Half Way

Well I'll just kind of start at the beginning of the week because there's so much to write about. I'm just kind of picking and choosing from my journal. First I'll share the most shocking news. I love Nauvoo. Ok, whew. I'm glad that's over. We had transfers this week! ... I was already mentally prepared to get a new companion, and then President Ludwig said, Sister Jones and Sister McKay. I was like who's Sister McKay? Oh, duh. My companion. We were the only two who didn't get transferred! Weird. We still don't know exactly why, but we're trying to figure out what the Lord has in store for us by keeping us as companions. So far we've figured we need to get to know each other better, and become more consistant in our companion study. It was weird trying to get used to the idea that we would be the only ones this summer that didn't get a new companion. If neither of us go on a full time mission then she'll be my only mission companion ever! :)

The Nauvoo Pageant is here!...setting up in our backyard. The pageant stage is literally 100 yards away from our back door. There are cars and people everywhere! We started pageant dance rehearsals yesterday, and for pretty much the rest of July we'll have dance rehearsals at 7:45 in the morning teaching all the new families that come in every week the dances. Pageant will be such a neat experience! It'll be our 6th show a day...bring it on!

Oh, exciting news! Our amazing mission president and his wife have been asked to extend their call another year! This is their second year extension! Their call was originally for two years, and then extended to three, and now they'll be here for four! They were supposed to go home in January. Sister Ludwig just said, "This way we don't have to pack up.We were just going to go home for a year, and then put our papers in again in a year." She's great! Both of them are the most incredible people I've ever met!

This week has been great! I saw a lady and her husband that used to live in our home ward. She was a YPM in 2004! How great is that?! I got to hear some of her YPM stories. (Mom, do you remember Jessica Whitehead? Yeah, it was them. She has two beautiful boys now, and they live in Michigan.) I also saw a family that from my home ward. The Larsen's! As I was working at John Taylor's house I looked and the window and saw them walking up the sidewalk! It was so exciting. I got to give them a tour and everything. The Gudmundson's from Cedar City are also here for all of July! He was one of my institute teachers, and he's in charge of the bagpipe band they're doing before the pageant.

My favorite story of the week is a family from Wisconsin. I fell in love with them. (It was a lady and her husband, and their five children. Her parents were also traveling with them.) There was something so special about them. I met them after Anna Amanda on Thursday, and talked to them for a while there. They had been to Sunset the night before, and the grandpa said he loved the fiddling so much it made him cry. Well, I saw them again Thursday night at Sunset, and just chatted with their cute girls and everything. So I'm at John Taylor's on Friday morning, and this same family comes for a tour. I get to give it to them. I had finished giving the tour, and I bore more testimony, but I was prompted to say more than what I usually do. Things about how blessed we are to be able to be with our families forever, etc. When they were leaving, the mom, Amy, stayed behind and told me how much that meant to her because her parents aren't members. (She was baptized when she was 19.) It was such a neat experience. Well, they went to Sunset again Friday night, and I talked a little more to them. Amy said that it was a miracle that her parents even came with them to Nauvoo, but now they have a positive view of the church, instead of a negative/neutral view. They came to High Hopes yesterday, and it just happened to be to the show that I was singing No Ordinary Brothers. I got to sing my testimony to them about Joseph and Hyrum. Her parents said that High Hopes was their favorite show in Nauvoo. As I was talking to Amy after that show she told me she was talking to her husband the night before, and she said that she feels like we've known each other before this. I truly believe that. I really feel like I was friends with her, and her family in the life before. Ah. I don't know. It was just so great. It makes me really think about serving a full time mission. Even if I just plant little seeds in the hearts of others. I just felt so connected to this family.

Today is our exact halfway point. How depressing. Time is just going to go by faster. Oh, random story. The oxen broke out of the fence last night, and we found them running around the Pioneer Pastime site. haha I'm sure it's the kind of entertainment the pioneers had on a Saturday night. Chasing the oxen, and trying to fix the fence. We all had a good laugh. (oh wow, I just really thought about what I said. We all had a good laugh about oxen? Maybe I've been in Nauvoo a little too long...Just kidding.:) )

Today is a special day. It marks the 166th year since the martydom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. We have been studying all week the events that led up to this day. This morning we sang Praise to the Man in sacrament meeting, and we just finished singing at the Community of Christ commemoration, and we're about to head to Carthage to sing. Carthage is going to be such a neat experience. To sing in the exact time, and place that they were killed. whew. Good thing I have waterproof mascara. I encourage everyone to read D&C 135 today. "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it." "The lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their names go down to poserity as gems for the sanctified." I know Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. He sealed his testimony with his blood on this day, June 27th, 1844. I will live my life in a way that I can share what the Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum died for. I will live a more purified, and Christ like life, and share the gospel to those around me.

Love,

Sister Jones

P.S. "Never let your attitude override your gratitude." I learned that today in sacrament meeting. :)

Hello!

Well, we started the week off with pretty much everyone having sore throats and coughs. I guess if we love each other that much we have to share everything. Even colds. Oh well. I think everyone is feeling better. It's been another fun filled week. I can't believe it's Sunday again already. It has been fun to interact with the Young Ambassador's from BYU these past couple of weeks. We only got to see one of their shows, and it was good. It was interesting though, because even though there wasn't anything bad about their performance, it took a little bit of time to refocus.

In our prep meeting this week with the President and his wife, we learned more about obedience. We cannot pick and choose what we want to obey. Sister Ludwig told a story about a man who always did all his talks from memory. Then an apostle asked him to give a certain talk written out on paper. The man didn't understand why, but he did it anyway. After he gave the talk the apostle came up to him and said "thank you for obeying the little things, now we know we can trust you with bigger things." He was exactly obedient. That seems to be a huge theme for the summer. Exact obedience. (Of course there were names in this story, but I don't remember what they were.)

Our music director that was here the first 3 days we were came this week to see our shows, and help us touch up our music. I love Sister Willmore. She really is incredible. She said she enjoyed all our shows, and that it was fun to see all of us in character.

I saw a friend this week that I met in my singles ward in Springville, and who lives in Cedar City now. It's so fun to come out from backstage and see familiar faces.

In Sunset by the Mississippi I have this short little solo in a song called Away with Rum. I blanked out on my words. Like. I could not remember them. This is the verse is supposed to go: "As for alcohol backrubs, we think they're a crime. We always condem them in song, and in rhyme. An alcohol backrub is worse than straight fin, when you think of the liquor absorbed by the skin." Here's the new version that I came up with. Now, it was super embarassing, but it gave a good laugh to everyone, and yes they're still making fun of me. "We never drink tobacco, because it's too thick...? something something in the middle of the verse, and I ended it with because it turns your skin brown...?" WHAT?! I know. It makes no sense, but that is what happened. Maybe you had to be there.

My Uncle Rich and Aunt Jean were here for a few minutes yesterday. They came and found me backstage. It was a huge surprise, but a good one! They were able to sneak in the back of the show and hear me sing, and then they had to go. Thanks for the chocolate covered pretzels Rich and Jean. They're great! :)

So, I've been thinking this week about whether I could serve a full time mission after this. I mean, I live in Zion, and it's still so hard. Satan works so hard to make you think you're not good enough, and gets you discouraged. There's nothing here really influencing us from the outside world. It's just our own minds. It's great, but I have a new respect and love for full time missionaries. Wow. Getting doors slammed in your face, getting rejected all the time, etc, etc. Someone rejected a referral card, and it hurt bad. That's nothing compared to what full time missionaries do. I've also learned I'm never going to make fun of a newly returned missionary for acting all weird and spiritual all the time. haha. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be weird when I get home, and I was only gone for a summer. But I guess it's a good thing. This place definitely humbles you, but at the same time I can still see pride slipping into little things I do. I need to remember every compliment I receive, every bow I take, every song I sing is for the Lord. It's not me. It's for the Lord. The Atonement is amazing. Here I do or say some little thing, and it's the biggest deal. Like I feel so bad until I repent, even though at home I would have thought nothing of it. Ah. I just really hope I can be strong enough to take the things I'm learning here home, and apply them to everyday life. I want to read the scriptures more and more everyday. I try and read the conference issue of the Ensign backstage. I have new and better goals for the upcoming school year, and the things I want to accomplish. I used to think I was a half decent person, but it turns out I have a lot further to go to become who Heavenly Father wants me to become. I've been trying to have the mentality that He can make a mansion out of me if I just let him. He'll probalby tear me up a bit, and it'll probably hurt a little, but think how much better I'll be after. Now I realize this is a life long process, but why not start now! Bring on the trials baby! (wait, should I be asking for trials?....I don't know. Whatever. )

Today after church we had a few minutes to run down to Lands and Records. I got hundreds, and hundreds of pages of information on a CD about my ancestors that were here in Nauvoo. Oh my gosh. It was so amazing. I can't wait until I get the time to find where their lots were, and read through some of their stories. I can't wait to find out if my ancestors knew my sister's ancestors. Tears came to my eyes as I saw several of them had gotten their endownments in the Nauvoo Temple. Ancestors from both sides. It's my new dream to go through the Nauvoo Temple first. It would be so special. (I love the Nauvoo Temple, just in case you didn't know.)

The May Flies are here. They are nast. The heat+humidity=smelly, sweaty girls in pioneer dresses. The huge thunder and lightening storms are amazing. The sunsets are beautiful. The temple has the most beautiful glow at night. It's the little things that make this place amazing. It's the little things that people do that makes it amazing. Why would we not want all of our communities, and homes to be like this? I think that's all for this week.

Oh wait, Happy Father's Day to everyone. (Everyone who is a father, that is.)

Love,

Sister Jones

Five Weeks!

I better get typing. Another fun and exciting week, with another 30 shows performed. The longer we are out here, the more my Sisters and I are realizing that we got here through our abilities to perform, but that's not really why we're out here. We've talked a lot about how we knew each other in our pre-mortal life, that we all knew we'd be coming to Nauvoo together. This is a summer that Heavenly Father knew would be in our eternal life plan. That's how important it is. We're out here to bear testimony of Jesus Christ, and his love for us. Everyday it gets easier to do that. When I sing I look directly into someone else's eyes, and I know that they can feel what I feel. It's amazing...everyday.

We just had an interesting experience this afternoon. The Bower's arranged for us to go on a tour through the Community of Christ sites. They own the Homestead, The Nauvoo House, Joseph, Hyrum's, and Emma's graves, The Mansion House, and The Red Brick Store. (well, actually they own more than that, but that's what's included in the tour.) The second we sat down to watch the video in their visitor's center I felt different. I felt heavy. The spirit was not there. Ah. It was just so weird compared to being on LDS property. The tour was all factual, and no testimony of anything. It was interesting, and I learned a lot, but I didn't really feel the spirit until the end. We were on the second floor of the Red Brick Store, and we sang "Nauvoo." It's a beautiful poem put to the music of Jupiter, from the Planets, by Holst. The spirit was there. It's so cool, because that's where the Relief Society was started, and many revelations were given, including the endownments for the temple. Anyway, there's lots more to say about the buildings, but no time to write about it. As we were driving back home down old main street past all of the shops, and homes I felt completely different. The spirit was there, and the people were happy.

A fun little fact about the Nauvoo Mission. It has the highest concentrated missionary population than in any other mission of the church. Most of them being Senior Missionary couples. I love them all. They're all grandpa's and grandma's to us. In the last couple of weeks we've received cookies, bread and jam, banana bread, muffins, ice cream, popsicles, popcorn balls, and fruit snacks from different senior sisters. They are so stinkin cute, and the only thing they want in return is a hug, and a song. Between all the senior couples there are 2,338 grandchildren, and 407 great-grandchildren in the mission right now.

I love the Nauvoo temple. The End. Oh wait, that's not all we did on P-day this week. We also did a very bad thing, and went to the Fudge Factory up on main street. Bad idea. I hope it doesn't become a weekly visit. ;) Speaking of really good food. The sisters and I are playing the Biggest Loser at our house. It's fun. We have our starting weight, and then for each pound we lose we get to write a star on the poster board. :) I've put up a couple of stars so far. ooOO! One sister has lost 18lbs since we've been here. She's lookin great.

I got to work in the Wilford Woodruff home and the Lyon Drug Store this week. Both great sites. The Young Ambassadors from BYU are here for two weeks, but we don't see them much. We're only allowed to go to one of their shows while they're here, and their fireside which is later this evening.

Oh, another cool experience. I met a 3rd great-grandson of Hyrum Smith yesterday. He and his wife are from Salt Lake, but don't know much about the church or Hyrum. We told them that we honor his heritage, and how lucky he is to be a desendant of Hyrum.

This week we've all been so tired, but Friday was bad. I was like asleep backstage, and then I'd run on stage to do a scene, and suddenly wouldn't be tired anymore, and then I'd come back off stage, and I would be just as tired. Just another Nauvoo miracle that we can function on stage. haha

I did see a family I knew this week! It was the greatest thing ever to have someone come tell you there's a family that thinks they know you, and they want to talk to you. It was my best friend (Ari) from high school, cousins. I've been on a bunch of boating trips with her family, and extended family, so that's where I got to know them. It was so great to see them, and have them recognize in a pioneer dress versus a swimsuit. haha. Their grandpa, (I call him Grandpa Booth), isn't doing very well health wise, but he loves it when Ari and I would fiddle. I played Orange Blossom at Sunset that night, and I told his daughter, (Ari's aunt) that I dedicated Orange Blossom to him that night, just in case he doesn't make it until I get home. If he does then I play it for him for reals. :) Anyway, it was so fun to see them.

We got some bikes to ride in the morning or evening after our shows, and we rode down to the Mississippi the other night. We were on a little bank, looking out over the Mississippi River, and a gorgeous sunset with the temple behind us. I DO NOT know how the saints left, (besides the horrible humidity) it's the greatest place on earth. But I suppose they left because the prophet told them to. I've learned that there are A LOT of things that we are told to do, and we don't know why, but we do them anyway, because we are obedient...if that makes any sense.

Last Sunday we went to the old Nauvoo Cemetary. It was a beautiful place. So peaceful. The Bower's got some stories together for us to read about families who buried their children there. So many children died each week, that they would just bring them all up once a week and have a big funeral. Some parents buried most, if not all of their children there. It's a very sad thing to have a cemetary of mostly infants.

Ok. You know that sissy rain showers in Utah? yeah, those don't exsist here. When it rains, it rains. Oh. My. Gosh. There is so much water. Yesterday morning we did one of our morning shows in completely wet clothes because we couldn't even make from the car to the cultural hall without getting drenched, even with umbrella's. How funny is that. I love the big lightening and thunder storms, especially at night. And there are the most gorgeous sunsets here.

Just in case you're interested in getting another point of view from Nauvoo another couple of sisters have their e-mails on blogs too, so check out, emilyelisechambers.blogspot.com, and sisterreynders.blogspot.com...or it might be janetreynders.blogspot.com. haha she couldn't remember.

Well I'm probably boring you now. I hope all is well at home, and I sure hope there's no more snow. I was going to share something insightful, but I don't know what to share...so I guess you don't get anything. Love you all

Love,

Sister Jones

Dear Family and Friends,

It is a very scary thing how fast this week went by. We've already been here 4 weeks! We've done 35 performances in just this first week of shows. The time is only going to go by faster, which is a very sad thing. Nauvoo is amazing. I love it more than any other place on earth. I still can't get over the fact that I get to live in an original brick home, I get to walk the streets the saints walked, and I get to tell of their stories on stage. Speaking of the home I live in, (I don't remember if I've told this yet), It's a 3 story red brick home. It's the Yearsley home. It's the tallest residential home in Nauvoo, so that's kind of cool. The next coolest part about the house is that it used to be a jail. It's kind of creepy actually. There's a jail cell down in the basement where we do the laundry. They would take the prisoners in through the cellar doors. I want to do some more research on it when I get home.

I have to tell you about the Hardy's. Elder and Sister Hardy are called on this mission specifically to make lunch for the YPM's everyday. They are the best cooks ever. We seriously eat Thanksgiving quality food everyday. Needless to say I should have lost weight already (but hey! I haven't gained any either), but they pour straight cream into almost everything. They just happen to make the best desserts too. Bad news. AH. It's the best time of the day. Goin' to Hardy lunch. I love 'em.

So some quick experiences from the week. On Monday and Friday mornings A cast doesn't have performances, and it's not our P-day so we get to work in the sites. Monday morning I got to work in the Heber C. Kimball home. We give tours, and bear testimony to the people. I fell in love with Heber C. Kimball because of his home, and the stories I was able to tell of him while giving tours. He and his family were so faithful. They were one of the first families to leave Nauvoo to head west. On Friday morning I was in the John Taylor home right on main street. Before we open for tours we have to clean the homes. So here I am just vacuuming away, and it hits me...I'm cleaning a prophets house. John Taylor's home. It's was his wife would have done, minus the vacuum. It once again was an overwhelming feeling. I mean honestly, who gets to clean the prophets house now, let alone an original home in Nauvoo? wow. The next best thing about sites is that I get to do tours with two senior sister missionaries. They are just the sweetest things alive. I love hearing about their lives stories, and the kind of faith that they have.

Some other neat things that happen everyday. So in one of the shows I have this solo. There's no pressure, it's only the spirital climax of the show, right after Joseph Smith dies. Yeah, no pressure. So everyday I pray and pray that I will be able to sing, and bear testimony, and that my voice will work to the best of my ability. I know that it is only through the Lord that I can do this because he gave me my voice. For a lot of the shows this week I would not even have a voice at the beginning of the show, and then when it comes time to sing, I know that I will have a voice if I have faith, and so I go on and sing, and then I don't have a voice after. When I sing it is not my voice. It is better. I DO NOT sing at home the way I can sing that song. I can't sing in any other song here the way I sing that song. It is because of the Lord. That is a miracle. Everyday.

I want to talk about the Nauvoo temple again. I don't really know what else to say other than it is so amazing. It is so apparent by just looking at it, that it is God's house. Only the best of everything is on the inside and out. I've never really been interested in getting my endownments until I get married or go on a mission, but when I was there on Wednesday I had this desire to know what it's like in the rest of the temple. I want to have those blessings and responsibilities of having my temple ordiances. I probably won't be getting them any sooner than I would have before, but now I can study more specifically to prepare for the temple.

Everyday I have incredible examples of faith and obedience to look to. All the sisters are so amazing. They're always looking for ways to be more obedient, and faithful, and kind, and everything else good. They're making me a better person. I love my companion. She is such a great spiritual example to me. She is always studying, and asking questions, looking to become even better than she already is. One thing a mission does is thrust all your weaknesses you know you already have, and ones you didn't know you have right in front of your face. It's great fun. I'm learning more about myself, and the gospel everyday. It's hard, and we're tired, but if it were easy, and we weren't tired then we wouldn't be doing the Lord's work.

We're doing our best to become even more obedient, and faithful, and to trust in the Lord everyday. There is NO WAY anything could happen without the Lord's help. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and his Son, Jesus Christ. I know that The Book of Mormon was translated by the power of God through Joseph Smith. I know that God is there continually for me, and that he HEARS, and ANSWERS my prayers. Jesus Christ did pay for all my sins, and he died on the cross for me, and for all my brothers and sisters here on earth.

Pray for us! Pray for our leaders, the Ludwigs, Camps, and Bowers. Pray that we won't get injured, and that we'll keep our voices, and our health. Speaking of injuries, my ankle is doing very well. I'm trying to not wear the brace as much so I can start getting all the strength back in my ankle.

Sorry this one's kind of long. Making up for my short one earlier this week. Have a good week!

Love,

Sister Jones

Sorry I didn't e-mail on Sunday. I decided to e-mail on my half P-day, but I don't think that is going to work out much because I only have like 10 minutes to write an e-mail before I have to be at call time.

We made it to opening day on Saturday! wow. We got 3 shows ready in 3 weeks. We definitely did not do it without the help of the Lord. There have been tender mercies left and right. Too many to share right now, but I'll share one of the big ones.

So my bow wasn't tightening because the humidity made the hairs too long. I had not mentioned that to a lot of people, but I had talked about renting a bow from the store in Keokuk. The owner really likes the performing missionaries so he is always really nice to them. So one night we were just finishing Sunset by the Mississippi rehearsal when one of the YPM's, Sister Reynder's, came and gave me a skinny box. I asked her what it was and all she said was a senior couple pulled up in a car and told her to give it to me. They said "From one Jones to another." .........It was a brand new bow. Never been rosined. I still can't believe it. There are two senior couples here with the last name of Jones, but both of them were at the rehearsal when I was, so it couldn't have been them. I don't know if it was a sister whose maiden name was Jones. I can't figure it out. The people here are all that generous. It is the most pure Zion community. I hope someday I can repay them.

Because I don't have much time I just want to share one other thing. I went to the temple this morning. I have never felt the spirit so strong at the temple. There is something so incredibly special about the Nauvoo temple. To be in the exact place that the first baptisms for the dead were ever performed....it was overwhelming. A member of the temple presidency came and talked to us before we got baptized. It was just a really special experience. One of the best things was to walk out of the temple and see the Mississippi. It's exactly what the saints would have seen when walking out.

I hope you had a good Memorial Day. I thought about you all day because I was jealous you got to see mom's side of the family. (Did you guys go to the graves?) I wanted to be there.

Well I gotta run. We have 3 shows left for the day.

Tues, Thurs, Sat I peform in 5 shows, and Mon, Fri I work in sites and peform in 3 shows, and Wed in my P-day until 2, and then 3 shows after that. They keep us busy doing the Lord's work.

Our mission President's wife taught us to Savor Life, and Don't Postpone Joy. So yeah, that's all.

Love,

Sister Jones