Having too much fun in Nauvoo!

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011

The Webb Blacksmith Shop in Historic Nauvoo. This missionary is making small horseshoes to give away to visitors. See http://www.historicnauvoo.net/

We can't say enough about the sacrifice of those who lost their lives on 9/11/11 - those who inocently died and also those who worked and served in the emergency services. We honor them. May God bless America.

I have been thinking today about some family from the past. It has been such a privilege for me to walk the same streets and they did here in Nauvoo. I hope you will enjoy learning a little about them.

Here is Martin Peck. He was born in 1806 in Massachusetts and died in Utah in 1884. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1833 in Vermont. "A number of his neighbors were assisting him in a house raising. He suggested to them, that in the evening when the day's work was done they go in a body and break up a meeting which he had heard the young Prophet Joseph Smith was holding in the nearby woods. Intending to cause a disturbance, he found himself converted instead. Many times after he was heard to testify that before the Prophet had spoken five minutes he had received a thorough assurance of the Divinity of his mission, which testimony remained with him all his life". Martin was a blacksmith by trade and also played the clarinet in the Nauvoo Legion Brass Band. He lost his first wife Susan Clough Peck in Nauvoo, the mother of his 7 children, the last three dying in infancy, but all 7 born during the persecution and migration of the Church.

And now meet George Mayer, born in 1805 in Pennsylvania, dying in 1896 in Utah. He was a wainwright by trade, or a wagon maker. He also made grain cradle scythes. He was baptized in 1843 in Logansport, Indiana. He moved to Nauvoo in 1844 where he also a policeman and guard. He assisted in the erection of the Nauvoo Temple. "I never found any religion that suited me, or that I thought was the religion of Christ till Nov. 11, 1843, when I heard a Latter-day Saint by the name of Jerry Dunhum, who I sent for to come to my house that I could converse with him. When he came I found that the Latter-day Saints had the genuine Bible and New Testament doctrine." Later George was present at the Haun's Mill massacre in Missouri where 18 saints were brutally murdered. "George was shot through the body as he was trying to escape. The mobbers did not pursue him, and he succeeded in getting away and recovered from his wounds, but was never as stout afterwards.

I am pleased to have learned of these third great grandfathers and their history, along with others. They were real people. They were again forced to leave, this time their beautiful city of Nauvoo and their just completed temple on the hill. I owe them thanks for their legacy of faith.

This is a genuine daguerrotype photo of the original Nauvoo Temple. It was destroyed by fire and tornado by 1850. A new Nauvoo Temple was erected, the outside a duplicate to the original, in 2002.

Love to all,

Sister Pam Karn

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011

The height of the corn in Nauvoo

State Capital in Springfield, Illinnois. On our last full Preparation day (evening included) we took a 3 hour drive to Springfield to see the Lincoln sites. It was well worth it.

The stove where Mary Todd Lincoln cooked breakfast

Lincoln sat here

The Lincoln family lived here in this house for 17 years in Springfield, Il

Hi folks,

Well things have slowed a bit in Old Nauvoo! The past two weeks we have not had nearly as many visitors as we had been having over the summer. The other side of that story is that the number of missionaries has started dropping. In the middle of August the young performing missionaries left and then the young sister missionaries have started going down in numbers. In August we lost more senior missionaries than we gained and in September there will be a drop of about thirty more. Then October arrives and we will be part of almost forty that will be pulling out! After that the numbers will be really low here! During the winter not nearly as many people come a-visitin! Every since we have been here there have been three casts performing the shows. Now that summer is over the only nightly show going is the "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo" so each cast does it two nights per week. My guess is that some time in October they will have to go to two casts and perform every other night.

Last night we had two shows of Rendezvous which has been the only night in a week we needed to do two shows. And last night was our first night of playing "Jed and Annie" in the show. It was scarey but we did it!

We have learned that Pam's coughing problems here seem to be due to allergies. She appears to be allergic to more things than she thought. But by watching what she eats she has been doing very little coughing and that has made things much better for her.

The weather report - June was very wet and since then we have had very little rain (rain would appear on the weather radar and when it got close to us it would go north or south of us or just disappear) and boy has it been hot. Yesterday a cold front went through and today has been the first comfortable day we have had in quite a while. But the corn is looking good and the soybeans look good! There are acres and acres of those two crops here and not much else.

I guess that's the news from Nauvoo!

Elder & Sister Karn