May 15, 2015 - Friday

I promised some great news about a special tour held today.  I was pretty anxious to get things started so mom and I were up early to have our morning prayers and devotional.  We got our exercise in and were out on our long morning walk by 6:30am.  The temperature was about 64 degrees and the humidity was close to 90 percent.  But what a great workout!

We got home by 7:15am and I was ready to meet my appointment by 8:20am.  When I got to the jail I discovered that the custodian had not shown up so I quickly did a cleaning of the lobby area and had that done before they arrived at 8:40am.  I presented a tour and then participated in a filming session with Lloyd Newell and a group from the BYU-Provo History Department on Church History and specifically on Church historic sites.  What a treat this was to participate in this effort!

I was first asked to give the group of 7 adults a complete tour of the jail.  One of the seven had not seen the jail before and what a sweet experience it was.  I was giving the tour to 2 BYU professors, Lloyd Newell and their wives and the camera crew.  Talk about intimidation!  But not really.  I could not believe how calm I was and how much I enjoyed the opportunity.... best part about it I was not corrected!  During the filming, they even had me review the script to double check for accuracy, and I found a couple of those informational items that they acknowledged were not accurate, and corrected.  Go figure....  

Of course I had to take pictures!

As you can tell, this has become our "picture" set.  Brother Newell is a little taller than I am and was very kind and complimentary to me.  I told him that my son had registered for one of his classes but I wasn't sure if he ended up taking the class. His daughter had served a mission here in Nauvoo about a year ago.

Here we are outside the Visitors Center and filming the outside of the jail.  They had prepared dialog for each area they filmed in, but that dialog was made on the spot and the lap top was used as the teleprompter.  We received some rain this morning and the brick patio was looking really good.

 This is a picture of a young single adult ward from Lansing, Michigan.  They had a tour scheduled today.  Can you imagine the excitement they felt when they found out Lloyd Newell was here on location?  Brother Newell was so kind and the group was so receptive to him.  This was a very special group of young single adults with several in the process of applying for and receiving their mission calls.

Although it is a little fuzzy, here is Brother Newell in the dining room of the jail.  It is here that I was able to offer some suggestions and corrections to the dialog. 

This was filmed in the martyrdom room and Brother Newell was acting as the teleprompter.  I got this picture just before I was called upon to assist in the teleprompting process... I got to hold the lap top and Brother Newell got to scroll the words!

Brother Ostler is on the right and this is his project.  He was writing the script and speaking in parts to get this ready for production.  This entire piece will be on the BYU internet within the next year and covers the history of the Church from Palmyra to Salt Lake.  Brother Ostler has written several books and gave me a copy of his latest book on the last days.  Here is a brief description of his book:....
"Armageddon. The end of the world. The Second Coming of Christ. Among the most compelling gospel topics is that of the last days and the multitude of events surrounding this crucial period of time. A wealth of gospel literature has addressed the subject, but the question still remains: How can we spiritually prepare ourselves to navigate life in the last days without becoming encumbered by the myth and speculation that often accompany end-of-the-world discussions?
Craig James Ostler, professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU, addresses the answers to this and other questions in his treatment of one of the most profound and perplexing doctrines of the Church. In this insightful book, Dr. Ostler takes a straightforward approach in his examination of the great joy and anticipation — as well as the challenges — that accompany the last days and the Second Coming of Christ. Citing scripture and prophetic counsel, Refuge from the Storm explores the historical and modern fulfillment of prophecy and signs of the times and suggests ways to prepare and thrive spiritually in the midst of wickedness".

Lloyd Newell had another assignment after lunch so guess who filled in with the teleprompting?

Here is the filming crew as the work wrapped up around 3:30pm today.  What a sweet privilege it was to "hang out" with this distinguished group!

Brother Ostler is on my right here in the martyrdom room along with another BYU professor who came along to assist in the project.  He is a former Stake President and Mission President and he and his wife report to the Philippines, Manilla Mission in three weeks and will work in the Manilla Temple.  I did not have the heart to tell them what to expect.....

To complete the last of the filming with Lloyd Newell, we had to hold up a tour of the Priest Quorum from the Aberdeen Ward in Pocatello.  There were about 20 Priests in this group and 3 have received their mission calls.  Since we delayed their tour, I had Brother Newell come into the Visitors Center after the filming, and talk to them.  It was a huge hit!  I was able to pull the Bishop of this ward aside and tell him about the mob members that "stood" for what was right and put their rifles down and left the proceedings before June 27th.  I suggested that he might use that at an appropriate spot in his discussion with his Priests on this tour.  Later in the afternoon, he came up to me and thanked me for the opportunity that this suggestion presented for him...

You might be wondering why there is a package right in the middle of this picture.  Well... one of the newest senior missionary sisters accepted this package while I was in the jail busy filming with Lloyd Newell.... (not this beautiful missionary - FYI), we don't accept packages here and this one was for the Carthage "real" jail!  I decided to call them and let them know we had the package here for them.  Why not have them come into the Visitors Center and pick it up over here?  It might just be the first time, ever, that one of the jailers will come to the historic jail!  And then we can expose them to such a wonderful place!








Well, this has, by far, been a great day!  To all my grandchildren that will be able to hear me give this tour at this sacred historical site; I am practicing and perfecting my ability to present this information to you on your visits here.... I can't wait!

Thank you for checking in with me tonight!  If anyone knows how to download a picture that got sent to me on my phone as a text message, please send me a text on how to get it from there unto my blog!!