Missionary Moments

A message from Sister Deborah Romney

Dear Friends and Family,

A New Year in Nauvoo! Imagine that!! Well, here I am. And I’m having a wonderfully different year from any I’ve ever experienced. It’s been nearly 39 years since Clyde and I packed up our little red VW and headed to San Diego where we would settle in for so many incredibly great years. Now, I am in the middle of American, meeting the most amazing people, sharing the most wonderful stories about people whose trials I can only dream of, and bearing my testimony to all who will listen. It’s a great life!

Winter is here in Nauvoo. In the morning our cars are covered in a hard frost, our fingers freeze when we grip the steering wheel, even through our gloved hands, and the roads are often hazardous and slick. Still, we go on, and get to our Preparation meetings, arrive at our sites, spend 6 hours there hoping for ANY visitors, and anxious to participate in “Rendezvous In Old Nauvoo” two nights a week. Last night we began the rehearsal for “Sunset By The Mississippi” which we will begin performing in early May. By the time we have the amazing numbers of visitors that have come to Nauvoo in the past, each of the three casts will be involved in daily six hour shifts at our assigned site, two performances of “Rendezvous” on two nights each week, then two nights of “Sunset….” before we head home to sleep soundly, only to rise at 6:30 the next morning and do it all again. Everyone says it’s wonderful!! We’ll see.

Attending the missionary ward here in the Nauvoo Stake Center, where the other two Nauvoo Ward meet following ours, is a thrill. Without all of the summer missionaries and performers, we are already a full congregation. Of course, the 70 Temple missionaries are here, too. But, they get an additional 100 missionaries for the six month summer time, and the young lady missionaries (about 24) and all of the summer performers, as well. Then you add the three weeks of the dozens of “Nauvoo Pageant” performers, and we overflow the chapel and Cultural Hall.

The Pageant runs from July 7 through August 1, except Sundays. But, the sites are still open on Sundays so the only day we have completely free of daytime responsibilities is our Prep Day. Mine has been Wednesday, so far. It’s entirely possible that there will be some changes, as five new single sisters are arriving in the next two months. That’s too bad, because the threesome that I am currently in is very compatible and we are in a home with a piano. All three of us are accompanists, so it’s a busy and fun home with people stopping by for rehearsals, or parties. We are actually known as the “wild and crazy” Domino players, so look out!! Nothing like a good game of “chicken foot” to keep an old sister up past 8:30 at night!

It is an honor and privilege, indeed, to be in this hallowed place. On the morning of February 4th, we are involved in an “Exodus” walk down Parley Street following the Trail of Hope that led to the Saints crossing the frozen Mississippi River that same day in 1846 to escape the threatening mob in Nauvoo. That is when so many lost their lives, about 2400 souls. Count your blessings.

Love, from a grateful woman who recognizes the sacrifice made by many so she could have the life she does. I am blessed, indeed. Warmly, Sister R.