What a Wonderful Time

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