Sunday, December 12, 2010

Christmas in Nauvoo

We were decorating Land and Records and I was trying to sneak in a Charlie Brown Christmas, but I got caught. Actually, this is a staged picture, but I did try to make Christmas in Nauvoo a little more real.
Right after the program, President and Sister Ludwig's grandchildren came up to check out the baby in the manger. It was so precious to watch them. Perhaps children know something we don't when it comes to worshipping the Savior.

What a great blessing it was to be a part of this wonderful group of women. We have four former members of the Tabernacle Choir in our mission, and two of them are in this group. Then we have a lady who starred in Promised Valled when it was playing on the plaza where the Church Office Building is, and another lady who has sung with the Washington D. C. choir, and then there was me.


The "sort of" angel choir. We blended together very well, but in between shows while the curtain was closed we got a little silly. We did the Hokey Pokey and did circle back rubs and other silly things. President Boehmer, a member of the mission presidency said, "If you didn't have those white costumes on, I sure wouldn't know you were angels."



This was such a neat moment. One of the shepherds could see that Joseph's head dress was falling off, so he took time to adjust it and make it work. I caught the after the moment picture, but you get the idea. Sometimes the behind the scene pictures are more telling than the actual show.




This couple is so wonderful. They have been good friends to me ever since they arrived. They did such a remarkable job of portraying Mary and Joseph.





Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds and the Wise Men ( or the wise guys, more accurately stated)






This lady is from Nauvoo and she made her own harp. She played in between performances while people were walking in and going out.







In the green room of the Cultural Hall, getting costumes on-- As I watched, I thought of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever. So many of the things that were said and done were just like every description of a Christmas Pageant that I've ever read.








How appropriate that the Nauvoo Visitor Center Christmas Tree with its lights reaches up so that your eyes catch the light of the world who is pictured behind it.









Waiting for the tree to go on--This really is a cool thing. The town or at least some of them comes down and we have a joint tree lighting. The mayor of Nauvoo turns on the lights.










Nauvoo's annual tree lighting. Below is the Warsaw High School Band. The kids from Nauvoo go to Warsaw for high school. The missionaries around the top are waiting to sing our annual tree lighting song.