Friday, November 7, 2008

NEW BLOG

Hey everyone its Kiersen :P

i have a different blog now... its kierstenpetersen.blogspot.com just so you guys know! miss everyone!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Wednesday 17 Sept 2008

I got a new work order list this morning. Now I’m getting behind. I had the mechanic shop lights to finish, the warehouse lights to finish, an exhaust fan in the Visitor Center, lights out in the Visitor Center, needing bulbs in three Sites and two apartments, a blockout for the new Brickyard building service, a circuit and three other projects on hold because of parts. I guess I will have to start working more than 4 hours a day.

We were visited by a missionary couple from Joseph City, Arizona, Elder and Sister Smith. Carolin had become good friends with sister Smith over the past three months. They invited us to come down to Elder and Sister Warrs apartment, downstairs from us, so they could sing a song to all of us. Elder Smith is a heavy equipment operator and not the type you would think to write and sing songs, but he wrote one about the Savior he titled “The Carpenters Son”. He sang that song and it was touching. The feeling was special as he sang about the things Christ had done, how the people couldn’t accept him as anything but a carpenter’s son.

It made me think again, how special it is to be here with all these good people. The other day I heard another account of a special experience. One of the Elders was working in the Womens Garden and noticed a single sister missionary, cleaning the statues, just crying and crying. She told him, “she had just talked with Brother Joseph, and he told her he was very pleased with what the Missionaries were doing in Nauvoo”. I don’t know what to make of the many sightings reported by the Missionaries, who serve here. I wonder if Missionaries, serving in other Church History Sites, have similar experiences. I know some of the Missionaries in Martins Cove and Sixth Crossing have. I do know that more happened here than we will ever know, from reading journal entries. Many, many consecrations and covenants were made by those folks and they didn’t follow Brigham Young across Iowa because it was the social thing to do or because everybody else was doing it. A lot of the members, in Nauvoo and the surrounding areas, didn’t cross the river and go to Winter Quarters. They stayed and assimilated into the community where they lived, including Nauvoo. Those who did go, each in their own way, had a relationship with divinity, and that consecration has made these streets and grounds different, because of what happened here, as the Sacred Grove is, because of what happened there. I’m glad to be here, to experience the spirit and good feelings of all who are here, both seen and
unseen.


Thursday 18 Sept 2008

Talked with Barant about the service to the Brickyard, then took a 2” 90 and some pipe to the job and put it in the foundation form. I went over to the Lyon Drug to look at the water heater needing to be wired. I gathered up the material and went back to start the job.

Friday 19 Sept 2008

Back to the Lyon Drug to finish the water heater job.. Took an hour to watch the pour at the Brickyard. I don’t trust those carpenters to make sure my conduit doesn’t come up crooked, when they pour the concrete.


Saturday 20 Sept 2008

Today Carolin and I went to some of the Villages of Van Buren County, in Iowa. We went to Farmington, Bonaparte, Bentonsport, Keosauqua, and Cantril. The villages are billed as “a world untouched by time”. What we saw, had been touched quite heavily by the hand of time. I expected to see something like Gardener Village, Pioneer Village, or Nauvoo. An area, restored and looking new to the period. What we saw, were towns from 1840 to the present, just as they had evolved, with little or no repairs. I found a blacksmith shop in Bentonsport, with a fire in the forge and the Smith making grape leaves, for one of his candle holders. He liked to talk, and I stayed there for two hours. He told me about his business and the school he had in the back. He taught blacksmithing to anyone who was willing, and asked if I had weekends off. He would teach me on Saturday and Sunday if I wanted. I told him I’d have to wait a year or so, the President wouldn’t let me have the time off. Carolin was able to look at a couple of shops, but spent most of the time, resting in the car. I plan to go back to some of the places, and spend more time, now that I know what to expect. Carolin enjoyed Cantril, because of the Amish store they have there. When we drove into town, I saw two buggys, tied to a hitching rack. We found the owners in the store shopping. Just like you would expect, beards, straw hats, long dresses and bonnets. All of the Amish stores we have been in were operated by very friendly and helpful people. They sell books about their beliefs and lifestyle, and talk about most of it, if you ask.


Sunday 21 Sept 2008

Church, this morning, and Sunday School in the Visitor Center, another of the Winter Schedule changes. Today, Carolin and I served in the Browning Gun Shop. Being Sunday, I thought it would be a slow day. We had 105 visitors and didn’t get much of a chance to even sit down. We served with another couple, who we didn’t see much, after the tours started.

After the Sites, we had our District Meeting. We had a dinner and then the missionary discussion, about Joseph Smith being a Prophet. A full day.


Monday 22 Sept 2008

I talked with Elder Swallow for awhile after preparation meeting and then picked up a skill saw needing a new cord. After lunch, Steve found me and asked if I would oversee the assembly of the Tabernacle Choir display, which would be set up in the Visitor Center. We unpacked the crates, took the pieces into the Visitor Center, and took the crates out to the warehouse.

This exhibit has been to the Washington D.C. Temple and to the Kirtland Temple, before coming here. We will have it for at least three months.


Tuesday 23 Sept 2008

I finished up another saw cord, then talked with the President about the location for the Tabernacle Choir display. I moved a freestanding display out of the area and spent the rest of the day looking at the plans and the different pieces of the new display.


Wednesday 24 Sept 2008

I let Conservation know they had pictures to remove, from old displays, so I could put the displays in storage. I got an extension ladder to changed two bulbs in the motion light on our apartment and then went back to the Visitor Center to wait for my help. After lunch, we moved the old displays out to the warehouse, and moved the First Vision statue to the center of the foyer. Now I’m ready to move the new display into the area tomorrow.
Saturday 6 Sept. 2008

Carolin went to Keokuk today and when she got back she didnʼt feel good. Maybe getting a cold. I couldnʼt handle anymore shopping, so I went out to the NRI compound and put an outlet in the plumbers office, so he could plug in his computer without an extension cord. I had Dr. Welch phone in a new prescription for blood pressure medication, which I hope will let me get rid of this blasted cough.. I donʼt get much rest with all the coughing.


Sunday 7 Sept 2008

A cold it is. She didnʼt go to Church, just slept. We were scheduled to serve at the Land and Records today but had to cancel. A dinner for the Sister Missionaries was scheduled for 5:PM. She cooked her part of the meal but couldnʼt attend. A fireside was held in the Visitor Center ; I went but she stayed home. It was a good fireside. One of the Missionaries, Elder Powers, was asked to make replicas of the door keys for the original Nauvoo Temple , which were being held by some agency in Quincy . That was 14 years ago, on his first mission to Nauvoo. He has since, made keys for the Kirtland Temple , the Carthage Jail and others I canʼt remember.

Monday, Carolin will start on her new assignment as the NRI secretary. She feels inadequate but I know she will do fine. We have discovered the Lords help in all we have been asked to do, with memorizing the Site scripts to learning the parts and songs in the shows.


Monday 8 Sept 2008

Carolin still doesnʼt feel good and stayed home. I started adding light fixtures to the warehouse stock room.

Tuesday 9 Sept 2008

This morning, Elder Swallow and I went to Carthage . I helped him trade a good dryer for a bad one, in one of the missionary houses, then met with a sales rep, to solve a problem I am having with ballasts in the outside light fixtures, at the Carthage Visitor Center . We picked up a battery at the John Deere store, for the mechanic, and headed back. After lunch, I hung two more lights in the warehouse and heated them up. I got a call from the power company telling me they had set the transformer for the tank panels, so I went up to the site and finished terminating the panels and turned them on. 4:30 now so I went home. Carolin is still not feeling well. Tonight, we asked the Mission Dr . , Elder Smith, to come over and look at her. While he was here, we gave her a blessing. The Dr. suggested, she stay home all week, no shows or NRI. She needs to rest and let her body recover.


Wednesday 10 Sept 2008

I finished half the warehouse lights and hooked up the 3-way switch. After lunch, I was feeling a bit tired, so I went over to the Brickyard and Lyon Drug to see how they were coming on those projects, then went out to the shop. I helped Elder Beazer load his Amish wagon on a trailer, to haul it back to Canada . He lives in Canada and needs an operation on his hand, so he will be gone 2-3 weeks. I was still feeling tired, so I headed for the house.

I was afraid it would happen. I got Carolinʼs cold. I had a bad night.


Thursday 11 Sept 2008

I stayed home today and rested, in between coughs. Another bad night.

Friday 12 Sept 2008

Today was better. Half way through the night my cough got easier and I was able to sleep some. I have been more comfortable today. I went down to the garage to fix the garage, door this after noon, and when I finished, I took a nap.. Still not 100% yet.

Carolin went to Keokuk today and got the shopping done, so we wonʼt have to go tomorrow.
I spent the afternoon cleaning out my E-mail.


Saturday 13 Sept 2008

I got a call around 10:30 this morning from Elder Swallow, asking if I knew where he could get a panel. One of the missionary trailers had lost a phase on their service and was out of power. I went over to see if I could help him and Elder McKissick was there, so the three of us made a real mess of it. The trailer had a GFI main breaker, which kept tripping. Elder McKissick had gotten another breaker from the warehouse, but it was a used one. When the replacement breaker also tripped, he thought the panel was bad, because it is an old fuse panel, we had trouble with before. They found a small panel and had mounted it, extended the branch wires, and were hooking it up when I got there. The replacement GFI tripped with the new panel. Now what do we do. We decided, because the trailer was so old and in bad shape, we might have a small leak to ground, and with the rain we have had the past three days, everything was wet. We got a 50 amp. Two pole, standard breaker and plugged it in. It held. The couple in the trailer will be going home in two weeks, so then we will have to replace our mess with a new breaker or set fire to the trailer and forget it.

After all that I had to come back to our apartment and take a nap. I wasnʼt as better as I thought.

This evening we got a visit from Sister Francom from the Utah South Area Family History Training Center . Carolin and I had taken a week long class, on the New Family Search program, from her some time ago. Carolin had been calling her for more information, since we have been here, and she was coming to Nauvoo for family activities, so she brought us a disc of some of the improvements.


Sunday 14 Sept 2008

The last day of this imprisonment. I stayed home from Church because of my cough and we didnʼt go to the Site today. I called Jim to find out what he knew about the Werner line and to get the latest information on their family. Then I called Deb, between the two of them I talked most of the afternoon.

Tomorrow, Carolin and I will both go to NRI. She will train with the secretary and I will go back to the warehouse lights.
Monday 25 August 2008

Talked with Elder Swallow for about an hour this morning, after prayer meeting,. Time sure flies. I spent most of the day measuring and making parts, to move the panels from a temporary rack, to the concrete wall. The power company lifted the transformer off the pad and set it on the grass, so I could extend the conduit to the new location.

After I finished with the conduit, I visited Carolin at the Print Shop, and Elder McKissick at the Blacksmith Shop. There aren’t many visitors now, so I was able to make a horseshoe before they closed for the day.

The weather has been quite cool lately. Today the temp. was 75, with a slight breeze, most of the day. The humidity also seems to be down. Maybe we will have an early winter.


Tuesday 26 August 2008

The 26th of May was when we drove into Nauvoo. Today is three months.

I spent the day working on the conduit for out water tank panel project and Carolin served in Land and Records.


Friday 29 August 2008

After work, I went to the Blacksmith Shop and made a branding iron for Elder Land. It was fun to have the forge to heat the iron, instead of using a torch, and the anvil to pound on and shape the brand on the horn and step.


Saturday 30 August

An interesting turn of events today. Saturday is our P-day, Carolin and I go shopping, I get worn out following her around the stores, or dehydrated, waiting for her in the car. Today, we talked about going to the Temple before shopping. I started to get ready but didn’t feel like going, so I suggested she go shopping and I would go over to Carthage, to finish a job needing to be done. I usually have a lot of other things to do on our day off, but I had the thought and it felt good so I changed clothes, rounded up the material needed for the job and left. On the way, I got a call from the NRI director. Carthage was having trouble with their projector, and couldn’t show the film in the Visitor Center. I told him I didn’t know anything about the system but would look at it. I was able to fix the projector, but couldn’t finish my light project because of a bad ballast. I hope someone was helped today, by being able to see the film, and that was why I had the idea to go to Carthage. Now I still have to go back and fix the light.

On the way back to Nauvoo, I saw a car show in Hamilton. I spent an hour looking at nice old roadsters and 3 window coupes. They even had two 57’ Chevys.

Rendezvous tonight. Carolin had her debut with a speaking part in the Ashby boys and I start as Elder Gailey in the Noah chorus. I had to memorize 25 words for that part. We had two shows tonight, because of the tour busses

Sunday 31 August

There are two tour busses in town so our Sacrament Meeting attendance was up today. I helped bless the Sacrament, we had 10 Elders in the Chapel, and 8 in the Cultural Hall.

Listening to one of the speakers, I had a thought about the special feeling, mentioned so often, by those visiting Nauvoo. The feeling is usually attributed to those saints who built the town and sacrificed so much for the Lord, and I believe that to be true. I think, in addition, the spirit here is due to the great number of Missionaries, assembled in this small area, who have dedicated this time of their lives to our Father in Heaven, and serving others. All that goodness has got to be felt by those who visit, from the world..

Carolin and I are on call today, so we need to be by the phone.


Monday 1 Sept.- 5 Sept. 2008

This week has been much the same. Worked a little on the tank panels, replaced lights in the Visitor Center, Carolin locked herself out of the house and car Tuesday so I took the key to her at the Land & Records office. She walked to the Site that day.

The more I am involved with ordering material and trying to get work done, I see how the process can be improved. Suggestions are listened to and then I get a response, different each time, but with the same message. “The missionaries are only here for 18 months and we have to live with whatever we do from now on”. Also they say; “we have been working with this for 8 years, you don’t understand”.. I may not understand all that they have to deal with, but it seems obvious that good, accepted, material handling practices, would make their life easier, no matter who was working with it. They asked everyone who drove the trucks, to cut down on the miles because of the gas costs. I asked if I could stock my truck with the material needed to work on the Sites, so I didn’t have to go to the Site, see what was needed, go back to the warehouse for the material, and then back to the Site to do the work, and repeat the process for each work order. I was told, they wanted to control the material at the warehouse level and if I had truck stock they wouldn’t know every time I used some light bulbs. I suggested they have me fill out a work order for each job, listing the material used and the time I spent, so they could track the material by the job instead at the warehouse. It was a new idea and they didn’t know how to work with it so I was told to continue with the established procedure. I continue to burn the gas.

Today, Friday, Carolin had some visitors to the Print Shop, from Highland. Ray and Iris Adams, Leland and Lynn Coleman saw Carolin standing outside the Print Shop and had quite a reunion. They didn’t know we were serving here, so it was a surprise for every one. I came to visit about the same time so I was able to talk for a minute.

Monday, Carolin will start on her new assignment as the NRI secretary. She feels inadequate but I know she will do fine. We have discovered the Lords help in all we have been asked to do, with memorizing the Site scripts to learning the parts and songs in the shows.

Dad's Journal

Friday 15 August 2008

Replaced a few light bulbs and then went to a ceremony at the Old Catholic Cemetery, for Seymour Brunson. I had never heard of him but a lot of nice things were said at the dedication of the head stone. He was one of the Nauvoo Saints who did a lot and sacrificed a lot, for others, but apparently didn’t keep a journal and those who did, didn’t record anything about Seymour. The significant occurrence connected with his funeral was, Joseph Smith revealing the principle of Baptism for Dead, as he spoke at the funeral.

Sister Susan Easton Black attended the dedication of the monument and spoke to us for a few minutes about the details of the funeral. She told us, there were so many dying in 1840, it was decided to only have funerals on Thursday and Monday of each week, which would mean, many caskets in each funeral procession. Those days were chosen because Thursday is the traditional day Moses went up on Mt. Sinai and Monday is the day he came down. Included in the many being buried that day, was a young man, 9 years of age, who had not been baptized. When his mother heard the Prophet Joseph explain the principle of Baptism for the Dead she was excited, and immediately after the funeral, requested one of the nearby Elders to baptize her for her dead son. Another sister overheard and asked if she could watch. Together, they headed for the Mississippi River. The grieving mother, the Elder, and the interested sister went out into the water, the interested sister riding her horse because the water was cold. The baptism was accomplished, and later, the Prophet was asked if it would be acceptable. Brother Joseph said, it was done by the Priesthood, and there were two witnesses, the sister and her horse, so it would stand as the first baptism for the dead in this dispensation.

A lot of speculation could be raised about the importance of gender in ordinances and the agency of the spirits of animals, but Sister Black ended the story there.

Not much happened the rest of the day and we quit work at noon because of lack of work. I got a call about 4:00, from the carpenters. They had excavated for footings on a side hill and exposed conduit and sprinkler control wires. We will take care of that Monday.

Saturday 16 August 2008

I got a haircut this morning, then Carolin and I went to Keokuk to get the weeks supplies. I spent the afternoon deleting pictures off my hard drive. Elder McKissick had given me all his discs with Elder Lyons Nauvoo pictures on them. They contained, over 2100 pictures, and with the two DVD, 1 hours shows I loaded, my computer slowed way down. I took off a lot of flower pictures and other shots which had no meaning, beyond nice.

Our cast had a pot luck dinner this afternoon, just before Rendezvous. When we put on 4 shows a week with this group, they become like family, and it was nice to get together and talk.

One performance of Rendezvous tonight, because of the farewell social for the young people, but we still only had 60 people in the audience. The numbers are down in the Sites also. A sign of the pending winter season, when we go days without a tour, in some of the Sites.

The farewell social was a good activity. It gave everyone a chance to exchange addresses and E-mails, with the YPM.


Sunday 17 August 2008

Attendance was way down at Sacrament meeting this morning. Another indication of the tourist season ending. Tomorrow, 80 people will leave the mission. September will see 17 more leave, with 16 in October, and 13 in November. The Temple Missionaries leave in October but I don’t know how many.

Carolin and I are scheduled to serve in the Bakery today, but the smell, which closed the Site Saturday, is still there, so we get the day off.


Monday 18 August 2008

Mostly engineering today. The carpenters are putting a retaining wall around three sides of a transformer and some panels. They want to move the panels to the new retaining wall, but aren’t sure how it should look. Everyone over the age of 60 years, has an opinion, and expects an agreement from all concerned. I am amazed anything gets done here. When the new NRI building was constructed, a draftsman was hired to draw the plans. Changes started the day after construction began. Someone wanted a wall moved so their office would be bigger, another thought a door should be added and the stairs were in the wrong place. Walls were framed, conduit installed and wire pulled, and they still moved it. This project with the retaining wall is the same. We are going to talk it to death before anything is decided. I did get some sleeves cut and tapped, for the blockouts.

Tonight, we heard Susan Easton Black talk about the Savior and events leading up to his birth. She explained Jewish custom relating to betrothal and divorce, and told us about what “no room at the inn” might have meant. 1- It was the custom, for people who had room for visitors in their house, to hang a banner on their door, so those coming to the village would know where to stay. When Joseph and Mary got into town, all the banners were taken in. 2- The traditional meaning is that the establishments in the business of providing rooms were full. 3- In some areas, a stockade was provided for travelers, which gave them protection and a place for their animals. These stockades were usually along roads frequented by the Roman solders, who like to torment travelers and their animals. As darkness would descend, the gates on the stockade were closed, locked, and not opened until morning. If someone would knock, a person inside would call out, “there is no room in the inn”, and refuse to open the gate.


Tuesday 19 August 2008

A typical day. Replaced a switch at the Morley apartment, visited with Elder McKissick at the Blacksmith shop, checked the outside lights at the Seventy’s Hall, adjusted the time clock, checked the exhaust fan at the Family Living Center, went to Carthage to fix flag pole lights. The screw on one of the ground lights wouldn’t come out, so I sprayed it with WD-40 and left it until tomorrow.


Saturday 23 August 2008

This morning, in a preparation meeting, Elder Russell M. Nelson’s wife and Sherry Dew, spoke to us. Sister Nelson told us about her experiences leading up to and including her engagement to Elder Nelson. Sister Dew spoke about Prophets and how important they are. One of her quotes was from Elder Holland. “We live our lives as though we were always going to be here. We aren’t, we can’t and we won’t be.” She went on to explain how we can prepare for the life, which will go on forever, and not spend so much time in pursuits, which will end when we move on.

Carolin and I went to Burlington to shop and to get me a pair of boots, to go over my leather boots, to keep me out of the mud.

Rendezvous tonight, and we only had 2/3 of a house. There were two sister missionaries, waiting for the second show, and when they found out they were the only two, they said, “forget it, we aren’t going to have you put a show on just for us,” and they left.


Sunday 24 August 2008

Church attendance was down again today. We now pass all the sacrament from the front table, although we used 12 brethren to pass, it is still less than the 26-28 we had two weeks ago. The weather is cooling off and we have had a nice breeze for the last couple of days.

Carolin & I served in the Brigham Young home today. We had 4 tours with a total of 10 people in the 2 ½ hours we were there. We talked to a couple who were in the Pendleton School, they didn’t have anybody stop in. A sign of things to come.

We had our MTC group dinner this evening, at the Beazers home. They are a couple from southern Alberta, Canada. Sister Memmott was having trouble with her knee, so we gave her a blessing. These five couples are a fun group to be with.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Family Photos from Mom & Dad's Farewell

Entire Horan Family
( minus Cody, Scott's oldest son who is serving on a mission in The Dominican Republic)



Scott & Denae's Family

Mike & Jerilyn's Family
Angie & Jeff's Family

Mike and Suzette's Family
Matt & Teresa's Family


Natalie & McKade's Family

Friday, August 15, 2008

A Great Video For Everyone.

I couldn't get the video to show up so I am attaching the link. We'll see how this works.

Excellent advice from Elder Busche in 1996
Suz


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw