Saturday, July 9, 2016 – Brick Yard, Birthday Snacks for Rendezvous Cast

Saturday is our P-day and normally we don’t do any work.  But this morning we volunteered to work at the historic site, “The Brick Yard.” We didn’t give tours, but rather, we helped in the manufacture of the bricks that are made there. 

The brick yard site coordinator told us he needed extra bricks prepared so he could fire up the kiln. Evidently the regular staff/tour guides at the brick yard prepare bricks for firing in their spare time. But they’ve been so busy giving tours they haven’t had time to prepare bricks. Sis. Jonson and I were happy to volunteer to help out on our P-day.

Tonight for our performance at “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo” Sis. Johnson gave the spiritual message for prayer meeting. She used the hiking stick Dean Dare (my brother-in-law) gave us that made from “Diamond Wood.” My sister Donna and her husband Dean were in Alaska last year and found these Diamond Wood sticks in a marshy swamp in a very remote and isolated spot. The conditions were very difficult and the mosquitoes were ferocious. But you can’t have beautiful and great things without sacrifice.

To see the beauty of the wood beneath you have to strip off the bark. Then, after cleaning, sanding and hard work the real beauty of the wood come out. But not every piece of wood looks beautiful. Only infected plants that have been inflicted with the ravages of a parasite turn into Diamond Wood. 

And so it is in our lives. Our heavenly Father knows we suffer hardships, disease and pain, we are inflicted with the scares of those traumatic experiences. And, as we endure our trials we gain experience and we grow as we learn to obey God’s will. In the end our scares become like beautiful diamonds. After much “hard work, cleaning and sanding” in the Master’s hand we become beautiful “Diamond Wood.”

Normally the historic sites in Old Nauvoo stay open until 5:00pm but during the peak tourist season of July all of the sites stay open an hour longer. Many of our fellow cast members have to work in their sites until 6:00pm and don’t have time to go home and eat dinner before they have to be to prayer meeting at 6:30. So it has become a tradition during the month of July for anyone celebrating their birthday to bring a little more than just a birthday cake or cookies for everyone to share.

Since Sis. Johnson had her birthday yesterday, it was our turn to bring treats to tonight’s production of “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo” and share with the other cast members. Sis. Johnson laid out a wonderful table of food for everyone. She brought lots of healthy things like fruits and veggies. She also brought her famous homemade salsa and chips. Mmmm Goood! Instead of a birthday cake or cookies she brought a lot of cream puffs, oh yes, they are better than cake.