Tuesday, June 20, 2017 – Weeding & Mulching, Potting Ferns

Today we were back weeding and mulching again. Last month when we planted most of the garden plots in Old Nauvoo we put a layer of mulch on them to help hold the moisture in and keep the weeds down. Well, it seems one of the flowerbeds missed it’s mulching. 

The flowerbed by the Scovil Bakery is doing well but so are the weeds. In fact there are tons of weeds because the flowerbed missed getting mulched. Sis. Johnson and I spent most of the morning pulling weeds and mulching the flowerbed. 

For a while as we weeded, we did had a very nice music concert to listen to. The Nauvoo Brass Band does a rolling concert each morning on their “Band Wagon.” One of their stops is in front of the Cultural Hall which is very close to where we were working. For about 20 minutes we got to listen to a large variety of music including Hymns, John Philip Sousa march tunes and Big Band era hits. We enjoyed being serenaded while we worked; it made for a very pleasant morning.

After lunch we were in the potting room with Richard potting fern plants he had to remove from some of the flowerbeds at the historic home of Brigham Young. We ended up with about two dozen fern plants in 6” pots for the greenhouse. Richard plans to let them grow and mature this summer and put them out next year.

Tonight in our “Rendezvous” show we received a new assignment. This was a first for Sis. Johnson and I. She was asked to be over all of the show lighting during “Rendezvous.” After being trained by Sis. Van Horn, Sis. Johnson sat at the lighting control panel through the whole show, controlling the stage and house lights. She had to follow the cues in the script and dimmed them or brighten them up as the scene required. It is a big responsibility and Sis. Johnson did a great job.

I was asked to be the “House Manager.” Part of my responsibilities are to arrive an hour before the show, open the building and prepare everything for the performance. I wear my coat and top hat and greet the guest as they arrive. I take the tickets, count the guest and give them a pep talk before the show starts (my favorite part). I also guard the door, literally, to make sure the hall front door is only opened at specific times during the production. Sis. Johnson and I are getting the hang of our new responsibilities. There are other couples that have been trained in the same jobs so we will only be taking our turn about once or twice a month.

On Sunday, June 4, 2017 Sis. Johnson and I made an appointment with Pres. & Sis. Hall to request an extension of our mission until December 1^st. We didn’t hear back from him until the middle of last week when Pres. Hall asked us to put in writing our request to extend. The following is our request Sis. Johnson wrote and I typed up to give to Pres. Hall.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Dear Pres. Hall,

We, Elder David and Sister Pam Johnson have a desire to extend our mission. Our release date is Sept. 21, 2017 and we would like to extend to Dec. 1, 2017.

We are enjoying our assignment of working in the gardens and grounds of Nauvoo. By extending we will have the opportunity to help with the extensive fall clean up and the planting of 24 thousand tulip bulbs. Also, as retired florists, we will be able to participate in assembling the Christmas wreaths and swags that are used for decorating the outside of the Historic Sites of Nauvoo.

We sincerely hope that our desired extension will be approved. Thank you for your time and service to this very special mission.

Sincerely, Elder & Sister Johnson

PS. Thursday, June 22, 2017 we received word from Bishop Johnson that our extension request was granted by the Missionary Department and our new release date is Dec. 1, 2017. Hooray