Nauvoo Pageant Guidebook Table of Contents Welcome to the Nauvoo Pageant Letter from Pageant Presidency Guiding Principles of the Nauvoo Pageant About the Pageant Preparing for Your Pageant Experience Spiritually Preparing to Participate What to Bring to Nauvoo Frequently Asked Pageant Questions How to Contact the Pageant Costume Information for Cast Members While You Are In Nauvoo Arriving in Nauvoo Registration and Orientation Rehearsal Schedule Districts Pageant Meal Program Information Information for Pageant Participants Important Pageant Locations Map of Nauvoo Nauvoo High School Map Optional Activities in Nauvoo Appendix A: Nauvoo Pageant Family Home Evening Outlines Appendix B: Nauvoo Pageant Choral Music Welcome To the 2009 Nauvoo Pageant Welcome to the 2009 Nauvoo Pageant It is with heartfelt thanks that we welcome you to the 2009 Nauvoo Pageant. We recognize and appreciate the sacrifice and commitment you have made to participate in the pageant this summer. It is the desire and intention of the pageant presidency and staff to do everything possible to make your time in Nauvoo one of the highlights of your life---something that you will cherish forever. During your participation in the pageant, you will have the opportunity to serve as special representatives of the Church and as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ in this sacred historic setting. We know that each of you can and will significantly influence the other cast, crew, and volunteers who share this experience with you, as well as the audience and other visitors who will be touched by the testimony you bear on and off the pageant stage. The success of the pageant depends upon you. We know you will come to Nauvoo with an open heart, a willing mind, and an attitude of service. We hope that you will begin now to spiritually prepare for your Nauvoo experience by reading and studying “Preach My Gospel.” Please bring this manual with you to Nauvoo as we will be using it extensively throughout your stay. You should begin now to become familiar with its teachings and principles. In addition, your preparation should include reading your scriptures, studying Church history and praying for the Lord’s Spirit to be with you throughout your preparation and stay in Nauvoo. The spirit you bring with you and invite into each rehearsal, activity, and assignment will determine the ultimate success of the pageant. The pageant opens with Parley P. Pratt welcoming the audience to Nauvoo: “When you’re here, we’re here,” he says. You will come to understand and appreciate these words of love and friendship as you feel the spirit of those early saints assisting us in this important work. The pageant will give those attending a glimpse of sacrifice and faith of those special Saints who came to Nauvoo and built a city from the swamp. It is an honor and privilege for us to share the responsibility to portray the extraordinary story of Joseph and Emma and their fellow laborers in the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With boldness and the power of truth, the pageant testifies of the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith. It teaches important gospel doctrines including the power of the Atonement, the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the plan of salvation. Perhaps most important of all, the pageant celebrates the construction of the original Nauvoo Temple and bears witness of the eternal blessings that can only be found within a temple’s sacred walls. On behalf of all the Nauvoo Pageant staff, we express our gratitude for your willingness to stand as witnesses of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and to share with thousands of visitors the joy and faith to be found in the lives and testimonies of Latter-day Saints. We know you will strive to be in harmony with the Spirit of the Lord and to do your part so that many hearts, including your own, may be touched by the pageant that the work of the Lord may be accomplished. We are eager to assist you in every way possible that this might be realized. May the Lord bless you in your continued preparations for your Nauvoo Pageant experience. Our love to each of you, The Nauvoo Pageant Presidency Jack Renouf Ross Schmid John Ricks 1 Guiding Principles of the Nauvoo Pageant Our Pageant Purpose As participants in the Nauvoo Pageant, our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. All that we do as cast, volunteers, crew, and staff should support this singular purpose—our interactions during pageant rehearsals and activities, our fellowshipping of the audience at the pre-show, our conduct in the Nauvoo community, and most importantly the bearing of our testimonies through the pageant performance. Whether onstage or behind the scenes, all of us play important roles in bearing that testimony. Therefore, each of us must live and work in ways that help us claim the Spirit by which genuine testimony is born. Guiding Principles To help us invite and retain that Spirit, we offer five guiding principles as a basis for our service. We do so with confidence in the divine pattern Joseph Smith described when he said, “I teach the people correct principles, and they govern themselves” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 10 pp. 57–58). Following these principles will aid us in cultivating and responding with the Spirit in every aspect of our pageant participation. These principles may be summarized briefly with 5 “L” words, which may be represented by the five fingers on a hand: Principle One: Serve with Love As participants in the Nauvoo Pageant, the motivating force for our service begins with love: love for our Savior, love for the Prophet Joseph Smith and the early Saints, love for our own ancestors, love for one another in the pageant, and love for our brothers and sisters who come to the pageant. As we love one another, we deepen our understanding of the Savior and His gospel. His love—charity or the pure love of Christ—enables us to become “of one heart and one mind” (Moses 7:18) and to recognize that having everything just right for us—the right costume, the right spot on stage, the right crew or volunteer assignment—matters far less than having the right spirit, His Spirit, in our hearts. Filled with His love, we are prepared and motivated to listen, learn, and lift our brothers and sisters by recognizing and meeting their needs. For this reason, we earnestly “pray unto the Father with all energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love” (Moroni 7:48). 2 Principles Two and Three: Listen with your heart and Learn from every experience While in Nauvoo, we will have opportunities to listen and learn from directors, pageant staff, and one another in rehearsal and on assignment. We will seek to listen to and learn from audience members during the pre-show so that we can build friendships and invite them to receive the pageant message. As we allow ourselves to be molded by our experiences, we will also recognize adversity as an important opportunity to learn. Whatever the challenge—hot weather, long hours of rehearsal, the idiosyncrasies of others, changes in the schedule, tired children, etc.—we can cultivate a positive attitude and resist the temptation to criticize or complain. These refining moments offer us opportunities to humbly acknowledge our dependence upon our Father in Heaven and to seek His help, that we may be filled with His Spirit and His love. As we listen and learn what the Spirit would have us do, we will deepen our own testimonies of the gospel and be guided to lift others with our love and service. Some of the most important learning will happen before we arrive at the pageant, as we “treasure up” the gospel in our hearts. The Lord has promised: “then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men” (D&C 6:20 & 11:21). We should familiarize ourselves with the prophetic counsel given in the booklet For the Strength of Youth (available from Church Distribution) and use these principles as a guide for our conduct while participating in the pageant. We may also choose to study from the missionary guide Preach My Gospel (also available at Church Distribution) and to specifically review doctrines taught in the pageant such as temples, priesthood, the First Vision, eternal families, life after death, and charity. The Family Home Evening outlines provided in this guidebook may also be used as part of this preparation. As we study—listen to and learn from the prophets and the Spirit—in preparation, we will be prepared to listen with our hearts and learn from our pageant experiences. Principle Four: Lift one another As we listen and learn from our experiences and the Spirit, we will recognize ways that we have been prepared to serve others. At times children in the cast may have particular needs. Parents and older siblings may leave the rehearsal or cast activity at any time to assist a child. As we follow the example of the Savior to “suffer the children,” we demonstrate our commitment to family and our understanding of Heavenly Father’s love and mercy towards all His children. Occasionally, we may have opportunities to lift in unexpected ways. For example, we may encounter those of other faiths who express views opposing the Church. In such instances, we should act with genuine friendship and courtesy but avoid becoming involved in debates or arguments. In all our interactions we should respond to others with Christ-like love which “suffereth long, and is kind, … is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, … rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (Moroni 7:45).