What! It is September already!!!!!

It is a beautiful day in Nauvoo! We got a soaking rain day before yesterday so things are still beautiful, green, and humid.  The corn is as high as an elephant's eye and then some, about 10ft. tall. Each week more people are leaving. We will be down about 60 missionaries by the end of October.  Next week they will combine the 3 casts of Rendevous into 2, at which point the casts that are left will have to start putting the play on every other night rather than twice a week.  It is fun performing but I hope we still have someone to put it on for.  The number of visitors has dropped off significantly since pageant ended.

This weekend has been the Grape Festival here.  They raise lots of grapes and make wine out of them here.  For the festival they had a 5K run/walk which several of the missionaries participated in.  A number of those that entered won an award for their age group, some medals and some trophies. There has also been a carnival and a parade, an Archery shoot, and car show.

I have a new assignment.  They have asked me to be an assistant in the mission post office.  Every time I turn around there is something new to learn. We pick up the out going mail from the offices, take it to the real post office, pick up the mail, take it back and put it into the mail slots in the mission mail room after which we deliver the mail to the Visitors Center, the Facilities Management, and the Lands and Records office, (where you can go to look up info. about your ancestors on the computers if ya wanted to know.)

 I will be doing mail 3 days a week for about 3 hours and then going to the Family Living Center for the rest of the shift. At Family Living Center we tell how to make candles, bread, and get fibers ready for spinning. At the other end of the building the men tell about making barrels, rope, and pottery.  In the rope making the families actually get to help make a rope and take it home.

Also they have scheduled me at Tickets and Tours.  Tickets and Tours is where you come to get maps and information about Nauvoo, tickets for wagon rides, plays, etc. So if you want to come out for a trip I can possibly be the one who reserves things for you. I can give you info. on housing too.

On Aug. 23, Brook had her little baby boy. He is still trying to gain some weight at the hospital so he can come home. Sure is a cute little fellow; black hair, 5' 11", 18 in. long, with a little turned up nose like Elena's.  Brook is sure getting tired of hanging out at the hospital waiting for him to come home.

Well school is starting every where.  Makes me wonder what everyone is doing this Labor Day weekend. Would you believe the Grape Festival ended today, Sunday.  Seems so weird for them not to carry it through Labor Day.   Have a lot of fun at the fair.

That's all folks.

Angela Thornton was here in Nauvoo about three weeks ago. She was an aid in my room with the kindergarten kids back when and we've been friends since.  Her folks said they were here because she wanted to come. Angela suffers from allergies which cause her to have seisures. Hence she is not allowed to drive and has to be very careful what she does.  She basically has to eat gluten free and I am not sure what else, but she seems to get along pretty good. We got to ride the carriage together one morning when I had a late work shift.

The hat, dress, and collar are what I wear when I am in the nightly play of "RENDEVOUS IN OLD NAUVOO". All the women in the cast wear similar clothing which also includes long pantaloons with ruffles on the bottom for the stage. The men wear white pioneer shirts with ribbon bow ties, vests, black pants and shoes.

Today we have been in Nauvoo 4 months. The time surely has flown by.  The YPMs have gone home.  The Pageant is over for another year and the crowds have dropped off dramatically.  Today I was serving at the Brigham Young home.  We had all of about eight tours, (groups that came to go through the house). That in comparison to two weeks ago when we were having fifty and up tours a day.  Then the tours would be in numbers of 4 to 20. They gave out over 4000 cookies at the bakery in one week a month ago.  Now the tours are mostly couples with an occasional family of more.  We did have one school group of younger children this week they were from a YMCA. There was also one family reunion that had about 25 in their group.

Oh, and it is great to tell people about the early members here in the 1840's.  Brigham Young was a hard sell when it came to conversion to the gospel. He read a Book of Mormon with difficulty because he had only had 11 days of formal schooling.  But when he heard the missionaries he was sold.  He then promptly traveled the 200 miles to meet the Prophet Joseph.  He said when he met Joseph that he was everything a prophet should be and he never wavered after that unlike many others who joined early on.

By the way the Book of Mormon Brigham read was one left by Samuel Smith with Brigham's sister and also read first by his brother, Phineas.  Samuel Smith, the first missionary ever to go, was the Joseph Smith's brother.  He had gone on a mission back to the Eastern states and returned home feeling like he had totally failed as a missionary. Brigham Young and Heber  C. Kimball were fast friends and were baptized like almost the same day.  You never know what will come of the work you do in spreading the gospel.

In September we will go back to shorter hours in the sites. Possibly we will have to make 3 play casts into  2 in Oct. because about then we lose over fifty people going home from their missions.

Next week several of the young sister missionaries leave to go home, their missions complete.  A bit later like in October or so the remaining YSMs will leave and go "out bound" for the winter. They will be in a more typical missionary situation on their "out bound". When Spring comes they will come back to be with us for the tourist season.

Well, it is getting late. I better go to bed.  Tomorrow is prep. day and my birthday.  What should I do to celebrate?? I don't know. Tell ya later what we did.

G'Nite  Love You All.

Hello from Nauvoo,

Today is Sunday.  The pageants ended last Saturday.  This week the place sorta feels like the wind is going out of it, like when you let the air out of a balloon.  There were thousands of people here just last week and now they are not coming.  Only family reunions and youth groups and by twos and fours.  In a way it is a relief and in another way it is kind of like the day after Christmas.

Tuesday early morning the Young performing missionaries fly out of St. Louis to destinations all over the country having finished their four month mission here.  We will sorely miss them.  They have become like extra grandkids to us.  They are amazing.  They are practicing or performing like 12 hours a day. They dance and sing and act. Or in the case of the band they play all day for different things in different places. Most of the YPMs play more than one instrument and sing and/or dance. Elder Davis for example plays violin, piano, trumpet, clarinet, sings, dances, etc, etc.  On the other hand some of them come not knowing how to sing or maybe they don't  dance that well and they learn here so fast because the Lord is helping them and they are working so hard.

Our tour hours at the sites will become shorter soon.  We are however losing missionaries as they go home so there won't be as many of us here to do the work.  We will have to double up on some things.  Soon there will only be enough for 2 casts to perform Rendevous, our nightly play put on by senior missionaries. We will be in it more often for that reason.  This summer there have been 3 casts putting on Rendevous each 2 nights a week. The play is every night but Sunday.

Received letters from Lisa's kids yesterday in the box with my prescriptions and a bag of yummie black licorice from Idaho Drug. You are welcome to send letters and packages any time.  Address

Sister Tamara Boyle
P.O. Box 215
Nauvoo, Illinois 62354

Love you,
Sis. B. (Grandma Tamara)