April 16, 2015 - Thursday

I hope my sister Jackie and my brother Doug will see this post and make a comment.  This was an incredible day with our service here in Carthage!

We started the day with our morning prayers and devotional and exercise.  We then did our cleaning work at the Carthage jail and took our morning walk around the city.  On our morning walk I was able to catch some great morning photos;

 This is one of the streets that we walk down in the early morning hours.  We saw this beautiful green lawn and the budding trees that cried out "Spring is here"....  I had to capture the shot!

 

 Mom saw this budding tree close to our home as well this morning.  It is so fun to see the new growth springing up all over our mission field!

 

Then, right down the street from our home I saw this patch of clover and made a comment to mom that I wondered how many 4 leaf clovers were down there.  She told me she always searched for them in her youth and when she looked down, there it was!  It jumped right out at us!  This was a quiet promise of a great day ahead!

We were back here at our home by 7:45am and getting ready to report for work at the Visitors Center by 9:00am.  I looked out the back window toward the parking lot at 8:30am and saw some guests milling around the center so I tried to hurry up my preparation.  Here's who we had come in;

The person on the left is Brother Curtis Webb.  He is the son of Jill Draper Webb who is the sister of none other than Ellen Draper Clasen.  For those who may not know, Ellen introduced Jackie and Doug and me to the Gospel back in 1971.  Ellen was not afraid to share her religion with us and invited us to their home for our first Family Home Evening program.  Her father is C. Dean Draper, and he was the Bishop of the first ward I was introduced to.  He ordained me to the Aaronic Priesthood in 1975, right before I started my management career with Longs Drugs and a promotion and transfer to El Centro, California, to open that new store in 1975.  Brother Webb will be seeing Bishop Draper, his grandfather, this weekend and we can reconnect us once again. 

Jackie, Doug, isn't that just amazing....???  I am convinced that it is no accident that we meet such wonderful people here in the mission field, but it is still so amazing to me!

Then, we had this family come in to the visitors center this morning.  They were in the process of moving from Florida to Rexburg, Idaho.  He is a huge fan of Gandolfo's Deli and is about to become another very loyal customer to our restaurant!  Here is the family photo:

This is Steve and Stacy Roderick and their three children.  They home school their children and are moving to Rexburg to give them a better chance to have their children become more involved with an LDS community.  The daughter is 13 years old and played the piano for us.  She is anxious to meet Mary and see how a piano player can transition into an organ player!  Beware, they have each of our children's phone numbers!  Mom and I both felt a sweet connection to this precious family!

I have had two emotional responses to our tours today in addition to these wonderful families noted above.  One family came all the way from England to hear about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum's Martyrdom.  She was very emotional and as we sat in martyrdom room she was very emotional.   I testified to her that Joseph and Hyrum's deaths were necessary to complete the foundation and the restoration of the Church.  Their deaths were supposed to end the Church's growth.  In 1844, there were about 26,000 Latter-day Saints worldwide.  At the end of 2014, there were 15,380,000 members and growing worldwide!  The feelings we have for the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum are magnified in gratitude for where we are today as a worldwide Church and we are all a part of the marvelous growth and development.  There is a need for every member to press forward together!!

The other tour guest was a less active member just stopping by.  I took him with a small group and shared my testimony in the Martyrdom room and he was feeling the Spirit.  As he was leaving the visitors center, I could not help but feel he would act on those impressions from today's visit. 

I really do "stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me" and my eternal companion!