CITY OF JOSEPH

We spent a wonderful three day weekend with James and Kaui and the kids in Nauvoo. Our mission president has given permission for all the senior couples to make one trip to Nauvoo while they are here. The spring weather could not have been more beautiful and we had the whole city pretty much to ourselves. School has not gotten out yet and the temple was closed for cleaning, so we saw very few tourists. All the historical sites and homes were open and we enjoyed every minute with the kids. Staying at the Woodruff Hotel, gave us an amazing view of the temple right across the street. We visited the Visitors Center, Smith Cemetery, the Browning Gun Shop, Lucy Mack Smith home, the Blacksmith and Farrier shop, the Living History Center, David's Chamber, Carthage and walked down Parley Street to the Mississippi River at dusk to read the plaques along the Trail of Hope. 

It is our hope and prayer that our grandchildren will have gained a greater appreciation for the sacrifice and testimony of those that went before. There is a special spirit there. We have felt that same spirit here in Missouri as we have visited Liberty Jail, Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman. But in Nauvoo, wherever we walked or visited, we seemed to be completely immersed in that same sweet peaceful spirit. It was very hard to leave.  

carriage ride

JOHN BROWN'S LOT

near the corner of Young Street and Gordon Street

Deed: "...beginning on the west  line of said Block No. two, eight rods South of the center of Young Street, thence south thirty-three feet, thence east ten rods, thence north thirty-three feet, thence west ten rods to the place of beginning, be the same more or less..."

WHITTLING AND WHISTLING BRIGADE

CARTHAGE

JOSEPH & EMMA'S grave

DAVID'S CHAMBER

picnic lunch at David's Chamber
(Favorite place of mediation of David Smith,
youngest son of Joseph, born a few months after the martyrdom) 

Northern Water snake

PIONEER MEMORIAL

HONORING THOSE WHO DIED ON TREK WEST

Robyn's great great great grandfather, Archibald McPhail
died just a few days before his family reached Salt Lake in the
Martin handcart company

Mississippi River at the end of Parley Street

WOMAN'S GARDEN 

TREE RAT PATROL

Tree Rat patrol saluting one of their own

WOODRUFF HOTEL

BLACKSMITH SHOP

LIVING HISTORY CENTER

candle making

rope making

 OLD STONE BRIDGE

COMMITTMENT

Jerrel - on his way to seminary a few years ago

Sometimes when I get a little tired or feel like I can take it easy in my church assignments, all I need to do to get motivated is look around at some of the extraordinary people that we have had the privilege of meeting in the Kaw River ward. They have inspired Robyn and I in so many ways. Jerrel Cotton is one of those people. When we arrived here, we heard stories about this amazing young man and were anxious to meet him.

Jerrel was introduced to the gospel a few years ago when he was in high school by a good friend. His friend gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and invited him to attend seminary. He read the Book of Mormon in a few weeks and gained a strong witness of the truthfulness of it's message. He was soon baptized and continued to attend seminary. As the only member in his family, Jerrel had to get out of bed on his own at 4:00 am and ride his bike 7 miles each way to seminary. Jerrel's testimony continued to grow and he had a desire to serve the Lord as a missionary. He was called to serve in the Madrid, Spain mission. 

Jerrel was released a few months ago and is currently serving as an Aaronic Priesthood advisor here in the ward while attending college. He is the sort of example that all Aaronic Priesthood holders need to see. The young men in the ward know it is a waste of time to complain to Jerrel about how hard it is for them to get up and go to seminary. :-)

He is an extraordinary member in an extraordinary ward.  

Elder Cotton the day he was released

EASTER DINNER WITH THE KIDS

We invited James' family over for Easter dinner after church on Sunday. Because some of our grandkids are rather picky eaters, Robyn wanted to make sure that there was something for everyone. So she spent hours shopping, preparing, baking and cooking a myriad of menu items to impress even the fussiest diner. And wouldn't you know it, the only 2 dishes that had the most requests for seconds, were the mashed potatoes and jello. The honey baked ham, homemade macaroni and cheese, fresh green beans, apple juice, monkey bread, apple pie and ice cream were only slightly touched.

Karl Marx once said, "Religion is the opium of the masses". Things have changed quite a bit since then. It seems, 'electronic devices' are now the opium of the masses. 
After dinner, we did watch and discuss 3 powerful church videos on the last 4 days of the Savior's life. But afterwards the kids needed their electronic 'fix' before withdrawal symptoms set in.  Kaui said she was just grateful that everyone was smiling and happy at the same time...  :-)

Snapchatting each other

BISHOP'S STOREHOUSE

This week we helped a dear sister go down to the Bishop's Storehouse and pick up a food order. She has had a rough go of it lately after her car broke down. And since it was not worth fixing and she had no other means of transportation, she lost her main source of income which was cleaning houses. Fortunately, the Lord's welfare program can provide assistance in these difficult situations. It was a great learning experience for her as she did not know there was such a thing as the Bishop's Storehouse before we went. She always pays her fast offering, but had no idea that some of those funds go toward maintaining the Storehouse. She was overwhelmed with gratitude for the welfare program of the Church. 

Not able to sit still, Robyn helped stock shelves

SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH - SPANISH SESSION

We were finally were able to go with Gabriel and Rocio Almaraz to the temple this past week. We have been trying since last year to be able to attend a session with them. Their schedules and ours finally loosened up and we were able to attend the once a month Spanish Session together. The Spanish session is always very well attended. We try and get there about at least 45 minutes early to ensure a place in the session. This time about a dozen patrons who were planning on doing an endowment session, ended up doing sealings instead. because there just was not enough room.

Karol was so excited that her English class was cancelled at the last minute and so we brought her along. All of us were able to do some of her family names.  

Since her kids call Robyn, 'Grandma', Karol has started calling her, 'Mom'

INDIAN LORE MERIT BADGE

Robyn was recruited to pass the scouts off on the Indian Lore merit badge. One of the requirements involves learning how to cook a traditional Indian food item. I don't know how 'traditional', Indian fry bread actually is, but the boys sure loved it. She supervised them preparing and rolling out the dough and then frying it. Bishop Miller was gracious enough to be our taste tester... He approved.

EL TAPATIO

The Andrade family invited us out to dinner at their favorite restaurant, El Tapatio. I guess the Andrade's favorite practical joke at Tapatio's is to tell the waiter that they have come to celebrate the birthday of a friend. So I got to wear the hat while all the waiters sang 'happy birthday' to me in Spanish. Fortunately, they only put one candle on the cookie and I didn't tell them my birthday is not for 2 months. :)

Molcajete
you name it and they put it in there