One More Week!

Holy cow!

The week of the 16th-23rd has got to be the most out of the ordinary, adventurous, outrageous weeks of this mission. I had no idea that so much could happen in such a short amount of time. Sheesh! I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll take it day by day, which could take me a minute or two...haha!

Sunday, the 16th, we had two Sunday concerts because they've been getting a lot of attention from the visitors and just one isn't enough anymore! Even though two concerts means more playing, and more sleepy missionaries, I was so glad we got to do that. It gave me a neat opportunity to compare the two performances and feel the Spirit through the beautiful music TWICE! I also was able to fix some mistakes that I made in the first concert, and play them right in the second concert. I've really come to love these concerts, After we finish we get to talk to everyone who came to listen. Well, our second or third concert back in June, three pretty cool sisters came to listen. Carol M Stephens, Linda S Reeves and Linda K Burton were all there with their sweet husbands. I gave them each a hug and exchanged a few words. How neat it was to talk with sisters who have been called of God, who have counseled with our prophet! Nauvoo brings just about everybody together!

Monday, the 17th, was the real start to our crazy week. Our morning wagon ride, we were pulled by a brand new team of horses, Tom and Mark. Being led by new horses is always a hoot because they don't know how to react to all of the noise we make. Well, Tom and Mark definitely reacted. They took off! Let me tell you, that wagon ride was lickety-split and we were back to the Visitor's Center in no time at all! Almost lost a missionary or two off the back of the wagon along the way, but oh boy! It was a blast! It's been a huge tender mercy to be with these horses everyday. Gives me a little piece of home! Also, another awesome piece of home is being able to serve with Elder and Sister Wayment! They know all us Favero's up in Ogden and grew up with grandma and own the house that Aunt Jamie and Uncle Duane live in! So many neat connections! Elder Wayment is one of our teamsters so I get to chat with him a lot! Man! I love Nauvoo!

Later that Monday we had our last ever Community Band Concert! Kinda sad to say goodbye to everyone! Especially Molly. I'll miss her a lot! Some of the band members stayed after to watch Sunset! They loved it! Especially Ryan! He plays trumpet, was in the Navy, and is seriously the nicest guy. He has so much potential to grow in the gospel. Elder Bueno did a pretty good job at planting a few seeds. I hope and pray that he'll accept the gospel soon.

Because pageant is in full swing, we drive straight from Sunset to the pageant to be ready to play The National Anthem on stage. Let me tell you, that first night we played I was so overwhelmed by the Spirit. Adrenaline was running through me as HUNDREDS of eyes were glued to the flag, listening and singing aloud. We've done it quite a few times now and it NEVER gets old. The gospel of Jesus Christ brought those huge crowds of people here! All together in one heart and mind to celebrate Nauvoo, to remember our heritage! I'm sure the sweet spirits of the Saints were jumping for joy! On Monday, once we got back home, God continued to bless us with a BEAUTIFUL sunset. Sister Casto, Sister Fluegel and I took some really neat pictures right outside our house. I'll be sure to send them!

Phew! Okay, Tuesday, oh boy! Early in the morning we went to the temple! The endowed sisters all did initiatories while the others did baptisms. Heavenly Father knew we needed the extra strength that day because someone decided to crank the heat up, BIG TIME! The mission presidency is very aware of the heat index. If it gets above 105 no one is allowed to perform. So, this week was full of canceled shows and very sweaty missionaries. But, cool thing! One of the past directors of the brass band,Elder Braig, came to watch some of our performances! That was really neat especially because the YPM's from last year were SO excited to see him! They all gave him huge hugs and caught up. It made me excited to come visit Nauvoo in future years! I think we really impressed him, which is always good.

Carthage today was quite the adventure! I discovered that Sister Susie is very much okay with holding bugs, cicadas specifically. Luckily, this one was dead but unlucky for me she got pretty creative with where she put the little bugger. When I got my trumpet out to start warming up, that nasty thing was just chillin on my MOUTHPIECE. Now, I don't mind bugs all that much but I REALLY don't like cicadas. I learned that about myself on this mission haha!Elder Miller, on the other hand, LOVES cicadas. So much that he put it above his name tag and walked around with it, just showing it off! EW! He named it Harry, after Harry Schultz, our director here. I, of course, snapped a picture or two! haha!

Tuesday night at the pageant, we got to play a few times with the bagpipe band! That was SO awesome! They were all lined up behind us, and all of the people watching volunteered to be our "human stands" and held our music for us as we played. We'll get to do that once a week until pageant is over.

That same night something absolutely miraculous happened back stage while we were out watching pageant. The stage YPM's get to dance in a few numbers in both the British and Nauvoo Pageants. One elder, Elder DeWitt, hasn't been able to do that or basically anything else for the last week or two due to a tear in his knee. He's gone to multiple doctors and has been out of commission for what seems like forever. Well, the head honchos gave him till the next week to get better or he'd go home. So backstage he and the other elders began to pray. Each of them taking turns asking God to heal Elder DeWitt. The rest of the elders had to go on stage to dance, leaving Elder DeWitt to continue praying by himself. When he raised his head from his prayer, he had no pain. He jumped up, and BOLTED up the hill. Like a full out sprint! His knee was ACTUALLY healed. When he told us the story, just to prove he was truly healed, he was jumping up and down, kicking, squatting, and I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. He could barely walk just hours before! I really thought he'd be going home early. Through the faith of those elders he was healed. We all witnessed an actual miracle, one I won't soon forget!

Watching the Nauvoo Pageant was INCREDIBLE. I don't know if I've ever cried as much as I did that night. I was completely overwhelmed with love for this beautiful city, with love for the Saints! My forever family started here! Just like so many of those faithful members before me! How lucky am I to be able to attend that gorgeous temple nearly every week! I have a very strong testimony that these pageants are inspired. They are of God! Isn't it amazing that our God is one of music and joy and love?! Men are, that they might have JOY! I know that now more than ever!

That same Tuesday night, along with all of the wonderful things that happened, we also experienced a bit of heartache as we said goodbye to Sister Wadsworth. She had been sick for quite a while, toughed it out for way too long and now realized that she needed to go home. Heavenly Father's hand is in all things, even the sad stuff. We've missed her but know she's in good hands at home.

On a lighter note! Guess who came to Nauvoo Tuesday?! Arlene! I was so glad to see her! Also Nathan's sister Rachel and her family! I love them all so much! I also love that I got to meet Marlee's boyfriend before Nathan! Haha!

Wednesday was another REALLY hot day. So hot that by the end of the day, after Sunset and just before the pageant, Sister Chaput basically had a heat stroke and was completely delusional, but we stayed to watch the British Pageant! Haha! We don't let anything stop us here! Especially not the heat! British Pageant is so cool! I've never seen it before so I was going in blind, having zero clue what to expect! Man it was SPECTACULAR! So colorful, so fun and taught me so much about the Saints from the British Isles! I just want every single person in the entire world to come see these pageants! Oh! when we went off stage after the National Anthem, one of the snare drummers from the bagpipe band came up to me and asked if I was Sister Favero! Yup! She's from Provo and is Mr. Nix's drum major for this next marching season! Nix wanted her to stop me and get a picture! It was SO fun to talk with her! And to be reminded of how INCREDIBLE all of my teachers are and what a big role they play in my life and in my being here! It meant the world to me! So, huge shout out to Mr. Nix!

Thursday was...lame. Haha! EVERYTHING was canceled! So we had a nice day of rest and were given a chance to recharge a little bit. Since we couldn't perform outside, we had two make shift concerts in the West Theater of the Visitor's Center. A change of scenery is always fun! I had to remind myself of that because Friday was full of canceled shows too! Instead of getting discouraged or bugged I tried to use our extra time as productively as possible. Let me tell you, when you sit down with the scriptures in front of you, with NO other distractions, and just read, powerful stuff will happen! All it takes is the smallest particle of faith and the ability to read! We can all do that right? I think so! Heavenly Father helped me out by getting rid of all other things so that I could feel that power from the scriptures.

Friday picked back up a little bit! And by a little bit I mean...A LOT. After a full day of work, we had a joint rehearsal with the stage YPM's for our next Sunday concert in the Visitor's Center. I haven't talked a whole lot about how much I LOVE the Visitor's Center. It is such a neat place! It is a place of constant missionary work. Someone is always learning something! Also...our secret Bistro in the basement is a huge plus! There are always treats and goodies from the senior missionaries down there. Well, on this certain occasion, before rehearsal, there were some leftover treats from a wedding reception of a past YPM. We all ate some, including Sister Chaput, who is CRAZY allergic to all types of nuts. Guess what was in those treats? PECANS. Yup, our Friday night ended with 7 paramedics in our kitchen crowded around a dying drummer who was soon driven to Fort Madison in an ambulance. Now I'm a little ashamed to admit this but I had my camera out the whole time. So I have some pretty cool action shots and a video or two. Before you get too upset with me, just know she's totally fine. But she did spend a night and half of the next day in the hospital. So we had to find a new drummer! Where in the world are we going to find a substitute drummer? The bagpipe band! Jake, one of their snare drummers totally saved the day. He plays drum set SO well and Heavenly Father helped him with our 100+ pieces of music. It was crazy. He did it all! The wagon rides, corner concerts, Carthage concert, and we even rehearsed all of our Sunset music! The more I think about it, the more I realize how much of a miracle it was that Jake could do so well! It was NEAT to witness. Another out of the ordinary thing is that our Carthage concert was relocated to the Cultural Hall, again because it was too hot. We got to play where the Saints danced, laughed, celebrated! Where the original brass band played! It was AMAZING!!

Sister Chaput made it back for Sunset and was able to play the whole show! Guess who came to watch?! The Rampton's! AH! I was SO excited to see them! Eden made the BEST audience! Haha! I kept looking at her to see all of her reactions, which were priceless! It's so fun to see so many familiar faces here! I got to talk to them more at pageant too!

Wow. I made it. Sunday the 23rd. Sundays here in Nauvoo are exceptional. Sunday school was a very humbling experience. We all forgot about a reading assignment that President Hall gave us the previous week. I'll never forget any assignment from President Hall again. His football coach definitely came out. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed an intense mission president and he definitely gave me one. President Hall has taught me MANY lessons. Lessons that I'll be forever grateful for.

To end my forever long, scatterbrained letter, I'll tell you about the end of Sunday. We had Trail of Hope again and we were short on company captains so I got to lead two groups down! Hearing the journal entries of those saints TWICE in one night made me feel so spoiled! I LOVE The Trail of Hope. I met the greatest little girl. Her name is Clara and she is the very definition of sweet. When we are told to become as a little child, they're talking about Clara. As I walked beside her down that trail, she'd look up at me, smile and let out the cutest giggle. I let her help me carry the lantern, which made her entire life. There was one time she asked me, "How has your day been? Have you done anything fun?" My heart melted and as reverently as I could I answered, "You now what? This is my very favorite thing to do here! I'm so glad you're here with me!" She gave me the biggest smile I've ever seen a six year old give and said, "This is my favorite thing too! Because I get to move around a lot!" I love that! Such a little ball of energy and love. I hope I can be like Clara when I grow up!