Blog #75

By Kevin V. Hunt

SPECIAL FEELINGS AND EXPERIENCES OF NAUVOO

Being in Nauvoo just kind of grows on you (at least it has grown on me and our family).  After being there, experiencing that “special Nauvoo Spirit” it tugs at the heart strings.  Everyone who comes to Nauvoo feels of that Spirit.  We have all felt it and it is marvelous and wonderful.  The Nauvoo Spirit within us brings a desire to stay in Nauvoo forever and to return again, and again.

Sadly Nauvoo trips to come to an end.  But as they do, the memories linger forever in our hearts.  We remember the restored homes and shops, but most importantly the feelings that we felt as we were there.  We feel the burning of the Spirit as He witnesses to us of the power of Jesus Christ and His Restoration of the Gospel in our day.  We see and feel that Restoration all around Nauvoo and it touches our hearts.

A FAREWELL SONG OF NAUVOO

When I was a young missionary in Nauvoo – a hundred years ago … actually just half of that … 50 years ago … We had a mission song (sung to the tune of “Edelweiss” that we sang together as missionaries departed our sacred and special Nauvoo society.  A copy of the song was given to departing missionaries by the mission president, Dr. J. LeRoy Kimball.  Dr. Kimball was the visionary who began the restoration efforts in Nauvoo (so the song mentions “Kimball’s Hand”).

Here is my copy of song and certificate:

Twenty five years later, our daughter, Jackie was privileged to experience a BYU Nauvoo semester (in Nauvoo, of course).  They had a song which they sang together:

For almost 25 years, that was the farewell song that was lovingly and tenderly sung by departing missionaries. 

Then as we served in 2024 a senior sister missionary composed a new song – sung to the tune of the old “Mormon” song, “The Gallant Ship”. (This song was composed by the great Latter-day song writer, even William W. Phelps, and was sung by foreign Saints as they prepared to leave their native lands for Nauvoo and the hymn even appeared in Emma Smith’s “Sacred Hymns” 1835 hymnbook. Here is a link to the old Mormon era favorite:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:13e242f3-3023-4c88-88dc-a1342ca23c71

The new song was nice and had the potential to be “peppy” in the tradition of “The Gallant Ship”.  However, many missionaries, including Sister Hunt and me, liked the song that our Jackie also sang (and which we sang at the beginning of our mission as missionaries departed).

Each of the songs captured much of the feeling and Spirit of Nauvoo and departing the special place.  And our own feelings were the same as our Nauvoo departure time approached far too rapidly – and certainly as it came the actual departure time.

DEPARTURE OF OUR LAST FAMILY VISITORS

We survived having all of our family here for most of three weeks.  It was exhausting but also wonderful.  We know that the family members felt strongly the Spirit of Nauvoo.  They loved hearing of the Prophet Joseph Smith, their own Nauvoo ancestors, and experiencing all of the special restored homes and shops.  We know that each family member will forever carry special memories in their minds and hearts about their visit to Nauvoo.  It was such a great blessing to have them in Nauvoo with us for the final weeks and days of our mission.

Our mission was actually scheduled to end on October 1^st.  That is when most our April 1^st 2024 MTC group departed.  We extended our mission by 13 days to accommodate our many families who wanted to come – planning their trips around their Arizona school fall breaks.

On Saturday October 11^th, We dropped Rusty and family back at the Moline airport. 

We did not want to travel on Sunday so we planned to leave on Monday, October 13^th.  Still, however, we did have to work furiously on Sunday (against our wishes).  The Nauvoo ox was mired up to its knees and beyond.

SO MUCH TO DO IN SO LITTLE TIME

We got back late in the evening from the airport, but then we had to get in high gear.  We had only about 26 hours before we would be heading home and leaving Nauvoo.  We didn’t waste any time.  Back at home, we got right into the tasks looming before us.  Lou packed many items.  This is a relentless job and has taken much effort. 

I finalized my guest log in my Tours spreadsheet. I did laundry (two batches),  Lou and I packed up a lot of stuff for the return trip home.  I did more mission newsletter tasks.

OUR FINAL FAREWELL TO MISSION FRIENDS

OCTOBER 12^TH – SUNDAY

Sunday, October 12^th proved to be kind of a tear-jerker.  It pulled at the heart strings.

We went to our final mission church meetings.  This was super sad.  We attended sacrament meeting and then Sunday school.  Two young sisters spoke on the gathering of Israel.  Our mission leader, President Daniel S. Mehr then talked.

President Mehr shared a story of when he was the mission leader in the West Indies Mission ten or more years ago.  He talked of doing a mission tour – with the help of his assistants.  He had to go to one place that required a boat ride across a very wide river – taken by a guy in a canoe.   On the other side of the scarry ride he saw glorious missionaries in white shirts and ties.  He said that a general authority later came to visit and took the same canoe ride.  President Mehr said that he promised the general authority that there would be light at the other side.

President Mehr has established a tradition of asking those whose last Sunday it is in the mission to stand.  We missed that activity for our MTC group when we were at the Nauvoo Visitors’ Branch (per our duty) last Sunday.  The departing missionaries can be couples or young sister missionaries.  I told Lou that if we were the only ones in this situation today that I would not want to stand.  Nice thought for a crusty old “fart” but It did not work that way.

When the question was posed, we stood up and yes, we were the only ones standing.  We stood for just a moment and then sat down after the oohs and aahs as people digested the fact that we are leaving.  But President Mehr immediately told us to remain standing.  We were obedient.  And he had us remain standing for what seemed like a long time.

President Mehr had high praise for us.  He called us “an amazing couple”.   He talked of Sister Hunt’s “ancient Nauvoo history” through his father and the original Nauvoo brick.  Then he talked of her involvement with the new Temple brick design.  He then said, “And Elder Hunt served the last few months of his young mission in Nauvoo.”

He then talked of how God orchestrates these experiences and connections individually for each of us.  He said, “The Lord knows every missionary and he enjoys making such things come together.  We are His covenant children.  [And referencing his previous story …] We have to cross the river to help others.  God has fun creating these experiences and connections  for His children.”  He also said, “I can’t wait until I can be in His position to also have fun creating these experiences for my children.”  President Mehr got emotional as he talked of Lou and me.  I think that he appreciates and is kind of overwhelmed at what we have contributed to the mission.

After the meeting, several folks came and said, “that was a great tribute to you guys from the mission president”.  People who talked to me included Elders Harford, Lowe, and Sanders – and others.

STILL THINKING OF THE GRANDKIDS

After the meetings, we went to the home of Elder and Sister Hampton.  Lou had made excuse for us not taking our grandson Lucas there for a geode and then had a change of heart and asked Elder Hampton if we could get one for him and Marinda’s children.  Elder Hampton loves to share and his wife is all for giving away as many geodes as possible so that they don’t have to take them all home.  He gave us some nice geodes.  And she gave us a couple of bagels that she had made.  (Lou has tried several times to make bagels – but each time without success.)

TRYING TO EMPTY OUT THE HOUSE

Sister Torri Sanders told Lou that she would accept any and all refrigerator food that she wanted to give away.  So, as we got home, Lou immediately packed up two or three boxes of stuff.  She also had amassed a large pile of stuff to take to the missionary D.I.  We made both deliveries in one trip.  It was great to get rid of all of “that stuff”.  It was good to see it depart our home – since it diminished what we still needed to take home or otherwise deal with.

Today was a situation of a truly mired ox.  And we worked the ox …  We were kind of in a pickle.  Kind of … we were really in a jam.  Rusty and family were here and we needed to have car space to take them to the airport yesterday – and we needed to leave on Monday.  So, this meant that our ox was in deep.  We really didn’t have a choice.

We both labored extensively all afternoon to deal with our stuff.  I broke down a lot of unused boxes and took them – and a leaky air mattress – to the small hidden dumpster located on Main Street by the Pioneer Pastimes pavilion.

PACKING THE WAGON TO GO WEST

As I began our mission … and these blog article, I compared our loaded vehicle to that of the pioneers who departed Nauvoo for the west.  I then included the “Bill of Particulars” which was a list of needed supplies.  We went way and beyond the “Bill of Particulars”.  We had so much stuff.  (And we had already sent a dozen or so boxes of “stuff” home with our son Keith.  And we had arrived in our wagon – packed to the gills.  How did we acquire all that more “stuff”? … It was a combination of my new Dutch oven, all of the books that I wrote while Nauvoo, the normal life accumulation of “stuff” and of course the convenience and draw of the missionary “Deseret Industries” (“the D.I.”).  Anyway, it all crept in on us and now we had to deal with it.

My major task of the afternoon was that of packing up the car for our departure for home.  And this truly was a major task – and an intricate test of my packing abilities (that I learned from my father). 

We had so much “stuff” and only our mini-van (pioneer wagon) to haul all of the stuff home.  I had to use all of my best skills to accomplish the task.  I began by putting Lou’s Bosch, her sewing machine, and a newly acquired mixer that she just got from the D.I. – onto the floor of the van – between the second and third row seats.  I then put one of our two 4’ tables.  I put this atop of a couple of shrunk bags of clothing – to make the table sit flat.  On this table, I put a board painting that Jenae started a while ago – about Jesus and children.  I put a couple of other poster size photos.  I then put the second table on top of these items.  I packed towels and other soft stuff around the kitchen items – to secure them tightly.  My computer printer – in a large cardboard box came next.

Lou had packaged twenty or more of those vacuum bags – of various sizes – so I began to fit these in everywhere I could – based upon size and stuff around them.  I worked at this task for a couple of hours and wore myself out (like Wilford Woodruff building his house, “I wearied myself working on my house today …”)  I also worked up quite a sweat – which is quite unusual for me.

EXTRA-MILE SERVICE IN OUR BEHALF

Elder and Sister Ballard (Dan and Wendi) of our Brigham District came over to say goodbye to us.  She offered to take our massive collection of food storage (canned food).  She said that she would also offer the same cans to young sister missionaries.  I helped her load the boxes into her car.  (He has a bad back.)  She also took several boxes or collections of D.I. “stuff” and said that she would deliver this “stuff” there for us.  They were “angels of mercy” in our behalf.  They saved us a lot of effort and stress over what to do with all of that “stuff’. 

Above: Elder and Sister Jones with Elder and Sister Hunt on the night before Nauvoo departure

Elder Ivan and Sister Ramona Jones (whom we hardly knew) were kind enough to invite us over to their home for dinner that night (knowing that we would be packing and kind of “out of food”.   Sister Jones made a wonderful meal for us.  She cooked a pork roast, had a greet salad, yummy green beans, a “pickle flavored” pasta salad and best of all a sour cream and chocolate chip cake that was amazing.  We had an enjoyable visit with them.  Elder and Sister have known the Mehrs for many years – after serving together in a previous mission.  Elder Jones is to be a new counselor to President Mehr – after the departure soon of Elder Preston.

STILL GOADING THE OX

[Visitors to the Nauvoo “Oxen Experience” learn that the Teamsters guide the ox by use of a “goad” – a long, pointed stick – to prod and guide the animal forward.”   (AI must have learned that from the Teamsters!)]

Above: Elder and Sister Hallows (him with the ox goad)

After we got home, we got into our ox management again.  We hit it hard and heavy.

I later made another garbage run – and even another DI run about 10:30 PM.

Lou worked extensively on the take-down of the kitchen.  This involved a lot of work.  She mopped the floors.  She did a hundred tasks that she had on her mental (and physical) list of things that needed to be done.  She also wearied herself.

I also spent much time vacuuming all of the floors of the place.  I did the main floor, the upstairs bedroom, and then the whole downstairs – including the large rag carpet that is on the floor.

Together we accomplished a great deal.  We worked hard to get done with everything.  Then each of us had showers to get rid of the sweat and to recuperate and rejuvenate from the hard day.  That ox gave us a work-out!  The showers were wonderful.

And by 11 PM we declared that we had done all that we needed to do that night.  It was nice to get to bed at that early hour – so as to be rested for the anticipated long day of travel the next day.  And the place looked wonderful.  We still had a few things to pack on the morrow – the stuff used overnight, for showers, etc. but we were almost completely done and ready!

D-DAY (DEPARTURE DAY) FROM OUR BELOVED NAUVOO

We awoke this morning at our usual time – me at 6:15 AM.  I got up and got ready.  I packed up my bathroom stuff.  I then packed my 3-day suitcase for the trip.

I went to the car and continued to pack things in.  The “stuff” just seems to multiply.  [And by the way, the word “Stuff” is actually a Biblical term used by Jesus in his teachings. See Luke 17:31 – even back to the beginning of time … See Genesis 31:37]   We were already tight but I managed to find tight spaces to put everything.  We still had a stack that we left for Sister Ballard to take to the missionary D.I. for us.  We also left another box of food for her.  After I got all of the stuff in the car, we worked together to strap on the two bikes.

Lou did some more cleaning and got the place in good shape.  Elder Burr came as the district leader to check us out of the place.  This was his first such check-out as a new D.L..  Elder Cox (who lives across the street north) on his bike.  We asked him to take a photo of us. 

Above: Elder Kevin and Sister Lou with car packed and ready to leave the Nauvoo Simeon A. Dunn home heading home to Arizona

I had taken photos of the vehicle and the clean house and this one was of the packed car with the Dunn home in the back. 

Above: We left a spotless Dunn home as we departed

We also took a selfie out front of the house- with the Dunn home sign behind us – and holding our “Elder Kevin and Sister Lou Dene Hunt” sign that has been in our front window through our mission.

Above: Elder Kevin and Sister Lou in final Nauvoo photo taken October 13, 2025

Elder and Sister McArthur (our neighbors to the south) came and brought us some snack candy for the road.  We appreciated this gift.  We later took them a half gallon of milk.

At this point, we were all ready to leave for Maricopa and home.  I had wanted to leave about 8:00 but it was right at 10:00 AM when we pulled out.  I posted several departure photos for the kids.

AND THEN THAT TERRIBLE MOMENT CAME …

A new post might begin, “Farewell Nauvoo … homeward bound”.  We had a prayer of thanksgiving for the glorious mission that has been ours.   I gave the prayer and got choked up somewhat in doing it.  Sister Hunt noticed it and she felt the same way. It was very sad to be leaving.  This mission had been such a joyful time.  We were and are grateful for the blessing of being in beautiful Nauvoo.

And a side note:  In our desert land of Arizona, we are not blessed to experience Fall and the changing leaves.  We loved the new experience of Fall in Nauvoo in 2024.  We had hoped to again see those changing leaves before we departed Nauvoo but such was not to be the case.  The weather was fabulous and beautiful but that meant too that we missed the orange and red leaves.  I guess we can’t have everything!

OUR NAUVOO EXODUS BEGINS

And with that, we were off.  We drove south to Keokuk – along the river route that we have been on probably 75 times (at least) but this green highway never gets old.  It is one of the prettiest drives I have ever been on. 

We went to the Walmart gas station and filled our tank.  We had to back-track a bit to get to 7^th street where we needed to turn south.  We got on the Highway 136 and drove on this highway for a hundred or so miles.

This was very much a country road – just a 2-lane road.  The scenery of the green rolling hills, the fields, and the country farm homes – was all gorgeous.  I loved the drive.  We went 60 miles per hour – and I didn’t want to go faster than that with our load anyway.

We crossed through the north end of Missouri and kind of went straight across.  We then crossed into Kansas.   (So we went through 4 states today – Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.) 

We talked along the way with our children Jackie, Kaylea, Rusty and Marinda.   (We talked to Lana at the hotel).  We also listened to some of the recent General Conference of the Church.

We continued through the day with the goal of ending up in Great Bend, Kansas.  There were no rest stops except near the end of the day.  We had plenty of munchies – mostly sweets – to eat all of the way.

We stopped for gas at Abilene, Kansas.  We got gas for just $2.22 per gallon – for premium.  Wow!  It has been years since I have seen gas for that low of a price.  We stopped there for dinner at Subway and got good sandwiches.

WE SPENT THE NIGHT IN METROPOLITAN GREAT BEND, KANSAS

We arrived at the Quality Inn in Great Bend.  We got checked in and went to our room 120. 

Above: Our car looked marvelous in the moonlight of the Quality Inn in Great Bend, Kansas

The room was very nice but was very much lacking adequate lighting.  We made it one third of our way home.  We plan to go right at 500 miles each of the three days.  This equates to right at 8 hours per day.

I got onto my computer and typed my journal entry for the day.  I was behind on my writing.  I did not write while Rusty and Fabriza were with us.  I wanted to type more but the lighting in the hotel was atrocious.  There were very small lamps on each side of the bed but no large central light.  I finally had to abandon the hope of getting caught up on the journals since I could not read my index cards of notes.

We were surprised to receive a message tonight from Sister Mehr:

“Elder and Sister Hunt, we miss you already! Thank you for your incredible service—your incredibly productive service! We have loved learning from you both and serving together in such a sacred experience—with so much fun as well! 

“We are both so grateful to you for the plentiful histories, the great information, the delicious treats, and just your company. We love you and are privileged to call you friends! 

“Drive safely, and please stay in touch! 

Much love!” 

OCTOBER 14^TH – TUESDAY (The journal continues …)

Day 2 of our westward journey …

We went to bed last night at 11 PM.  I awoke this morning at 4:30 AM and could not really get back to sleep.  This was frustrating.  I did get up at my now usual time of 6:15 AM.  Lou decided to get her shower first so that she could “work on her hair and make-up”.

Lou listened to the news station morning and learned that there was intense local fog that was to last until 9 AM.  So, this being the case, I was not in a hurry to get out of the door.  We only planned to drive for eight hours today so we didn’t need to hurry.

I spent a while working on my journal and completed writing from two days of notes.  This was good.  I needed only to write from one more note card.

We went and ate breakfast at the hotel “mini kitchen”.  They had a decent breakfast.  I got a small pastry roll, a really nice crisp waffle, orange juice, a yogurt, and some sausage.  Lou had sausage, eggs, and a bagel.

Last night we noticed a Walmart store located across the street from the Quality Inn hotel where we stayed.  We decided to go there to buy some snack goodies for our trip.  (Wouldn’t the real pioneers have loved that opportunity!)  It was a good thing that we saw the store sign last night.  This morning it was totally invisible in the fog.  We bought some grapes, a bakery package of banana walnut bread (so yummy), Pringles chips, a carton of lemonade, and a package of “thin mints” (chocolate cookies with a greet mint layer – and I have never seen such a “thin mint”.  The name said it all!)   We enjoyed munching on all of these items through the day.  It was a good thing that we had these items because on the road that we travelled, we hardly saw a store or food joint all day.

FOLLOWING THE MORMON BATTALION ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL

For nearly 40 years, I have been a member of the “modern” Mormon Battalion. 

Above: Kevin Hunt as member of the “modern” Mormon Battalion

The original Battalion traveled directly through what is now our town of Maricopa, Arizona.  And about eighteen miles west of Maricopa is where the Battalion spent their bleak Christmas of 1846. 

Above: Mormon Battalion “Christmas Camp” site – Christmas 1846 near Maricopa, Arizona

Battalion members were quite destitute at that point.  Their clothes were “thread-bare” and their diet scant at best.  They were literally saved by the Pima-Maricopa Indians who cared for them with pumpkins, squash and the like.

For most of those 40 years local Boy Scouts camped and hiked at the “Christmas Camp”.  Our dedicated Battalion group staged campfire programs virtually every weekend from October (when the heat finally subsided) through April (when the heat hit again).  In these programs we shared the story, faith and sacrifice of the original Battalion.

Above: Wagon ruts along the Mormon Battalion Trail in Arizona

I did not have the time to help much on these programs but I did make a major personal commitment in another way.  After the Scouts had experienced the above out on the trail, and after they achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, Battalion members went to their Eagle Courts of Honor and presented a classy bull skull neckerchief slide.  I believe that I made about 150 or more of those presentations through the years.

Above: Scouter Kevin Hunt making presentation of buffalo skull neckerchief skull to new Eagle Scouts

Above: Mormon Battalion buffalo skull neckerchief slide presented to new Eagle Scouts

So it is obvious that I loved the Mormon Battalion.  And being also an avid historian, I wanted to combine the two.

As I anticipated our return home, I realized that the most direct route might be to follow the route taken by those hearty soldiers of the U.S. Army of the West (in the Mexican-American War between Mexico and the United States).  On one of our church history immersion trips with the young sister missionaries I had picked up a brochure with a map of the Battalion route.  I looked at it and it was perfect.  It was exactly where we needed to go.

Above: Route taken by the Mormon Battalion 1846 from Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas to California

The Battalion was mustered into service at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas – near our modern day Kansas City.   Our first night hotel was carefully calculated along the Mormon Battalion trail just past Kansas City.  I had to find just the right place to stay – to equalize out our travel days home.  And another challenge was to find hotels along that route.  They were kind of few and far between.

ALONG THE MORMON BATTALION TRAIL

I learned that the Battalion route almost exactly followed the historic Santa Fe Trail – that began westward from Independence.  As we drove, I looked all along the way for signs or markers about the Battalion.  I found one that commemorated the Santa Fe Trail.

The Journal for Tuesday, October 14 records:  We left the town of Great Bend this morning heading for Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The fog continued for another couple of hours.  We were really on a remote road.  We were almost the only folks on our side of the road.  We only saw three or four other cars going our way.  There were many more on the other side.

We drove through Kansas, then through a small corner of Oklahoma, and then into New Mexico.  We followed the famed Santa Fe Trail.  I had selected this route since it was also the approximate route of the Mormon Battalion.  I hoped to find Battalion markers all along the way.  In this I was disappointed, however.  We did stop at many markers along the way but we did not find a single one about the Battalion.  This was a major disappointment.

The drive was mostly quite bland – with little foliage or other excitement – other than some herds of cows.  The countryside looked very much like the Indian reservation in northern Arizona – on our route up the Kaibab Mountain and into Utah.  We missed the corn fields and other beautiful green rolling hills of Missouri as we had experienced yesterday.

We drove for right at 500 miles today – as we did yesterday – and as we will do again tomorrow.  The Google maps said that the distance from Nauvoo to Maricopa is 1,501 miles.  I was able to plan the trip so that we had three equal driving days – within minutes of each other.

I drove most of the way.  I did have Lou drive for an hour so that I could take a nap.  And this was wonderful.

Lou was in a major panic all day – stressed about traffic (or lack thereof … the threat of a break down out in the middle of nowhere), the rain, the fog, and more. 

She clung to her phone and kept us on track with her navigation skills.  I greatly appreciated her help but was a bit challenged by her OCD attention to obvious details, signs, and situations.  She was a good navigator.

We had a one hour time change – so we got to our destination an hour earlier – but paid for it through a longer overall day.

President Oaks put out a message to all Church members of the world.  He invited us to a special broadcast in which the new First Presidency would be announced.  This was to be at 1:00 Pm (Utah time) and 2:00 PM our time.  We had difficulty getting the broadcast so we didn’t actually get to hear it.  This was a disappointment.

Above: New First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced October 14, 2025. President and Prophet Dallin H. Oaks (Center), Pres. Henry B. Eyring (left – 1st counselor, and Pres. D. Todd Christofferson – (right – 2nd Counselor)

Later we found the news that he had been ordained today as the 18^th Prophet of this dispensation.  The news did not say that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland would have been voice in the ordination but he is second to President Oaks in seniority.  He will be the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (not just the “acting president” while President Oaks was in the Presidency with President Nelson).  President Oaks picked as his counselors Elder Henry B. Eyring (who was 2^nd counselor to Pres. Hinckley, 1^st counselor to Pres. Monson, 2^nd counselor to Pres. Nelson- and who will now again be 1^st Counselor.  He picked Elder D. Todd Christofferson as his new 2^nd Counselor.  Elder C. was kind of a surprise pick – though he will be great. 

President Oaks is age 93 and Pres. Eyring is 92.  Elder Holland is 84.  None of these men are in good health.  Many are showing signs of their advanced age.  These brethren will likely all be gone within five years.  Sad thought!  Elder Christofferson is the “young buck” at age 80.

Along our way today we listened to several talks from General Conference.  I liked the talk by Elder Uchtdorff about talents and Elder Rasband’s message about the “Family Proclamation”.

We experienced quite heavy fog as we were about an hour and a half from our Santa Fe destination.  This was sad since the scenery along the way – possibly even mountains – looked gorgeous.  We were sad that we could not see the beautiful country.  I think that this was my first time through this country.

The fog lifted about 15 miles from Santa Fe and this was wonderful.  By then, however, we had descended down into a less vegetated area.  As we approached Santa Fe, I quickly noted what a beautiful city it is.  I was impressed with the Spanish and South Western theme of the buildings, businesses, etc.  The rolling hills and trees were all beautiful.

Above: The Inn at Santa Fe – the Inn where we spent the night en route home. A wonderful place!

We got checked into our hotel.  We stayed in “The Inn at Santa Fe”.  I soon learned to really like this place.  It is decorated in a southwest theme.  The room was quite nicely arranged.  We got a room (#312) with a single queen bed but it is nicely furnished.  And it had quite a bit more available light than we had last night.

As we headed toward Santa Fe, my taste buds were anticipating some great Santa Fe Mexican food. I figured that they would have the best. After we got checked into our room, we went to a little hole in the wall Mexican food place that Google recommended to us after we asked for “The best Mexican food near the Best Western Hotel in Santa Fe”)  This place was called, “El Comal“.  This was a little family run business that has been going since 1977.  I got a combinacion plate with a tamale, a hard taco, cheese enchilada, and rice and beans.  The tamale had been around a while and was not fresh. I am not into cheese so did not get into the enchilada.  The other items were good.  And the sopapilla was very impressive.  It was about 8 inches long and was wonderful with honey.  That made the meal.

Above: Elder Kevin and Lou Hunt eating Mexican food en route home from mission. Note the “Mormon Battalion” bolo tie worn by Elder Hunt

Back at the hotel room, we tried to find a TV show to watch but were disappointed with the lack in what we saw.  Lou worked on her own journal for a while.  I typed my entry for this past Sunday.  I continued writing for today’s activities – even after Lou went to bed (10:30 Nauvoo time and 9:30 New Mexico time).

I got something in my right eye and this bothered me for several hours today.  I tried eye drops, washing out my eye, using a damp cloth, etc. but nothing seemed to help.

JUST ONE MORE DAY HOME TO OUR MARICOPA

It was Wednesday, October 15, and I recorded: We awoke this morning at the beautiful Inn at Santa Fe.   I loved this impressive place and its southwest theme décor.  The goal for the day was to get home.  Last night Lou said, “What hotel are we staying at tomorrow?”  She wanted to get her GPS directions going.  I said, “We are staying at the HuOnt hotel tomorrow.”  She laughed and said, “Oh, yeah …”. So funny!

This morning we packed up our things and used a hotel cart to cart all of the stuff downstairs to the car.

We went to breakfast at the hotel.  This was an amazing breakfast.  I found one entrée interesting … beans with green chili on the side – perfect for Southwest Santa Fe. I was all over that one! Great stuff!

We were soon on our way.  Today was our final travel day home.  We got gas at a Love’s station in Albuquerque – $3.17 per gallon … the highest we have paid in many months.  We traveled on I-25 south to Albuquerque and then west on the I-40 through New Mexico and then on into Arizona.  We  turned south on Highway 277 toward Payson.

WE FINALLY FOUND A MORMON BATTALION MARKER

All along our way, we continued to check out markers – hoping to find some about the Mormon Battalion.  We found absolutely none.  We found many markers about the Santa Fe Trail that we were following.  Finally this morning we saw a large highway sign advertising a Battalion monument.  We took the exit but could not find the monument.  Lou got stressed as I drove on a couple of dirt roads (with our loaded car) in search of the monument.  I then looked it up on Google and saw that it was in our area – and that it was 20 feet tall – with a wagon on the top of the monument.  I recognized the monument – located about 100 yards – at least from the I-25 freeway.  And there appeared to be no exit opportunity anywhere around.

Above: Mormon Battalion monument as we sped by on the I-25 freeway from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, New Mexico

There appeared to be no easy road to the monument so I had to settle for a zoom photo taken by Lou – and what I found on-line.

Above: Mormon Battalion Monument Photo: By Pictom – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33465054

Google states: “The Mormon Battalion Monument is a historic obelisk in rural Sandoval County, New Mexico. It was built in honor of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who served in the United States Army‘s Mormon Battalion during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. It was built in 1940, removed in 1982, and rebuilt in 1996.

Location

The original monument was located “32 miles north of Albuquerque on Highway 85.”^[1] The 1996 monument is located “five miles northeast of San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico […] near the dead end of a road reached via exit 257 on Interstate 25.”^[2] It is located off a frontage road along the north side of Interstate 25.^[3]

WELCOME TO ARIZONA

Getting closer to home!

GETTING A&W ROOT BEER FOR KEITH

We stopped in the lovely (not) town of Holbrook.  We got gas again there.  We stopped at the A&W Root Beer stand there.  I think there are only a couple of A&W stands left in the whole state of Arizona and one of them is in metropolitan Holbrook.  At least there is one positive thing about Holbrook.  We bought a glass for Lou and me to share and also a gallon to give to Keith.  He loves A&W root beer.  It did taste pretty fabulous.  It has been a long time since we have had A&W root beer.

The road 260 across the Mongollon Rim to Payson was beautiful, as ever. I love driving through the pine trees. 

Above: The majestic Mongollon Rim near Payson, Arizona

At the town of Payson, we stopped at Walmart and did drink and drain.  We then headed down the mountains from Payson toward home.

WE STOPPED EN ROUTE TO SEE JACKIE AND FAMILY

Jackie invited us to stop at her place for dinner on our way home.  She made pulled pork sandwiches (on her homemade wheat buns), a cabbage salad, and chips.  They greeted us with a large poster that said, “Nauvoo Busted”.  (When we left for the mission their sign said, “Nauvoo or Bust”.)

We called Jackie to see if the family wanted to come outside for a photo with the sign.  No answer …  And then all three Bowles boys jumped up from hiding behind the 3’ wall in their front yard.  They waved colorful banners.  It was a fun surprise.  It was great to see the family once again.  We saw most of the family at Bryson and Annie’s wedding in June but Blake was not there.  He had gone to EFY (or FSY) that week.  Also, Michael was not there.  So, we have not seen Blake or Michael since July of last year (2024) when they came to Nauvoo.  Blake had grown quite a bit taller.  He had just had a fresh new and very tight hair perm.  They showed us a documentary about bee hives.

We then headed on home.  By this time, it was dark.  (It gets dark earlier than in Nauvoo.  Arizona does not go on “daylight savings time”.  Arizona is two hours “behind” Nauvoo.  (So 7 PM in Nauvoo would be 5 PM in Arizona.)

We were kind of out of practice about roads to take home from Jackie’s.  We got stuck in really stagnant traffic on the Highway #347.   (Things have not changed!)  The traffic was backed up totally from the I-10 freeway clear into Maricopa.  This was long and frustrating.  We certainly did not miss this horrible road while on our mission to Nauvoo (with the very quiet and mellow traffic).

We started to go to Keith’s house to deliver his root beer to him but as we were on the phone, our kids said that he was not at home.  With this news, I “smelled a rat” thinking that the family might be gathered at our home.  Kaylea (ready for the Zoom call) called to see what was taking us so long to get to our place.  We soon found ourselves on a Zoom conference call with all of the out-of-town family members.  The Zoom crowd included Kaylea and JD and family, Bryson and Annie, Lana and family, Dallin, and Jenae.  It was fun to see them.

WE JOINED A WELCOME HOME PARADE

As we pulled onto our street from Porter – onto Iron Point Road, we noted the massive apartment complex which was completed on the corner as we were gone.  When we left.  The foundations for the structures were just being poured.  These are visible over houses on our street to the east of us.

As we rounded the corner onto the little street just east of us, we soon discovered a plethora of our family members (in the dark).  They were causing quite a stir with their noise and the signs that they were all carrying.  I am sure that the neighbors were all wondering if they were about to have an invasion.  It may have sounded that way.  Each child had made his/her own sign – and these looked wonderful.  Stuart and maybe others – took a video of the parade – and it was fun to see the fun that everyone was having. Excitement was at a high peak.

The parade followed us (or vice versa) to our own home on Plata Street. We happily greeted and hugged each family member.  The assembled group included Keith and Kayla and their eight children, Marinda and Mike and their seven children, Larissa and Stu and their two boys, too.  It was a joyous occasion to greet our loving family after being away from them for so long.

Above: Welcome home sign by Oliver

We greeted each family member with their own hug – and this was good for all.  I tried to make sure that I greeted each one.  Each of the children was proud of the signs that they had made.  It was fun to see them all. 

Above: Welcome Home signs by family

Kayla had made a large sign for the front of the house – and which was hung on the garage door.  This was actually two long banner signs.  The top sign said, “This is the Place” and the other said, “Welcome Home” (and it had a small house in between the words). 

Above: Welcome home Elder Kevin and Sister Lou Hunt

I liked others that were made by Larissa and that said, “Served with Love, Returning with Honor”.  and “Nauvoo … forever in our hearts”. 

Our neighbor, William Phelps heard all of the commotion and realized that we had arrived home.  He surprised us both with a hug.  Interesting reaction from him!  We are grateful for his repair of our sprinkler head once when the pipe burst recently.

It was also interesting to see the yard.  We didn’t see much in the back but we checked out the front.  The central willow tree had grown to be enormous – even higher than the house.  The Chinese Pistache tree is marvelous.  It has done well.

We went inside the home and were kind of in awe of the place.  It looked so huge after our small Dunn home in Nauvoo.  We were pleased to see our three new couches that we bought and which were delivered in our absence. 

We had sent our other couches home with Larissa and Stu – and their dogs, too.  We have a new WIFI provider.  Larissa and Stu cleaned the place and did a great job.  (They lived here in our absence for over a year.  They moved at the end of May and got into their own place that is near to us.)

All of the family members were anxious to help us unpack the car – so we let them go for it.  I pulled the great amount of “stuff” from the car and gave it to each family member – who also formed a long chain to get the “stuff” into the house.  I tried to find just the right size and weight of packages for each child.  Little Elliot – age two – was particularly pleased with the small fry pan that I gave him to carry in.  With all of the many helpers, we soon had the car unpacked.

Above: Elliot doing his part carrying small pan

Above: Car stuff piled in the living room (front view) How did we get all of this “stuff” into our wagon coming west from Nauvoo?

We were all amazed at the at the large quantity of “stuff” that we had packed into the car.  Lou could not believe that I had fit it all in.  There was a large stack of “stuff” on the kitchen table, another in the living room and another in our bedroom.

Above: More stuff piled in the bedroom

It was about 8 Pm when we arrived at our home.  It was a school night so the families did not stay real long after the unpacking.  It was great to have their help and it was really great to be home with them all once again.

TRYING TO GET SETTLED … AT LEAST FOR THE FIRST NIGHT HOME

We decided to make a late-night trip to Walmart to buy much needed supplies.  It cost us $174.  Lou noted that it was like “starting over” since we had to buy standard stuff – like Hunt’s Ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, paper plates, toilet paper, and much more.

While at the store we saw Scott Moore, the stake Executive Secretary.  He surprised Lou when he said, “You guys must have just got home”.  He had communicated with me previously about a possible time for us to be released from the Mission by President Weyroach.  This president is to be released on Sunday and Scott does not know if he will release us or if the release will happen with the new president.  It is a logistical thing for them – it really does not matter much to us.

In our mail today we received a reimbursement check from the Church for our expenses relative to our return trip home.  It was based on a set formula for all missionaries and the mileage from the mission to home.  Our mileage was 1,501 miles.  Per the formula we were paid mileage at 22 cents per mile, and money for hotel stays and food en route.  I think our actual expanses were about $500.  I need to add up the receipts.

After I wrote the above paragraph, I added up the figures.  We spent $196.30 on gas for the trip.  This was 72.25 gallons.  Dividing this figure into the 1,500 miles means that we averaged 20.76 miles per gallon – even with the very heavy load on our wagon – and going about 65 miles per hour much of the way.  We spent only $90.32 new money on food and snacks.  But we started the journey with many snacks which we already had.  We spent $200 on hotels.  So we spent a total of $487.22 for the entire trip.  Not bad!

Above: Front bedroom full of stuff – no mattress even in sight

Our own bed mattress was buried really deep in the front bedroom.    We looked at the room and decided it was not worth trying to un-bury it.  It was just too much work.  We therefore decided to sleep on the queen sized air mattress in our own bedroom.  Lou set this up between the boards of our big bed frame (that had held Larissa and Stu’s own mattress) – and so the sideboards kind of held the air mattress in without it “wobbling” of bouncing with each turn.  This actually worked quite well. It was actually quite comfortable!

THE MORNING AFTER – THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16TH

At the end of the day, I recorded:  We were kind of tired last night so I set the alarm to go off at 7:45 AM.  We actually slept to 7:15 AM.  This was good.

I went right to work on the house.  I first cleaned all three toilets.  I then began to go through many of the boxes, bags, and suitcases that were piled high.  I dealt with a multitude of items. I put these things away and then took the next items and put them away.  In the process I pulled out all of my western shirts that I had stored away in my “office” before we left.  I got my own closet stuff all organized.

Above: “The “office/museum” room stuffed full

Above: The front bedroom full of stuff

I set up my computer on the desktop that folds down and opens on our new couch.  The desk is between two recliner seats.  It is a great place to do my computer work.  I also set up a small folding table (same brown color as the new couches) and on this I put my computer printer.  It will be nice to have this right next to me as I sit on the couch at my computer.  Looks like a great “office”. (I have “my side” and Lou has “her side”. It is truly great!)

Above: New “Couch offices” for Kevin and Lou. Fabulous!

I worked on the switches that go to the overhead lights, the printer, and the computer and got them all in order and functioning well.  I really love this new desk arrangement.  It is glorious and wonderful.  It will be very comfortable and efficient for me to work at.  The two recliner seats are also amazing.  They will recline about ten ways.  We tested them out last night.  I told Lou that she will have a lot of nice options as she sleeps through Hallmark movies each night. (She said, “You too!)

Above: The new living room arrangement

I worked at my tasks through the whole morning and until about 1:30 PM.  Larissa was kind enough to come to help Lou work on her kitchen and getting it put back together. 

Above: Kitchen mess awaiting organization

Most of our kitchen stuff (except for what we took to Nauvoo) had been packed in the front bedroom – around the sewing cabinet.  It was nice to get this stuff out of that room.  They worked for two or three hours on the project and made good progress – but there is still much more to do.

Larissa left for a while to get Oliver from his little pre-school.  He attends this school – taught alternatively by Larissa’s friends.  He goes two days each week and the ladies take turns being the teacher and hosting the activity.  This seems to work well for all.  Larissa fed Oliver and then they both came back to our place for more kitchen organization.  I enjoyed visiting with Oliver – the guy with “the 4-year old brain” as he says.  He is a fun and a funny little guy (in what he says).

We went to the nearby town of Ahwatukee to watch Sienna play volleyball.  We were traumatized by traffic at the 347 at Queen Creek Road entrance to the I-10 freeway.  It was really backed up.  We opted to go clear around on Price Road and then north.  This was likely a mistake.  We did finally make it to the beautiful and fabulous Desert Vista High School where Sienna now attends.  We were late in arriving and missed the first set which Sienna and her team played and lost.  We got to watch the second set – which they won.  Both of these games went to 25 points. The teams then had to play a final match – to 15 points.  This was a tight set and either team could have won.  Ultimately Sienna’s team won 17-15.

Momma Lou was traumatized over the prospect of another night on the 347 Highway back to Maricopa.  I suggested that we stall for time – to let the “rush hour” finish its course and that we could go out to dinner.  I took Lou to the Cracker Barrel restaurant at Chandler Heights at the I-10 freeway.  We missed Cracker Barrel while on our mission – since the nearest such place was 75-100 miles from Nauvoo.  It was great to be back there once again.

We did not know it was, but we learned that it was Thursday Turkey Dinner night.  This was wonderful.  Lou and I both got this meal.  I got carrots and mashed potatoes with my turkey, dressing, and cranberry.  A great meal.

Back at home, Lou continued to slave over her kitchen.  She and Larissa had earlier washed everything down so that everything would be clean to go back into the drawers and cupboards.  Lou put the stuff into those places.  She still has a lot to do, however.  So much stuff and so little space in which to put it all.

Lou also did a search for her waffle irons (plural).  She needs them to prepare waffles for the Roller children whom we are to tend tomorrow night.  Sadie maintains that mini-waffle making is a big part of the traditional activities that we stage for them when we are sitting them as their parents are out.

I sent out several thank you notes to folks who assisted last night in the welcome home gathering.  We seriously have the best family!  They made us feel special.  It was great to be back home amongst them once again.

Lou finished her kitchen project by finding a home for everything from the counter.

Above: Our kitchen in renewed glory

She sat down to try out the new couch recliner.  She tried it in various ways that it reclines.  She said, “With this couch, I may never see another Hallmark Movie again!”

GETTING RIGHT BACK INTO OUR GRANDPA AND GRANDMA DUTIES

On Friday, less than two days home, we got right back into the grandparent duties.  We went to the Pima Butte School and there met Larissa and Oliver as well as Marinda and Mike – with Sadie (who is off school on Fridays), Rosalie, Elliot, and Maylee.  The occasion was honor roll certificates to achieving students of the first quarter.  In the 9 AM gathering, Samuel (3^rd grade) was recognized with the “Principal List” designation for getting straight A grades.  We then stayed for the 9:30 gathering wherein Cali was recognized on the A/B  list for getting all A’s and B’s.  She got all A’s except for one B.  We were proud of each of them.

Larissa came back and was here all afternoon.  She and Lou put up a lot of Lou’s clothes that were packaged up in the vacuum bags.  They brought many items out of the front bedroom.  Larissa also brought us burritos for lunch.  Oliver kept me entertained with his funny words.  Such a funny boy.

The kids have been looking forward to tonight.  Whenever we talked to Grant he mentioned that we were going to tend them on the 17^th. 

Marinda missed us as we were gone – since they have seldom been able to have a date night (without paying huge bucks for a sitter) in our absence.  (We are often their sitters!)  In Nauvoo, we talked of our coming home.  She thought that we would want a few weeks or something before we would be up for tending.  She was thrilled when I suggested the 17^th – just two days after our return.

Larissa and Oliver left soon after 3:00 PM.  She needed to go get Andy from school.  Marinda brought the seven kids soon after 4:00 PM.  The place was still in a trauma but they were able to make it through the maze.  The kids were happy to be here.

Upon arrival, the kids went straight to the “kid’s room” to play with the toys.  Lou and Larissa had found most of the toys and there were toys in both rooms.  They had a grand time playing together.  Elliot brought me a plethora of stuffed animals for me to tell him what animal they were.

These grandchildren – and particularly Sadie – have known the whole routine which we follow when we have them over here at our place.  She listed the many things that we usually do with them.  So, per the list, Lou made them mini-waffles. 

The kids loved these.  I think that Grant (age 6) ate 22 of them!

We sat Maylee in a toddler seat and perched her atop of the dining table.  I fed her applesauce, the waffles, and a banana (all in small pieces) as she perched there.  She seemed to love the food also.

Earlier in the day, I had pulled out the trolley bike.  This is a “quadricycle” that has four wheels, seats 11 with 2 babies or toddlers, and has six spots for peddlers.  Oliver watched as I sprayed it down with water.  It had collected a lot of dust.  It cleaned up nicely.  The lights did not work but everything else was normal.  It was ready for riding.  The kids were super excited and anxious to get on board.  Their family size worked well for the available seats.

Above: 7 Roller children on Kevin and Lou’s Quadricycle

Typically we would have taken a trek on the Quad to McDonald’s (located about a half mile north of us) but Lou’s hip has been sore (and we are out of shape – having not exercised at all while in Nauvoo) and she did not want to go on an extended ride.  We chose instead to pedal over to the little HOA park (located a couple of blocks north of us).  We had fun on this trek.  It was nice to have some older kids to help with the pedaling.

The kids were all excited about going to the park and they got right into it.  Even little Maylee (just barely a year old) climbed up the play structure.

As we were there, a lady and her son came and talked to us.  Her boy had seen our apparatus and was excited to see some “friends” to play with.  He came and blended in with the kids.  His name is Justin and he is about age 4.  The lady was friendly.  She said her name is Shay.  We went to introduce ourselves and without thinking otherwise, I said “We are Elder and Sister Hunt”.  (It was dark, but we had our name tags on – since we have not yet been released.  Shay said that she is a member of the church.  She lives in a home across the street from the park).  She said that she and her non-member husband, Eric, had just moved in recently.  I pulled up the ward directory and she and the two kids were listed there.  She said that her husband has taken the missionary lessons two or three times and that they had recently met with the missionaries (Elders) and that he has been to church with her.

Of course I saw this as a missionary opportunity and so we invited them to come to dinner (in a couple of weeks after our lives stabilize a bit).  She acted excited with the invitation.  I look forward to having them come.  I hope that we can hit it off with the husband.

We came home and Lou changed a messy diaper of Elliot.  After she had changed him, he stood up and gave her a kiss of thank you.  This surprised and pleased Lou.

We loaded up all of the kids into our wagon.  Two kids had to share one seatbelt.  We drove over to McDonald’s (about a half mile away) and went inside for ice cream cones.  We caused quite a scene with our crowd.  I bought cones for everyone – including Maylee.  The kids were all pleased with the large size of the cones.  Elliot (age 2) got big happy eyes as I handed him the cone.  He thought he was big stuff.  This was a fun activity.

Back at home, I gathered the kids around on one of our new couches.  I read to them. 

Above: Kevin reading to Roller children (inserting all of their names while reding and then a “bump on the head” to each one at the end of each book – per our tradition)

We had found some great pop-up books at the Fudge Factory in Nauvoo (on sale for just 50 cents each) and I read these four books to them.  I even managed to stay awake as I read.  Sadie in her list of things that we do said that they try to keep Grandpa awake during reading (and she said that they were thinking of ways on how they might keep me awake).  I inserted their names as I read and this pleased them.   I also did the “bump on the head” after each book.  It was fun to read to them again.

We then let them watch a movie (also on the list).  I had climbed up into the mountain of stuff in the front bedroom and had been able to pull the living room rug out from against the back wall.  Lou was pleased that we had it for the kids.  They loved being able to stretch out on the floor and the couches.

They picked the Disney “Aladdin” movie to watch.  The kids were glued to the movie – as usual – and were really into it.  I had a bit of a nap on my new couch.  This new couch desk is way too comfortable.  I fear that I will have this sleeping problem many times in the future.

We were grateful for the help of Larissa in getting the TV operational – after returning home – and with new WIFI for the home.  She worked with Kaylea (via phone) to get all of the movie connections set up for us.

Mike and Marinda arrived back at our home about 11:30 PM.  They had a fun night out together.  They first went to the Mesa Temple and did a few sealing ordinances.  I had found just a few names for them to do.  They were there with just one other couple.  They then hurried off to the Hale Theater in Gilbert – and arrived less than 10 minutes before the show of “Singing in the Rain” began.  They love going to this place and Mike’s parents had given them tickets to see a show.  They did not have money to go out to eat but Lou had cooked pot pies for them and gave them the pot pies, Hawaiian rolls, and a fruit salad (and Alyicia’s cupcakes) as a take-out meal on their way to Gilbert.

While Lou was fixing Mike’s pants, he went to our washroom and hooked up the washer and dryer units.  This made Lou very happy.  They were stored in the garage most of the time while we were gone since Larissa and Stu had their own units.  Mike found a lot of dust in the units.

So, with all of the above, it was about 12:30 PM (Arizona time) when the family was able to make their departure.

We had a great time with the kids.  They got along well and had big smiles in every photo that Lou took of them through the night.  We were happy that we could tend for the folks and that they got a night out.  They have not had many of those as we have been away.

Fun to be back with the grandkids!  We have all missed that association.

MORE GRAND TIMES WITH THE GRANDS

On Saturday, Sister Hunt and I arose early and drove back to Tempe (about 40 miles north of Maricopa).  We joined Jackie and family for a “mud run” out in the town of Apache Junction.  We took great photos but avoided the mud.  We stayed until the afternoon and went to a basketball game starring Caleb.  He is getting pretty good at this sports stuff.

From the mud bog, Lou and I and Jackie went to watch Caleb play in a basketball game. That boy is all about sports.

Above: Kevin and Lou with grandson Caleb – my younger “twin” as a basketball star

We got back in the afternoon in time to tend once again for Mike and Marinda.  This time they went to the afternoon leadership session of our stake conference.

OUR FIRST MEETING WITH THE HOME SAINTS

Then in the evening, Lou and I went to the stake center (still wearing missionary nametags – since we have not been released yet).

Upon arrival, we saw Kirk Evans of the Hidden Valley Ward.  We exchanged “Greetings!” (My trademark word of 50 years.)  We also saw our Bishop Scoresby.  He said, “It looks as if you are taking up where you left off.”  (Whatever that means!)  Larissa was there ahead of us and she saved a couple of seats for us.  On our same row were Mark and Emily Leavitt – our 3^rd cousins.  She came over and said that she had to hug Aunt Lou and Uncle Kevin.  She calls us that to her children.  Mark came over and I greeted him as “brother/cousin”.  I got a great hug out of him.  Later, after the meeting, we were greeted by another cousin – Ken Barnum – and another hug.  He said that he read all of my missionary blog articles and enjoyed them.

 After the meeting we talked to Brother Tom Bogle of our Bishopric.  He said that they have been talking already of places for us to serve as we now have returned.  We talked of their missionary son, Karston, who is serving in Mexico.  We talked to Brother and Sister Burgoyne for a while.  Lyle Hamblin talked to me for a bit.  It was really fun to see all of these people and they seemed happy to see us.  Brother Burgoyne said how much of an impression we have made on them and “the stake” through our willingness to serve and the way that we have been totally committed in our callings.  This was a great compliment.  We were Activity Day Leaders to their one son and it sounds as if he really loved us.  We had his little brother for just a short while and I guess he has been sad at times when his brother talks of the good times with us.

A while ago I discovered a gift card for the Coldstone Ice Cream place.  I called the number and found that there is still a balance of $38 on it.  We had earlier determined to go there after the meeting and we invited Larissa to go along with us – to help eat up the balance.  She was happy to go with us.  (Stu had remained home with the boys.)  It was funny that we saw Mark and Emily there also.

As we walked in, a little Spanish girl saw me in my checkered blue suit and she asked, “Are you the President? [of the United States]?”  I replied that “no, I am not the president but I am a missionary for our church”.  Her father was “Manny” and he said that he is a “Christian” in nearby Casa Grande.

I ordered “apple pie viva Coldstone” and this turned out to be fabulous.  It had apple slices, cinnamon, and graham crackers “pounded” into the French Vanilla ice cream.  I had them add pecans.  And Wow!  This was amazing and wonderful.  That might just have to be my next go-to ice cream (since I will miss the Turtle sundae in Keokuk!)

Back at home, I worked for quite a while on the mission news history.  I worked to copy and paste large group photos onto the cover page as well as many representing the FM missionaries onto 3 FM pages.  Still doing missionary tasks – even at home … but we do still have our nametags on.  No release in sight!

A NEW STAKE PRESIDENCY

On our first Sunday home, we went to our stake conference.  Again we saw some more friends.  And we sustained a new stake presidency – with Addison Horst as the new stake president.

We went wearing our missionary nametags.  We still have not been released.  I am sure that the old and new stake presidencies have been rather busy.  We are not in a rush.  I am sure that it will happen all too soon.

Back at home, I worked again on the August mission news history.  I worked on a couple of pages about the Hawaiian luau that we staged on August 8^th.   Between Lou and me, we had quite a few good photos of that busy night.

Lou worked to unpack vacuumed bags in the bedroom.  She got rid of many of the bags.  The bedroom now looks amazingly “open”.  I appreciated her efforts.

CONTINUING THE QUEST TO GET UNPACKED

Over the next several days, Lou and I worked all day many days to put “stuff” away.  We both worked really hard at the tasks – and we wore ourselves out.  I set up our Nauvoo bench – with the bench that I found on-line in Tempe and which Michael picked up for me.  This bench has some boxes at the bottom and these spaces will work great for my Nauvoo books. boxes.  I barely had enough space for the many books.

Above: Hunt bedroom – with Nauvoo hats on the corner rack!

We also got our bedroom set up.   Lou cleared the mattress in the front bedroom so we were able to move our own mattress back onto our frame in the bedroom.  I was able to get the bedroom shelves and end tables out of the “office” and into the bedroom.  It was very nice to get our bedroom back into operation.  It has been a while.

We pulled “stuff” from the two front rooms.  This “stuff” has been stored there – floor to ceiling in both rooms – as we were   And Lou did a multitude of loads of washing laundry.  Late in the day Lou pointed to two large vacuum bags.  I had thought that I was done with “my stuff”.  After she found the bags, I said, “I don’t want any more bags.”

On Monday I noted that we were both exhausted after the work of the day and I knew that Lou did not feel like cooking a meal for us.  We decided to go out to eat – and we both wanted the relatively new “Slim Chickens” restaurant which is located across the tracks by McDonalds.  We got a 7-piece meal and shared it.  This was like the meal that we get at “Raising Canes” – but it was cheaper than Cane’s.  We were able to eat for less than $20 for the two of us.  The chicken, toast, and French fries were wonderful – as was the brownie.  We shared all.

We then went to Walmart where we bought eight large pumpkins for our family event this Saturday.  These were just $3.97 each and this price was even quite a bit less even than Superstition Ranch.   Lou hand-picked the pumpkins – according to size and the size of the “stems”. 

Back at home, I had computer issues on several fronts.  I could not find the master file for the “Missouri, Nauvoo, and Westward” church history book.  This was frustrating.  I finally had to open the PowerPoint original master and saved it to a PDF file.  I had promised the file to Cousin Bev.  I also lost the journal entry from last night.  It took a while but ultimately I found the file rather late at night.  I was grateful that I finally found the file.  Computers can be such fun at times!

SO MUCH TO BE DONE …

Tuesday found Lou doing still more of same.  The stacks just do not seem to come down.

I spent the full day working on the back yard.  There was so much to do back there.  My first task was to take cut the large branches that came down from the willow tree in a  big recent storm.  I then took down the trampoline.  This has springs that have come detached from the pad.  It took a while  – and effort to get this taken apart.  I stacked the metal alongside of the side gate.  We have had parts to two previous trampolines – and have had the parts all over the back yard.  I decided to get rid of all of these parts – since we recently purchased a new tramp for use by the grandchildren.  

I picked up trash all over the place.  I organized the yard.  I then used the blower machine to blow off dust and debris from everything.

Marinda came with her three youngest children and Larissa came with Oliver.  They helped Lou remove stuff and deal with it  They also helped Lou put sheets and blankets on all of the beds – to get them ready for company.  They made major progress.

Marinda then helped me spray down everything.  She operated the hose and nozzle as I used a brush broom to brush off water and bird stuff.  She was very helpful and together we got the place looking great.

Above: Backyard family gathering place for the Kevin and Lou Hunt family

With this, the yard was finished.  It looked truly beautiful.  Lou was really surprised with all of the work accomplished and how good everything looked.  She thought that the tasks would take two or three days to complete.

Mike came over later – with all of his marvelous tools, screws, etc.  He set up the new trampoline.  He seemed to know exactly what needed to be done and he got right into it.  It was obvious that he had done this before.  The kids also had fun helping him with tasks that they could do.  And Mike was great to let them assist.  Before long, the trampoline was completely set up – including the tall safety net.  The new unit was wonderful.  We look forward to making the new trampoline available for the grandkids.  It is fun to get a new tramp – after having so many second hand tramps that were worn out before we got them.

That same night, we also met with our Bishop Scoresby.  We had good conversation with him about Nauvoo.  He invited us to have a joint Temple interview – and this worked well for us since as Lou said, “We know all about each other anyway.”  We opted for the new option of an electronic recommend – available on the church app on our phones.  This is in lieu of the paper recommends of the past.  Wow!  It will be interesting to see how this works.

THE UNPACKING FUN CONTINUES

Wednesday (home a week) still remained very busy.

While in the office I opened a bunch of boxes to see what was in them.  I put some of them into rooms – like the pantry, our bedroom, etc.  I also separated out many boxes that I opted to leave in the room since it is not pressing to have the junk in the way at the moment.  I was able to put our heirloom trunk and then several more boxes on top of this.  By doing this I was able to pull many boxes out of the main entry and it was great to get this space cleared up.

Above: Books complied or written by Kevin Hunt

I was also able to pull out the shelf unit that houses my many books.  I first had to pull the books out of the shelves – in stacks around the office. I then moved the shelf unit to its position in the living room.  I spent some time organizing the books by kind – journals, my autobiography and the family heritage books.  It was nice to get these sorted and back on the shelves in the family room.

Larissa (and Oliver) was kind enough to come again to help us on our place.  This is a big effort since often she does not feel well.  She has been very dedicated to us and our unpacking cause.  Oliver came today dressed as a cowboy – with a western shirt and hat.  He loves the outfit but doesn’t want to be called a cowboy.  I sang him part of the song, “And if You get an outfit, you can be a cowboy too!”

She and Loui tackled the “grandkid room” today.    They were on a quest to sort through books that we have collected over time.  They came up with 4 boxes of books that we really do not need.  They are kid books but are kind of boring.  They got shelves put in the right places to maximize space to put the books in. 

Above: Hunt Grandkids “Hang-out Room”

Larissa also sorted through my Dr. Seuss book collection.  She sorted them to see which ones I had duplicate copies.  She came to me for a decision on which to keep.  I have over 50 books in my Seuss collection.  Love it!  I think that I have every book that he wrote.

Lou was able to empty many boxes that have been stored in the front bedroom – as we were gone.  The room looks presentable now for guests – Kaylea and family who will arrive tomorrow.  I got the days mixed up and thought that they were coming today.  The extra day helped us get further on our cleaning and sorting.

About 3 PM I received a text from Scott Moore (the Stake Executive Secretary – and now the first counselor in the stake presidency).  He asked if we could come at 6 PM for our mission release with the new President Horst.  Interesting that we had been home a week and were just now getting released.  I am sure that he had been very busy with the new stake reorganization.

I worked on the mission history/news this afternoon for a while.  I created a page of photos about the missionaries in the Nauvoo Grape Festival and 5K run.  I then felt that I was finished with the issue. I printed a black and white copy so that I could proof it adequately.  I read through the whole document and found several errors that needed to be corrected.  I then asked Lou to proofread the package – but of course she has a lot on her mind with all of the house stuff.

THE OFFICIAL MISSION RELEASE … A SAD DAY!

We had not been in too much of a rush for our mission release … and the new stake presidency had been plenty busy.  The appointment was made for Wednesday evening – a full week after our return.

Above: Last missionary photo of Elder Kevin and Sister Lou Hunt – with nametags – before mission release October 22, 2025

Lou and I then dressed in our Sunday clothes to go meet with our new stake President Addison Horst.  On the way to the meeting, I turned to Lou and said, “I have enjoyed working with you, Sister Hunt!”  She said, “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”  (“Women are from Venus and men are from Mars” as the old adage says!)

We went to the President’s office and had a very pleasant visit with him.  He was intrigued as we talked about the mission.  He thanked us sincerely for our service and expressed gratitude to Heavenly Father for the opportunity that we had to serve.  Then came the moment that we had been dreading – the removal of our missionary nametags – which we have proudly worn for a year and a half.  It has been a privilege and an honor to have had the name of Jesus Christ over our hearts.

Above: Missionary nametage of Sister Lou and Elder Kevin Hunt

While there we were also able to get our Temple recommends signed.  President Horst met with me and Lou met with President Moore.  We both opted for the “digital” recommends – so we can use our phones at the temple.  After the interviews, the Presidents helped us figure out how to access the new recommends using Gospel “Tools”.  We first did a sync that updated the system to reflect the new status change.  We were then able to see my recommend with a scan code.  All interesting technology.

It was with very mixed emotions that we took off the name tags.  Is it really over?  It was a great privilege and blessing to have been representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ – and to have worn his name upon our chests over the past 18+ months.  We were truly blessed as we served in His name.

I didn’t plan it such, but I suggested that we get a “selfie” photo before we left for the interview. 

We then took another – without our nametags – as we got back to the parking lot.  The one taken at home had a lot of light in it.  The one at the chapel was pretty dark.  An interesting contrast.

 Above: Elder Kevin and Sister Lou Hunt just after missionary release October 22, 2025

We were expecting JD and Kaylea and their children to arrive the next day so we went to the front bedroom (the one that had all of the stuff earlier) and got the room finalized for their arrival.

Above: Front guest bedroom – from same view as before when it had all of the “stuff” piled high. Now ready for guests!

I was very tired as I tried to create my journal entry.  I must have gone to sleep while pressing on the letter “A”.  I got about ten pages of “A’s”.  Funny, but sad, too.

The new recliner couch creates a wonderful place for late relaxation.  They are probably too comfortable, however.  They are way too conducive to sleep.  Dangerous … especially when I have so much that I want to be doing.

I gave Lou the print-out of the August mission news but she had the same problem.  She fell asleep mid page.

It had been a long day … but together we accomplished a great deal on the house.

PREPARING FOR HOMECOMING TALKS

Thursday morning the 23^rd found both of us unable to sleep. I awoke this morning at 6:00 AM. I could not sleep.  Then thoughts of my mind began flowing into my mind. I decided to get up to write the talk.  I first prayed for specific guidance and revelation for the coming process.  (And I soon learned that Lou had also awakened at an early hour with thoughts of her talk. I found her on the bed of the front bedroom writing away.)

I got some of my infamous 3×5” cards and jotted a few random thought as they came to me.  The list was kind of a jumble of words to write about.  I then began writing and felt inspiration of the Holy Ghost as I did so.  I then typed out the entire talk.  And then after the writing was complete, I looked back at my list.  I had covered almost every item that I had listed previously.  I was grateful for the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.  So great to work in tandem with Him!

I proofed and re-read my talk about three times.  I made minor changes as needed.

Lou wrote her talk on her phone.  She said that she did not know how to print it.  With a few clicks on her phone, I was able to receive her talk to my own phone.  I read it and made minor grammatical corrections for her.  I then printed it for her to review.

With all of the above, we could almost say that the unpacking and sorting was finished.  That was not quite the case, however.  Lou still had a stack of boxes along one wall in her front bedroom.  And there are a multitude of boxes still stacked in “the office”.  But all of this “stuff” can wait for another day.  For now, the hallway is mostly clear (with just a stack of Nauvoo stuff remaining – as I await the new shelf to put it all on).  There are only three or four boxes of stuff around the kitchen.  So, the place is looking amazing.

It would be another three weeks or so before we got to the garage. We had it spotless before we left, but over time in our absence – and with the addition of more of our own “stuff” (suitcases and air mattresses), it had become horrible as it was filled with junk. It got so that we could hardly walk through a narrow passage to get to the garbage dumpsters.

Above: This is the clean garage after organizing. Nothing better than a clean garage!

It took us most of o full day working together to get the garage clean – but it was worth it. After we had cleaned it, I posed this photo to our family APP and said, “Major happiness is a clean garage!” We all got a laugh out of Keith’s comment (knowing of his garage) … He said, “A happiness I will never know!” Har, Har!

THE FAMILY GATHERS TO THE HOME FRONT FOR OUR OFFICIAL HOMECOMING

Joining our “Homecoming Parade” were Keith, Marinda, and Larissa – which included 17 of our 43 grandchildren.  We had seen Jackie and family in the nearby town of Tempe as we were nearly home.  We had just seen Lana in Nauvoo and so she decided that they could not manage another trip.  We missed her.  Jenae and Brianna flew down from Las Vegas. They stopped in to visit Jackie as she attended to her crossing guard duties. And BTW, Jackie is probably the world’s greatest crossing guard. She constantly wears new costumes (depending on holidays and themes around) for her and her little sloth shoulder friend.)

Above: Jenae and Brianna caught crossing guard Jackie on “Where’s Waldo” day.

Jenae’s man (the Lt. Colonel) drove down with their two sons late Saturday night.

Rusty had flown to Brazil – just a couple of days after he had been in Nauvoo. He went to help his in-laws fly from Brazil “to the states”.  Then their departing plane out of Brazil had mechanical difficulties and they got stranded in a Brazilian hotel for four days.  That would have been such fun!  They finally made it back to Maricopa.

Then Kaylea and JD and Jett, Lucy, and Brodey all flew down from Salt Lake City. 

Their oldest son flew down a couple of days later.  They have a son on a mission in Washington. Kaylea and family spent several night with us at our home.  We had cleared out the front bedroom enough for Kaylea and JD and a couple of the kids were in “the grandkid room”.  Jenae and family spent sleeping hours (when they were not here with us) at the home of Larissa and Stu, too. 

With all of this group here with us, it meant that we had all but 19 of the 64 of us here with us for the weekend festivities.  Wow!  This was wonderful and amazing.

I used my available resources to help the Stoddard family members feel involved and productive while here.

Jett worked on the trampoline.  He used zip ties to strap the safety net to the tramp frame.  We taught him some kitchen skills and he did great! He then spent the day reading one our teen church fiction books.

Lucy accepted the task of hanging up a bunch of the welcome home signs that the family members created.  Brodey carried the 8 large pumpkins from the garage out to the backyard.

Lucy worked also to add the missionary photos and mission info on our missionary board.  She added Sisters Katelyn and Abby.  Later in the day I was able to get Bryson to answer his phone.  He gave me information about Annie’s mission – the dates.  She also sent me a better mission photo. The revised family missionary board looked great! (And above the board I hung Joseph Smith’s “Standard of Truth” which we always quoted in our tour of Joseph’s Red Brick Store in Nauvoo. And this large print showed up one day in the missionary D.I. – so I snagged it – and brought it home!)

Above: Kevin and Lou Hunt family missionary board

JD had several on-line work calls.  But in between the calls, he hung a plethora of photos, changes out the microwave oven, worked on plumbing projects, and helped us get a new but used (and very nice) refrigerator for the garage.

Above: New Kevin and Lou Hunt family photo board … photos obtained or taken by Kaylea and hung by J.D.

Kaylea decided that our previous large family photo was very much outdated.  We last took a family photo eight years ago.  The photo was taken the day before the wedding of Larissa and Stu.  She worked all day to create a new photo.  She used as a foundation the photo taken of the family at the wedding of Bryson and Annie.  She worked to add into the photo Michael, Blake, Stu, and the three missionaries – who were all missing at the wedding.  She did a pretty good job of this.   She is very skilled at this photo “editing” function.

Above: Full family of Kevin and Lou Hunt

JD, Brodey, Jett, and I were able to wheel the player piano back into the living room from its 18-month plus position hidden away in my “office/museum”.  Jenae and Lou helped manage the furniture dolly – getting it into place under the piano as the rest of us lifted it.  The piano is a beast – super heavy. 

Above: Hunt family player piano shown with the new television screen bought by Kevin and Lou upon mission return (and hung by JD)

Many of the grands enjoyed playing the piano later in the day.  I particularly enjoyed watching the young kids Samuel, Sadie, and Grant play “The Entertainer” and “Christmas melodies” – using the only two music rolls readily available for us.

The rest of the week – and through Sunday – proved to be a fun and big family reunion.  It was glorious having everyone here together.  We just “hung out” and had a grand time.  Of course the food logistics for such a crowd was a bit of a challenge but everyone pitched in to help.

OCTOBER 25^TH – SATURDAY … WHAT A GREAT FAMILY DAY!

Lou and I talked about things to do in our planned gathering with the family.  We composed a “Nauvoo Quiz” with the plan for families to do these together.  But we never had occasion to do the quiz.

I helped pack up two or three boxes of food stuffs to take with us.  Lou cooked bread “bones” for our traditional “spooky dinner”.  She made some “mummy hot dogs”.  She cooked hamburger to make into Shepherd’s Pie.  These are her traditional foods for the “Spooky Dinner” that she stages for me each year for my birthday.  (And I checked back in journals and found that back in 2010 the Spooky Dinner was already “traditional” so we must have been doing the event for two or three or more years before that.)

Conveniently, my own Halloween birthday coincided with our mission homecoming reunion so we decided to combine the two family events – while everyone was here. This made for a very fun weekend – and a fun early birthday for me.

Above: Hunt family food from the annual “Spooky Dinner” created by Lou for Kevin’s Halloween birthday

A SPECIAL AND WONDERFUL FAMILY NAUVOO DEVOTIONAL

A couple of months ago Lou and I planned what we thought would be a fun event weekend for the weekend following our return from our mission.  We then sent out a flier with our plan so that the out-of-towners could plan ahead to possibly come to be with us and the rest of the family to be gathered.

The kids have been gathering and this was fun just being together.

We all first gathered to the Homestead Chapel – where Rusty and family attend.  He is in the Bishopric so he was able to reserve use of this building.  Upon arrival, several people helped haul stuff into the kitchen.  We got together in the Relief Society room.  We had to wait for Marinda and Jackie and their families.  Jackie and family were late arriving because they went to the wrong Maricopa chapel.    Marinda and Mike were busy trying to get out of the door with their seven children.  We waited for them to arrive.

I knew that my brother Ray was coming to join with us but was very surprised when our brother, Kyle, also came (with him).  It was fun to see him.  He came to Arizona from North Dakota to attend his divorce court.  He spent the day with us and he seemed very happy to be with us.  And all of our kids seem to love him and they have fun teasing him. i noted that they had aged a bit during our mission

Above: Ray and Kyle Hunt (brothers to Kevin) had aged a bit while we were on our missions. (AI assisted but what to look forward to!)

Above: Kevin Hunt with brothers – Ray (Left) and Kyle (Center)

Some of the family had not arrived yet but we had quite a crowd together.  I counted 39 of the 64 family members present.  Fabriza’s Brazilian folks and Ray and Kyle were with us.  So Great!

Our first event of the day was a little devotional service.  We weren’t sure how this would go but it was actually WONDERFUL.  Wow! We began with a Hunt family monotone rendition of the song, “Come, Come Ye Saints” (As only we can do it with our 10-part monotone voices!) .  Lucy led the song – with accompaniment on the phone app by JD.    Dallen gave the opening prayer.

I opened the meeting and just shared some fun facts of our mission.  Lou then talked and she shared some fun things also.  We then opened it up for any of the family members who desired to participate.  I first called upon Jackie (as the oldest of the children) and she had some good words.  Most of the adults talked of their experiences on Nauvoo.  We were pleased that almost everyone in the room had been to Nauvoo while we were there.  I am grateful that we had the means to help them all come. 

Above: Kevin and Lou Hunt remembering special Nauvoo moments with Jenae

Jenae talked of how she and Brianna had our own special Nauvoo time six months before our call to serve there.  She told how Momma Lou and I were on the Parley street beach (on the Mississippi River) with her and Brianna.  I guess we talked then about how great it would be if Lou and I could get to Nauvoo with each of the children.  And it was a miracle that we got eight of our children to be there with us.  That really is a “Nauvoo Miracle”.  I think that each family had great experiences with us in Nauvoo. Such special moments together!

Almost all of the adults of the family stood and shared their feelings of what they saw and experienced.  They all had special spiritual experiences.  Even Keith shared positive thoughts to share.  They all said how great it was to be there with Lou and I as their personal tour guides. They praised us in how we presented the history and tours for them.

Above: Grandsons at a Nauvoo devotional staged by Kevin and Lou Hunt for family

Lou and I felt good about our special gathering.  The Spirit was strong and powerful with us.

Above: Kevin and Lou remembering special Nauvoo times with Jenae

Just as we were starting our meeting, Kaylea got a message from Bryson.  He had taken Annie to the emergency room with some blood clotting.  This was sad news with her pregnancy.  We halted the meeting to have a group prayer for her.  I called upon “Bishop” Michael to offer the prayer for all of us.  We hope that things will work out in a positive way for her and them.

A “SPOOKY DINNER” IN CELEBRATION OF THE OLD MAN’S HALLOWEEN BIRTHDAY

After the meeting, Rusty led many of the men in setting up tables and chairs for a luncheon.  Many people – including Lou – worked to finalize their food contributions.  We all brought various “spooky items”.  It was fun to see what everyone came up with.  We had quite a variety.  My favorite was a big pan of pulled pork that Rusty brought.  He had a skull and bones crawling out of the pan.  Very creative.

I was surprised to learn that Jenae had never been to one of our “Spooky dinners”.  Larissa had not been since she was a teenager.

Fabriza’s parents arrived a few days ago with Rusty.   Fabriza went today to get them.  They joined us for our meal.  Every one of our family members was excited to see them.  It appears that they are kind of slowing down these days.

The large buffet meal spread was wonderful.  The food was amazing.  After we were done eating, everyone pitched in to help with the clean-up so the process did not take real long.  We were soon done.

Above “Spooky Dinner” staged for Kevin Hunt 2025

Above: 23 Grandchildren of Kevin and Lou Hunt gathered at the Reunion and “Spooky Dinner” October 25, 2025

PUMPKIN CARVING AND COOKIE DECORATING

Jackie and Michael went back to Tempe.  But all of the rest of the gang (including Kyle and Ray) showed up at our home with a plan to hang out for the afternoon.   The family members just enjoyed a relaxed afternoon together. 

JD installed the large new television that arrived today.  We appreciated his efforts on our behalf.  The unit seems much larger than the unit that we had before our mission.  It is probably more than what we need but the grandkids should enjoy it when they come to be tended by us.

Late in the afternoon we staged a pumpkin carving event.  Lou and I provided rather large pumpkins – enough for one for each family. 

Each family was also given tools for carving.  All of the families seemed to enjoy this activity together

Our next event was sugar cookie decorating.  Each person was able to decorate a cookie as well as a cupcake.

I recruited Brodey as the commander of the quadricycle bike unit.  On the given signal, most of the grandkids rushed out for rides.  Brodey and Dallin rode in the front seat.  And they filled up the rest of the seats with the cousins.  There were more folks than the unit would hold at one time.  The kids had fun riding and pushing the unit.  Brodey took the kids around the “short block”.

I had stated in the promotional flier that we were doing “BYOP” food (meaning “Bring Your Own Pizza”).  I had earlier had Jenae order Pizza Hut pizza for us, her, Brianna, Kyle and Ray.  All of the others found their own pizza.  JD ordered his pizza from Little Caesar’s and they waited all night for notice that their food was ready.  The notice never came and they were frustrated as the rest of us ate.

Above: Hunt family at new “Moonlight Park” in Maricopa, Arizona

Marinda suggested that we go to a new park called “Moonlight Park” – in a new community that is ready to be built.  This park proved to be a great place for our family gathering.  We were there by ourselves (and the mosquitos) and this worked well.  The kids were able to just run and chase as desired.

We all ate pizza and just had a grand time together.  It was a good time.

Jenae and Brianna came home with us.   Brianna and Lucy and Elsie put together a sleepover.  Their plan was to hang out together in the grandkid room (where we have the “Murphy Bunk Beds” and the reading bench (that had a sleeping pad).  Kaylea and JD and the other boys came a while after we got home.  JD and the boys went on a food trek to McDonald’s and got dinner (since they had missed out on the pizza).  Larissa came back over to just hang out with the family.

OUR OFFICIAL HOMECOMING TALK IN CHURCH

OCTOBER 26^TH, a SUNDAY was also Keith’s birthday.

Lou and I both worked again this morning on our homecoming talks for church.  Lou wanted several changes to her talk.  I typed up these changes for her.

Jenae and family came over mid-morning.  The men (Paul, Tanner and Trevor) had arrived about 3:00 in the morning from Las Vegas.    Larissa and Stu came over too.  She and Paul cooked breakfast for all of us (including Kaylea and family).

We left for church about 12:30 PM.  Our sacrament meeting began at 1:00 PM in the Pacana Park Ward. We went (in Nauvoo pioneer costumes) with our family to present our mission homecoming talks.

  We had nearly 50 people there with us – so we almost doubled the ward attendance for the day.

Above: Kevin and Lou Hunt family present at their mission homecoming talks in Sacrament meeting – October 26, 2025

Our gathered group included:

My siblings – Lesa with Charlie (from Mesa), Kyle (here from North Dakota), and Ray (also from Mesa).  Darcy and Laura are on their mission in Vancouver, Canada.

Jackie and Michael with Blake, Caleb, and Darren (Abby is on a mission in Texas)

Jenae and Paul  with Tanner, Trevor, and Brianna (Katelyn is on a mission in Colorado)

Kaylea and JD with Dallin, Jett, Lucy, and Brodey.  (Bryson is married to Annie and they were unable to come, and Joseph is on a mission in Yakima, Washington)

Rusty and Fabriza with Sienna and Lucas

Keith and Kayla with their 8 children: Easton, Elsie, Stetson, Jackson, Weston, Emerson, Eliza, Emerson and Everly

Marinda and Mike with their 7 children: Sadie, Cali, Samuel, Grant, Rosallie, Elliot, and Maylee

Larissa and Stu with Andy and Oliver

It was good to be back to the ward after being gone for 18 plus months.  I told Brother Barnum, the new Elder’s Quorum president, “Cousin” Jeff Barnum, that we will not be inactive but that we have commitments the next four weeks.

Lou and I wore our yellow Nauvoo costumes – to help set the stage for our report.

Our talks went well.  (And I reported them in full text in a previous blog article.)

A GIANT FAMILY PHOTO SESSION

After the meetings, we gathered our family out to the east side of the building.   We had Kaylea take a plethora of photos of the big group and then family groups with Lou and me.  Kaylea is a great photographer and always does a great job.  It was fun being there with the group.

Above: Re-enactment of an old photo. Up: Then, and Down: Now 2025

THE WEEKEND REUNION CONTINUES AT OUR HOUSE

We then all headed to our home.  We planned to serve dinner but while it was a preparing, we all just hung out together and enjoyed the time.  It was fun to watch the cousins playing and talking together.

I decided to make some of my famous punch for the meal.  It was fun to see the reaction of the grandchildren as they realized that I was making the punch that they have missed for 18 months.  They all got SUPER excited.  I let Jett be the man on the giant whisk to stir the pot.  All of the kids would have liked this task.

Above: Grandkids from several families playing together in the “Grandkid Room”

We served Hawaiian Haystacks.  This is rice served with chicken gravy and then covered with various things like coconut, green peppers, onions, green onions, almond slices, pineapple, Chow Mein noodles, black olives, tomatoes, etc.  This is a good dish to serve when feeding a large crowd.  I recruited several of the grandchildren to help Lou cut and prepare the toppings.  They all loved this.

As noted, this was Keith’s birthday.  So, for his occasion, Kayla made several large “fruit pizzas” for our dining enjoyment.  This was wonderful.  I love this crust covered with various kinds of fruit – and a cream topping of some kind.

Above: Fruit pizza created for Keith on his birthday

Above: Many grandkids on the Kevin and Lou Quadricycle

Most of the crowd stayed here at our place for most of the evening.  It was a great activity together.  We all had fun.  And we have enjoyed the whole weekend.  Great times with our family.

After the crowd left, JD helped me to copy all of the mission files from the “mission drive”.  I did this because our links to the drive will end in a month or so from the end of our mission.

Once again, we (Kaylea and family and Lou and me) remained up until about 1:00 AM talking.

THE CREATION OF TWO NAUVOO MEMORY WALLS

Nauvoo was so wonderful for Sister Hunt (now just “Lou”) and me – and for our families that we want to keep hanging on to that special Spirit of Nauvoo for as long as we can.  It is now and will forever be a part of us … deep in our hearts and souls.  And we want our children and their children to remember Nauvoo also … the special times and adventures – and the Spirit that we all enjoyed together in Nauvoo.

We created a full memory wall displaying the grand times, places, and people which we experienced in Nauvoo.

Above: Kevin and Lou created a special and sacred Nauvoo Memory Wall (called “A Shrine” by some – displaying photos of special Nauvoo moments, Nauvoo history, and mementos collected during the mission.

And on another wall in the same dining area, we created a grand photo collage of 20 large frames and about ten smaller frames.  The larger frames each have five 5×7” photos in them.  These photos depict our children and grandchildren as they experienced the various homes and shops and special times in Nauvoo with us. 

Above: Kevin and Lou Hunt Nauvoo family memories wall featuring the Nauvoo Temple,

While we were in the mode of creating new memory walls after our return from Nauvoo, we also created a wall dedicated to Lou and I and our eternal marriage.

These photos are literally our Nauvoo scrapbook – just as all of Nauvoo is part of the Lord’s own scrapbook.  The smaller frames capture some of the glorious flowers – the Lord’s creations which we saw blooming in Nauvoo.  The centerpiece of the wall is a large print of the majestic Nauvoo Temple – reminding us of our sacred Temple covenants and the eternal nature of our own family through those covenants.  We hope that this wall will draw the grandchildren to it each time that they come and that through the photos, they too will remember the Spirit, peace, beauty and testimony that they experienced in Nauvoo.  We hope that the Nauvoo Spirit will live on in the minds and hearts of all of us.

HOMECOMING ACTIVITIES DONE AND REALITY SINKS IN

All of the fanfare was over.  We survived the departure from our beloved Nauvoo.  We survived the unexciting drive home along the lonely Santa Fe Trail.  The parade ended.  All of the kids went home.  The unpacking of boxes was not finished but would continue seemingly without end for many days or weeks to come.  The medical appointments (put off while we were healthy and happy in Nauvoo) were set up and follow-up appointments were also scheduled.  We got into a mode of serving and helping our children and grandchildren.  Sister Hunt returned to tutoring some of her grandchildren.  We continued to go to all the special events involving the grandchildren.  Christmas is upon us.

I finished writing the projected blogs about the mission.  I finished the final monthly edition of the Mission history and the torch has been passed.  I will still create the full annual 2025 history using monthly PDF files to be sent to me by the new guard for the final three months of the year. 

My writing is not done, however.  In the future I will publish a book of the final published blog articles.  This will join volumes 1-3 that have already hit the press.  I have an idea to publish a book showing all of the rooms of each of the Nauvoo homes and shops.  We will see where that idea takes us.  I want to create a book to memorialize the many Hunt family Nauvoo times, feelings and adventures over the past 50 years.  The 2025 calendar year of journal entries will be published (at least for my current use).  I might even publish a grand photo book of our beautiful Nauvoo.  There is so much of God’s beauty there in the creation of Nauvoo.  Somehow the Nauvoo vision will continue.  So, stay tuned!

We have continued to keep in touch – at least at present – with the other dozen couples of our original MTC group.  It is fun to her of their return to normal life adventures.

Life for us has begun to slow down – or to normalize somewhat. 

Wish the rush of life and the return to “normalcy” (whatever that is), it almost seems as if we were never in Nauvoo.  That has become a distant dream of the past.  How could that be?  And life just seems to move rapidly onward.  But yet still in our minds, the distant Nauvoo memories will remain.

FAREWELL, NAUVOO, BUT NOT GOODBYE

Above: Kevin and Lou Hunt … the Nauvoo memories remain …!

FAREWELL, NAUVOO

And yes, our physical time in Nauvoo has come to a close and it is “Farewell Nauvoo” (at least for the moment).  Nauvoo will always be a part of us.  It is too special to forget.

And we say, as does “The Gallant Ship”:

“I go devoted to his cause,

And to his will resign’d;

His presence will supply the loss

Of all I leave behind.

His promise cheers the sinking heart,

And lights the darkest cell,

To exil’d pilgrims grace imparts—

[To beautiful Nauvoo] farewell.”

And in the prose of “Farewell Nauvoo”

“And so, Nauvoo, I say Farewell to you:

With numb and aching heart,

One last Adieu.

As through my tears I look to homes beyond.

… this home I leave will shelter mem’ries clear

Of all that I hold dear, in Old Nauvoo.

Farewell Nauvoo, Farewell Nauvoo.”

The Nauvoo trail has taken a fork in the road … looking forward to the next adventure!

Kevin and Lou Hunt