Here it is almost the end of April 2010. We have been in the mission field a year, and we are this weekend welcoming the new missionaries for this summer. Where has the time flown to?

Terri and her boys came to visit us at the end of March. It was fun to see them all. Scott is now going to military school in Sarasota, Florida. Tommy has just found out he will be able to graduate from High School next January (a semester earlier than planned.) He is anxious to move back to Colorado and plans to attend the Arapahoe Community College.

Rodger and his family stay busy in Flower Mound with their jobs and school and sports. Britt now seems fully recovered from her tonsillectomy. Brandon is now driving and loving it.

The Temple was closed for the semi-annual cleaning and maintenance last week and next week. Last week, 15 couples of us went to Kirtland Ohio to tour the Church Historical Sites there. We started out by going to Detroit to tour the Ford F-150 truck manufacturing plant, then over to Kirtland. Elder and Sister Butterfield took such good care of us and made sure we saw all the sites. We spent time at the Morley Farm, The Quarry, The Temple, the John Johnson Farm and saw the home where Eliza R and Lorenzo Snow were born. We had lunch at an Amish home and got a tour of the home of Joe and Sarah Miller. We returned through Shipshewana, Indiana and saw beautiful furniture, among other things.

Tomorrow is our last Monday P-Day. On Tuesday the training for the new missionaries begins, then the following week the Temple is open for the Summer Schedule. At that time, our P-Day changes to Saturday and we will work Monday through Friday mornings.

We are excited for our new schedule and will enjoy the return to morning shift assignments.

Well the winter is supposed to be the slow time in Nauvoo, but I seem to have been just as busy as ever. A lot has happened since I wrote in September.

October found us saying goodbye to the missionaries who were going home. There were 17 couples asked to extend for another year and there were others who were already called to be here through the winter so that we ended up with about 25 couples who were to be here all winter.

After detemining that we would be here for another year, we decided to sell our house and not have it sit there for Rodger and his family to take care of for another year. We listed the house with Lucy Bangerter and it sold immediately. We had planned for it to sell and close hopefully by the time we would go home for the break in November. Well with the quick sell, we had to make a quick trip home to get everything in storage. With much help from Lucy and the ward members and our family there, we were able to get everything in storage and get back to the mission.

Tom's younger sister Barbara passed away in September so we went to the funeral then just dropped over to Texas to get the house cleaned out and everything in storage. It was great to see family and friends both in New Mexico and in Texas at that time.

In November, we took advantage of the Temple Maintenance time to once again visit family and friends and got to see granddaughter Natasha Ringlein graduate from Basic Military Training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio.

November and December had us celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with the Temple Missionaries and with the Site Missionaries, so that there were over 200 people at each of those dinners. Quite a gathering.

The winter was cold and lots of snow. Locals tell us it is the worst winter they remember in many years. We feel like we have now survived it. It was not as bad as Minnesota winters were back in the '60s when we lived there.

January brought the Eagles and we have developed a new love and appreciation for that bird. It has been fun to watch them as they fish and feed. Most of the Mississippi was frozen over, so we have pictures of them standing on the ice. We have them in trees and in flight. They really congregate down by Keokuk where the dam is and the power generating. The water does not freeze there, so they are able to feed easily.

The deer have been plentiful now too. In fact some missionaries have met up with deer on the highway. Fortunately we have not met any there.

We have enjoyed visiting the historic sites here while it is not so crowded and have spent many nights going to Rendezvous (a musical production about Old Nauvoo put on by the site missionaries.)

We have toured the Keokuk WaterWorks, the John Deere Tractor Cab Assembly Plant in Waterloo, and have planned a trip to Kirtland, Ohio to see Church History sites there. We commemorated the anniversary of the founding of the Relief Society in the Red Brick Store wearing pioneer clothing. What a treat that was!

I will try to post some more slides out on this site as well.

We are now gearing up to have about 40 new Temple missionary couples arrive for the summer.

Here we are on the 4th of September. I just can't seem to get the hang of blogging. A lot has happened since I last wrote.

We have taken some more trips with our P-Day group--going to Kalona, Iowa and Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal is Mark Twain country and Kalona is an Amish settlement.

Gordon and Sharon Smith from Oregon and Washington DC were here to visit in mid-August. They arrived in time to see the Young Performing Missionaries perform in their farewell talent show. How blessed we were to enjoy all their performances this summer. It was very special to see the Smiths again. We had known them in Santa Fe New Mexico when they were young marrieds.

We continue to enjoy our time here in Nauvoo and have now extended the time we will be here. We will return to Flower Mound in November to pick up winter clothing and a few more things, then will be here in Nauvoo until October 2010.

Tom had been complaining of chest pains for some time and finally went to the Doctor who wanted him to go to an emergency room, but finally agreed to just set up an appointment with the cardiologist. The bottom line is that he had an artery that was 99% blocked which was stented and he now says he feels "better than ever." He was truly blessed that no damage was done to the heart and he is completely okay now. The doc was going to do a follow-up at one week, but called and said to come in next week. He had already said that after that follow-up, there would likely not be anything else required other than taking the Plavix for a year and coming back at the end of the year for another evaluation.

We love you all and appreciate your support and prayers and friendship as we serve here.

Well, it is now August 8 and another month has passed. We saw the Pageant of Nauvoo several times during that month. The Pageant has now closed, but we are still enjoying seeing the Young Performing Missionaries and the Nauvoo Brass Band at Sunset by the Mississippi and around the sites of Nauvoo.

We have stayed very busy as usual. Norma Campbell and Andrew came and spent a week. I think they really had a good time. We enjoyed having them. It was fun to watch Andrew interact with the young missionaries who are serving here as he is preparing for a mission of his own soon. He just turned 19 after they went home from here.

Vocal Point has been here this week and will be here for one more week. Vocal Point is a men's contemporary a cappella group from Brigham Young University. There are 9 members and they make some amazing music. When you listen, you think there should be someone up there with drums and cymbals and everything, but all the sounds are made by those talented young men. It has been a special treat to listen to them.

Brother and Sister Nielsen from Flower Mound were here visiting this week and it was fun to see them. They had brought the young Sister Nielsen and Sister Brown to the Especially for Youth program held here this week. We had dinner with them and the Cottrells on Wednesday and enjoyed thinking of all our friends in Flower Mound.

We have gone on a few Geode hunts and have found some fairly mediocre geodes, but we are still looking for that very special geode that so far has eluded us. We will try again next Friday at a new dig and then probably give up after that.

We took a tour of the Montrose Iowa area on Monday of this week. Our guide was Mike Foley from Illinois Wessleyan University. He is not a member of the Church, but has done a lot of work in identifying and documenting the Mormon Trail through Iowa. We had a good time learning the history of that period and being shown how they could identify exactly where the trails had been and even where cabins and fences had been. They used a method of divining rods (similar to the old technique of witching for water) and could show where unmarked graves were as well as locations of the trails. It was very interesting even if not scientific. He is writing a book that will be titled "Where the Rods Cross".

We had a great New Mexican dinner on Friday with friends from Albuquerque who had received some Hatch green chile from their son. What a treat!

We also renewed an old friendship with Kirk and Nancy Graham. We were very good friends when our children were all younger and were in fact sealed on the same day in the Mesa Arizona Temple in 1975. It was great to catch up with them and to learn of the happenings of the past 20 years since we last spent any time together.

It has been our special privilege to spend 5 days per week in the Temple here. What joys and blessings the Temple brings to our lives.

We are glad to be serving here and appreciate all the love and support we feel from each of you.

Please feel free to comment here on the blog or to e-mail us at patbaca43@gmail.com or to send us correspondence to PO Box 310, Nauvoo, IL 62354-0310. Our cell phones are 214-534-2574 and 214-534-6739.

Happenings in Nauvoo

Last night was opening night of the Nauvoo Pageant. Unfortunately it rained, so we did not stay and watch in the rain. Since we are living here, we thought we would have plenty of time to see it on a clear night. Guess that would not have been the Pioneer Spirit, but that's what we decided to do.

We have been here about 2 and 1/2 months now and have only sent one newsletter home, so I will try and catch up then maybe be able to keep current daily or weekly blogs going.

We seem to stay busy all the time. There are probably 400 missionaries here and with the pageant that number has increased. They have the core cast of professionals who will be here for the entire time, supplemented by more than a thousand family members who come for 2 weeks. During the first week this group of families will be like understudies, then they will perform with the cast during the next week while a new group of family members will be the new understudies.

You can see from the previous post that one of our great Nauvoo miracles was to have our granddaughter accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ and join the Church. We had special permission from the Temple President to attend this baptism and spent a couple of days in Colorado.

The site missionaries here work really hard. They definitely have my admiration. They work at the various historic sites, they perform in Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo and in Sunset by the Mississippi, they attend the Temple when they can, and they help maintain the grounds around the sites. We try to support them in every way we can by attending their various performances and by visiting the sites. What a privilege it has been to work with and to know them.

We also have the privilege of working with 130 fine Temple Missionaries in the Temple 5 days a week. About once a month, we are able to man the Temple Accomodation Center which serves many purposes. It is a place where people may wait comfortably while other friends or family members are in the Temple. It is a place where we can show videos of the Restoration and of the Rebuiliding of the Nauvoo Temple. It is a choice opportunity to meet many people who come there to use the facilities or to partake of the Spirit.

We have the opportunity each week to attend Sacrament meeting together with all the Temple Missionaries, Site Missionaries, Young Performing Missionaries, and any and all visitors who may show up. The Chapel is filled more than an hour before the service starts and the overflow all the way to the back of the Cultural Hall is mostly filled by the time the service starts at 8 a.m. It is a sight to behold as about 40 or so young Elders and the not so young Elders bless and pass the Sacrament to this large congregation.

There are many sights we want to see while we are here, so have our P-Day trips planned out for most of the 6 months.

• Our Monday P-Day group has been to Springfield already to visit the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum which was opened in 2005 and to visit the Tomb of Lincoln and his home in Springfield.
• We have been to Carthage to visit the jail where the Prophet Joseph was martyred and to visit the Hancock County Historical Society and the Kibbe Museum.
• We have been to Quincy to tour the historical homes there and to stop in at a Sam's Club since there is not a Sam's or a Costco any closer than that.
• We have been to Ramus which is currently called Webster. It was Ramus during the Doctrine and Covenants time period though. While there we visited the cemetery where the Prophet's sister Catherine was buried. We also went to visit Catherine's great grandson whom we call Grandpa John at his hunting and fishing lodge.
  
• We have been to Bentonsport to Iron and Lace where beautiful pottery is made that has the weed Queen Anne's Lace pressed into it before firing to make a beautiful unique pattern on each piece. We have viewed arrowheads there and crossed the DesMoines River on foot and by car.
• We have visited the Dutchman's Store in Cantril and have bought Cheese curds at the Creamery.
• We have gone to Hamilton, IL to hunt geodes and have found lots of them.
  
• We shop in Keokuk, IA or Fort Madison, IA or locally here in Nauvoo.
• We have shopped in Thrift Stores.

We have Sunday Sociables here which would be the equivalent of a Fireside. We have had Brother Andreason talk about Lincoln, Susan Easton Black speaks to all of the Nauvoo History, the BYU Ballroom Dancers have spoken, the Pageant Core Cast has performed "Our Story Goes On", the young performing missionaries have led us in an Hymn-a-long.

We have had small group dinners, large group dinners, and times when we ate in our own apartment alone. We have had guests visit from other areas -- Kathy Daymon spent a week here early on in our mission. Barbara McQuarrie from Dallas will be here this weekend and Norma Campbell and her grandson Andrew will be here next weekend. We have volunteered at the local Public Library and to give tours at the Hospital. There is never a lack of something to do here. In fact, I am thinking I am going to have to hire someone to clean the apartment and do the laundry because we just can't find the time to do that. 600 square feet of apartment doesn't take all that long to clean, but I am beginning to resent even the 2 minutes it takes to brush my teeth. There are just too many fun and interesting things that I would rather be doing.

Being in the Temple 5 days a week and working together is a most gratifying calling. We feel we have grown even closer to each other as we serve together in so many varied ways in and out of the Temple. This has truly been a wonderful time for us.

This has been a pretty broad overview of what has happened in the past 6 weeks since my first newsletter went out. I will try to update the blog more regularly and to post pictures as I can.

Thanks for your love and support during this time.
The Bacas