First Week

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, we made it through week one here in Nauvoo.  We are loving what we are doing so far.  We had two full days of training and a tour around Nauvoo and then off to work.  We are given a site book with information on each of the sites and you are assigned a different site every day.  You study the information the night before and then you go by the Spirit as to what to say and tell making sure that you tie it to a gospel message.  I was really apprehensive on the first day but was able to give tours on my own by the end of the day.

Last week, I worked in the Seventies Hall, the Family Living Center and the Nauvoo Visitors Center.  You wear white aprons in some sites, colored aprons in other sites and church clothes in the Visitor's Center.  Dave worked in the Blacksmith Shop and made his first horseshoe, and then learned how to make rope and barrels.  I did bread, spinning and candles.  You use the gospel in each.  You may talk about the light of Christ, or not hiding your light under a bushel, as you explain about candle making. 

Church is wonderful.  There are 200 missionaries here!  You have to imagine the spirit of that many people having such deep testimonies of the gospel.  Each person is so proud to walk the same streets that Joseph and Hyrum walked.    There are 20 young sisters, about 60 senior couples, lots of temple missionaries and the Young Performing Missionaries are yet to come.  The chapel is full.  You have to get there at least 40 minutes early to sit in the chapel.  Easter was very spiritual .  There were well over a hundred in the choir and we had wonderful talks by both  President and Sister  Gibbons.  They are very sweet people and you can tell how much they love the gospel.

We each had to audition with a song for the shows (although everyone is in it - even if you are a teamster or or CS (can't sing!).   Dave and I sang one of the songs from the little show I wrote.  They have you do a cold reading from the script and then they ask you lots of questions.  That's it.  They don't say anything about what you did.  The young sisters were there watching as we did all our training here in Nauvoo with them.  They loved our song and we are now very popular with them.   We were assigned to our "Rendezvous" cast and we have had our first "greenroom experience".  You sit in this room and sing along with the cast.  They have notes on the wall with your name on it so you know where to stand in each number.  You just kind of get added in. It is very different for me as a director but we just are happy and do what we are asked.

You work 6 days a week and are in show 4 nights.  Our P-day is Wednesday.  You have to be back and dressed by 6 for the shows and there is training meeting in the morning at 8:00 on that day.

This is a wonderful and spiritual mission and lots of hard work.  It is not for the weak in heart or body.  Everyone does his very best at everything they do.  They all seem so confident.  Maybe we will get that way one day ourselves. 

We miss you all and love you,

Take care,

Sherry and Dave