April 3, 2015 - Friday

This was an early morning meeting day.  Mom was up at about 4:00am to begin getting ready to leave Carthage at 6:10am this morning for Nauvoo and a monthly mission breakfast.  She got me up at 4:45am and I was able to have a devotional with her and workout for me before getting ready for our departure.  The breakfast meeting happens each month and is held as missionaries prepare to depart from the mission.

There are 3 senior  missionary couples who will be leaving in April and they gave their last stage performance after the breakfast held at the Nauvoo Stake Center.  The group had six participants, (3 senior couples), and they were great.  It was a sad time to say goodby to them!... and we have only attended one other Friday farewell breakfast.  Imagine us after a dozen more Friday farewell breakfasts!!   Well, I had to take some pictures of the breakfast and the performance;

 There are three tables, each representing a cast in the play Rendezvous.  Each cast brings a dish to share at this breakfast and our cast has about 40 people. 

 

 Here is the beginning of the farewell show with the director of the Rendezvous play as the main character.  The Jones' have been out 18 months and will be going home this month.  She was so funny and has worked so hard running each of the casts six days a week since long before we got here!

This is a copy of the words we sing to each departing missionary.  Imagine working together every day for 12 to 18 months and then saying goodbye?  It is not an easy task for sure...

We came back to Carthage after our breakfast meeting and had visitors lining up by 9:15am this morning.  They just can't wait until 10:00am when we open and we would just as soon not cause a delay in their trip to visit this historic and sacred site, so we open early. 

We had almost 180 visitors today from relatively close by locations.  They mostly came from Chicago, Joliet, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado, and several surrounding areas just to connect with the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum.  What a privilege it is to serve here for so many wonderful people and guests, and to serve with so many wonderful missionary couples.

We are so looking forward to General Conference!!  So far we have Sunday off and can tune in Saturday there at the Visitor's Center for all the session of General Conference.

Thank you for checking in with us tonight, and being such faithful followers of this blog!!  You are always invited to leave a comment!  Enjoy your evening!  We love you!!