April 13, 2015 - Monday

We had a very nice morning to start our day today.  We heard the thunder that mom remembered as a young girl living in the mid west real early this morning. Then, after our devotional, we stepped out into the cool morning air and had a wonderful walk around Carthage. 

We came back and did our daily cleaning routine at the jail and then I helped get some shingles on the roof for Elder Couch.  He and his wife are among the hardest workers here in the mission.  He has built several meetinghouses for the church and she is a detail deep cleaning missionary for the different sites.  I have had fun getting to know them so I just had to put him here on the blog.  He and his wife are in the last few months of their mission here in Nauvoo;

Mom came back to the house and began breakfast, while I helped Elder Couch.  No, I did not get on that roof!  Three stories high and achy knees.... not my kind of a recipe for climbing that ladder! Maybe "another day and another time" ..... because now, if I gave that a try, I would have "a long long face"!  I caught mom preparing breakfast when I got home about 8:00am;

We came to realize that Spring break is over!  Today we had the lowest count of visitors so far in our assignment to be here.  We did have some of the newest senior couples here today that have not been to Carthage or have not been here in recent years.  Mom and I have so enjoyed getting to know the couples that are being assigned here for one day service.  Here are some pictures of what we do when the guest counts are low;

This is Sister Shepherd and is such a sweet lady.  She reminds me of Nana with the kindness that she seems to always have with her.  Here she is taking some time to read and this is her first day back to the visitors center and she is still feeling a little under the weather.

Elder Shepherd is the site leader and he is a wealth of information.  He was set apart as a full time missionary in 1960 by Bruce R. McConkie.  He was Grant Bangerter's home teacher when Julie Beck was home, (she is his daughter).  He loves history and we are learning some great things from him!  He has met personally, many of the latter-day Prophets including Ezra Taft Benson, David O. McKay, and Gordon B. Hinckley.  He has some definite points of view and is not afraid to speak up with guests coming to the center.

In our reading today, we continue learning about the different people that come to Carthage.  We had a mom and dad come with their BYU-I student son.  They were on their way to Chicago for the son to participate in a conference on government.  He had written a paper two years ago that he titled, "Abuse of Presidential Power".  His paper dealt specifically about overreach and the use of executive orders used by presidents to push personal agendas. 

What a breath of fresh air coming from the youth!  We just need to pray that they won't be stifled in their efforts to expose such abuse of power and, ultimately, the corruption of high level government officials.  And where is this convention being held this Thursday, Friday and Saturday??? - Chicago!  And BYU-Idaho is funding his trip!

Another special area of study that mom started today was the relationship with Joseph Smith and the angel Moroni.  They had to have prepared well in pre-mortal life to work together with the Restoration and the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon. 

I have found it most interesting that Joseph could not remove those plates when he was initially introduced to them, as much as he wanted to!  However, I did not consider his immaturity and need to be taught what to do with them once he got them.  The author of this book suggested, and had documentation from Oliver Cowdrey's journals, that Joseph could only, at first, think about the value of the gold from the plates.  He had to be tutored and taught and his mind had to be prepared to properly handle the information he was to receive. 

To me that was great and significant insight to the purpose of the four years of instruction he needed prior to being able to get these sacred plates and then to properly handle them while he was allowed to have them.  The Lord had to know that Joseph would do exactly what he was supposed to do with them.  If Joseph was left without directions, the outcome of his part in the Restoration could well have been written much different.

I think that we are all being tutored and prepared, through our various assignments, to be instruments in the Lords Hands for specific work that needs to be done by us.  We are all needed in this great work and we can choose to be actively engaged, or stifled and derailed, as we make and keep, (or break), promises to the Lord.

So many times, I see children come to the visitors center who have been taught by mothers and fathers to respect the teachings of the Church and to apply them in public places.  I can tell how parents take an active interest in teaching their children those things that will be of the most worth when they leave this life....

Mom and I had a great evening of relaxation and enjoyed our Family Home Evening after our shift today.  As we sang our "family" song to open our evening, we could not help but think of each of our precious grandchildren back at home having the same kind of meeting with their family! 

We hope you had a great lesson Zac, Hayley, Jack, Mia, Emma, baby girl Sathre, Bobby, Jacob, Anna, John, baby girl Lasher, Cambry, Isaac, Callie, Courtney, Cody, Maddie, Landon and Kenzie! 

Thank you for your connection with us tonight!  We love you!