Thursday, May 18, 2017 – Elder Craig Zwick, Mission Trg. Meeting, Cleaning & Planting at Visitor’s Center, Rendezvous Rehearsal with Jimmy & Marie

It is wonderful to have a General Authority here in the mission and have him preside and teach us for our regular Mission-wide Training Meeting. Elder W. Craig Zwick of the 70 and his wife spoke to us. There were too many interesting and enlightening thing to mention all of them here but one thing both Elder & Sis. Zwick talked about was a South American town they visited in their leadership travels.

In English and in Spanish the most common greetings are “How are you” and “Good morning,” or “Good evening. There is a remote town named San Cristobal, where the people still speak their native language. Elder & Sis. Zwick both talked about a greeting the people use that (when translated) says, “How is your Heart?” When we come unto Christ we don’t just follow Him, we have a “Change of Heart.” When visitors come to Nauvoo they feel the Holy Spirit touch their hearts. When we take upon ourselves the name of Christ it is a life changing event, a “Change of Heart.” So, Elder & Sis. Zwick’s question to us is “How’s your heart?”

After our mission training meeting we were back on the job at the Women’s Garden and Visitor’s Center cleaning up after yesterday’s wind storm. There was tree litter and limbs all over that needed to be cleaned up and hauled away.  

We had the help of six Seniors who donated two hours of their P-day to help us clean the grounds and plant flowers. Once again they were great, working tirelessly and going above and beyond the call of duty. Sis. Johnson and I really appreciate them and all of the Seniors that help us during this very busy planting season.

We went to “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo” a half hour early today for a special Rehearsal. Starting on Saturday, May 27^th we will have a new vignette added to our “Rendezvous” show called, “Jimmy & Marie.” This vignette is played by the YPM’s (Young Performing Missionaries) and it is only performed during the summer while the YPM’s are here. The vignette is significant for Sis. Johnson and I because we play “George & Agatha” who are the parents of “Marie.” It will require Sis. Johnson and I to learn many new lines as our parts interact with “Jimmy & Marie.” This is our first rehearsal and we only have nine days until we will be performing all of our new lines live on stage. 

Sis. Johnson’s sister, Debbie and her husband Ray Quist, came to our rehearsal this evening and stayed to watch us play “George & Agatha.” They’ve been hearing about “Rendezvous” for over a year now and they finally got to watch us perform. They enjoyed the show and especially Agatha’s performance.