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.