Nauvoo winter of 2016 was surprisingly mild. However, winter seemed long and hard. Perhaps it was hard because I worked countless hours on humanitarian projects! We made almost 600 care-bears, gift packages for newborn babies, backpacks filled with school supplies for kids, pillow cases (used as a carry case or "backpack"), hundreds of knitted caps and scarves for children and adults, and nearly 80 quilts of all sizes. It was my goal, as chairman, to keeping the women busy sharing their love for those less fortunate. Being confined to sites all day without guests, and performing Rendezvous with an audience of three or four took a toll on us emotionally. So, we searched for activities to brighten our days. Besides humanitarian projects, we searched for ancestral names on www.familysearch. We read books. Two books I throughly enjoyed reading were, In Old Nauvoo, and the newly published book, The Quincy Miracle.
Finally, spring arrived with it's warm days and fragrant flowers. We took hope in the bright colors of the season, and gained strength from the promise that new recruits were on their way!. Just as the gardens brought us joy, so did the arrival of 16 new senior couples on April 2nd. From all across the country they came, brimming with excitement and enthusiasm. Two weeks later another group of senior missionaries arrived, together with a flood of young performing missionaries. In total, we have about 65 new seniors missionaries, 26 young performing missionaries, who will be here all summer, with an additional 17 young band members (Nauvoo Brass Band.) In addition to those groups, we have 19 young single full-time sister missionaries. Add in all the support staff, and we have filled Nauvoo with more love and excitement than you could ever imagine. There is enough excitement for you to come visit, take all you want, and we will still have plenty of love left over.
Please! Come to Nauvoo this summer.
,
Finally, spring arrived with it's warm days and fragrant flowers. We took hope in the bright colors of the season, and gained strength from the promise that new recruits were on their way!. Just as the gardens brought us joy, so did the arrival of 16 new senior couples on April 2nd. From all across the country they came, brimming with excitement and enthusiasm. Two weeks later another group of senior missionaries arrived, together with a flood of young performing missionaries. In total, we have about 65 new seniors missionaries, 26 young performing missionaries, who will be here all summer, with an additional 17 young band members (Nauvoo Brass Band.) In addition to those groups, we have 19 young single full-time sister missionaries. Add in all the support staff, and we have filled Nauvoo with more love and excitement than you could ever imagine. There is enough excitement for you to come visit, take all you want, and we will still have plenty of love left over.
Please! Come to Nauvoo this summer.
,
Nauvoo has an amazing array of flowers and trees. That's not by accident. A full-time employee, with a masters in horticulture, makes sure that the gardens are planned and planted. Nauvoo is brimming with flowers and greenery that love being in Nauvoo. The plants think they are still in the greenhouse because of the humidity! |
Don't be misled, this building is not historical. This is the mail room and the sewing center. The room on the left is the mission mailroom. We all have the very same mailing address, 975 Young Street, and one of our missionaries sorts our mail. She puts it is our little slot for us to pick up at our own leisure. The door on the right (center) is the entrance to the sewing center. The sewing rooms fill about 3/4's of the building. I might as well have moved my bed in the back room, because I have spent countless hours here in the past several months.
During the winter we sew "pre-fab's." That means we sew the pockets to the skirt and then pleat the 140" of skirt fabric. We sew piping for the bodice, the sleeves, including the buttons on the cuffs, and save enough fabric for the bodice. These items, including the zipper and buttons are packaged up to be used later. When the new sister missionaries come in the spring, we custom fit the bodice to the person, and finish the dress. Three such sections (as above) are pre-fab skirts that were completed during the winter. A new sister missionary, Sister Finlinson, is getting the hem marked on her new Rendezvous dress.
We have eight Bernina sewing machines and four Bernina sergers in the sewing room. We have anywhere from two to six women assigned there each day. Left to right: Sister Jones (assistant coordinator), Sister Barker, Sister Daines, Sister Gross (assistant coordinator) Sister Stoker and Sister Sims.
Sister Neblett (upper left) is thrilled that I have finished her third new dress and apron. Each sister gets two dresses to wear in the sites, and the third dress is used exclusively for Rendezvous. The site dresses must be darker fabrics and the Rendezvous dress is much brighter. Sister Simmons (above, right) and Sister Barker (left) are working on dresses for the new recruits.
We have four couples with the name of Johnson. Sister Pam Johnson (left) is more commonly called "Sister Johnson 2." I got to know her very well because I made all three of her dresses and aprons. Sister Daines (right) is known as the "Hat specialist." The Elders need a black site cap (most likely made by Sister Daines) a black felt hat and a straw hat. The Elders also need a site vest and a show vest. Those are all sewn in the sewing room.
We often refer to "Nauvoo sewing room miracles!" That's when something disastrous could have happened, but with some tender mercy from our Heavenly Father, the disaster was avoided. Let me tell you about one that happened to me. I was making a dress for a new missionary, Sister Smith. She picked out the dress fabric she wanted, I took her measurements for the bodice, and she left. I found the bodice fabric and sleeves (as described previously) and cut out the bodice. I put on the facings and sleeves. I was almost ready to attach the bodice to the skirt pre-fab. Another seamstress measured Sister Walker and when she attempted to locate the bodice fabric for Sister Walker's dress, the bodice fabric was no where to be found! Suddenly the other seamstress came to me and said, "Let me look at your dress!" It was then that we discovered I had been sewing on the WRONG fabric! If you examine the picture above you will see the two different fabrics side by side. "Oh, no. We have no fabric left to make the correct bodice for Sister Walker!" We had different ideas of how to resolve the issue. One idea was "Just switch the dresses. Don't tell either Sister that we made the mistake, and that they aren't getting the fabric they picked out! They probably won't even notice the switch."
Another idea was to take the bodice that I had almost finished for Sister Smith and try it on Sister Walker. With any luck, it will fit her! That's exactly what we did. The bodice fit Sister Walker like it had been made for her! I pulled the fabric I SHOULD have been using and started over on the dress for Sister Smith! What a wonderful tender mercy.
Another idea was to take the bodice that I had almost finished for Sister Smith and try it on Sister Walker. With any luck, it will fit her! That's exactly what we did. The bodice fit Sister Walker like it had been made for her! I pulled the fabric I SHOULD have been using and started over on the dress for Sister Smith! What a wonderful tender mercy.
I was ask if I would play organ for our Sunday morning worship services (referred to as Sacrament Meeting) for the month of April. I have had prior experience playing organ for church, but that was over 30 years ago! I really thought it would be fun to play again, so I told them I would love to! What was I thinking? I needed to practice a LOT. I started going to the chapel almost every day, practicing at least one hour for about six weeks. I loved being at the organ again. I would get lost in the beautiful sounds of hymns I loved. Still, as April got closer, I began worrying. Could I play good enough? The week before I was assigned to play was extremely difficult. I began to doubt my decision. "Why did I ever say I would play? I am just an old-lady-dreamer." I couldn't sleep. I was very nervous. I practiced more. I couldn't back out of my assignment now.
The Saturday night before I was to play was long, and sleep was but a few pieces of imagination. I dozed off, but woke up. Fear grabbed me in the gut. "Why do you think you can play the organ?" I responded back to those intense doubts, "It's ok. You know these hymns. You have got this." I drifted off into a light sleep, only to be awakened again nearly every hour. "Who do you think you are? You can't play the organ." I kept responding with positive responses. "It's ok, Harleen. It will be ok. Just sleep."
The alarm woke me at 5:30 am. I raised my head off the pillow, and recognized the sounds of a cardinal singing. Sunday morning had arrived. Then a most surprising exciting thought came into may head. "You are going to be playing for Sacrament Meeting in the Nauvoo Stake Center today!" I burst into a most sincere beautiful smile, one that I had not felt in a long time. It was magnificent. The fear was gone. I played that morning - and the next three Sunday mornings with such pleasure and such trust in my skills, but mostly because Heavenly Father gave me a beautiful promise: "I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. D&C 84:88.
If you haven't yet read the First Presidency message from the 2017 June Ensign by President Monson, please read it.
Elder Gross and I send our love to you, our friends and family. Thank you for your prayers that continue to hold us in strength and good health. We love you. God loves you.
The Saturday night before I was to play was long, and sleep was but a few pieces of imagination. I dozed off, but woke up. Fear grabbed me in the gut. "Why do you think you can play the organ?" I responded back to those intense doubts, "It's ok. You know these hymns. You have got this." I drifted off into a light sleep, only to be awakened again nearly every hour. "Who do you think you are? You can't play the organ." I kept responding with positive responses. "It's ok, Harleen. It will be ok. Just sleep."
The alarm woke me at 5:30 am. I raised my head off the pillow, and recognized the sounds of a cardinal singing. Sunday morning had arrived. Then a most surprising exciting thought came into may head. "You are going to be playing for Sacrament Meeting in the Nauvoo Stake Center today!" I burst into a most sincere beautiful smile, one that I had not felt in a long time. It was magnificent. The fear was gone. I played that morning - and the next three Sunday mornings with such pleasure and such trust in my skills, but mostly because Heavenly Father gave me a beautiful promise: "I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. D&C 84:88.
If you haven't yet read the First Presidency message from the 2017 June Ensign by President Monson, please read it.
Elder Gross and I send our love to you, our friends and family. Thank you for your prayers that continue to hold us in strength and good health. We love you. God loves you.