This week was so amazing, I know I say that every week but its true!
Sister Miskin and I finished up working at the Land and Records building last Saturday, wow I helped so many people find their relatives who lived here in Nauvoo! It was such a delight to work there and to see the light that just grew in these people's eyes when they got excited about the people they were finding.
I had time to find my own relatives. After searching through my entire family tree, I found that I have 40 relatives who lived here, and even more who have some sort of connection to Nauvoo or church history!! That's a ton! Most people can maybe find around 10, if they look long enough. Yet I have 40! I'm mind blown! Sister Miskin was joking that she thinks all my relatives up in heaven decided that when they came down to earth they'd all get married and have connections to each other so that they could have a missionary (me) who would come back to their city and their homes and tell their stories. I love it!
We get to work at 4 different places this week: Riser Boot Shop, Cultural Hall, Seventies Hall and Land and Records. Sister Miskin does a monologue scene for the Riser Boot Shop, so we were there the most this week. This week is so amazing and has been anticipated for a while, its Pageant Week!!! So many people have come here the past few days, its been so crazy!! Yesterday Sister Miskin and I were in Riser Boot, and we gave 29 tours which was 196 people! We didn't even have a break to eat our lunches! We stood for hours all day and took a sip of water when we could, it was just crazy! Yet all those tours were so worth it, we both bore powerful testimony of Jesus Christ. Its incredible how if I'm listening to the promptings of the Spirit, I can share something new every time I give a tour. None of the tours Sister Miskin and I give are exactly the same. One tour we gave was for a few families who squished together in the little building of that shop. At the end, this older man came up to me and was just crying and crying. He said, "Do you know how bright the light is that shines from your eyes? Its so beautiful!" That just melted my heart he was so sweet. I love how much the Holy Ghost touches so many people, and I get to see it!
We got to work at the Cultural Hall on Monday, which is where the young performing missionaries do the show "Just Plain Anna Amanda". Its a cute little 30 minute show about a pioneer girl who wants to be somebody important. She learns by the end that if she is just herself, then that's pretty important because nobody else is like her! So many little kids come to that so after the play was done, Sister Miskin and I got to go and talk to a bunch of them. One little girl was really shy, she was about 4 years old. She didn't want to talk to me, but then I got to play with her a little on the steps to the building. She finally warmed up to me and then wouldn't stop talking! She was so cute, she was telling me all about her trip and about the hotel she was staying at and her favorite things about Nauvoo. Wow she was adorable, I couldn't get enough! Well later that day when all the performances were done, Sister Miskin and I continued to give tours. We happened to bring our instruments that day because we thought it would be fun to practice some songs if we had a break. She plays the flute and I play the violin. Well the YPM's asked if we would play a duet for them, so we played Gethsemane.
It wasn't a glorious performance or anything, just pretty and simple, but I loved it. About an hour before we had to close, a family came in and they said they had already gotten a tour, but they came back because their daughter wanted to dance on the third floor. In the Cultural Hall, the original third floor is still there. The same floor the people of Nauvoo would dance on! We asked if she wanted us to play for her, and she was so excited. I played a little Irish Jig song and the whole family was just dancing together. Then Sister Miskin played "Under the Sea" and this girl was just ecstatic! Oh she loved it!! That was such a fun day!
Tuesday was the day Pageant officially opened! We don't get to sing in the "Sunset by the Mississippi" show for a few weeks, but instead get to work at the Country Fair near the Pageant. The Sister Missionaries walk around and have stations or areas where we stay at. We go and talk to people and hand out the official Nauvoo newspaper. Its a little odd, a huge group of protesters are here. They got hired by someone to come and yell all around the Pageant grounds and hand out anti papers. Our job is to try and beat them to the crowds and hand out our paper instead. We have to race them onto the tour buses, its a little intimidating. Well last night as Sister Miskin and I were doing our job, some antis came and walked around the Pageant grounds and were secretly filming us! I hope they don't try and use it against the church in some way, we didn't do anything wrong. Pageant is so great altogether though. Hundreds come here from all over the world to see the two shows. The Nauvoo Pageant is about the story of Nauvoo and some stories of the people who lived here. The British Pageant is about the missionary work over in the British Isles. There is so much color, music, dancing, singing and testimonies throughout both shows. I especially love the bagpipes, it is so much fun to listen to them play. They are just incredible! I was just crying my eyes out when I watched the British Pageant, the Spirit was so powerful. The missionaries get to go up at the end of that show and sing "Called to Serve", "Then Say What is Truth" and "Redeemer of Israel". This power just flows from me when I'm up there singing, wow I love it!!! On Tuesday was the Nauvoo Pageant, and a deaf couple came to see the show. So I had to do my very first interpretation that night. I was given advanced notice a few days before that I needed to be ready, so I was practicing as much as I could and praying with my whole heart. I was so nervous, I was just waiting in my chair being an anxious mess. Well when I walked over to start signing, I was completely calm. I messed up a lot and I got behind basically the whole section I had to sign, but I was totally calm! I was laughing at some points because I was having so much fun. I asked the deaf couple after the show if I made any sense and they said they understood everything I signed. I was amazed! The gift of tongues is so real! The Holy Ghost definitely helped them understand what I was trying to sign. I did my very best, which may not have been enough and for sure wasn't perfect, but Heavenly Father made up for it! It was just an amazing experience.
These next few weeks until the beginning of August will just keep getting even busier. I'm excited and I know without a doubt I won't be able to do it without the help of God. This mission is exhausting, I don't get home now until around 10:45 because of Pageant, so I don't get to fall asleep until about 11:30. Then standing and talking all day just wears me out! Yet I wouldn't trade this for anything. Missions are life changing, I can't believe how much I've changed and grown in the 3 months I've been out. I am constantly having to ask Heavenly Father for help and relying on the Holy Ghost to help me know what to say. I have never felt so close to Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. I also have never felt so close to the pioneers, they are just incredible and inspiring people! I feel like I know them so well now, they're my friends!
I love that I get this opportunity to write home every week! It is such a joy to share my experiences and my testimony with all of you, I just love it!!! I can't thank you all enough for all your support and love, you mean the world to me!
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