Busy Season! Nauvoo and British Pageants are in full swing, Sunset by the Mississippi, Mission Training, District Meetings, Temple trips, Lots and Lots of wonderful Visitors!!  How are we doing all this! The Lord must have angels holding us up!  We are always smiling (when we're not yawning) ha!

We have been
privileged to work together at the
Ox Wagon and the Horse drawn Wagon several times.

We've seen lots of people we know and people who know our family!  Such fun!  One of the best was when Paula, Ariel, Jon and Maple came for 3 wonderful days!  Jon was taking an 8 hr exam in Chicago so they came early and we played!  While they were here we were

visiting the Community of Christ sites for our first time  (Our Church has a wonderful working relationship with their Church).  

 While leaving Joseph & Emma's first log cabin in Nauvoo rain started falling and the wind started blowing.  But as we reached the door of the Mansion House it was a wild ferocious gale of pelting sheets of rain and howling wind. Whew!

We were all inside when suddenly the siren sounded warning us to go to a basement for shelter, tree limbs started crashing to the earth, huge trees tumbled to ground and the lights went out!  Our guide said the house has no basement and we needed to stay where we were.

The rumble of the wind eased and died  down and the rain seemed a little easier.   Elder Thurgood decided it was time to get us all home and ran 200 yards through the sheets of  rain to get our car so Sis Thurgood wouldn't get wet! He was drenched to the skin!
 Paula, Ariel & Jon had their car across the street and they followed us home.

 

Everywhere we went were limbs and fallen trees!  We thought we might have to move a tree off the road, and as we started along the Mississippi to our home we came to a dead stop.  A huge tree was laying across the road.  Even Jon couldn't help Kent move it!  So we turned around and drove to Carthage.

Carthage bullet hole in door

Steve texted Ariel that the worst storm in the US was headed towards Carthage!  We wondered if we'd make it.  One huge tree was down next to the road and a smashed car next to it was being loaded onto a wrecker.  It was quite the scene!  After a nice Mexican dinner with the Julander's, they gave us a private tour of Carthage after hours!  It was AWESOME!

 So worth the trip! 


Approaching our home later that night we were happy to see that the tree on our road was moved,
but 500 yards from our house was a firetruck with lights whirling. Two other trees had fallen on two power lines and the area was blocked off and we were without lights.  We turned around again and drove 12 miles around to a back road to our dark house and went to bed by flashlight.

What an adventure!  When Dallin came we sat in the dark and watched the lightening all up and down the Mississippi, when Tisha & Jerrica came we were flooded & unable to get to their Amtrak ride home or our house along the river for a few days!  I wonder what will happen when the Hinton's get here tomorrow!  ha! ha!  Isn't life exciting!

Sunset by the Mississippi Cowboy Kent

Paul, Ariel & Maple with Lucy Mack Smith

Home Sweet Home

Miracles & Milestones

We are starting to get the rhythm of Nauvoo just as the Pageants are starting to increase our activity!  Tomorrow night we have dress rehearsal for the British Pageant finale'.  The number of visitors are increasing daily filling our days with excitement!  How we love the visitors and the missionaries!

Four powerful events have occurred this month:  1. New Great-Granddaughter  2. A Miracle Healing  3. A Love Affair with Erik Hogan!  4.  175 yr Commemoration of Joseph & Hyrum Martyrdom

1.

Christiana Neva Perkins

Tisha & Danny's daughter Aubreauna gave birth to our 5th Great Grandchild, Christiauna Neva Perkins!  Her Daddy Garrett & big brother Garrick are so in LOVE!!  So are WE!  The whole Crandell Clan came for the 4th of July to see her!


2.
Three days ago as Mike Kidby was finishing his wonderful July 4th,talk at the Flag Raising by the Visitors Center pain hit me and increased so rapidly that Kent had to take me home.  I wasn't sure I would make it before I passed out.  I had broken into a cold sweat from the pain.  Just as we got into the house and I felt myself blacking out, Kent's hands were on my head and he commanded to pain to ease in the name of Jesus Christ.  Immediately the pain ceased escalating.  Elder Stokes soon arrived and these two worthy Priesthood holders anointed me with oil and commanded my body to heal.  I've had these attacks many times and knew I would be 2-3 weeks recovering and was certain Kent and I would not be able to fill our assigned missionary posts that day.  To my amazement my pain began to subside and within 20 minutes Kent had me tucked into bed and I had no pain.  I sent him on his way to serve the Lord!  The next morning I felt well enough to serve at the Visitors Center and dance & sing at our performance of Sunset on the Mississippi.  The next day I rode Shotgun with Kent.  God Lives!  Our God is a God of Miracles!!

3.

Sugar Creek, Iowa

We had such fun two weeks ago on our Prep Day! We went to the Keokuk Library looking for clues about Kent's ancestor Erik Gaute Mitboen Haugen who immigrated to Iowa from Norway.  The Library has an amazing Genealogy Collection!  Books were marked: Pioneers, Mormons, Early Founders, etc.  along 2 walls.  A wonderfully knowledgable Librarian assisted us and within a few minutes we'd

found  Erik & his family in a Scandinavian settlement at Sugar Creek, the old Scandinavian Cemetery and a newspaper article with a letter from Erik's son Goudy Hogan.  We also found in FamilySearch the Journal of Goudy in which he tells "In the winter of 1843 a Norwegian missionary.. came and preached Mormonism in our native tongue.  My father was convinced of the truth of the Everlasting Gospel and was the first in that part of the country to embrace it."

He tells about walking with his father Erik 8 miles from his home to

Erik Hogan

Nauvoo & back again across the Mississippi River to attend April 1844 General Conference in the Grove below the Nauvoo Temple.  He said he sat with some other boys on the stand behind the prophet, "..so close that I could nearly touch his clothes...I remember he had on a light colored linen coat with a small hole in each elbow of his coat sleeve... I thought he was not a proud man and his very noble experience inspired me with great confidence and faith that he was a Great Prophet of the Lord."

"In the winter of 1845 I walked 2 miles to school.  I was the only Mormon boy there.  I was frequently called "Ole' Joe Smith" and when the boys would choose up for a game of ball I was frequently left out because I was a 'Mormon Boy', but I had that feeling that I was hated for Righteousness Sake and I endured it patiently."

"June 27, 1844 some boys and I were out in the woods gathering wild strawberries.  Some neighbor boys brought very sorrowful news that Joseph Smith was martyred, which report I had frequently heard several times before, but this time I had an impression on my mind that it was too true, and I was overcome with grief and sorrow to the degree that I went out to one side and wept like a child."

"When the first wagons left Nauvoo they camped at Sugar Creek several weeks "..about two miles from where we lived.  I went several times to see the Saints of Israel in their camps. My father offered to sell his place that had cost over $1000 labor and could only get one pair of cattle and one old wagon for it... April 17, 1846 we commenced our journey into the wilderness."

4.
 Jun 27, 2019 found us in Carthage for the 175th Commemoration of the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum.  Mark Taylor, one of John Taylor's direct descendants spoke to us about it.  His extensive research and family connection enriched our understanding and love for this experience.  He told about his grandfather being asked by the prophet to sing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" (which was a new hymn) and then we were thrilled to hear John Taylor's Grandson sing that powerful song to us!  Wow!

  The Heritage Choir from Heritage School in Highland sang several amazing numbers for us!  Kidby's saved seats for us in the shade.  They've loved their time at Carthage and have now traded places with Julander's and are living in Julander's little home across from the Visitors Center.  Julander's come on Tuesday night to dance with us "Sunset on the Mississippi" and stay overnight with us for Mission Training on Wednesday morning.  It's such fun! Wish you were here!