Week THREE

The Full Cast of YPMs

Sunset by the Mississippi

This week has definitely been an eventful one here in Nauvoo!  This weekend, we opened all of our shows!  Our opening for "The Promise" was a full house...a large youth group and very exciting! You never can know what reactions you will get with youth audiences.  It keeps us on our toes for sure.

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD)

The ending scene in "The Promise", when William comes back to Nauvoo from England to find Julia now being courted by Chance, to then end up with Rachel (aka me) was intense. Many funny things were being shouted and it was HARD to stay in character.

Since, we are on the topic of "The Promise", here is another funny story about that. The very, very last scene, when we are being forced to leave Nauvoo after the news of Joseph Smith in Carthage, is supposed to be a very serious and spiritual scene. One day, during a dress rehearsal with an audience, Elder Egan (who plays William) and I were on stage sitting down with our "luggage". Elder Egan opened the chest and inside were only two things: a paper filled with tic-tac-toe games and some cheese & peanut butter crackers. I was fighting SO HARD to not bust into laughter, when Elder Egan looked at me with the most serious face and said his line, "Do think this is all we will need?" .....I LOST IT!!!

Sister Ashby plays Rachel in "The Promise"

The Promise

So far our shows are going quite well. I had a really cool experience with one of our other shows "Just Plain Anna Amanda". My voice has been completely gone and I was really struggling with the song I had to sing, and it was also only the second time I had ever heard it. I also play the Hostess at who introduces the whole show at the beginning and starts the puppet pre-show. There was a small audience and we were supposed to start in a few minutes. I had only seen the script for the pre-show once and was about to perform for that for an audience. With my part, being a page long, I said a quick prayer and was able to ALMOST perfectly recite every line. I have a strong testimony of the work we are doing here in Nauvoo. I know that nothing we have done and will be doing would be possible without the Lord's hand.

"Just Plain Anna Amanda"
Sister Ashby (mother) & Sister Bills (Anna Amanda)

Good news! My shin splints are healed up! Bad news... I had an allergic reaction on my right leg to the adhesive spray used to wrap my legs and now I look like a leper. I call it the "leper leg".

I also got the solo for "Grandma's Feather Bed" in our Sunset show...so that's fun!

I have loved meeting all the different people here in Nauvoo! We met this really cool old guy named Larry who was writing a book about the history of how the church started. He is not a member but allowed us to sing for him. We took a picture and then asked us if we were like nuns. It was a question I have never had to answer before so I'm glad I had Sister Bills to help out with that one.

I will hopefully have more pictures to send in next week! I have not had much time to take any! The "Pre-Promise Naps" have started already and we have only done four shows.  It will be a long summer, but I am so excited to be here.

That is all for now! Peace out!

Week TWO

Hello friends and family!!!

I am doing amazingly well here in the beautiful place of Nauvoo... other than my already trashed voice and shin splints in BOTH legs!  Everyone here is so amazing and I have the best companion!  (Sister Hoagland)

Sister Ashby and Sister Hoagland

We learned 19 different songs in the first two days of being here and sang 11-13 hours a day.  The missionary home I'm living in is the cutest.  It's called the Hatch House and is definitely accustomed for the 14 performing sister missionaries living in it...thankfully!

This past week we have been learning all of our blocking, dances, music, and lines for our different shows. "The Promise" is my favorite one that we do. We have learned over 12 dances (boy are they tough) and still have a few more to learn. Our first choreographer Mic (the once was one of Michael Jackson dancers) was very intense but fun. He left last week.  Now we are working with the other two choreographers, both previous YPMs.

We also had the wonderful opportunity to sing for the President of the Church,  President Russell M. Nelson, and his amazing wife, Wendy. They stayed and spoke to us for an hour, it was amazing. Elder Schultz said it's like getting the dessert before dinner.

Now, this next week we will be running shows over and over until we are able to do them in our sleep. We already have an audience of 180 youth coming for our dress rehearsal of "The Promise" this Friday.  No pressure, right?

The NEW COSTUMES we have this summer are BEAUTIFUL! Our SEAMSTRESSES have done some AMAZING WORK.

It's so weird to think that I have been here for 16 days! Sometimes, it feels like I have been here for two years with all the work we have done. Then again, sometimes it feels like I have been here for two because all the days mesh together.

I am so excited for you to come and see the INSANE DANCES WE DO!  My clogging number is over before it starts.  They have some clogging in there for the actual cloggers. I just stand on the side and clap. My goal is to be able to do it by the end of the summer.

I got cast in the Trail of Hope. I will play the role of Eliza Clayton Margetts.

I am feeling tons better! I received a blessing last night from some of the elders so that really helped. My voice is making its way back and my shin splints are quickly healing!  I am so glad that my sister, Dakota, is doing so well.  That makes me really happy.

For fun, I thought I would include some of the hilarious quotes and moments from these past two weeks:

     "WOW, I feel moist" - Sister Isaacson

     (In the van on our way to Walmart listening to missionary approved music when

     "The Chronicles of Narnia" comes on) " I LOVE THE CROCK KNUCKLES OF NARNIA!" - 

     Sister  Ashby

     "THANKS A LOT, SATAN!" - Sister Ashby

     "Can't we just endure to the middle and then go play?" - Elder Schultz

     "Sister Adams, makeup is off today... YOU'RE NEXT, SISTER ASHBY!" - Elder Dickson

Miss you all!

Week ONE

Happy Mother's Day!  There is not much of an email to share today because we spent most of the time talking on the PHONE!!!

This was a sweet surprise sent via fb on Mother's Day.

Mother's Day phone call
(Sister Ashby receiving news that her little sister, Dakota,
was still in the hospital after her brain surgery.)

Notes from our phone call:

Apparently, they had quite the turbulence on one of the flights.  Sister Ashby sent hilarious footage of them on the plane trying to contain their screams.  (It's too long to post here.)

She loves Nauvoo and says it AMAZING.  She loves her companion and everyone else, too.  They are having a lot of fun, but are working very, very hard.

All the stage sisters live in one house.  It's so fun and they all get along very well.

Choreo is crazy!  Everyone is sooooo talented.  She can't believe the caliber of people she is surrounded by in Nauvoo.

She has really bad shin splints in her right leg and has lost her voice.  She ices her legs down every night and throughout rehearsals. This has made her parents really worried.  She has a lot of people praying for her to heal quickly. 

She will play the part of Rachel in "The Promise" and the Mom in "Just Plain Anna Amanda".  Others parts will be assigned as they go.

She apparently under-packed and needs more dresses. (Really?)  She also wants a CD with mission approved music for their car rides to Walmart, essential oils, her ukulele, and chocolate.

She sent various photos of their first few days.

May the 4th Be With YOU!

Today, we sent Sister Ashby off at the airport.  It was just me and the two other girls because Daddy took Dakota to the hospital early this morning for her brain surgery.  Ya!  This "May the 4th" is one for the record.  It's been absolutely crazy trying to get a missionary ready AND preparing another child for major surgery.  Both are in good hands.  We trust in the Lord in all things.

UPDATE:  Dakota's brain surgery went well. However, complications with swelling in the brain caused an extended stay (12 days) at Primary Children's Medical Center while she received intensive rehabilitation services.  Follow her story on my IG@keylimerz and/or Facebook accounts. She is back at home and will continue to be monitored closely and evaluated for further rehab needs.  We thank all of you who fasted and prayed for our family and continue to do so.  We couldn't do this without you.  All is well!!!

Saying goodbye to Dakota as they both embark
on different journeys today.

Sister Ashby - It's Official!!!

Brooklyn was set apart tonight as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as she prepares to leave tomorrow morning for Nauvoo.  And, just like that, she's a full-time missionary.

Sister Ashby - Nauvoo, Illinois Mission