May 22, 2015 - Friday

Here we are celebrating another Friday here in the Nauvoo, Illinois Mission!  We are definitely staying busy here in the mission field.  Mom and I were up early this morning and got right to work with our devotional and Scripture studies.  We had about 30 minutes to exercise before going over to the jail to clean.  Actually, mom was over there first, and got things done just as I was finishing up my exercise routine. We then headed off for a 3 mile walk.  The Hansen's were just coming out of their apartment as we were walking by at 6:40am and they joined us.

We got over to the Visitors center by 8:45am and we hit the ground running.  It was a very steady day as we really began the Memorial Day weekend.  Guests from out of state came flowing in and we were able to keep up with the tours.  I kept busy working with the scheduling office for the senior missionaries and the young single sister missionaries.  They aren't quite sure how they want to schedule us out here and there are several voices involved in the scheduling process.  That makes the ability to cover the needs of the center very challenging and I spent most of the day expressing my concerns and offering my suggestions to managing the matrix.  

Meanwhile, I took this picture of Elder and Sister Price's grandson who is a piano prodigy.  He turns 12 this year and is playing the piano like a professional.  He reminds me of you, Jacob!  Look at that red hair and he is so shy until he begins playing the piano.  He lets his fingers glide over those keys and I could not detect any errors in his recital!  To all my grandchildren:  Please do not give up those piano practice sessions!  We need talented pianists in every ward and every stake and every mission!!!  You will bless the lives of so many people, including your own, if you don't give up!!  The Price's have been anticipating the visit of their family for several weeks and they were so happy when they finally arrived this afternoon!

Mom and I are in that state of "anticipation" right now!!

We attended a birthday party for one of our cast members tonight.  It was a nice Italian restaurant and there were 8 couples that came.  It was a very nice evening and it marked the first time mom and dad have gone out to a restaurant since we arrived in the mission field.  We prefer to eat at home and save the money so we won't be doing this very often!

We hope that you each have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  We are so very grateful for the men and women who have fought in wars to protect our freedoms and who have given the ultimate sacrifice for these freedoms...  We salute them and those currently in that service to us!

Granny and Grandpa got some wonderful news this evening from Facebook!  We discovered that our grandchildren had opened up a snow cone stand to help finance Granny and Grandpa's mission.  Thank you precious children!!  We were so touched by your thoughts and actions!!!  What a great use of the Coke Wagon!  We love you soooooooooooo much!