Two of our very favorite missionaries have gone home. They added so much to our cast and to the mission. They are from Canada and have always done everything the very best they could, with total cooperation and positive attitudes they will be greatly missed. They are standing in the bottom right hand corner. Elder and Sister Hardy, we love you!!!

We just returned home from a sociable put on by Vocal Point, an acappella group from BYU. They were great and after doing a medley of primary songs, several of them spoke to introduce the song they wanted to sing and we would join in for one verse. We were surrounded by lightning on the East, West, and North, but quite a ways away. With it on so many sides you would think it would come over us, but it did not. One of the guys in introducing his hymn gave a quote. I don't know who it was by, but I really liked it. "Life is not about weathering the storm, it is about learning to dance in the rain." What a great thought. We all have spots of bad weather in our lives. We need to learn not to just get through them, but find joy as we do. Thinking about our wonderful family brings me joy every day. We are so blessed to have the gospel and a living prophet to lead us. I know we can get through anything if we will follow the prophet and what we have been taught. Nauvoo is an unbelievable experience. Every day brings new opportunities and challenges. Love you all!!!!

Sunset will soon be over. It has been really fun, but it will be good to have a little more time. If this looks triumphant, that's the way we feel. We actually made it through the pageant season. Whew!!!!

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How many ways can you say thank you to our wonderful family for the good lives you live and for the inspiration you are to me daily. Having visitors here so much this month has been a tremendous blessing. Some of our favorite visitors......

I've been really bad at blogging lately. There always seems to be so much more to do than I have time to do. John and I have been working really hard on a new part for Rendezvous the last few weeks. We had our debut performance on Thurs. We had 4 daughters and 3 grandchildren with us that night. Our mission President and his wife and a visitor from the mission department in Salt Lake were also in the audience. That made my heart beat a lot faster that I would have liked. It went better than I expected. (still lots of room for improvment though) We have really enjoyed the many visits from family and friends. It has been wonderful to see you. We love you all!!

Preparation day was very fun this week. 4 couples and 1 single sister went to Hannibal and took a ride on a river boat. It was a great change from routine, very pleasant and relaxing.















Anna Jean & Lamon Perkes have been here this week. We have seen them and their family several times, but on Sunday we spent much of the day with them. They are such a wonderful family and we feel such a connection with all the children as well that it was almost like being with family. It was a great day. we are so grateful for good friends. We are really looking forward to having friends and family here during the summer. We have talked to many that are friends with our family and friends and that is really fun also. What a blessing and a privilege it is to be here.