Some Site Assignments

Post Office and Merryweather Dry Goods Store

Working as site missionaries is both a great opportunity and spiritual experience. Including the temple and old cemetery, there are about 30 different sites one can visit here in Nauvoo that are owned and maintained by the church. There are several more when you add in those sites that are owned by the Community of Christ Church (formerly the Reorganized Church). President Hinckley indicated that the two most sacred sites in the Nauvoo area are the temple and the old cemetery.

Outside the Brickyard

Sylvester Stoddard Tin Shop

Each of our sites have at least two missionaries assigned to it each day.

Assignments are rotated so that all the missionaries have an opportunity of conducting a tour and explaining what went on there and/or how it was used or its significance. During the busy time of the year, there may be more missionaries assigned to some of the more popular sites such as the Johnathan Browning Home and Gun Shop and the Webb Brothers Blacksmith Wainwright Shop to accommodate the number of visitors. Usually there will be two sisters or two elders assigned to work together. Sometimes we will be able to work at a site as a couple. Ann learned to make bread in brick bustle ovens.

Ann in Scovil Bakery

Each site has information with a least two spiritual messages intertwined with the history or explanation of the function of the site. You can feel the spirit as you make the spiritual comparison or testify to what was done or the purpose, etc. When you do, you know that the spirit is connecting with those or someone in the group. The messages are not memorized but presented as the spirit dictates.

Fred making minature horse shoes

So far we have already met people from several foreign countries states. Some of the countries represented are Australia, Japan, Italy, Germany, England and Norway. Some of the U.S. visitors we've met have come from the states of Washington, California, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Utah, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Conneticut, and Ohio. We have even met people from Layton, Utah. We even met a girl who worked in the Crazy 8 childrens clothing store in the Layton Mall with our daughter-in-law, Lisa.

Ann outside the Pendleton Log School

Our preparation day is Saturday. All the senior missionaries get a preparation day during the week but not on the same day. We may have performances on our preparation day that requires that we have all of our needed temporal affairs taken care of so that we are available for our assigned cast performance.

 One of the special opportunities of being here is that we are able to attend the Nauvoo Temple at least weekly on our preparation day. Depending on how our assignments fall we may be able to attend more often.