August 31, 2015 - Monday in Nauvoo

I can safely say the transition back to Nauvoo has been completed.  This morning we were up early and had our morning devotional and prayers and took our morning walk around Nauvoo.  It was dark outside at 5:50am!  But we had a brisk walk around the lower area.  Here was a sight we hadn't seen in awhile;

This is the mommy deer.  She looked back for somebody following her.

This is her nearly grown baby!

And the baby is very close to our back yard just 100 yards away!

Yes, we are back in Nauvoo watching the deer on our morning walks, (instead of being on the alert for deer crossing the road on our trips back and forth to Carthage after dark!).  

Mom had the early shift assignment this morning at the Wilford Woodruff House just a block from our home.  Her schedule was 8:45am to 3:00pm.  I walked her over to the site and had to take these pictures;

Mom's first assigned site in our return to Nauvoo!

Bring on the guests - and the tour guide is ready!

I, on the other hand, had the later shift at the Brickyard, 11:45am to 6:00pm.  I got to work with Elder Skinner and Elder Horlacher as we "hacked" about 200 bricks and made another 120.  It was a busy work day and I also got to give three tours.  

This is quite a change of pace from the Carthage Visitors Center.  Mom and I were able to work everyday together and have our lunches together.  But here, we are separated most days.  That was hard to do today and it seemed so out of place for me.  However, we are here to serve and we are willing to help out wherever we are needed, and then share our experiences in the evenings.  The adjustment will come for us, and it will be a great experience coming back!

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!  Thank you for joining us tonight!

August 30, 2015 - Sunday in Nauvoo

We had a wonderful Sabbath Day as we spent our first Sunday back in Nauvoo.  We were up early and ready for the day by 6:30am.  We had a great morning in preparation for today and then we walked to the Stake Center for our Sacrament Meeting and then over to the Nauvoo Visitors Center for the balance of the meetings.

The topic for the Sacrament speakers was, how the spirit helps us make decisions in our lives. Probably the biggest revelation to most of us is the fact that the spirit talks to us everyday and we don't recognize it!  One point that the last speaker made was that he and his wife's decision to serve another mission right after this one, would extend blessings to their families.  It made me think and wonder if the blessings we are having on our families, while we are away, is worth considering extending the sacred time away from them.  

Very sobering thought, and, today, as we read and reread notes from our families, the emotions were overflowing.  I can't imagine being away from our family for another mission unless we could help them in their struggles and challenges by staying out here.....  I'm open to the thought, but we have surely missed our precious children and grandchildren and friends already....

In our fifth Sunday combined meeting, the message, from our mission president, he passed on this comment from Elder L. Tom Perry at a mission presidents conference last year:  He said "we were once asked as the Quorum of the Twelve; Are you the best the Lord has as His Apostles?  And the answer was "apparently, YES", because you are here and this is His Church!  

He then repeated and asked the same thing to all the Mission Presidents; "Are you the best mission presidents the Lord can call?  And the answer was - "apparently, YES", because you are here and this is the Lord's Church!"   

Then President Gibbons's made this a little more personal when he said; Are you the best missionaries for the Illinois, Nauvoo Mission?  Apparently, YES!"  Because this is the Lord's Church, and you have been called by a Prophet of God!"   It was a powerful message.

Then mom and I walked quietly home in the peaceful surroundings of Nauvoo.  We made lunch together and enjoyed the balance of the day reading, relaxing and taking naps.  We are ready to hit the ground running in our next assignments, here in Nauvoo, whatever they might be!

August 29, 2015 - Saturday in Nauvoo

Mom and I woke up in Nauvoo, this morning, for the first time in almost six months....  Our new residence has been dedicated and we slept very well last night!  We are grateful for the opportunity to be back here in Nauvoo.  We had our morning devotional and then took our first walk around Nauvoo at 6:30am this morning.  The morning air promised to be a warm and humid day, but it was a good walk.  We came home and prepared for our day.  After breakfast we attended the 9:00am temple session.  We were grateful to walk over to the temple that is about a three block walk.  So nice!

After our temple session, we walked home and had our lunch together before beginning our weekly fast.  It was so nice to have another day of rest and relaxation after the events involved in the move this week.  I even got to take a nap!

We then experienced a civil wedding of one of the senior sister missionaries just released from the mission this week.  It looked like nearly all the missionaries were there to lend her support as she and her new husband open this new chapter in their lives.  

I sat a little closer to mom and was grateful that we could be together and experience this mission along side each other.  It has been a blessing to live this long and learn and grow in our understanding of the Gospel and of each other!  Imagine that!  We will celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary this coming February!  We can't take our time together for granted and I need to be a better husband and companion to my sweetheart!

Here is a picture of the couple about to say "I do"....

Watkins/Nichols Wedding in the Women's Garden - Nauvoo

Then, as our final Saturday activity, mom and I went to see another cast perform in the Rendezvous Play.  I wanted to see how the Editor moves around the stage and interacts with the audience.  I was not disappointed in learning about my role tonight, and, guess what?  I am actually looking forward to getting started.........crazy me!

We are grateful to be here in Nauvoo where we can walk to practically every event.  So, tomorrow, if we are not in the middle of a rain storm, we will walk to Church!

Thank you for checking in with us tonight and CONGRATULATIONS Tom and Josie!!  

We love you!

August 28, 2015 - In Nauvoo!

Today was moving day!  We were up early and ready to finalize our move to Nauvoo.  We just had an hour or so of work to do in Carthage and we were able to complete everything.  We started off with our usual morning activities and then left for Quincy at about 7:00am for some needed supplies.  We got back to the house in Carthage about 10:30am, and were done and on the road to Nauvoo by 11:40am.  What a morning!  Here are some pictures of the day;

The final street view of our home in Carthage for almost six months from the drivers seat of a loaded van!

The last look we had as we closed the door in our residence in Carthage today.

Carthage was such a unique and sweet experience for mom and I.  The memories are priceless and life changing as I have reported earlier.  You see, in the process of "leaving" we are all uncertain about what lies ahead, even if we 'think' we know!  Leaving for the store, leaving on vacation, leaving home to get married, leaving family to serve a mission, and yes, leaving Carthage today, all have various levels of uncertainty.  

We were certainly not anticipating the life changing experiences of the Illinois, Nauvoo mission.  From a very tender impression that our daughter, Josie, had, where she qualified serving in Nauvoo as a foreign mission.  You see, we all have to learn a different language while serving anywhere in the world.  For mom and me, our language was the theater and the stage performances.  They are all very new to us and we realized that it was going to take a lot more dedication and obedience on our part to fulfill our commitment to faithfully serve here, because we really did have to learn a whole new way of serving!  Image that!  Using the gift of tongues to serve a Nauvoo mission!

Well, mom and I arrived in Nauvoo around 1:00pm this afternoon and began the final effort to unload our goods and clean the home and then detail it and make it our home!  By the way, when we found out how dirty this place was, we had to do so much extra work to get it where we felt comfortable living here.  We were both tired by 6:00pm and could not think about doing anything else but relax.  And mom has already gone to bed by 7:15pm!  I should be there too, but I want to make sure I fill you in on the new home!

Here is a short slide show with details.  This home has such a personality!  We feel like this is our place of refuse and that we will have another great experience here in Nauvoo!  We are grateful to be able to park our car for a season!  Here are some shots;

Here is the side entrance to our new residence in Nauvoo.

This is a formal front entrance to our new residence, but this one is not used.

Home Sweet Home!

The view from the entrance into the kitchen

There is the side door entrance and our dining area as seen from the kitchen.

From the side door and dining room looking into the living room.

I could not help but hang the stockings with care over this living-room fireplace!

Built in book shelf by the overstuffed rocking chair.

A favorite picture and friend of ours!

This view of the fireplace looking into the formal entry.

And mom's birthday present!  (The office is to the right where I am sitting right now!)

The bedroom is large and spacious and very inviting to two tired senior missionaries!

Well, that is a summary of how mom and I celebrated my birthday today!  Wish you could have been here!  We love you!  Thank you for joining me tonight..... and my final thought is, don't be afraid to leave your place of comfort because you know, and will find out from some very choice experiences, that a loving Heavenly Father has some very special teaching moments ahead that will help you want to be better and do better in every aspect of your life.  I know, because He has put me to that test!  It may not be easy, but it will certainly be worth all the effort to, "sacrifice who we are for who we can become!" (Charles DuBois)

August 27, 2015 - Thursday our last day in Carthage

After tonight's post, I will be blogging from Nauvoo!  Mom and I started off this morning with our last day here in the Carthage Jail Visitors Center.  We were up early and had our morning devotional and prayers by 6:30am, and then we were off on our three mile walk.  The air was crisp and humid.  The leaves are starting to change colors, tipping us off that Fall is here.  We enjoyed our morning constitutional, and then we got ready to serve our last day here in Carthage with the opening shift.

As we greeted visitors this morning, we realized that any one of these groups could be our last tour here.  I had just started my last tour about noon today when I felt prompted to catch mom in the jail taking her last tour through.  I had placed my group in the movie room and then went directly to the jail.  She was just finishing up in the Martyrdom room, and became very emotional as she bore her last testimony in that room.  I had to catch that moment with this picture;

An experience never to be forgotten

This has been a very tender day for both of us

This precious lady has been such a great companion here in Carthage!  We have been here during the flood of special guests that totaled over 55,000 since our arrival in March.  The year will probably end at nearly 75,000.  What a special place this has been for us as we have studied and testified of the life and the teachings of Joseph Smith.  And what a tremendous blessing it has been to share these remarkable experiences with some of our family members!  How did we qualify for this rich blessing?

Mom and I were sitting by this monument sign here on the brick-way of the Visitors Center, and Chip came up to us to thank us for our service, and for being kind to him.  As you may recall, he greeted us back in March when we first arrived here, and as we were unloading the car.  He was on the back fence of the home we were occupying and I think he wanted to come in! 

Chip came by to say good bye!

And this is our testimony as well!

Chip was very kind but he had to leave being overcome with emotion.

As you can imagine, leaving our friends here in Carthage is a hard thing to do.  Just saying goodbye to Chip caused some emotional reactions that we did not see before with Chip!  But the lesson is clear, be kind to everyone because you never know how you will affect someone.  We all need to be a little kinder and a little more tolerant in this crazy world.... even with Chip!

Then we had a final "surprise family" come to Carthage.  This is Katie Jones and her family.  She cut my hair back in Idaho!  We had no idea she and her family were coming!  They walked into the Visitors Center just a few minutes before I completed my last tour.  Mom stayed around to catch this picture;

Katie Jones and Family from Idaho Falls

Once mom got home, we had lunch and began packing up the van.  We had Rendezvous tonight and we took in probably 90% of our goods.  I filled the van with everything that I could so that tomorrow, on our defined moving day, we will be able to get things done earlier and attend the temple as a birthday present for me!  Here is an action shot of us un-loading  in Nauvoo.  We are in the main house, just under the first apartment, (on top of this house), where we settled when we arrived in February for about 4 weeks:

Taking the first load to Nauvoo!

Well, we have come to the realization that our time in Carthage is over.  It was priceless and filled with sweet experiences, including precious family visits, but we are now back in Nauvoo.  We officially take over the residence tomorrow.  We still have some cleaning to do and we will have everything unpacked and put away by the end of the day tomorrow.  That will give us all day Saturday to ourselves with no assignments.  We are grateful for this opportunity to serve this mission together.  

Moving day gives a whole new meaning for the phrase; "there must be a constancy amid change".  We will all experience changes in our lives and will come to the realization that it really is part of our mortal test.  How we handle these tests will determine our final destinations, and how well we are able to qualify for the ultimate blessings of exaltation.... This is our goal to be together as a family forever!

August 26, 2015 - Wednesday in Carthage

The countdown to returning to Nauvoo is now at two days to go.  We have been so richly blessed to have had this wonderful experience!  But, it is time for us to reconnect with the missionaries in Nauvoo and we are excited to take this next step.

Our morning devotional and prayers were a big part of our preparation for today.  We then left for Nauvoo at about 6:50am to stop by our new residence and unlock the door for the carpet cleaners and then it was off to our weekly training meeting.  After the training meeting we met with our Rendezvous director and rehearsed the Editor for about an hour.  The lines are coming and Sister Curtis is helping me with the blocking and positioning as I deliver my lines.  I can't believe I am doing this "stage production", but I am actually looking forward to getting the start date.  It is inevitable so why not sooner than later?

Mom and I then stopped back by the new residence and discovered that the carpets were done.  So, in order to expedite the drying process, we turned on two fans to circulate the air.  We will make our first delivery of our possessions tomorrow afternoon, and we will do a deep cleaning of the rest of the home.

Moving from Carthage - packed our first load August 26th

Meanwhile, back in Carthage, we did a deep cleaning on this residence after we were done with our shift.  Since this was such a big home, it took longer than we had anticipated, but we were able to get most of the work completed by 6:00pm.  We are confident that the next occupants will be pleased with our efforts!

Now, here is an interesting insight I gained today on "leaving".  When we were talking to Sister Curtis before my rehearsals began this morning, we were discussing the move into Nauvoo.  Obviously, the move to Nauvoo requires "leaving" Carthage.  With the marvelous experiences that mom and I have gained here in Carthage, it will be hard to leave.  But Sister Curtis pointed out this insightful thought about leaving.  She said that throughout the Scriptures, the writers have noted that so many people throughout the ages have had to leave their homes.  

Think about all the examples of "leaving", including Lehi, Noah, the Jaradites, the Mormons, going to school, going on a mission, and getting married, and even leaving from our pre-mortal home, and so many others, to arrive at a new destination.  We have all had to leave comforts and family and friends and ways of life to seek newer and better ways to live.  The key part is that each of us will have to determine how the experience in our previous environment will affect the way we live and learn in our new environments.  

And the bottom line is that we all will gladly leave this life, at the appointed time and with the proper preparation, to return to our Heavenly Home!  That is what our preparation time is wisely used for, and will greatly benefit us as we press forward!  That alone is worth looking forward to by the way we live our lives now, and in the future.

Then, one final thought from Sister Curtis that she credited to Sister Lisa Brown's late husband; "You can get 'mad' in the same pants that you can get 'glad' in!"

It has been a great day and a very productive day.  Thank you for joining me tonight and for your encouragement to two senior missionaries!!

August 25, 2015 - Tuesday in Carthage

OK, I have to admit that time is slipping away at an increased rate.  This last week in Carthage is flying by and I am becoming more aware of the void this will create as we have worked hard with some of the best missionaries ever.  I wrote each of our senior couples a letter of gratitude tonight as our time together in this part of the Lord's Vineyard is coming to a close.  We have served over 55,000 guests together this summer, and that is an awesome achievement.  You can't help but love the people you serve with, and have experienced such marvelous days together without a noticeable feeling of separation....

Now, back to this morning!  Our day began early this morning with our morning devotional and prayers.  We were out on our walk by 6:00am and finished our morning workout by cleaning the jail one last time.  Here is a picture of the sunrise over the cornfields and the soybean fields this morning;

August 25th along our county walk in Carthage

 

We had the mid shift today which meant that we reported for work at 10:30am and got off at 5:00pm.  The visitors were few, but the Hansen's and the Price's and the Lasher's were able to talk about this wonderful experience together here in Carthage this summer.  Certainly memories that will not soon be forgotten!

Sister Price had a fun tour this afternoon.  She gave a tour to Elder Carlos H. Armando, an emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.  He was just released in October of 2014.  He and his mother and his daughter were here on a Church history tour.  His home was Guatemala City where our son Bob Jr. served his mission.  It was so much fun to talk with him and feel of his very kind Spirit!  I had to take a picture with Sister Price and the Armando's;

Elder Carlos H. Armando and his wife, daughter and mother with Sister Price

I had some time today to review the Editor part in Rendezvous.  I stood in the movie room and gave my presentation to mom who played the part of prompter, and the key missionaries I interact with during the Rendezvous Play.  The practices have been a huge help and I have one of my final rehearsals tomorrow after the mission training meeting.  That should be interesting as I will probably get my assigned debut date then.

As far as my tours went today, I had a wonderful experience with one family.  They came this afternoon and the sister was actually the niece of the husband and wife.  She was active in the Church in a ward near Chicago.  Her Aunt and Uncle were from Salt Lake area.  The uncle was a member and the aunt was not.  I got a heads up on this key information before the tour started, and I wondered what Heavenly Father might have me say to this wonderful family.  Well, in the movie, this family was joined by another family, all adults, (and grandparents), heading to the East coast for the baptism of their granddaughter.  

As the movie ended and I began the tour I wanted to give the information more to the wife who was not a member.  This was fairly easy to do until I shared my testimony in the Martyrdom room.  After I completed my testimony, everyone lingered in the room, as only those who have been there can imagine, and then we began to leave.  Of course the family with the non member wife left first.  As I continued to talk to the other family we took some picture and then went down the stairs.    

Then, as we gathered outside, these grandparents had a few more comments and the non member was slipping away.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see them near the end of the brick-way as I was just wrapping up my discussion with the grandparents.  I said goodbye and headed for the non member and her family.  They were just getting in the car when I approached them and thanked them for coming.  They got back out of the car to talk with me.  I had mentioned earlier that I was a convert, and the niece asked me about my conversion story....

What a great lead-in question!  I told them about my friend, Ellen, and how she invited Jackie and me over for a "Family Home Evening".  And I told them that when I first saw a picture of the temple and asked Ellen what that building was, I was told it was a place that families could be sealed together forever!  I then mentioned the death of my dad and how that affected my interest in finding out more about the Church! This precious non member sister seemed attentive....

I was so grateful that I could share my conversion with this dear non member sister here in Carthage!  Is it possible that she might want to learn more because of that conversion story?  I probably won't ever know in this life, but I also know that it was no accident that I could catch up to them before they drove away, and answer that very special question about my conversion story....

Carthage, Illinois.  A life changing experience every day!  Thank you for checking in with me tonight!

August 24, 2015 - Monday in Carthage

This has been another remarkable day in Carthage as we continue our countdown to moving to Nauvoo.  We woke up to temperatures in the low 50's this morning.  After our morning devotional and prayers, we ventured out for our morning walk around Carthage.  I wore an extra sweatshirt as we made our 3 mile walk through the cornfields and soybean fields.  It was a wonderfully brisk walk and we enjoyed our time to talk and enjoy the morning.

We got back to the jail at 6:30am this morning to do one of the last two cleaning assignments at the jail.  It has been a marvelous opportunity to be here and fulfill a labor of love in serving here in Carthage.  The tours today were very small and since we had the morning shift, we were able to leave at 2:30pm.  The fun part of the day was seeing some guests that had connections to people we know.

There was a sister that mom had in a small tour that lived next to one of Bob Jrs mission companions in Florida.  Mom had her text a picture of my name badge to them, and we will see if that makes it back to Bob.  Then we had BYU-Idaho students heading back to Rexburg to begin classes and it was great to make the connections.  We made sure that the sisters in the group made their dates at Rexburg take them to the best deli in the town of Idaho Falls!  (Gandolfo's Deli!!)

We also enjoyed serving with the senior missionaries from Nauvoo coming to help in Carthage for P-days for the missionaries here.  We had a wonderful couple, the Horlacher's, come today who are the site leaders for the Brickyard in Nauvoo.  They enjoy the change of pace here in Carthage and they are very capable when they take a group on the tour of the jail.

Tonight we had Rendezvous.  My debut date is close to being set.  Tonight we had a new Editor make his debut and I got to watch him as I sat with the Rendezvous Director.  He was definitely nervous, but I was grateful to be able to see his first night and the things he did.  It will be a benefit to me when I get my debut date set, probably on Wednesday, which is my next rehearsal.  While watching from the directors chairs I snapped these pictures;

I think mom enjoys the association with Sister Larsen!

And the Relief Society sisters meet again to sing and sew!

Well, we hit 10,000 miles tonight on our van that we got brand new in late January of this year. That's over 1,500 miles each month, on the average, that we have been out here.  The trips to Nauvoo from Carthage gave me lot's of study time for my part as "Pa" and now for the "Editor".  That was the best use of time for us, but now it's time to do more walking!  We should be all settled by Friday and for my birthday on Friday, we will take in the 6:00pm temple session in Nauvoo!

Today our oldest granddaughter, Cambry, began her first day in Junior High School!  I got the report late tonight from her about her day; "...Really had a fun day!  I got my own locker which was the best part, and ate lunch with my friends!  I had so so so so so so so much fun!..." Precious girl!  It was only yesterday, it seems, that I was driving from the Bay Area to Rexburg to see and hold her for the first time, and I was dressed in the golf shirt that announced my first grandchild; "Cambry Anna's Grandpa!

Thank you for checking in with us tonight!  We appreciate all the support and the prayers on our behalf!

August 23, 2015 - Sunday in Carthage

We had a most enjoyable Sabbath Day today.  We were up early for our drive into Nauvoo, (did I tell you this is our last Sunday drive from Carthage to Nauvoo?).  We had some wonderful meetings and mom and I had the opening and closing prayers for the Sacrament Meeting. 

We are enjoying some of the nicest weather as well today.  The temperatures were hitting the mid 70's today, and the feeling that Fall is definitely in the air prevailed.  This was a day off from the Visitors Center for us, and we had our afternoon and evening together.  I have really enjoyed the time with mom and relaxing together and planning for our upcoming move to Nauvoo.

For our birthdays, we are going to celebrate with our Rendezvous cast and the tradition has the birthday boys and girls bring treats for the cast.  We are going to have chips and dips and Grandpa's Chocolate Chip cookies.  I hope they like them!  We have our party scheduled for September 1st.

August 22, 2015 - Saturday in Carthage

Mom and I just finished our last Saturday shift at the Carthage jail Visitors Center.  The time to move back to Nauvoo is coming up quickly.  We will sort through our plans to move as we enjoy the Sabbath Day off from serving tomorrow.  We plan on beginning our move on Wednesday of next week by taking some of our winter clothing and our pictures in to Nauvoo when we drive in for the training meeting.  We will then be able to move more items on Thursday as we drive in to Nauvoo for Rendezvous.  Then Friday we make our final trip and will then be residents of Nauvoo.  We are looking forward to the reprieve from the long drives that we take almost everyday!

We had a wonderful morning as we prepared for the day.  We had our morning devotional and prayers and then we had an enjoyable 3 mile walk around the outskirts of Carthage.  We came home to do some aerobic exercises and then reported for our mid shift at 10:30am.  Mom and I also had the cleaning duties at the jail and got that done by 7:00am.

I think that I am starting to get comfortable with my part as the Editor.  I have a rehearsal scheduled for next Wednesday and that will probably determine my debut day.  Getting that first play behind me will be a good big step forward.  And, just the fact that I am feeling comfortable with participating in the play as the Editor, tells me that prayers really are answered. I know that those prayers that have been offered up in my behalf have carried me to this point!

Speaking of the Editor part, I think I will go rehearse it one more time before retiring for the night.  Thank you for checking in with us!

August 21, 2015 - Friday in Carthage

Mom and I had the closing shift today at the Visitors Center.  We had the entire morning off and took advantage of the time together.  We were up early and had our morning prayers before our long morning walk here in the Carthage area.  We love walking out in the outskirts of Carthage and down the roads next to the long rows of corn and soybeans.  The morning air was cool and crisp with an average amount of humidity.  

Then we came back to our home and enjoyed a work out of stretching and aerobics.  We had breakfast together and then enjoyed reading our Scriptures.  The morning was relaxing and I even had a rehearsing session for the Editor!  We arrived at the Visitors Center at 12:30pm to begin our shift.

I had three tours this afternoon and enjoyed sharing my thoughts and testimony with these visitors.  It is always a pleasure to give these tours and field some wonderful questions from our guests.  I especially love to take questions about Joseph Smith's run for the Presidency of the United States and talk about his platform.  We are certainly in need of that platform he stood for in today's society!  

I had a interesting encounter with our custodian this afternoon.  He came into the Visitors Center visibly upset.  When I spoke with him he indicated he had just been fired.  When I asked him why he was fired he said someone had accused him of coming to work yesterday drunk and on drugs.  Well, Elder and Sister Price both were here, and the only ones who talked to him when he came in last night at closing time to clean, and they indicated he was not drunk or on drugs.  

I immediately made a phone call and began the process of finding out who the accuser was, even though I had an idea.  My idea was confirmed and I went to bat for our custodian and let his boss know that she had false information in my estimation.  I also told her if they terminated him on this kind of information, they could face a wrongful termination case. even in a right to work state.  

Well I found out tonight that the supervisor reversed her decision and she admitted she was under pressure from her boss to let him go based on this erroneous information.  But after she had spoken with me, they both agreed that the termination was not in the best interest of their company or the Church's, since the accuser was a missionary here at Carthage who "assumed" he was drunk and on drugs.  I actually got a little excited over this questionable move and I was happy that our custodian was re-instated.

Our custodian came over to the house this evening and thanked me for going to bat for him.  He tries to do his best, and I knew that, and I had to take a stand for him.

As I was closing the Visitors Center this evening I had Sister Saunders come in with two of her daughters.  She is the Seminary Teacher this year and we were discussing some of the arrangements for her class.  After this discussion, she was telling me about a sister she had been talking to about her path to moving to Carthage about 11 years ago.  This sister does not live close to Carthage but was very touched, and very emotional, by Sister Saunders story.  I will relate that story as I told it back in April when I first heard it;

The Saunders were living in Houston, Texas about 11 years ago.  Brother Saunders was working as a General Manager for major hotels and was on his way to an interview for one of these positions when he got the distinct impression that if he went to the interview he would be offered the job.  And he further felt that he should not accept the position!  So, instead of going to the interview, he went to the temple to figure out these conflicting impressions.  It was there that he felt he needed to move his family to Illinois, and specifically to the Nauvoo area. 

This impression was shared with his wife who, at that time, was an aspiring opera singer attending a prestigious opera school in Houston and on the path to accepting a position in New York City.  She told him that was impossible and that she wasn't going to even entertain that thought.  Well, he told her she had to come to her own conclusion as to which way to go, but that he was going to be leaving for Nauvoo the next day.....  She was "astonished exceedingly", to say the least!  She had to know what this was all about so she too went to the temple and got no impressions to move. 

However, she had always relied on her Scriptures to help her with major decision so she turned to the Scriptures.... nothing initially, until she opened up to the Doctrine and Covenants and  read in Section 125; ..."let them build unto me a city.... Nauvoo".   That was her answer and they moved to the Nauvoo area and settled in Carthage within a few weeks.  On their first Sunday at Church, they found out that the Nauvoo Stake had been fasting 40 days for help to strengthen the members here.  The Saunders were one of four families that answered that fast without knowing it!

Well, back to her friend I spoke about initially.  She was very emotional, not because of the faith promoting story that the Saunders had, but that she and her family had also received that impression 11 years ago, .... and did not act upon it.

Now is the time to make ourselves ready to receive promptings and inspiration.  We must have that Divine help from a loving Father to get through this maze of mortality.  That is the only way we will make it safely through!

There is our story for tonight! All in a days work for two Nauvoo senior Missionaries!  Thank you for checking in with us!

August 20, 2015 - Thursday in Carthage

Today we officially begin our last week in Carthage.  We have had such a life changing experience serving here over the last 5 months.  We have met some absolutely wonderful youth groups and leaders, and have shared our testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith with thousands of guests.  As of today, we have had just over 55,000 guests whom we have seen come to Carthage since April 1st of this year.  The experiences will fill volumes, many of which are included in this Blog!  

Here is one of those groups that I had the sweet experience of teaching about Joseph in our tour today.  There were 44 individuals who came from Toronto, Canada, as a youth group, and joined with me on this tour. I was so grateful for their attentiveness and interest in the events of Carthage during the last days of Joseph and Hyrum's lives, on June 25th, 26th, and 27th of 1844. I told them they were going to be on the Blog and here is their picture as they prepared to leave on their bus today after our tour together;

Toronto, Canada Stake Youth Conference

I spent over an hour with this group, during the tour and, after the tour, and answered their wonderful questions.  We ended up taking the entire group because we had been sent a new missionary couple today, who did not feel comfortable giving a tour.  That meant that since mom was already in a tour, I was going to need to take the entire group, and it was a good decision.  They stayed close together and were engaged and very attentive to the information.

As always, mom and I were up early this morning and got ready for the day.  We had our morning devotion and prayers both together, and separate.  It is interesting to note that during our prayer time together,  we almost always include prayers for the guests that come to Carthage.  We want them to have a positive experience while they are here.

While I was waiting for the Toronto Youth group to arrive, I was out on the brick-way enjoying the beautiful Fall weather.  The air was crisp and a slight breeze was blowing, and the area around the Visitors Center was serene and quiet.  I then saw a man walking through the courtyard and thoughtfully reading the monument signs along the brick-way.  I approached him with a good morning greeting, and asked if he was here for a tour.  It so happened that he was a pastor who was giving a sermon later today and he was just enjoying the peacefulness of the grounds.  

Well, here is what I did.  I explained the history of the Carthage Jail and the events that took place here on June 27th, 1844, to our Prophet Joseph Smith.  He seemed to acknowledge that he knew about Joseph and appreciated my telling him a little about the Martyrdom.  It was a good opportunity to help expose him to the sacredness of the grounds and the feelings we have of the events that took place here.  Were any seeds planted?  I'm not sure, but he knew that I knew that we had a Prophet of the restoration as he was "passing through" these sacred grounds!

Mom and I went to Rendezvous tonight and enjoyed the one show we had.  I am gearing up for my debut as Editor but no date has been set.   But I know that it is coming so I'd better go and get one more practice in before I retire for the evening!  Thank you for checking in with us tonight!

August 19, 2015 - Wednesday in Carthage

Officially the countdown has begun for our move back into Nauvoo.  We are able to begin moving some things in next Wednesday when we travel in for our training meeting, and our final night in Carthage will be Thursday August 27th.  This has been such a wonderful blessing for us to be here and we are now looking forward to our new assignments in Nauvoo, (whatever that might be).  And it is time to reduce the mission spending, and the savings in gasoline will be tremendous.

Well, we got off to a great start this morning.  We had our prayers and our devotional before leaving for the training meeting in Nauvoo.  We had a nice meeting this morning and then we joined 3 other couples and drove to Moline, Iowa, to the John Deere Tractor assembly plant.  They make and assemble up to 350 harvester machines in one year.  (That amounts to one every 10 days!)  And the average cost is over $550,000 each.  They are quite the machine, as I have pictured here;

This is one BIG machine that can harvest 30 acres per hour in wheat, corn or beans!

Front row seats!  Air conditioned and surround sound with computer driven capability

Lasher's, Larsen's, Webb's and Clark's - John Deere Factory

Let's bring this baby down to OUR size!

The drive took about 3 hours and we had the roughest riding mission van!  But we had fun and enjoyed the day of fun.  The folks at John Deere took us on a 90 minute tour of the facility and we saw the complete cycle of building this big harvester.  From the initial cutting of the raw materials sheet metal, to the finished assembly of the harvester.  They take about 10 to 12 days to build one of these machines and they do not build one without a purchase order.  The assembly plant is on 213 acres with 73 acres completely enclosed along and around the assembly lines.  I even got a John Deere golf shirt for my upcoming birthday!

Mom and I were able to get into Keokuk, after our trip to John Deere, for groceries and we were home by 6:45pm.  Definitely a different P-day but a lot of fun getting to know members of our Emma Hale cast a little better and understanding how these big harvesters work!

Then, the best news of the day came when I got word that my brother, Doug, came through open heart surgery, (double by-pass and repair of several other issues), with excellent reports.  The doctor indicated that his heart was pumping stronger and that the surgery went very well.  Today, the prayers of family members including nieces and nephews, and brothers and sisters, and son and daughter and great nieces and nephews were answered to our ultimate desires and appreciation. 

Now off to work on the Editor part for Rendezvous!

August 18, 2015 - Tuesday in Carthage

The pace is really slowing down here in Carthage.  We had about 100 guests yesterday and we were on track for even less than 100 today.  However, I had some wonderful families on my two tours and I enjoyed connecting with the youth.  In both tours I got to emphasize the importance of brothers and sisters staying close together and being kind and helpful to each other.  

There is an oak tree right outside the Martyrdom window, close to the well, that I love to end my tours by.  I have already told them that the jail building is 174 years old.  When we get to the tree, I tell them it is the oldest tree on the Church property and then ask them to tell me how old they think the tree is.  I get all kinds of guesses from over 175 to 400 or 500 years old.  It is about four feet in diameter,  and a huge shade tree over the area.  After the guesses , I tell them it was a seedling in 1951 making it less that 70 years old.

Now, here is my point; the tree drinks a lot of water due to the high water table here in Carthage.  In fact, it drinks so much water that the bark has splits in it and the core of the trees similar to this one in this area, have a hollow core of 8" to over 12" in diameter.  The reason is because the tree doesn't keep its life 'in balance' with other nutrients.  Therefore, it does not grow big and strong as much as it "looks" big and strong.  It gives me the opportunity to stress the importance of keeping our lives in balance,  with proper food, rest, service, worship activities and acts of kindness to each other.

At one point we had a tremendous downpour at the Visitors Center.  Here are some pictures:

Look at the raindrops "dancing" off the bricks!

The downspout is flowing with water and the grass is forming lakes before our eyes!

 Well, it has been a good day and mom and I had a great start to the day with our morning devotional and prayers and some great exercise.  The rain had not yet arrived as we took our long three mile walk and it was invigorating.  And this was our day to clean the jail after our walk.

We were off our shift at 5:00pm and came home and had no place we had to be.  Our moving day is set for August 28, and August 29.  They will clean the carpets in our next home in Nauvoo on Tuesday August 25th.  We will start off in our new residence with a clean house!

Tonight our prayers are focused on my brother, Doug's, heart surgery tomorrow.  He will have a double by-pass surgery and they will fix some damaged arteries.  He is very nervous about the possible outcome, and my big brother advise was stay positive and listen to the doctors.

August 17, 2015 - Monday in Carthage

We had a wonderful morning as we prepared for the day at Carthage.  Today marked our sixth month in being here in the Nauvoo Mission.  The last five months we have spent here in Carthage.  

Mom and I had our morning devotional and prayers and even had a few extra minutes to stretch before our long country walk.  We left the house at a few minutes before 6:00am and had a nice three mile walk around Carthage.  It was a cool and very humid morning.

Our day at the Visitors Center began at 8:45am and our first group came in at 9:30am.  That gave mom and I a chance to review the entire part of the Editor.  We were the only missionaries in the Visitors Center until 10:30am.  And the visitors were very few indeed.  I ended up giving two tours before we left at 3:15pm.

However, we did get some great news!  We got our moving orders to return to Nauvoo!  Our moving day is August 28th.  That will end up saving us several hundred dollars a month in gasoline and at least 12 hours each week of travel time.  Carthage has been a remarkable experience for mom and me, and we are so grateful for the privilege we have had to serve here.  We are now on to some new experiences in just a little over one week as we return to Nauvoo.

Two missionaries in a deep discussion while posing in a working position!

The leaves are changing colors!  In August!  We captured this picture this morning on our walk.

Well, we are just getting back from Rendezvous and I am waiting to talk to my sister Jackie over my brother Doug's heart attack.  He will have by-pass surgery on Wednesday and the doctors are concerned with his weakened condition.  Our prayers as a family are united for Doug's recovery and restoration of health.

August 16, 2015 - Sunday in Carthage

We have had a busy day today.  Mom and I got started this morning with our devotional and prayers.  What a special tone that sets for our day.  I know I mention that in many of these posts, but it really does help to read our Scriptures together and pray together as we begin each day.  We were fasting today for getting to the point of being able to pay off all our debts.  And it always helps me draw closer to Heavenly Father to fast each Sunday with a purpose.

In our meetings today I was able to jot down some thoughts from the speakers.  One young sister missionary joined the Church when she was 14 and making lots of bad decisions.  Her parents had divorced and she had very little direction in her life.  She is now 20 and serving a full time mission!  A quote I got from her came when she first found out about, "Agency".  Here is how she put it; "When I first heard about agency, I thought how cool it was to be given commandments to live and then "getting" to keep them".

Another young sister said; "People resist 'change' because it wears overalls and looks too much like work".  She was talking about her mother, and some of the things her mother often said to her, like; "Have you prayed about it as much as you have talked about it?", and, "Worry" is like rocking in a rocking chair - you go back and forth, but you don't get anywhere!"

Mom and I got back to Carthage at 11:35am this morning and we did not have anyone in the parking lot.  We broke our fast and had some cold cereal together since we were scheduled to have our District Meeting here tonight.  We are having all the district together for one last meal and testimony meeting before all the young sisters transfer back to Nauvoo tomorrow with new companions.  The summer is officially over!

Carthage was very slow today.  We had several families right at 12:15pm and we started the first tour.  By 4:15pm we had each taken a tour and I was now giving my first tour of the day and the last tour of the day!  We had less than 200 guests come in, but we were grateful for one last Sunday together before the sisters leave tomorrow.  And we each got to take a group through the tour process.

The District Meeting started at 5:30pm and we had a wonderful dinner together.  It was fun to be together after experiencing the busiest Carthage summer on record.  We all worked so well together!  Almost everyone had experiences that they shared and most of them have been posted here in the blog.

But one story I heard tonight for the first time came from one of the young sister missionaries.  She told of how special the last tours of the day always seemed to be.  One in particular was with a group of several families.  She was walking up the stairs to the Martyrdom room when she noticed a young man about half way up the stairs who had stopped, by himself, and taken off his hat, and stood there for a minute.  A few minutes later she then noticed that others who had been wearing hats had also removed them.  When she asked why he had taken off his hat, the young man explained that he was "told to take off his hat".  This sister testified that no audible voice had given him that instruction.

Stephen Markham District farewell August 16, 2015

Here is our Stephen Markham District as of August 16, 2015.  The young sisters in the front row are from left to right, Sister Pugmire, Sister Mikoliski, Sister Uata, Sister Heninger, Sister Butler and Sister Kupfer.  They all leave Carthage tomorrow and will begin serving in Nauvoo.  The other families are the Hansen's, the Heninger's, the Price's, and the Skidmore's who took care of the beautiful gardens.  The summer team was a marvelous team of missionaries!

We had some anxious news tonight after the meeting.  My brother, Doug, was admitted to the hospital with blocked arteries.  He almost did not make it today.  He will need a double bypass heart surgery within the next few days.  What a wake-up call for all of us!  Our lives are fragile and in the Hands of Heavenly Father.  I want to make sure that I am doing all that I can here in mortality, to qualify to be with my family forever.  Our prayers are with my brother and his family and we hope and pray that he will have a speedy recovery.