Monday, September 12, 2016 – Wash Mower, Haas House, Tour Sites, Cast Dinner & Tour

After we finished our days work, Sis. Johnson's father, Jim Burk, helped me wash the mower. I always wash the more before it goes in for sharpening. The mower has an appointment for tomorrow to be sharpened.

After lunch we were off to Nauvoo and stopped at our new house on Page Street. The new house’s official name is the “Haas House.”We took a load of our household items with us. We've been moving our stuff a little at a time since last week and we have hauled quite a bit to the new house. We will be moving in permanently in a week and a half.

We are very excited about our new house. It has 3 bedrooms and lots of storage space. Today we discovered that there is a mature Lilac tree in the back yard, Sis. Johnson is really excited about that. I discovered the hard way that there is Poison Ivy in the back yard. I didn’t notice it and brushed by it with the back of my hand, ouch! I resisted the urge to scratch the itch until I got some baking soda on the spot and the itch and burn went right away. One of these days I will remove the Poison Ivy plants when I have my work clothes and gloves on.

 

Next we were off to the Family Search office in Nauvoo where Sis. Johnson and her mother, Betty received professional help pulling up their family tree. We were only there about a half hour but they came away with several treasures, including their family tree and color printouts of their “Family Fan.” They really enjoyed their time there.

We had enough time left in the afternoon to visit two other historic sites in Nauvoo. The brick yard and Lucy Mack Smith’s home. Mom & Dad (Jim & Betty Burk) are really enjoying themselves here in Nauvoo. This is the very first time they’ve been to Nauvoo so all of these historic sites are all new to them. They love it here and want to see as much as they can before they leave next Sunday.

 

Our last stop of the day was a cast party/dinner/FHE. For the past six months we’ve become very close to our fellow cast members. For five of those six months we’ve been together four nights a week in performances or rehearsals of “Sunset by the Mississippi” and “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo.” We are making lifelong friendships.

After the dinner we were treated to a presentation by the director of FM (Facilities Maintenance), Jordan Bodily.  He gave us a very good rundown of all of the new construction, upgrades, plans, improvements and goals the church has for all of Nauvoo and Carthage.

 

One of the significant things Bro. Bodily told us are the plans to reconstruct three more of the old historic homes in Nauvoo. In fact today we saw an archaeology team excavating the foundation of the home of Edward Hunter. The other two homes in the planning stages are the homes of Orson Hyde and William Weeks.

The reconstruction of the Edward Hunter home is significant because in September 1842 Joseph was hiding from Missouri mobbers in the home of Edward Hunter, which was located just west of the Nauvoo Temple. In the upstairs room he completed writing his revelation regarding baptism for the dead. At that time, the temple had been under construction for nearly a year and a half.

Orson Hyde was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He served as a missionary in the United States, Europe, and the Ottoman Empire. One of his missions he served with Heber C. Kimball to Great Britain in 1837 to 1838. He was successful in bringing thousands of converts to the faith. Orson Hyde also served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The home of William Weeks is significant because he was the architect of the Nauvoo Temple.  The original Nauvoo Temple was an inspired masterpiece of architecture and craftsmanship. The Prophet Joseph Smith directed the work, but architect William Weeks translated those directions into workable plans. These architectural drawings demonstrated Bro. Week’s skill and attention to detail, which later helped modern builders reconstruct the Nauvoo Temple.