Sunday meetings here are always so good.  We go to church at 8:00 in the morning.  After Sacrament Meeting we all leave the church and go two blocks  west to the Visitor's Center where we have our other meetings.  We have spent time the last two months praying and fasting for our Jennifer and Quinn.  He completed his Physician Assistant schooling this summer and passed his test to get his license.  All he needed was a job.  We prayed all this week that he would get a job this week and our prays were answered when we talked to them on Saturday and found out that he had accepted a job that started today  (Sept. 9th).  Thanks to all who prayed and fasted for them.  We are so happy for them and all that they have accomplished in the last two years. 

Last Monday our schedules changed and the time we spend in the historic sites cut back an hour each day.  We work a shorter day and get home earlier.  Some days are quiet and we only have a few guests.  In our sites we can work on Indexing, Humanitarian projects, companion study, quilting and personal projects like crocheting.  Many of the sites have sewing machines in them. 

Monday evening we enjoyed time in the Nauvoo Groves reading the stories about speeches that were given in the groves around Nauvoo  by Joseph Smith and other church leaders.  There were three main spots where the early saints met in Nauvoo for their meetings.  The sites were east and south of the temple and at the groves on the west of the temple. We also stopped at the limestone quarry where all the stone for the Nauvoo temple was excavated. 



Nauvoo Groves at Sunset

Quarry where stone for the temple was cut

On our preparation day we went to Quincy and did some fun shopping and then had a great dinner with another couple (E/S Ririe) in Keokuk.  It was an Italian restaurant where we could pick out the ingredients in our pasta dish and watch them cook it for us.  It was delicious. 

Here are a few random pictures:

The deer in our backyard.  These are the baby deer we showed you in July.  They are really growing.

deer at our apartment complex

Downtown Nauvoo and the best ice cream parlor around.

Annie's Ice Cream shop in Nauvoo

Judy and Gale Harding from Rexburg.  They came for dinner on Sunday and we had a great time.

Elder and Sister Harding

The beautiful horizon as the moon came up on Sunday evening.  

Moon over Nauvoo with Venus? to the right

  

The Sister missionaries came to our apartment on Friday night to have a Missionary discussion and we helped them to learn their lessons and presentations.  They are here in Nauvoo for 6 months and they are getting ready to transfer for the next 6 months while it is so slow here in Nauvoo.  It's kind of like getting another Mission call.  They are excited to see where they will be going at the end of September.  In the meantime they will come to Senior missionary apartments to "practice" for the next 3 weeks. 

Our Rendezvous performances are going well.  It's very fun to sing and act with all these old people.  It's amazing how good we are!  Here are a couple of shots from our performances this week.

us in our "show' clothes for Rendezvous

Sister Pincock during the Relief Society Vignette

With the number of visitors decreasing we have more time to spend with those that do come to visit.  Elder Pincock had a special experience this week while he was working at the Browning Home and Gun shop (yes, this is the Browning that is the famous gun maker).  The first visitor was a very nice man from Peoria Illinois who was dressed in a nice shirt and tie.  The man, who was by himself, said his wife was attending the temple wedding for a friend so he was visiting some of the sites while he was waiting for the marriage and sealing to be completed.  The man said that he was not able to go to the temple because he was not a member.  Elder Pincock said to the man " you know how that can be fixed" and the man said that his wife had been working on him.  The story and life of Jonathan Browning is a very inspirational story and provides many opportunities to bear testimony of listening to the Spirit and acting on that prompting and following the counsel of the Prophet.  Also, the importance of temple sealing and being together as a family for the eternities.  There was adequate time for Elder Pincock to discuss all those blessings and visit with the man for awhile when the tour was over.  They discussed again the blessing of families and the blessing of being together eternally and the blessing it would be to him to be a member of the Church.  Elder Pincock invited the man to become a member so that he could enjoy the blessings of membership and being with his family for ever.  The man said  "yes, I think I have lallygagged long enough".  He departed and we hope that someday soon we will see him again as a member of the Church and able to come to Nauvoo and go into the temple with his wife.    


We hope that you all have a great week.  We love and appreciate you and your prayers for the missionaries.

Love,
Elder and Sister Pincock

WEEK 9 ---August 26, 2013 to September 1, 2013

Hello everybody! 

The above phrase is the beginning of one of the songs that we sing during the summer months at the "Sunset by the Mississippi" variety show.  It begins with "hello everybody, it's so good to see you".  We can't see you but it is good to say "hello". 

Sunset on the Mississippi

On Monday, August 26th, Elder Pincock went to the Family Living Center to give demonstrations on rope making, barrel making and how to make pottery.  It was not a real busy day so we made lots of extra ropes to build the rope inventory for next summer.  When it is busy during the summer we demonstrate how to make ropes and then give each family a rope to help remind them of their trip to Nauvoo so we need lots of extra ropes to get us through the summer months.  They will make ropes all winter long.  Each historic site has a leader and assistant leaders who teach us new folks how to do things.  The site leader today helped Elder Pincock learn how to make rugs on the looms.  That was fun!  The big loom has over 18 miles of thread on it and can make rugs up to 36 inches wide.

Two looms that make rugs, totes and runners.  The one on the left is the large loom that makes all the rugs for the sites.

Monday was a fun day for Sister Pincock.  She got to work at the Pendelton home and log school house.  As a teacher she felt right at home.  It was a slow day for her also so she and her companion studied the Preach My Gospel manual and swatted flies all afternoon.  They tell us that traffic will pick up as the holiday weekend comes later this week.

Below are three words that are found at the school house. In the early 1800's the spelling of words varied from area to area in the country and people used phonetic spelling much of the time.  There was no unified dictionary.   The first 5 people who can tell us what these words say will receive a fantastic? prize.  These words were taken from the journals of people who lived in Nauvoo.

Sister Pincock got some very special packages mailed to our granddaughters that contained  a very cute doll sundress outfit with sunglasses, hat, shoes and purse.  She loves to sew and works on things for the grandchildren during some of our dinner hours.

Our preparation day was on Tuesday so we made sure that our activities included a session at the Temple.  It is such a beautiful temple and was a great way to start our day.  We love the things that we learn about by attending the temple.
We went shopping and got back home just in time to get dressed into our Rendezvous clothing and headed down to the Cultural Hall.  We love doing the Rendezvous show because it gives people a chance to laugh and enjoy some of the stories about Nauvoo days.

We had our weekly training meeting on Wednesday morning at 8:00.  The meeting lasts only about 45 minutes and we received instruction about how to be better missionaries in our sites.  Today's meeting was conducted by Elder and Sister Call ( from Rigby).  The meeting gave some of the senior missionaries an opportunity  to tell about the spiritual experiences they have had while serving in these historic places.  It was a great meeting.  Sister Pincock worked at the Sarah Granger Kimball home and Elder Pincock worked at the brick yard that day.  He was supposed to work at the blacksmith shop but we decided it best for him not to work around the coal dust and the muscle power required in making horseshoes because of his recent bout with the nosebleed.  Sarah Granger Kimball was important because the actual meetings of the relief society started in her home.

Sarah Granger Kimball home where some of the first Relief Society meetings were held

Red Brick Store where the Relief Society was organized

On Thursday, Elder Pincock worked again at the brick yard and they made lots of bricks so that they can build the supplies for next summer.  At the brickyard each summer thousands of bricks are given away to our visitors.  Sister Pincock did not have to work until later in the day so she went shopping at Zions Mercantile where they were having their 50% off sale.  She got some really good buys on mementos of Nauvoo.   (sounds like Christmas presents).  She worked today at the Family Living Center and worked on a quilt top and tied the end of the rugs that Elder Pincock worked on earlier that week. 

We noticed today as we drove home from our assignments that in the State Park near where we live a large circus type tent and carnival rides were being assembled.  We found out that during the last weekend of August there is a big celebration in Nauvoo called the wine festival.  It is to celebrate the grape harvest.  There were  carnival rides, food, music, a huge antique car show, parades etc.  There were lots of people in town. We could hear the music from the concerts each night but they pretty well quieted down by 11:00 PM. 

We had our mission "goodbye breakfast" at 7:00 am on Friday.  There are many senior missionaries that will be leaving this month so we had a mission breakfast and watched them do a group skit as a way to say goodbye.  The skit they did was called "You know you're a Nauvoo missionary when".....  and a couple of the quotes were: you can tell you are a Nauvoo missionary "when the best pizza in town is at the gas station " (see below) and you know you are a Nauvoo Missionary when  " it's time to go home and you finally learned how to spell Rendezvous".  There are about 30 missionaries going home this month and they all had something to say about being a Nauvoo Missionary.

Casey's where you can get the best pizza (probably the only pizza) in town.

For our contribution for the breakfast Sister Pincock took a breakfast peaches and cream French toast.  We had learned about the cobbler at the "On Golden Pond" bed and breakfast in Vermont.  It is soooo delicious.  Maybe the Ricks', Archibald's and Wade's will remember that breakfast.

On Saturday the temperature was over 100 degrees with high humidity.  The summer has been really great so far so we can handle a day like this once in a while.  Sister Pincock worked at the land and records office which she loves because she can learn more about computers and look up some of her family genealogy.  Before she went to work she came to the Print Shop to learn about printing in the  1840's.  Her tour guide was just excellent!  (it was Elder Pincock)  Printing a 4 page newspaper took about 6 or 7 days to get about 600 copies printed;  quite different from the instant communication methods we have today.

at the Print Shop with the Ingram boys

We had some assignments before our church meetings today so we went and set up chairs at 7:00 am and then handed out programs to those coming into our meetings.  One good thing about going to church one hour early is that you get to sit in the chapel on the soft seats.  The chapel is usually full by 7:30 so you have to get there early if you want a good seat.  The topic for our Sunday School lesson was the lesson titled: "Sealed...for Time and for all Eternity".  The lesson was taught by Sister Russell and she did just a wonderful job.  Her PowerPoint slides were wonderful and because the lesson dealt with the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum at Carthage  (which is in our mission, just about 30 miles away) The lesson was very poignant. I asked Sister Russell for a copy of the PowerPoint which she gracelessly gave to me.  Powerful lesson!!!! 

We worked together on Sunday afternoon at the family living center.  It was a busy afternoon with opportunities to talk to many non-members of the Church who were here visiting because of the wine festival that was celebrated in Nauvoo this past weekend. 

As we studied the Preach My Gospel manual this week we found a quote from President Brigham Young that we wanted to share with you.  He said:  "There is neither man or woman in this Church who is not on a mission.  That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth, and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live those principles that they may obtain eternal life".

Brigham Young

We are all Heavenly Father's children and we need to do the four things listed above that President Young counsels us to follow: (1) do good, (2) promote righteousness, (3)teach truth and (4) live the principles of the Gospel that we may live with Heavenly Father again.

We love you all and hope that you have a great week.

E/S Pincock