What happy living it was!

Nauvoo Day 6

Stage manager giving Chuck "ruffian" tips

We are back on the hot stage this morning. Chuck was assigned to be a torch bearer in the ruffian scene, which will take some coordination as the torches are real. We were also re-staged in the prayer scene. No problem! We have learned just to roll with the punches here in Nauvoo and take everything in stride. Everyone here has a real willingness to do whatever is asked of them. Even the directing staff and core cast are all pitching in and working together with us. We have another great district meeting. District meeting is my favorite time, not just because we get to sit in the shade for awhile but it's a chance to talk together in a more intimate setting.

In the afternoon we have a class on the writing of the music for the pageant. They tell us that hundreds of words are in the show that are never spoken because the hymns that are playing stir up words and ideas in the hearer’s heart and mind.

Kaitlin and some of her new friends.

Dress Rehearsal tonight! Ah, it is so awkward to be walking around in skirts, petticoats and bloomers! How did those pioneer women do it? It’s a little stressful to figure out what to wear when and when and where to change, but the feeling of being there in our costumes is amazing. Everyone looks so wonderful and that spirit of our pioneer ancestors feels more present than ever. When we are singing The Spirit of God and the temple is raising, I hug some of my new friends and for me it is not acting, together we have accomplished something wonderful. I can’t wait until we can do this again, but we are excited to get our first day off tomorrow. Sunday will truly be a day of rest!

Nauvoo Day 7

Did I say Sunday was going to be a day of rest? We go to church Sunday morning and then after lunch are off with a few other families to Carthage, the jail where Joseph Smith and his brother were Martyred. There is quite a crowd, but our visit there is nice. The emotional impact is much less than I remembered, partly because they have changed their tour to be more upbeat and partly because of the huge emotional investment we have in the pageant that the jail experience doesn’t hold a candle to. I haven’t talked about the emotional ride the pageant is every night. There are highs and lows in the show, moments of joy and moments of sorrow and you feel it all down to your soul. I don’t know if it’s because of this place, and the feeling that these are my people, or if it’s the spirit, but I feel it all deeply here.

In the evening on Sunday we meet at the park with other families to visit and the teens play games. It’s there that we hear about the “Trail of Hope” that is going on that night. So as it starts to get dark we head over to Parley Street and stand in a long cue having no idea what to expect. We are taken in small groups down the same trail the saints used during their forced exodus. Along the way we stop to hear short dramatizations of journal entries from the people who were there. It was so wonderful and spiritual. We were taught in one of the sessions with our director that, if people are going to be taught the gospel in their own language, that for some, that language is music and drama and pageants. That is our language so these vignettes and musical numbers are perfect for us and cause us much reflection. As we walk towards the car we talk about Zion and what it’s like living in a society with true saints.

Nauvoo Day 8

Aurora, the choreographer give us tips.

We wake up to pouring rain and when we get to the stage site we are told that practice has been moved to the school. We spend an hour fine tuning our dancing, and spacing in several scenes. This is Monday and the next cast, the Blue Cast (we are the Red cast), has arrived. We meet them and together we dance the circle dance, waltz and polka. It’s fun to welcome new faces and I am amazed how far we have come in only a week that we feel so comfortable and like we are the experts.

After lunch, Chuck and I go to an incredible workshop about the evolution of the pageant and the creative process that was used to write it. I take several pages of notes because this resonates with me and my talent set.

Learning to dip candles

That afternoon Chuck’s parents and sister arrive. We are so happy to see them and that they have come this long way to see us. We tour some of the houses and see some demonstrations. Because of the rain all the windows are fogged and dripping, as are Chuck’s glasses.

Before our final dress rehearsal we meet together with our districts and talk about what gospel truths we are learning in the pageant. There are so many it’s hard to choose. The Blue cast has learned to put up the covering on the cabins, and how to lower the temple. This is the first time I have ever seen these effects on the stage and it’s amazing. The show is wonderful, but it is so hot and humid that sweat is literally dripping off our faces and our costumes are so soaked that at the end of the night we have to peel them off like wet suits.

Nauvoo Day 9

At the post office.

Chuck and I let the kids sleep in and we go to the old Nauvoo Cemetery. It is an out of the way place surrounded by a jungle of trees on one side and a field with cattle on the other. In a fenced area there are a scattering of old head stones, some standing, some leaning with age, others broken to the ground. They are barely legible and covered with moss. Many of the head stones, especially ones for children list how old they are in years, months and day, as if every day is precious. We have a short devotional and prayer with our cast. As I stand there looking over that sacred place, I think how I’ve always thought that the saints greatest suffering happened as they crossed the plains, but now I know that it started long before. Thousands died from sickness in Nauvoo, and thousands more died before, in Kirkland, Missouri and at sea as they traveled from Europe. Standing there my feelings are tender and at the surface.

Uncle Bob tries his hand at the cross cut.

Kaitlin has woken up with a fever, and feels awful so I order her to bed and she goes happily. We meet up with Chuck’s parents and sister and go to the Country Fair rehearsal, where the Blue cast have just received their fair activity assignments and need participants to practice on. The first station we come upon is the stilt walking. A bewildered family is there with 20 pairs of stilts trying to walk on them. They have received no training and no one on staff seemed to know how to do it, so I teach them how to hold the stilts (we had some when I was a kid, and even today I have a pair in my garage) and walk on them. The mother is so excited that she tells me that God must have sent me to Nauvoo just to share my special talent with them. Of all the talents I thought I had to offer, I had never considered stilt walking among them.

After lunch back at our condo, we again go out and visit more sites, the brickyard, the tinsmith, the gunsmith, the post office. Grandma Barnum likes the pioneer houses; Uncle Bob loves the cooper demonstration.

The temple is there in the middle above the trees.

Back to the condo for dinner, hair and make-up; 1840’s hair is a challenge and takes time. It’s opening night and everyone is excited. Even though Kaitlin is still feeling crummy she gets out of her bed. 'That’s what the pioneers would do,' she says. The cast meets for a devotional, more excellent hymn singing ensues, and then another district meeting, where we pray for Kaitlin, as well for other that have fallen sick to heat and injuries (there are many wrapped knees and ankles).

Grandma and Aunt Denise resting.

 The country fair runs for an hour and a half before the pageant and by the time we get there Kaitlin is feeling better. There is a whole field full of activities, everything from crafts, to races, to handcart puling, to dancing. Even though it is like a steam room, there are hundreds of people there. We meet up with our visiting family and Grandma shows Kaitlin how to polka (grandma is quite the dancer) and Ruth and I dance the round dance.

When the pageant starts most of seats are filled, it must be over a thousand people. Time goes very quickly back stage with few times to rest. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much. There is a powerful spirit on stage, and while there, it’s just a little slice of heaven. During the final scene, when I hold up the temple panels, we sing The Spirit of God, and I feel full, full and overflowing. After the show we talk to our family. They have had a good time and enjoyed the pageant. We are so glad that they have come and shared this experience with us.

Nauvoo Day 10

 No rest for the weary. Kaitlin is up to go and mentor the Blue cast at 8 am. She is feeling much better and is willing to go back into the sun for another day of rehearsals. Jared and Ruth stay back to watch cartoons and Chuck and I go over to the Land and Records office to read more about my Nauvoo ancestors. I find a journal entry from my ancestor John Chidester that I had never read before. In his journal he writes, “ My impression on beholding the Prophet and shaking hands with him was, that I stood face to face with the greatest man on earth.” I also learn that John was one of those that went into the Nauvoo temple when it was finished, a part Chuck and I get to reenact in the pageant. What a great personal connection!

Grandmother Phoebe's quilt.

We then tour a few more houses, including one of our ancestors house, where I find a quilt made by my 3rd great grandmother Phoebe. I let the tour go ahead and I can’t resist reaching out across the rope and moving my hand lightly across the fabric.

Since Kaitlin missed all of yesterday she gets to choose what we do that afternoon and she chooses to walk around the shops in the town. Us girls all find necklaces we like and Jared buys a wooden sling shot, then back for dinner, hair, costumes and then pre-show devotional and district meeting. When we get to the fair, the air is much cooler. Kaitlin spends the whole hour dancing, Chuck and I spend a long time talking with a family who is very interested in applying for the pageant, and I take another turn at stilt walking (which is much harder in a dress).

Leonora Taylor District!

After the show we all go into the audience to talk to the people and do missionary work. I talk to couple from Arizona and place my first missionary referral card. Chuck places a card as well and Kaitlin is so fired up and excited about missionary work, and she talks to so many people about the church, that she is mistaken several times for a sister missionary. We go home that night exhausted but super charged; who knew missionary work could be so fun?