March 25, 2015 - Wednesday

We had a busy day today!  It was moving day!  We had our 7:45am weekly training meeting where President Gibbons announced the new major initiative of the Church for missionary work.  It is called #BecauseHeLives  @ HeLives.mormon.org  and will be introduced worldwide on March 28, 2015, and will be active all year through Christmas 2015.  It is always a treat to gather with the missionaries on Wednesday Morning!

Mom and I walked over to the Visitor's Center this morning for the last time for awhile and got some cool fresh air.  We got back to the apartment and gave ourselves two hours to pack the apartment, load the car and then clean the apartment and turn in the keys.  We did it in 2 hours and 10 minutes!  

 

 

The van was loosely "packed" and we got a great workout going up and down those stairs!  We worked hard and wanted to get everything done today on our P-day so that tomorrow, for our "moving day", we could really relax and enjoy!

We arrived in Carthage around 11:45am and got the car unloaded and everything put away by 2:00pm.  It was a busy time but we are grateful to be here and especially in this home on the sacred grounds of Carthage Jail Visitor's Center.  Here is a preview of the new home we are in;

 A "gated " community on the corner of the Carthage Visitor's Center.  This is the front emtrance.

 Our van is packed and ready to unload.  We are parked between both cottages for easy access to the back sliding glass door of our cottage.

From the outside of the home, it reminds me of the Long's Cabin.  It looks so small from the outside but take a look at the inside pictures!  The apartment we left had a bedroom, a living-room, a kitchen and a bathroom.  This home has 3 bedrooms, a piano room where the Carthage District meetings are held, the laundry room, the kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and a large living-room.  Here are some pictures;

 This is the piano room and a meeting table for up to 10 people.  Just behind the piano is the 3rd bedroom with 2 twin beds.  This room comes in from the Carthage Jail Visitor's Center pathway and we enter through a sliding glass door.  Mary, what do you think of that Steinway Piano?

 From the piano room we pass the laundry room.  It is a big area with shelving off to the left of this picture.  This laundry room is right off the klitchen.

Here is Sister Lasher in her greatly expanded kitchen.  This kitchen is about three times bigger than our apartment kitchen, and that yellow door off to the left is a pantry.

 We then enter the living-room with about twice the space of our previous apartment's living-room.  Lot's of room to stretch out and relax!  The door to the right leads to the 2nd big bedroom and the full bathroom.  The door on the left is our bedroom and a half bathroom.

Here is the other half of the living-room and the front door entry.  You can also see into the big bedroom that mom and I will occupy, and off that bedroom is a half bathroom.

This is the first half of the office area.  It is another big room with a closet and storage.  Here is another view;

Well, you get the idea, we have a lot of space waiting to be filled up with family if the opportunity comes.  We hope it does, but we totally understand if it doesn't!

 The family picture in the prime spot in the living-room.  We love looking at this picture and we look forward to a happy and joyful reunion!

 Here is a beautiful print from pictures taken by the window maker for the Nauvoo Temple windows.  He had a huge crane to hang his windows during the temple construction, and then took several pictures of the finished temple.  We got this print at his store in Nauvoo, and got a frame at Wal Mart.

 

This little guy was the Carthage welcoming committee for the Lasher's.  I had mom stand by the back sliding glass door when I thought he might want to invite himself in!

 

"Families Are Forever", and that is why we are here!  The different ways we can make a Longs Cabin type "house" into a cozy missionary "home"!

And one of our favorite pictures of "rescue".  We put this picture right above the kitchen table so that we can enjoy it every day as we prepare for our service!  That is mom's braided table runner that she got a few weeks ago in the Family Living Center in Nauvoo.  Missionaries can purchase these runners that were made in the Family Living Center for $3 each, no matter what size...

And finally, mom and I attended the temple tonight with part of our cast members.  We drove back into Nauvoo and attended with them, the 6pm session.  We got to be the witness couple and the day was concluded with a quiet drive home to Carthage.  It has been a busy and a productive day for two tired senior missionaries!

 

Thank you for checking in tonight!  We love you and pray for each of our family and friends and we appreciate your love and support of us.  We could not be doing this without that love and support!