We arrived on Thursday evening, April 22, 2010 in the city of Nauvoo.
The sun was just setting and darkness began to cloak the streets. We
drove by the temple as it stood silently overlooking the great
Mississippi River. Because the temple was closed for semi-annual
maintenance, the streets were void of much traffic and the shops were
closing for the day. The only shop still open was the frozen custard
shop. We stopped long enough to have some dessert and greet an old
friend from Roseville, who happened to have the same idea that we had.
We then drove out to our temporary residence about three miles outside
of town and found that it consisted of about 25 buildings about 5 years
old set up in a way to resemble a small community. The small condo
consisted of a living room/kitchen, a bathroom with a tub/shower
combination, and a bedroom. It was very adequate for our needs.
The next day was spent reacquainting ourselves with the visitor sites of
the area. The visitor’s center with its displays and the 20 minute
video of old Nauvoo and the Cultural Center with its evening production
of “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo” were the highlights of the day. We even
ran into a member of the Granite Bay 2nd Ward there.
After another night in our temporary residence we arrived at the
“Arrival Center” at 10:00am and were given the keys for our residence
for at least, the next six months. We have been assigned to live at 740
Parley Street (not a mailing address). Our residence occupies the ground
floor with another missionary couple occupying the 2nd floor. It is a
red brick home in a rather undeveloped, but very grassy area. My
uneducated guess is that we are surrounded by about 10 acres of green
grass. Our place contains a living room with cable TV, a kitchen with
modern appliances, a bathroom with a shower (presently minus a shower
curtain), and a bedroom large enough for a super king bed, computer
table, and a chest of drawers.
Our
evening was spent dining at the home of our Host and Hostess for the
day. Also at the dinner we ran into a couple, The Riffeys, whom I knew
back in 1965, Elaine Riffey was a councilor to Judy in the Primary
Presidency of the San Jose 9th Ward.
Today, Sunday, April 25, 2010, we arrived at our Sacrament Meeting
about 15 minutes ahead of time to get some good seats. At exactly
7:50am the whole room became suddenly quiet except for organ music and
remained in that state until the meeting started at 8:00am. Needless to
say, there were no children in attendance because we were all
grandparents, but the atmosphere lent to a spiritual feast that lasted
for the next 3 hours in 3 different meetings. Four speakers in the
Sacrament Meeting spoke on the lives of some of their ancestors who had
lived in the Nauvoo area in 1846 when the saints were driven out of the
area by the mobs.
Our Sunday afternoon and all day Monday we will have the opportunity to
relax and do some touring, finish unpacking, and finding places for the
contents of the car.
For those who care, our address for mail (and chocolate chip cookies) is:
Paul and Bonnie Walter
P.O. Box 310
Nauvoo, IL 62354-0310
(Packages sent via FedEx or UPS):
Paul and Bonnie Walter
50 N. Wells Street
Nauvoo, IL 62354
Please don’t use cute titles such as Grandpa, or Grandma, or Old Man
since it will be too hard for the postman to tell which one you are
intending it to be sent.
Our Cell phones are still the same:
Paul (916)759-2954
Bonnie (925)628-4183
We look forward to seeing as many family and friends as possible during the stay here in Nauvoo, the beautiful.
Love,
Paul and Bonnie
