• Had dinner with our MTC buddies on a rare night off together. Sister Wilcox made Creole Jambalaya. Yummy! Played the game chicken foot.
• Elder Jaster serviced heavy equipment this week.
• I helped tie a quilt, sewed rags for rugs and worked in the sites.
• I worked with two sisters who are runners. One ran the Boston Marathon when she was 43. She’s 70 now. Another is 64. Wow! I am surrounded by some awesome women.
• We met a young gal who came for a tour whose father was a minister of another faith. She said she feels like she would be betraying him if she joined our church. But she sounds very interested. She was at church last Sunday. I felt her longing to belong.
• Elder Jaster said, “Are we allowed to have so much fun on our mission?”
• Sister Ludwig told the story about the farmer’s mule who fell into the well. The farmer couldn’t get him out so he got his friends to help him bury him. As they threw dirt down on top of him the mule decided to shake the dirt off and step up each time they threw dirt on him. After he kept shaking off the dirt and stepping up he eventually worked himself up to the top of the well. The moral of the story is that adversity can’t keep a good mule down. A good lesson for people, too!
• Sister Ludwig said to email our grandkids and tell them that she said “Thanks for praying for your grandparents who are on missions here.” There are currently 1,689 grandchildren and 276 great grand children in the mission now.
• She said the only people who don’t have problems live in little communities called cemeteries.

Pictures of an old fashioned sleigh ride in Nauvoo and a visit to Carthage Jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum were martyred. The Kirkmans and Wilcox are our friends from the MTC (missionary training center). The temple stands always before us as a beautiful reminder of the scripture "For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

Highlights:

• We went to Quincy, Illinois. That's the place that took the Saints in when they were driven from Far West, Missouri. We found people there just as nice as they treated the Saints back then.
• I cleaned artifacts in Wilford Woodruff’s home and worked in other historic sites this week.
• Our director gave us parts in Rendezvous.
  
• Elder Jaster painted fence, worked on the loader, pushed brush by the saw mill, and took hay to the horses from the barn up to the pasture.
  
• He was surprised to see Elder Bitner here. They met when we lived in Dugway over 25 years ago. He was the county agent in Tooele and in charge of 4-H for the county. He works on grounds here.
• We went to dinner with friends at Maglebys in Nauvoo and then to a concert by the great great granddaughter of Joseph and Emma Smith.
  
• In church today, Sister Veblungsnes spoke. She said a man wanted to take her picture so he could show people back home that people 80 years old can serve a mission. ...She's on stage dancing and singing just like everyone else.
  

Nauvoo Notes: Worthiness is a process, and perfection is an eternal trek. We can be worthy to enjoy certain privileges without being perfect.

Happy Valentine's Day! Wish you all could have been here last night. The Single Sister Missionaries planned a Valentine's Dance that would have topped any Junior/Senior Prom with decorations, food and fun. We said, "If only our grand kids could see us now!" They took up the carpet in the visitor's center and it became a dance floor where we danced to 'Cotton Eyed Joe" etc, etc.

Sister Ludwig, keeps track of all the grandchildren in the mission. There are over 1800 grandchildren now. She said she knows every single grandchild is praying for us.

We are practicing for our performances in Rendezvous and Sunset By the Mississippi. Our director said that we never know who will be in the audience. She said a man with a cold heart may be watching our performance. She related it to a story of when she was a little child. She took her goldfish into her bedroom one night. The stove was at the other end of her house so her room was very cold. She cuddled up with her siblings in her bed to keep warm. In the morning her goldfish was frozen. She felt so badly. Her mom said she’d take care of the fish while she was at school but had forgotten. By the time she got home from school, the fish had warmed up and was swimming happily around. She said just like her fish, a man whose heart is cold can be be warmed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have Corn Bugs here. They look like a big ladybug.

We're just across the river from the Catfish Riverboat. Looks just like in the old western movies.

We're happy to be near Amish and Mennonite communities. It's like home. Being able to shop at Aldi is great.

Someone who visited one of the church historic sites here said he'd like to speak to the owner of this place. The missionary said, “Ok, but you’ll have to get on your knees to do it.”

We are both loving our mission. There's not idle time or time to get into trouble. Elder Jaster is working on heavy equipment just like he wanted and he has a pickup truck. I'm working at the sites. I learned how to make rope last week and also swept the floor in Brigham Young's home. Our schedules are different each week. I hear President Ludwig likes change. The motto here is "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape."

Feb 1, 2010

There is such love and support from all our fellow missionaries here. ...Lots of hugs and smiles, visits and goodies. ...We pass the beautiful Nauvoo Temple several times a day and overlook the Mississippi River. We're at it's widest point (Inspiration Point) here at Nauvoo. ...Saw 2 eagles and the biggest flock of geese I've ever seen.

Yesterday at Sacrament Meeting a departing elder said this has been his and his wife's 18 month honeymoon since they never got to have one when they were married. I can see why. I feel like we're in the City of Enoch.

The same elder said the audition killed him and we were looking at someone that had been resurrected, ha! We'll be in his shoes today at our orientation and audition. No one pays any attention when we say we don't sing or dance and that we're just ordinary people.

Time is precious. Last night I had to decide whether to write in my journal or eat dinner. Elder Jaster is a pro at making friends and visiting. I do believe he is in his comfort zone.

Love to All,
B/S Jaster