Wednesday, May 17, 2017 – Wood Chipping, Cleaning SGK Home, Lyon Drug Herb Garden, Ray & Debbie Quist

This morning we had another good crew of workers assigned to help Sis. Johnson and I through the program called FM+. We started at the Mission President’s home spreading wood chips around the trees and bushes there. Elder W. Craig Zwick of the 70 will arrive this afternoon and this is the last chore to be done before he arrives.

Next we were at the historic residence of Sarah Granger Kimball to pull weeds and clean the flowerbeds. This is the third time in as many days that we’ve been there trying to finish the job. But, it always seems like there are more and more weeds. I’m not sure we will ever finish, maybe someday in the future.

Our final work site of the day was at the Lyon Drug Herb Garden. We worked there before and after lunch. This is another site that requires a lot of attention. We’ve been weeding and planting there for weeks and there is still no end in sight but when it’s done, it will be great.

While Richard laid out plants for us to plant, our crew started at the Lyon Drug Herb Garden weeding a very large section of yet unplanted garden that was full of “Star of Bethlehem” lilies. Unfortunately these lilies are pernicious weeds and they all have to be dug out. When Richard had all of the plants laid out we all jumped in and got them all planted. By the end of our work day we got a lot accomplished. It was a very productive Wednesday for all of us and our FM+ grounds crew.

The long awaited day has finally arrived. Sis. Johnson’s sister, Debbie Quist, and husband Ray have arrived for a five day visit. Sis. Johnson is soooo excited to have her sister here for a few days.

Tonight we had “Sunset by the Mississippi” rehearsal.  We are only ten days away from performing live on stage for the Memorial Day Weekend and it is a little scary. I hope we are ready. Oh, and speaking of SCARY, Elder Schultz is the coordinator of all of the Nauvoo shows including “Sunset by the Mississippi.” He pulled Sis. Johnson and I into a private room and asked us to sing a duet for one of the specialty musical numbers during “Sunset!”  Ahhhh. . . we were very scared but we said yes. The piece we will be singing is very appropriate (and funny) titled, “Senior Moment – Brain Freeze.”  The bad part is we only have ten days to memorize and practice the number. Oh well, ready or not here we come!