Don't judge a book by it's firsts chapter

So people here are awesome! I love them very much but I won't lie there have been a few people who welll....let's just say it's a bit more challenging to love them. But when I try it just works...Also people change sometime they are just in an uncomfortable situation when you first see them or even the first few times and then suddenly they surprise you. For example, there is one guy in the core cast that I just feel soooo awkward talking to, nearly every other cast member has been fine and easy to get to know....a couple of times at lunch he has sat with us sewing ladies but he never looks at me or seems to acknowledge my existance in anyway. Today he came and sat right by me and still no recognition. I was kind of annoyed at that point and just decided he was a grumpy guy and I didn't need to get to know him. Then today on my way in to do costumes I ran into him several times. Each time he gave me a big smile and waved. I was slightly baffled. I actually talked to him tonight at the dance. It was still kind of weird and I had NO idea what to say but I think the feeling was mutual. I think that he is just a bit shy, despite the fact he is an actor. Then again I am the exact same way. Anyhow, I realized that I just to conclusions and I shouldn't have. Prehaps he has not been feeling well or something like that, who knows. But he did me a favor tonight which I really appreciated. Nauvoo has helped me change my perspective, I am sure it will take several times of coming here but I think coming has put me on a path that will better allow me to serve the Lord. I love this place, I love the people here, and I love the people who were here. Their sacrifice made it possible for us to live the way we do today!! Love you all!! Good night. :)

Just what I needed

So the last couple of days I have been feeling a little weary, spiritually and physically. Not that I wasn't having fun in Nauvoo but I just felt....heavy I guess. Like I had so much on my mind. Well today we had a devotional given by the guy who used to play Parley P. Pratt, he is not the director his name is Paul Walstead. He is awesome! In the devotional he talked about how Satan tries to make us feel weary and he attacks us when he thinks we are weak. He then talked about when Nepho was commanded to build a boat. Nephi did not doubt or fear he just said "Ok where is the ore so I can build tools?" He also talked about Peter being a fisherman and how when the Savior walked across the water Peter got out of the boat in the middle of a storm even though he knew it was the safest place. It just touched me and I really felt like he was talking to me. He also said something that really touched me....he said "What defines who we are is the way we serve the Lord" It is my new motto.

Later in the day I was talking to one of the wonderful ladies I work with and she mentioned she served her mission in Belgium. I mentioned that two of my FHE brothers were from Belgium. She totally knew them when she was in Belgium!! How cool is that?? It is amazing how small a world it is! It really made Kathleen happy and it was cool.

Pictures from Nauvoo!

Ok I hope this works. I never can get pictures to load right. :) Today was amazing! I got to spend time at several places in Nauvoo that are usually swarmed with people, but I was by myself. It was so special!! I even was in the Red Brick store by myself which is crazy!! It was wonderful! My car broke down (due to user error) but one of the ladies in the sewing room called her husband and he helped me see the error of my ways :) Because to that time I ended up going to the brick making place and listened to the presentation which was fun. The missionary that was working was talking to us afterwords and he mentioned the directions to get to Inspiration point, there is a clearing that overlooks the river. Joseph Smith used to go there and ponder and pray. I felt the Spirit so strongly there!! It was just amazing!! You can feel the strength of those early saints. I love it here! I also went to a couple of short plays today. One is called the Letters of Emma and Joseph, in it the people that play Joseph and Emma in the pageant recite exerpts from correspondence between the Prophet and his wife. Then I went to the King Follett discourse which was given shortly before the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. Oh on another note I have been doing hair for two of the lead characters in the play which has been great!! I style Emma Smith's hair and also Becky Laird's hair, Becky is a fictional character but one that is a central roll for the portrayal of the story. I do the hair when Suzie (the costuming director) is busy, which lately has been quite often. I love it of course!

Ok here are the pics

The sky has been spectacular lately because of the crazy thunderstorms!

Check out facebook tomorrow for more!

100% humidity, 110% Exhaustion

So as you can tell from the title...I am a bit wore out. Thank goodness I have tomorrow morning off!!! Today was AMAZING though!! It started out with an amazing devotional given by the music director named Paul. He talked about the "ordinary" miracles in our lives. They are many!! It never ceases to amaze me how much God does to let us know He loves us! From then on the day was just emotional. I went to the temple with Janee, it is AWESOME!! Someone told me that they tried to keep the materials and workmanship as close to the original Nauvoo temple as possible. It just amazes me!!! It is so so so stunning!! This place....it is special, I wish I could take what I am feeling and give it to all of you but words cannot describe. There is just a special witness of the Savior that those early Saints left. They left it in the words and deeds. They left it in their sacrifice and their undying faith. I am sure that they, like us, had moments of trial and weakness but they made it through and so can we!!!

Never a dull moment

So today was...well NOT dull! After coming back to my cabin and starting to fall asleep there was a HUGE HUGE thunderstorm!! Like tree limbs down everywhere, lightening blowing out the power thunderstorm! It was INTENSE! I am not going to lie I was kind of freaked out. It would shake my little cabin like there was an earthquake! I have been in crazy thunderstorms before but nothing like that! It calmed down around 9 am and I finally got some real sleep for about 2 hours.

Church was really nice today the ward is ridiculously large due to all the tourists to Nauvoo. But it was still really nice...then I went for a Sunday drive down by the river which was GORGEOUS...I will post a picture soon...but I got stuck in the mud turning around...I was still in my dress and high heels...haa haa haa...what an adventure!! I made it out though, all by myself...well with help from my Heavenly Father :)

After church I moved into a hotel with a girl named Janee who happened to have an extra bed and didn't want to stay by herself anyways! Wahoo! I am going to give her the money I would have been paying for my cabin. But I have air conditioning, running water, and an indoor toilet. It is amazing how much you miss those things!!! So I am here for about a week then back to the cabin I go...but at least they are moving me cabins so I will have an Air conditioner! I am just so so so so so so happy to be here...no matter where I am...but I won't lie. Being in a hotel is much more comfortable!

Zion

So since my youth in the church people talk about Zion. We talk of building Zion, of being a Zion people and other Zion things. I knew this meant that we are expected to work and sacrifice for others and that in this process we would find joy. Let me just say Nauvoo is Zion. I am exhausted beyond belief. Let me tell you why.

To start lets just say I have not been sleeping due to circumstances in my cabin...not that I am complaining I am glad to have a place to sleep. But running on about 3 to 4 hours of sleep, I started my day at 8 am. I got to the costume shop and started working on making a pattern for some bags that store small costume peices like scarves and things....(By the way Mom THANK YOU for teaching me how to look at something, think about it, and figure out how to make it from scratch!) Around noon they have us quit working and go home for a break...I finally left at 1:30 ish....got home and took a nap for about an hour and a half, then I was back at the shop at 4:30 to watch Suzie (the costume director) do hairstyles for the core cast members so that if there is an emergency I can do the hair. Then we went to Burlington for some random items, then I had to work the pageant until about 10:30. Then back to the shop we go and wait for the cast to check their costumes back in. This only happens on Saturday, and hurrah for that! We take ALL of the laundry to 3 different laundromats and wash and dry them, then we bring them back to the shop hang them up and sort them by size....let me give you an idea of what this entails...Most Women in the cast have a dress that has 5 pieces, they coordinate so that the costume gets lighter through the show...anyhow they have 3 bodices and 2 skirts, a petticoat, and pantaloons. Then they also have day caps, and shawls that have to be laundered. The men have pants, one shirt and two vests. This does not include the children's clothes. If we were not serving the church I don't think this would be possible! I have never seen laundry folded and hung up so quickly in my life!!

That is just the laundry story....I just cannot explain to you what it feels like here. Everyone smiles, everyone is your friend, everyone is happy. We work until we can barely move and yet we want to work more. It is just unbelievable! Not to mention all the wonderful sewing tricks I am learning!!

I guess back to the main point....it is Zion...for the first time in my life I know what that means....it is caring for your brother and sister...and also letting them care for you. Service is a two way street....I have learned that here more than any other time...not that I have not had service given to me, my family is ALWAYS helping me out! But here, a complete stranger will open their home, or give you a loaf of bread or help you learn to use a serger....It is just....amazing. I have learned that with the Love of Christ anything is possible...it binds us through the heart. It gives us compassion, humbles us, and allows us to accept. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can live....and I mean live...in so many senses of the word! It is happy here....just so happy!...I hope and pray when I leave here I can work just as hard because of the things I have learned.

I love you all!!

Settling In

So today was interesting. I woke up late because I was told I did not have to be in until 10:30 for an orientation. Well I called around 9:30 to see where to go and they told me I should have been there already!! So off I went. It seems things are not quite as organized for volunteer crew as it is for the family casts. The Volunteers come in at random times and so it is much more relaxed. I wandered around for quite a while getting information and packets and such. Then I went to work sewing. The ladies in the sewing room are hilarious! Most of them are in their 40's or older so I am learning a lot from them. I love to chat with them and hear their stories.

Tonight I worked the pageant...I enjoyed it A LOT almost more than watching last night. Prehaps it was because I was distracted last night and my mind was filled with all the anticipation of today. But I think what I loved the most about today was watching things behind the scenes. There is a big old fashioned pioneer dance number and then a scottish number well all many of the people who are backstage at that point got together and started doing that dance along with them. It was funny and looked like so much fun! We laughed and talked and helped people change costumes. It just somehow felt different...I was so moved by the cast...I know the sacrifices I have made and I know theirs must also be increadable. I can't really explain it but there is this excitement and joy as everyone runs on stage to celebrate the lives of the people who lived here. They say in the show "When you are here, we (the pioneers) are here" And they are...their sacrifice and spirit lives on through this pageant.

Tonight one of the sewing ladies told me how she had be talking to her husband about me...he is a practical man and apperantly could not wrap his head around the fact that I had somehow just graduated college and yet I was able to come. Sometimes I wonder myself. It has surprised many people...most of all me...God is in the details. I don't know why it was so important for me to be here....I am sure there are people just a capable...but here I am. It is amazing and beautiful. I would not have been able to come without the love and support of my family!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Nauvoo the City Beautiful

Well everyone I am here! All safe and sound. The drive out was fairly uneventful. It was so nice to be able to stop last night and rest in Omaha. Thankfully Daniel was able to contact one of the members he taught and she let us (Lori the woman riding with me and I) stay. I got sick last night when we got close to Omaha so it was nice to stop.

I got into Nauvoo at about 6pm today and got situated in my cabin. It is tiny...and I mean tiny...It is about 5ft by 8ft square. But with just me in here it makes it kind of cozy. The AC doesn't work but luckily tonight is a fairly cool night. It is only 78 right now so pray that the weather will stay good please. :) Also tonight I saw a possum. There is a path near my cabin that leads to the main lodge and it went wondering across in the light. The whole camp is surrounded by the thickest woods I have ever seen. I was hoping the lightening bugs would be out but alas the only thing I have found are mosquitoes. Either I am getting slow or the mosquitoes here are ridiculously fast! On any account they are tolerable.

I went to the pageant tonight. It is AMAZING! Parley P Pratt is the narrator and tells how Nauvoo came to be. It is really simple and beautiful in lighting and staging and just all around design. I love this place and the people who sacrificed so much to come here and build the temple and then were driven out and had to go across country to build again. What faith! I love them for it. They are here....the legacy they left for us lingers in this place. If you have never come to Nauvoo you should make it a priority. It truly is The City Beautiful.

The Beggining of Nauvoo Adventures!

So by now most of you know I am going to Nauvoo. I am going to work in the Nauvoo Pageant as a costumer. I am excited. Since the moment I set eyes on the link to the Pageant my life has been one small miracle after another! In the first place I just happened upon the link because I was doing some homework for my Old Testament class. To complete the application I was supposed to get an ecclesiastical endorsement but because I found the link only a week before it was due I was not able to get the interview. So I kind of wrote off the application. Then a couple months later I got an email. I had been accepted!!!! Well I became unsure if I was going to go because of just graduating and the expenses that go with that. I also as nervous about finding a job that would let me leave for 3 weeks in the summer. So I ended up at my Grandma's with no job which has been hard. But it has been a HUGE blessing. In so many ways! But because I am staying here I am able to afford the trip. I have been doing extra work for Grandma so that I can earn money. It has not been much but somehow it has added up. I also found work helping out my Grandma's visiting teacher with some family history. It has been crazy!! Once I finally decided to go I had to get housing which is hard to get in Nauvoo...especially since I waited so long....I sent an email to a place called Camp Nauvoo....the response was that usually they do not rent cabins for so long a time but they happen to have enough room for that time period!!!!!!!!!! It is only 8$ a night which is great!! So I was very happy about that...then today I got a message that a woman from Provo needs a ride to Nauvoo!!!! She has made the trip before and the company will be great!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe how this is working out! My Heavenly Father is AMAZING!! Things work out. Somehow, someway He will find a way. So that is all for now....it has already been a faith building amazing journey and I have not even gone yet!!! Keep coming back for more Nauvoo Adventures!