Week 45--June 28-July 4, 2020

Tom has become a Kansas City Chiefs fan so he decided to purchase a Chiefs hitch cover. Now every time he sees the hitch, he'll remember Superbowl LIV.

 The Steamboat Arabia Museum opened this week. We went with the Browns to learn about this steamboat that sank on the Missouri River near Kansas City on September 5, 1856, after hitting a snag in the water  Its recovery in 1988 was like finding the King Tut's Tomb of the Missouri River. The steamboat was loaded with goods for points upriver including Omaha, Nebraska. This is the stern or back of the Arabia's hull. The hull was the area directly under the main deck. Most of the hull remained below the water line when the steamer was carrying freight. Excavators discovered most of the freight in the cargo hold.

The Arabia was referred to as the "Great White Arabia" because she was painted white. The remains of some of the white paint can seen on the hull.













 The arm that turns the paddle wheel is from the Arabia.  We guesstimated that it was about 30' high.

One of the steam engines for turning the paddle wheel .

The paddle wheel was destroyed and had to be reconstructed.

Originally the plan was to recover the cargo and sell it off a piece at a time.  However, after seeing the beautiful sets it was decided that they wouldn't sell anything and just put it all on display.
 These are some of the dishes recovered from the Arabia. The dishes were packed in coffee beans in barrels or crates.

Perfume and writing pens from France were found among the goods recovered. Since the perfume was whale oil-based instead of alcohol-based it would last a long time and was very potent.

Thousands of buttons and trade beads were part of the cargo. The buttons were called calico buttons because of the pattern on them.  The log says there are about 5,000,000 beads on display.

 Viewing the many goods found aboard the Arabia was like walking into a Walmart.
Here is pots and pans and colored bottles. The glass makers of the 19th century took pride in creating bottles that would be more than a container. Using color and design the glass houses of the 19th century crafted a colorful legacy.

Sets of dishes that included Queensware, Wedgewood, and Davenport Ironstone. All of the artifacts were in nearly perfect preserving anaerobic conditions.  The china looked ready for market.

 Knives, forks, and spoons.

Candles

 Buckets and tubs

Files

A personal tool box. The carpenter who bought or made this tools suffered a great personal loss when the Arabia sank. He was left on the frontier without the tools to practice his craft.

Bitter medicines, plasters and poultices, bloodletting, and even superstition were common but ineffective remedies for illness in the 1800s. Most bottled patent medicines did not cure disease. Their heavy alcohol content simply helped suffers forget how bad they felt.

 These rare artifacts are shoes made of rubber. The rubber shoes and bullwhips are some the only examples known to exist from this time period. Their survival is due to the fact that the environment surrounding the sunken Arabia was oxygen free.

Tools of everything imaginable.

 Brown doorknobs.

 White doorknobs and and casters.

In the back right corner of the display case is a glob of nails recovered from the Arabia. Each nail in that glob of nails was cleaned to be placed in a bin like the picture below.

Barrels of nails were on the Arabia.

The boilers that powered the Arabia.

The VC sisters ready to go to work.
Seated around the table are:  Sisters Greenwood, Randall, Kine, Burdge, Kinikini, Anderson, and
Brock. 

Sister Cannon and Garnalee are setting things up for the 4th of July luncheon we had with all of the Summer Sister Missionaries and Senior Couples.

After the lunch we watched the movie Frozen 2. One of the treats provided was Movie Nibblers. The sign says: "Empty one bag of M&Ms into your mask just before the movie begins. You can now enjoy nibbling throughout the movie without the hassle of removing the mask  each time you need to put food in your mouth. Enjoy the movie."

Group selfie at the 4th of July party.
Front: Sister Anderson, Elder Harrington, Sister Galbraith, Sister Harrington, Sister Brock, Sister Kinne.
2nd row: Sister Randall, Sister Bates, sister Martin, Sister Wilson, Sister Greenwood, sister Burdge, Sister Kinikini.
Back: Sister Brown, Elder Brown, Elder Larsen, Sister Larsen, Sister Cannon.

We love this photo of Sister Romero from Peru, Sister DeLeon from Guatemala, and Sister Galvan on the 4th of July.

Just a few pictures to update how the plants we have cared for have grown. This week the care of the plants was turned back over to FM.
We are now serving 4-5 days a week at the VC and Jail. We are not open yet but a senior couple needs to at the visitors' centers with the sisters.

A planter full of Coleus. 

A planter of Wax Begonias.

A planter of mixed flowers.

A planter of Begonias.

One of the flower beds at the front of the Visitors' Center.

The Elephant Ears have gotten really tall. We will soon be able to take our Adam and Eve picture behind them.

The lilies are in bloom at the Independence Visitors' Center and they are gorgeous. We didn't plant these nor have we had to care for them.












We had interviews with President Cannon this week and learned we were to be in the second round of senior missionaries sent home from Historic Sites. President Cannon was able to request that we stay and verifying that we healthy and strong by using pictures from our earlier mulching efforts as proof. We are happy to say that we will be staying until our mission ends in August.