Ups and Downs

 We started pageant rehearsals this week. Yep just added it to what we are already doing. We rehearse from 8 to 9:30 and call for our regular shows are 9:45 Its interesting thats for sure, but awesome.

Also, we found out tragically that one of our sisters has to go home. Sister Allen. She is a stalward individual and such a great girl. There is something wrong with her though and they aren't quite sure what it is. I've been there before and so a LOT of my same feelings are coming back like they did last year. It is interesting but hard. What a blessing it was to find out about my cancer before I came here. What happened to sister Allen would have happened to me..I feel I was so blessed and taken care of.  My heart is with her and it is hard for all of us.  But we all just had an amazing testimony meeting and I personally feel a lot better about the whole thing.

My prayers are with you Sister Allen and I love you.

I am learning so much, there are ups and downs but things are great and the Lord's hand is in everything.  I love this work...and it IS work!!

 

 

Sister Samae Smith

from June 23rd....HALF WAY

We had the opportunity to go to the mission presidents house today for lunch (Just our district) and we got to talk with him and his wife for a long time afterwards. They told us their whole story of how they met and got married and such it was a fun time. I get to work with some really amazing people out here! The very best.

And seeing BJ was the GREATEST surprise ever!!! I can't believe how much I missed him since I've been gone. People here think it is SO funny that he calls me Sally... that has never sounded strange to me but I suppose it is pretty odd. I loved him being here though.

 

Vocal Point is here this week. It's pretty funny, they walk around in the EXACT same clothing everywhere they go. It is pretty cute to see so many A Capella b-boys running around. We heard a snippet of a song today of theirs and it was great. They are nice and they can really sing! I'm excited to hear them tonight in the fireside though (They are performing for us) and then we get to see them on tuesday after Sunset by the Mississippi do their show.

 

we have officially reached the half way mark. Yesterday was day 51 out of 102 days here. It is crazy that it is half way over. Elder Camp said this second half is going to fly by twice as fast as the first half... and I am determined to not have any regrets on the last day. Focus. Focus. Focus!! It will be great. And I am going to be the best missionary I can be. first a missionary, then a performer. Thats what I'll be

 

 

 

 

love, sister smith

Bryan Jerry Smith — at Historic Nauvoo Visitor's Center.

Sister Smith: A Spiritual giant and gifted performer with a powerhouse voice. Nauvoo has never seen such an amazing performance missionary. Love you Sally. @samae_mae

Surprise!

Oh my goodness!!!! My mother surprised me this week!!!! It was THEE most happy day!
I was told that no family member could make it out to Nauvoo. Period. But friday night, as we were doing the trail of hope, I was playing Sally Randall and we had many groups coming through. On about the 7th group I was told we only had about 3 more groups to go. I did my vignette as normal but as the group was walking away two people were oddly hanging behind. It was all but dark outside and I couldn't quite make out the faces. Once my eyes adjusted I saw a broken arm and a famialiar face. It was my mom and my Aunt Laura!!

What a blessing! It was a total miracle and surprise! They barely made it to come see the trail of hope and stayed until today. They got to come see our Nauvoo singers group, both casts of our High Hopes performances and our Sunset By the Mississippi. They weren't too distracting but around just enough that her presence was spectacular. I LOVE her! And I am forever grateful that she and my aunt could make it out.

 

 

Back to work. This week has been pretty great, like most weeks, but I felt a very large sense of unity especially this week. Our cast A (which has half of our group) has really come together to learn new songs and new "group" type of things to do and say together. I love them.

We got to go on the Community of Christ tour of the Joseph Smith's historic home site today. It was interesting to get the tour of Joseph's Mansion house and his original house with Emma. And also the Smith's Family Cemetery. It was great! But it was noticeable that the spirit wasn't very much present. They were very thorough and very informational tours, but the spirit that we constantly try to convey in every tour and every performance on the LDS side of Nauvoo was not present.

I love our church. and I KNOW it is true!

...and the WORK goes on.....

All is going well here! Just going and going. This passed week I have come down with a bit of a sick thing... I don't really know what to call it. It has been going around in the sisters' house! One of the sisters got strep throat and so we are all trying very hard not to get it. The doctor here didn't test me for that but he doesnt think I have it. He gave me a z-pack to help and I think it might be working. My voice is almost all the way gone today though. But I have faith that it doesn't matter how I sound because the Lord will provide a way for His message to get across.

I think I am on the up and up of getting better. But the work must still go on. I am so glad I am here to work hard and do what the Lord has asked of me. We are working hard as a group to become more unified, it is difficult at times because we are all 'leader' personalities. Plus we have our actual leaders and directors and then above them we have our ecclesiastical leaders.. So we are currently making that better.

Our first preparation morning was fun. We had it on thursday and everyone was up and at the temple by 6:45. They made me stay home and sleep through it though because I wasn't feeling well. But afterward, we drove to Keakuk (pronounced k-ee-uh-cook) and went to walmart. That was fine as usual, then...We drove down Mulholland street (which is like the main street here) and parked and went to lunch! It was the first time we were out doing something we wanted and chose to do on our own. We were so happy. We went to this store called the Mercantilel Store where they have TONS of historic Nauvoo memorabilia and also a lunch place in the downstairs. It was so fun to spend some fun time with my sisters. Then of course, we were back in the visitors center by 1:30 getting ready for High Hopes. Only half of a P-day haha. Life is crazy. But I am happy!

I love you. And I know this church is true. My testimony is growing every day and I just want to share it with everyone I meet. We were told a thought that has stuck with me while performing. Each of the people in the audience aren't just audience members or 'people' these are souls. If there are 300 or only 30 each person is a spirit brother and sister and are individual souls. It makes it mean more when we perform....and we DO perform!!

Visit to Carthage Jail

A Day in the Life of a Sister YPM in Nauvoo

…So, about our shows, We had a dress rehearsal day on Friday so we got a bit of a first run practice of what our day is like. And yesterday was the real deal. It is so strange going from practicing in silence to having a real audience. It really livens up the place. I am in cast A and my day usually goes as follows:

Wake up by 6:30 to shower and get ready (5 girls sharing a shower... its crazy. But the upstairs girls have 6 or 7 sharing a shower so I'm not complaining)
We get together as sisters before we leave and have a circle prayer in our living room and come up with a word of the day to try to remember and live by. (like obedience has been one, reverence, focus, energy, do-ers etc)
We drive to the visitors center and have prep meeting by 8 am to 8:30-ish with the band YPMS and we prep and do whatever else needs to be done so that we can be at the cultural hall (the original one on main street) by 10 for our cast call for Just plain Anna-Amanda. (If you are in B cast, you would then get ready and go do "Nauvoo Singers" which is the singing group that walks around town and sings TONS of random, happy, fun, and spiritual songs.





These two casts switch daily)
Perform Anna-Amanda from 10:30 to 11:15
Be back to the visitors center by 11:30 for lunch
Back to cultural hall for the second run of Anna-Amanda at 12 for the 12:30 show
Meet the audience, and running back to visitors center to get ready for High      hopes.
Have notes from last high hopes performance at 2.
Sing on balcony at 2:15
Start first cast at 2:30 of High Hopes (casts switch off)
Meet audience at 3:45
Reset stage and do notes again at 4.
Sing on balcony at 4:15
Change for Sunset by the Mississippi costume  AND be done with dinner by 6:30
Meet on outdoor sunset stage at 6:30
Sunset show at 7
Meet audience at about 8
RUN to trail of hope by 8:10 so we can start it by 8:30
And perform that until the last group gets through, however long that may be (usually around 10pm)
Then go home, say prayer with my sisters, and do it all again the next day!!


What a happy day. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else! We are going non stop so sometimes writing letters home is rough. I think once we REALLY get into our schedules we will know more about how to manage our time and it will become easier.
It has been SUPER rainy here. The humidity hasn't bee bad. Except for the one day we had to run to the basement of the visitor’s center when they were worried about a tornado. (I just re-read that and laughed at how casual it sounded. It was just another day here in Nauvoo.) That doesn't happen often, and it wasn't anything too bad to worry about. It was just a HUGE storm. Like, I did the lightening strike/ thunder count and it was literally only like 2 or 3 seconds away. But everything was fine, and the humidity actually wasn't too bad after the storm passed. I just want to soak up this cool weather because we were told it is going to get HOT here!! (I didn't even pack a jacket I thought it was going to be so hot... So that was a fail on my part) but it hasn't been like Utah cold so no worries.

 
We get to go to Carthage jail in about a half an hour. I am SO excited! What a privilege. We have a scene in High Hopes that we sing a song called "No ordinary brothers" and it is all about Hyrum and Joseph and how they stuck together through everything. Even to death. It is the moment when the letter from Willard Richards reaches the town and everyone hears about the martyrdom. We are all in our own sections on the stage, spread out in our own family groups, spotlight on each gathering, mourning together. It is absolutely beautiful. Then we end up on our knees, symbolically coming together in one big prayer, in 4 part acapella as we sing a beautiful/sacred prayer to heavenly father about helping us move forward.

"Father in Heaven, grant us this day, strength to move forward, forgive, and obey. Spreading the gospel now and forthwith. Ne'er to forget that we knew a prophet of God... Our brother, Joseph Smith."

 Going to Carthage jail today will change that scene forever for us we hope. We are told we will have the chance to sing there. And I just cannot wait. I learned so much about the prophet the last time I got to go there. I always thought it would be this sad, mournful, solemn place. But it is definitely not, it is a place of love, of faith, and of hope for the future of the church. It made me invigorated the last time I was there. So I know today will be spectacular. I can't wait to tell all about it.

 
We get to go to the temple every thursday morning at 6:45 am! That seems SO early but it is completely worth it. Our first time was last thursday and I LOVED it so much. What a beautiful temple we have here. I love looking into the meeting room where the early saints would attend church and conduct meetings. I also love looking up the huge spiral staircase that leads to the hall of the celestial rooms. I love it.

 
Like I said before I am Sally Randall in our trail of hope presentation. She is in her 20's with a husband and family. I wanted to share my monologue which is an actual letter written by Sally to her family in England:

"Nauvoo
June the first 1846

My dear family,
The temple is finished and dedicated to the Lord. It is a most splendid building. I am very glad that I am worthy to have a name with the saints of God and to enjoy the priviledges that I now do. You think there is no need of going from here but the mobs are threatening continually to come upon us. We heard they were coming today, but I have not seen anything for I believe there is faith enough in the city to keep them back until the saints all get away. We have to make a great sacrifice in order to do so. Most are selling out, although at a very low price. The saints have been going steady since last February and are still going by hundreds. We expect to start in a few days for the west. We go as Abraham went, not knowing whither we go. But the Lord will go before us and he will be our front, and our rearward.
Sally Randall."
What faith. What diligence to follow the word of the Lord. Not knowing where she was going to go, and leaving behind the most beautiful temple.
Well I must run.

Love, Sister Smith.