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!