July 24, 2015 - Friday in Carthage

I had a somewhat restless night last night.  All I could think about was that today is my 44th anniversary of being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was then, four years later, in June 1975, that I became fully involved in the Church and began the greatest journey of my life!  I am not sure why I was so caught up in this thought this morning, but I am most grateful for what I have learned over the last 40 years of my Church membership, and for the precious people that have richly blessed my life!

Mom and I were up very very early this morning and had our morning devotional and prayers before we left for Nauvoo at 5:00am to participate in the July 24th Pioneer Day Celebration.  Mom helped out with the table decorations and I got involved with flipping pancakes.  We were happy to be helping out with the mission wide breakfast and celebration.

The breakfast was held in the Women's Garden and part of the program was devoted to saying goodbye to those leaving the mission before the next breakfast.  Among those leaving were all the Young Performing Missionaries.  It has been so much fun getting to know some of them!

This is an early morning view of the sunrise over the farmlands between Carthage and Nauvoo.  It was a cool and fresh air morning!

We then headed back to Carthage for our first tour group of 120 scheduled to arrive at 9:30am.  We wanted to get the Visitors Center open and ready to receive them by 8:30am.  It was a good thing we were there early so that we could meet and greet the early guests who were ready to take the tour.  I always enjoy helping those on a tight schedule have the best possible experience, and when the 9:30am group arrived, we discovered that they had a 10:30am commitment in Nauvoo to do baptisms at the Temple.  They had us adjust our presentation very quickly for sure, and we were able to get them on a jail tour, without the movie, in 35 minutes.  I think that is a new world's record....

Then we had 3 more groups of 40 spaced out by about an hour that were very easy to accommodate.  However, in between one of the groups,  I noticed a young man go up to the baby grand piano and looked at it very curiously.  I asked him if he played the piano and he said he did.  I then invited him to play and took this picture;

This young man plays an amazing piano.  I spoke with his dad for a few minutes as he was playing.  This is Hayden.  Currently he is 17 years old and going to be a senior in high school.  At the age of 12 years, he told his parents he wanted to learn the piano.  He also told them he wanted to get up every morning at 4:00am to practice the piano so that he could get 4 hours of practice every day.  He has already been invited by David Glen Hatch to tour with him to Austria and Germany, and did so last summer.  This is a good reason for my grandchildren to continue working hard on their piano skills.  Hayden was so happy as he was playing for his family and those that gathered to hear his incredible music, being played on that special piano, here in the Historic Carthage Visitors Center.  My precious grandchildren, the world needs your special musical skills!!  Maybe one of you can play a special musical number for Granny and Grandpa when we come back home....

As I was greeting guests coming into the center out in the front part of the brick-way, I had a brother who introduced himself as Brother Ortiz.  He was so excited to talk to me and let me know what he and his wife discovered in a moment of Spiritual confirmation.  He told me that he and his wife both knew that when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they saw and were taught by Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus as the very beginnings of earth life were introduced.  He then made a very profound statement.  He said, "isn't it interesting, and I know this is true, that Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith and taught him while They initiated the final dispensation of earth life."  Doesn't that ring true?

Then mom had a very sweet experience in the Martyrdom room this afternoon.  She had a group of about 30 guests and she said she felt the Spirit the strongest with this group of any other group she has taken through on the jail tour.  That is quite a statement from mom!  What was even more incredible was the fact that with all of our tour groups and families streaming though the  center today, that she had no one following her in the jail.  She actually had a space of 10 or 15 minutes where she could sit with this group.  She expressed her feelings about the strength of the spirit and then someone asked if they could sing.  She has never done that before.  Of course, her prayers are now how she can know what and who that experience was for.....  The Spirit of Carthage.  We are so very blessed to have been able to serve here this summer and especially to have been able to share these experiences directly with precious family members and friends.  We may never get this wonderful opportunity again and that makes this time so much more incredibly special. 

We enjoyed our Sunset performance tonight.  We were done and on our way home by 8:10pm.  It has been a long day, but fortunately for us, we got in a nap this afternoon!  And here is the sunset picture that ended our day;

This is about in the same spot we took the sunrise picture this morning!  What a great day!

Thank you for joining us today.  It is a real treat for us to be sharing these insights and pictures of our experiences here in the mission field with you.  While we miss our precious family members and friends, and with the understanding that doing the Lord's work in the mission field blesses those precious lives back home,  there is no place we would rather be..... (for now!).....  We love you!