OUR TREK

One would think the weather is a crazy topic for a missionary post, however, when it happens once or twice a week it is part of our experience.  This week we thought the sudden down pour would cancel the pageant, but it quit long enough for the performance and then started up again.  Nauvoo didn’t have any tornado warnings but there were several around us.  Our friends, the Ashcrafts were in Walmart at Keokuk when the warning went off.  The store was closed, and they moved everyone to the back of the store.  When they drove home, everything was dark and scary.  Elder Talbot was at the temple and got pictures of the down pour as he was driving home.

Rain storm on Thursday night that Elder Talbot took through the window of the car.

Just a few of the large raindrops that fell Thursday night.

In addition to all the bugs and insects we have seen here, we have watched a lot of wildlife.  We’ve seen hundreds of geese and their young ones, red cardinals and orioles.  Squirrels and rabbits are everywhere. Deer are quite often found in the flats.  Elder Talbot has even seen turtles on a log in the river.  And, we have had raccoons right beside our apartment.

Young raccoon just in back of our car in our driveway.

Squirrel eating cob of corn in the Park in Quincy where the Saints stayed when they crossed the Mississippi River before coming to Nauvoo.

A mom and her children eating dinner.  Elder Talbot saw them on his way to the Old Nauvoo Cementery last night - 15 July 2018.  Not many leaves on the lower branches of the tree.

Another unique thing in Nauvoo is the old Cyprus tree which was planted in 1857 and is the oldest tree in Nauvoo.   The roots are growing out of the ground.  It is located up the hill on Parley Street.

Look close at the Old Cypress Tree roots growing on top of the ground.

An interesting visitor to the temple this past week was Sister Smith from El Paso, Texas.  As she was leaving she told us that it was so nice to hear the ordinances in English.  Her stake and two others are assigned to the Ciudad Juarez Mexico Temple as it is closer than any other temple.  Also that is the area in Mexico for a lot of drug traffic and turmoil, the members were concerned about their safety for traveling to the temple.  Elder Scott told them that if they would travel directly to the temple and then travel directly back home, the angels would keep them safe.  She and several sisters have been traveling to and from the temple for several years now and have been safe.

Elder Talbot made a trip up Parley Street last night to visit the Old Nauvoo Cemetery where two Skeen children are buried  A lot of the headstones are breaking down from the wear and tear of the years.  

Old Nauvoo Cementery.  Many graves do not have headstones as they were afraid after they left Nauvoo that the mobs would dig up the graves

Plaque at the Old Nauvoo Cementery.

As we have watched the pageants, it brings to mind some of my ancestors that have made the trek to the Salt Lake valley.  Not all of them went through Navuoo.  The British Pageant tells of the Elders being sent to the British Isles in 1837.  My great great great grandfather John England joined the church in England in 1847 and made the trek across the plains to Salt Lake.  His daughter, Selena England Gibson, my great great grandmother, on my Dad’s side also came using the Perpetual Immigration Fund.  While still in England when she was 8 years old, she was put to work turning a wheel in a sails cloth factory for 10 cents a day.  When her father joined the church, she was “scoffed, rotten egged, and sneered at”.   She walked barefoot all the way across the plains until they reached the divide in Utah when she rode for one week as she had developed mountain fever.

Speaking of being scoffed and sneered at, we often have hecklers outside the temple and at the pageant entrance.  I would like to tell them that we acknowledge their right to heckle and carry signs so why don't they acknowledge our right to worship as we choose, but I don't because I know they do not want to listen.  The locals tell us that many of these hecklers are paid to do what they do.

Heckler outside the Temple this morning.

On Sunday in the Canton Branch, Brother Thomas talked about the 24^th celebration for the saints arriving in Salt Lake.  He talked about the Trek that Moses and his people traveled. He also talked about the trek of Lehi and his family.  He then related the trek the early saints made to the Salt Lake Valley. The last trek he referred to is our trek back to our Heavenly Father, which is the most important trek of our lives.  He asked us what we are doing with our Trek.  I have pondered his talk since them and wondered how I am doing on my Trek?  It gives one a lot to think about.  But I do know that whatever trials or challenges we are having at this time, John 17:3 is a reminder of what life is all about and how much Christ is there to help us as we use our faith in every footstep we take as we continue on our trek. 

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,

and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

Nauvoo Pageant

Have we said that we love serving in Nauvoo?  We do!!! 

Love,

Elder and Sister Talbot

DAILY GROWTH

Weather, weather, weather, but I will save the weather story for later!!!

This week has been full of dress rehearsals and pageants which means late nights at the pageant stage and a few early mornings at the Temple.  All the locals kept telling us that in July the attendance would double and triple and it has.  It makes for busy days with the time flying by but also makes for tired legs and feet.  But, we are enjoying every minute of it!  More and more every week, I come to love and appreciate all the District Ordinance Workers who travel a lot of miles to serve to serve with the Temple Missionaries.

Both the British Pageant and the Nauvoo Pageant are awesome.  The core cast and families do an excellent job and the storyline is very touching.  Elder Talbot is fascinated with the mechanics of the props and movement of the stage floors.  If given the chance, we would recommend that one see the British Pageant before the Nauvoo Pageant.

It was clever watching the ship being erected during the Pageant.  When the wind was blowing it really pushed the sails out and looked like a real ship.

Again, it is a small world.  When I was getting my hair done on Wednesday morning, a lady came into the shop and asked, “Who is from Nevada?”  It was Jill and Del Purcel from Fallon, Nevada.  Del was in the Fallon South Stake Presidency and I often exchanged communication with him in scheduling the ward youth baptisms for his stake.  They now live in Utah.  Again, it was fun visiting with someone from Nevada.

Friday night before the British Pageant, we went to the Log Cabins where Jim and Sandy Talbot (Neil’s older brother) and family were having a family reunion to celebrate Jim’s 80 birthday.  They had scheduled this reunion long before we received our call to serve.  It was so good to see and visit with them.  They had 29 of their family in Nauvoo.  They now have 17 grandchildren with 1 great granddaughter (Gwen) born just a few weeks after our great granddaughter, Maylee.  In fact, she looks quite a bit like Maylee and was just as small when she was born.  We also saw them at the British Pageant, the Temple, and just as they were leaving Nauvoo this morning.  It is always good to see family.

Jim and Sandy Talbot and family at the British Pageant

Gwen Kenney - Jim and Sandy's great great granddaughter.

The Talbot brothers

Now for the weather story.  Friday after our temple shift, we went with our friends, the Ashcrafts, to eat lunch in Lomax, IL.  On our way home, the clouds came and it starting raining but didn’t last too long.  So, when we went to perform in the British Pageant that night, we did take our umbrellas.  We parked in the Ashcraft’s driveway and walked the last few blocks to the Pageant.  It had been raining just a little off and on but quit when the show began.  It was almost to the finale where we would sing with the cast the last song,  when thunder and lightning began.  The thunder was very loud and startling.  Then when the lightning shows started in the sky, they stopped the pageant and told everyone to take cover.  We both had our umbrellas but they didn’t keep us dry. The sky just dumped a huge amount of water all at once.  By the time we walked back to our car, we were drenched from the waist down.  We were dripping water all over and were wet clear through.  One of the temple missionary sisters’ skirt was so wet that it fell off and she didn’t even know it.  Her husband saw it and retrieved it.  It was a good thing she had a black slip on.  Our only regret is that we didn’t take pictures of our dripping shoes and clothes.  However, I was able to save my hairdo and Elder Talbot saved his hearing aids.  We just laughed and said, “Another Nauvoo experience to remember.”  My shoes were still soaked in the morning.  Again, several trees in the flats were down the next morning.

On Saturday morning we visited two more historical sites.  As we entered the Riser Boot shop, Chad Talbot and his daughter, Holly were also there for the tour.  It was fun going on the tour with them.  The young site missionaries demonstrated how they made shoes.  Elder Talbot was fascinated with the small wooden pegs that were used to keep the soles on the shoes.  The Riser story is another example of the faith our ancestors had during this Nauvoo Era.  George Riser was born in Germany but he and his family migrated to America and settled in a German speaking community in Ohio when he was young.  He apprenticed as a shoemaker for three years and then worked as a journeyman shoemaker for another year.  By the time he was 22 he owned his own shop.

He learned about the "Mormons" from an employee and was so curious, he packed up his wife and baby son and traveled to Nauvoo.  After they arrived, the baby became very sick and Joseph Smith and Orson Hyde gave the baby a priesthood blessing and he was healed.  This led George and Christiana to be baptized.  George then sold his wagon and team of horses to purchase land & build a home and shop.  He was known for making good quality shoes at inexpensive prices. Later, the baby died but instead of blaming God, the Risers considered him to be the blessing that brought them into the church and their faith remained strong.

String keeps the leather attached to the sole of the shoe.

A pair of shoes at Riser Boot Shop cost $1.75.  Boots cost $5.50.  The average worker in Nauvoo earned about $1.00 per day. 

We also visited the Lyon Drug and Variety Store owned by Windsor and Sylvia Lyon.  The store’s shelves were filled with medicines, textiles, hardware, household items, spices, (and even a turkey) that would have been in the store during the 1840s.  The store is surrounded by a herbal and botanical garden showing what plants and herbs would have been in Lyon’s inventory.   The most interesting to us was the “bee box”.  Bees were hard to find so a bee box was made about 4” x 8” with two drawers.  Flour was put in the bottom drawer which was covered with a pull-out shelf.  The top of the box had a window in the center and was hinged.  Sweet bait laid on the closed shelf which attracted the bee.  When the bees took the bait, the top shelf was closed.  Then the shelf was pulled out to drop the bees in the flour.  The coated bees were now white and sluggish, so they were easy to follow back to their hives.  It would have been interesting to see those white bees.

Some of the items that could have been purchased in the drug store.

Where is the turkey?

Outside herbal and botanical garden.

The famous "bee box" sitting on top of the barrel!

Today (Monday) was our p-day and we decided to visit a few historic towns near Nauvoo before going grocery shopping.  Our first stop was Warsaw, IL.  It is located at foot of the Des Moines rapids of the Mississippi River and was the site of three military forts: Fort Johnson (1814), Cantonment Davis (1815–1818), and Fort Edwards (1816–1824).  The first settlers participated in fur trade and was an important trade and shipping center.  Thomas Sharp, editor of local newspaper Warsaw Signal,  helped found the anti-Mormon political party.  Because of anti-Mormon opposition, LDS church leaders directs the Saints in town to move to Nauvoo in December 1841.  Five of the nine men indicted for killing Joseph and Hyrum Smith lived in Warsaw.

The original Warsaw House, also known as the Fleming Tavern, was where the mob met after they killed Joseph and Hyrum at the Carthage Jail. Upon their return, some of the mob boasted they had “killed ol’ Joe.” Eliza Graham, who worked and lived there, served the mob that night. Being a Mormon, Eliza was the star witness for the prosecution at the trial. Her aunt who was not a Mormon, Ann Fleming, was the hotel owner and a witness for the defense. Ann contradicted Eliza’s testimony. All five of the accused were acquitted. Eliza moved to Nauvoo, married John Pack, and then moved to Utah. John Pack became a founder of the University of Utah. 

We were able to drive right down to the dock where a barge was being loaded.  (Barges still intrigue us).  We also found a Statue of Liberty that was funded by the Boy Scouts in memory of our freedom.

Close up view of the barge being filled.  This barge will travel all the way to New Orleans

Monument dedicated to the Fort Edward which was a military fortress in the early 1800s.

Statue of Liberty in Illinois?

We then drove on to Quincy and walked the area which is now a park where the saints first crossed the Mississippi river when they were driven from Missouri.  The Historical Museum is closed on Monday.  (It seems a lot of places are closed in Illinois on Monday).  Here the saints were welcomed, given food and shelter until they could recover and move on to Nauvoo.  Unlike Warsaw, Quincy is now a thriving city.  I just had to cross the bridge so I could say that I had been in three different states today.

Bridge to Missouri over the Mississippi River.  This is the place where the Saints crossed into Quincy.

These pictures of Elder Talbot by the corn field taken June 17^th then again on July  11^th shows how  much it has grown in less than a month.  We wished we had taken pictures of the progress of the corn fields every week as we traveled to Canton.  Each week the corn fields were growing taller and taller.  Elder Talbot and I have had quite a few discussions about how these cornfields are like our testimonies of the gospel.  We both had strong testimonies before coming on our mission but they have continued to grow every day and are much stronger than they were in April.  If the farmers do not continue to fertilize and if it does not rain, the corn would not grow to its potential.  It is the same way with our faith and testimonies.  Everyday we need do a little something to increase our testimonies of the gospel.  In Job 19:25 it states:  “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.”  We both testify to the truthfulness of this statement. 

Growth of the corn from June 17th to July 11th (yellow is reflection from the sun).

Another beautiful cloud formation and sunset as we left the Temple Saturday night.

DETOURS

Surprise --- no new weather stories this week.  The weather will always be high with humidity but as long as it is in the 80s we can endure, in fact, we even went for a walk last night and took a closer look at the prairie grass demonstration area.  This area gives one a snip-it into what the area would have been during the pioneer days.  Every March they have a Prairie Grass Burn program when the dry field is burned.

Prairie Grass Demonstrations

Elder Talbot next to the Prairie Grass Area that is full of grasses and wild flowers especially sunflowers.

We continue to enjoy the firefly show at dusk as they come up out of the grass to light up the area.  We have learned some very interesting facts about the insect.  The firefly is a nocturnal insect that belongs to the winged beetle group. While they don’t actually turn base metals into gold, they do create light as if by magic. “When a chemical called luciferin (note the same Latin root as Lucifer) inside their abdomen/tail combines with oxygen, calcium and adenosine triphosphate, a chemical reaction occurs that creates their spectacular light. (And then Mother Nature said, let there be bioluminescence!)”  There are fireflies in the Western States but they don’t all light up.  We have tried taking various pictures, but they are too fast to capture, however, we have now seen some up close.  The picture we have included isn’t ours but does show what they actually look like.

Firefly AKA Beetle

While serving at the Temple this week, we got two messages that a man (who was a retired policeman) and a young girl around 20 were looking for us.  It was quite a surprise.  Kevin Lieby (from Sparks) was passing through and had asked about us.  We did get to talk to him on the phone.  Then Friday morning while serving on the 4th floor, a familiar face came around the corner.  Kathy Dobbs (from Reno) had brought her kids to EFY and was doing some Temple work.  We had a good quiet visit.  I’m so glad that she had tracked me down.  It was so good to see a friend from home.

We have been busy learning our songs for the finale for the British Pageant and attending the practices.  We had dress rehearsal tonight and the pageants start tomorrow night.  The Nauvoo Pageant runs Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights.  The British Pageant is Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights.  It will be quite the experience.

We had some time this week to visit a few more of the sites.  Some we had been to before and some new ones.  At the print shop, we learned  a lot of the terms we use all the time came from the printing business.  For example:  Upper case letters were stored in an “upper case” and the lower case letters were stored in a “lower case”.  A “ding bat” is a pretty little thing that takes up space between words.  All the letters have to be secured in the “chase” upside down and backwards and is referred to “cut to the chase”.  When all the type is ready, the chase is carried to the press and “lay it to rest” on the “coffin”.  The printers were always reminded to mind their “p’s” and “q’s” or they would end up looking like the “d’s” and “b’s”.  Following are pictures that Laura took when the Henderson Talbots were here for a visit.

"Laying it in the coffin:

Upper and lower cases where letters were kept.

The Jonathan Browning Home and Gun Shop was a new site that we visited this week.  Jonathan Browning made the first repeater rifle.  As we stood in the log cabin he had built while he was adding on to home for his wife and nine children, we pondered at the choices they had to make since joining the church – whether they would follow the counsel of the Prophet Joseph Smith or stay in Quincy where they had a profitable business or move to Nauvoo.  They chose to move to Nauvoo.  They then moved back to Quincy and the choice came again whether to go West with the Saints as directed by President Brigham Young or stay in Quincy where they were safe from the mobs.  They chose to move West.  When they arrived in Far West President Young asked them to stay for five years so Browning could fix and supply guns that would be needed by the Saints for protection and to provide food for their families.  Again, the Brownings were faced with another major choice in their lives.  They chose to stay in Far West.  We also are faced today with making hard choices when trying to follow President Nelson’s counsel. 

Elder and Sister Talbot in the small Browning cabin.

Can't imagine what it would be like to cook for a family of 11 just using the fireplace!

80% of the homes in Nauvoo were like this cabin - not the red brick home that we live in.

Elder Talbot liked the moon on the outhouse!

The 4^th of July was just a little different.  We did attend an early morning Flag Raising Ceremony at the Visitors Center.  The Temple was open so then we served on our regular shift.  No fireworks in Nauvoo☹  But they did have fireworks after a community band concert on Saturday night at the end of Parley Street – our street.  So, we just drove down close to the river and watched the 30 minute show from there.  They were pretty good for a small town😊

Fireworks in the Nauvoo sky on the 7th of July.

Our Sunday drive to church proved interesting to say the least.  One of the bridges we cross just outside Bushnell is closed for repair.  As we came to the intersection we saw a Detour Sign and Elder Hales followed it.  We drove and drove and drove.  Just outside Macomb, Elder Talbot pulled out his phone and searched for directions to Canton.  The detour took us off our regular route but never did lead us back to our route past the bridge that is being repaired.  Using the directions from the phone, we finally made it to church in time for the opening prayer.  As we were traveling on the "scenic route", we discussed how easy it was for us to be led astray – just as easy as it is for Satan to lead us astray from the straight and narrow path and leave us stranded.  But, no matter how far we get off the straight and narrow path, Christ has provided us a way to come back to him.  We are so thankful for the Atonement.

We love and miss all of you, but we are also loving Nauvoo,

Elder and Sister Talbot

Pictures of the lanterns that shows the different patterns each family designed for themselves that we talked about last week.

Pioneer mouse trap that was made in the tin shops.  The bucket was full of water.  Maybe, we should try it in our garden to keep the mice from digging up our bulbs.

PATTERNS

Again, weather, weather, weather but this week no tornado warnings.  On Thursday we made a trip to Keokuk.  When Elder Talbot was in a store, I was waiting in the car when the sky turned dark and suddenly, the wind started rocking the car and then came the rain.  It was like huge buckets of water were emptied on the car.  The rain storm lasted for about 20 minutes.  On our way back to Nauvoo, we saw another home that a tree had fallen on the roof.  Then on Friday, the temperature was 96º and 110º with the heat index.  On our way home from Canton Sunday the sky turned black and the rain poured down.  We also could hardly see the road and in a little over 15 minutes we drove out of the storm.

With all the rain, the humidity is always high.  When ever I have been inside the temple and especially in the car, where the air conditioning blows directly on me, it cools my glasses.  Then when I come out of the temple or get out of the car, my glasses fog over to the point I can’t see and need to take them off until they warm up and the moisture is gone.

But, with all the rain storms here the corn sure does grow fast.  On our way to Canton every Sunday we pass a lot of corn and soybean fields and every week we have watched the crops grow a lot.  On June 17th, Elder Talbot walked out to a corn field and the corn was just a little taller than him.   I wonder how tall it is now.  It has been a tradition for a lot of years that when Scott calls or Elder Talbot calls him, their normal answer has been “Hay” and then “Straw”, now it is just “Corn”!  Caralee even joins in with the response at times.

Another thing with the rain, the grass is always green and needs to be mowed every week.  And here on the flats, if it doesn’t have a house on it and is not a paved street, it is grass.  I got some pictures of one of the mowers today.  It is a little bigger than the one I have in Reno to mow my small lawn.  The operator in the attached picture is here for the summer on an internship working with the Facilities Management Department.  She will return to BYUI in August to continue with school.  I asked her if she gets bored with all the mowing to be done.  She said “Sometimes.”  Her biggest issue in all the bouncing on the rough grass areas even with a spring loaded seat on the mower.  I have noticed a lot of gopher burrows in the grass areas.

On Wednesday, June 27, it was the Commemoration Memorial for the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.  The Memorials were held here in Nauvoo at the Smith Family Cemetery and then another one at Carthage at the tie they were murdered.  We heard that both were very touching, but we were serving in the Temple and were not able to attend.  Because of these presentations, our practice for the British Pageant were changed and again we were serving in the Temple, however, that is why we are here, and we love serving in the Temple.   

Every Fast Sunday, we are assigned to a different “Break-the-Fast Group”.  We do potluck and eat at a different apartment every month.  This month we met at our neighbors apartment, the Pecks (from Centerville, Utah) along with the Phippens (from American Fork).  It turns out that the Phippens had a daughter, Camille Reese, who lived in Truckee, California for quite a few years and had visited the Tahoe North Ward quite a few times.  They knew Sheryl and Gary Lewis and John and Phyliss Rogers.  Again, it is such a small world in the church.

Nauvoo is all a buzz with the core cast for the pageants arriving.  Elder Talbot helped set up chairs Saturday morning at the Pageant Stage.  The crew setup 3,000 chairs.  On Sunday night, the core cast presented their first show – “Our Story Goes On”.  They only perform this show twice, last night and on July 29^th.  It is a musical about life portrayed in real life stories using characters from birth, growing up, marriage, children, grandparents, and death.  The only props that were used was lots of books!  The final message was the only thing that really matters in this life is how we have “loved” others following the example set by Christ and how when we leave this life, we are going to someone who also loves us.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  One interesting fact was that the piano was the only accompaniment and it was on stage.  As I was watching her, I noticed that she didn't ever turn the page---she only pushed a button.  Do you think the sheet music was digital?  I couldn't help but think about Jamee, our daughter-in-law, and how she could have been the one playing the piano!

Speaking of piano and music, I got to play the organ at the Temple this week!!!!  I decided I would regret later if I didn't at least try.  I need to practice a few more times before I can be scheduled to play.  I'm super excited!

Our visit to the Stoddard Tin Shop proved to be very interesting and informative.  Sylvester Stoddard introduced tin in this area and tinsmiths became popular craftsmen because they made many of the items used in homes and farms.  Lanterns, candle safes, candle holders, buckets, pots, pans, shredders, and many other articles could be made quickly and economically from tin and were made by hand.  We watched how a tin pan was made from patterns.  A good tinsmith could make a tin pan in 15 to 20 minutes.  Hanging on the wall was a lot of the patterns that were used to make the items.  We also saw some hurricane lamps and learned how people could identify each other in the dark by the custom-patterned light coming from their tin lamps.  In my reading this week in the Doctrine and Covenants 52 where the Lord was giving to the elders about what they were to teach which was what the apostles and prophets have written.

14 And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—

Just as the pioneers made patterns in their lamps so they could see in the dark and find their way, Christ has given us a pattern for our lives to guide and direct us be more like Him.

We love you all! 

Elder and Sister Talbot

PS.  Elder Talbot wrote some of this post.  Can you tell which paragraphs are his?

Can you find Elder Talbot in the corn field?

Humidity and air conditioning does a number on glasses but we are thankful for the air conditioning.

Dinner at Fat Jimmy's in Montrose with the Ashcrafts from Houston, Texas.

Setting up chairs for the pageants.

A beautiful cloud and sunset formation.  Sister Talbot is fascinated with the sky.

Lawn mowers in the flats.

Both sides of the Mississippi River are so shallow the it is filled with the large water lily's with the yellow flowers.  It is a beautiful site to see.

"Our Story Goes On"

At the show with our neighbors, the Pecks.