December 31, 2016 - Saturday

Officially it has been four months since we were released from our mission in Nauvoo.  Our subsequent travels to return home to our family were some of the most exciting and well anticipated times!  We went to visit Helen's father in Virginia and returned back across the United States to reunite with our precious daughter in Utah and help them prepare to relocate to Idaho.  We had our entire family gathered for our three day reunion party in southern Utah and that was an amazing gathering.  I want to see that happen annually!

I've moved back into the deli routine and hope to have this wonderful business ready to sell shortly.  It has been a phenomenal business over the last nine years and my son-in-law and daughter have done such a great job in keeping the business flowing and excelling in food service.  We are looking for just the right buyer to keep this wonderful business reaching and exceeding our lofty business goals.  I have enjoyed getting reacquainted with our awesome customers this past few months!  However, my wife has said that we need to get our business affairs settled and get ready for whatever our next assignment will be.  I want to be ready for that call!

August 28, 2016 - Sunday - My Birthday in Nauvoo!

Well, here we are!  Our final Sabbath Day in Nauvoo, our final set of Sunday meetings, our final opportunity to fast here in Nauvoo, our last (and only) formal interview with the mission president, and his wife, my final night to post on my blog here in Nauvoo, and our last breakfast for lunch in breaking our fast!  There are sure a lot of "lasts" today!  And what a wonderful day it has been with missionary friends bidding us a safe and happy trip back home, along with calls from home helping me celebrate this mission birthday!

Thank you for the phone calls and birthday wishes!  It was so good to hear from so many family members and friends today.  This has to rank among the most memorable birthdays I have had!

It has been a wonderful day of quiet celebration for us. Several senior missionaries gave us hugs and best wishes.  There were even a few senior missionaries who shared birthday wishes with us.  We felt pretty special with our friends and fellow missionaries today!  And now, we are less than half a day away from beginning our road trip back home!  With the work we accomplished yesterday, we should only need an hour tomorrow morning to wrap up our packing and be on the road by 5:00am.

Last Sunday School Class in Nauvoo!

Elder and Sister Aina came by to wish us well

Mission President Hall and his wife - interesting interview...

We had our exit interview with our mission president this morning at 11:45am.  We were done with our interview within 5 minutes.  It was a very awkward interview and we were glad it was short!  Mom and I have tried so hard to be the best we could be here in the mission field and we gave every day our best efforts.  There is no service that is rendered that centers around any earthly person.  

I am convinced that we didn't sacrifice our time and efforts away from precious family members and friends for 18 months to impress any human being.  Our service was in the mission field to share the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to bear testimony of our Savior.  We both feel that our service was accepted by our Heavenly Father and that was reinforced today by the mission president.

Elder and Sister Aina came by to drop off some fresh baked banana bread for my birthday.  They have been so kind and complimentary to us.  They have been in our Emma Hale cast and we have enjoyed our association with them.  We have truly felt the spirit of "Aloha" with them as he hails from Hawaii!  I asked him to give me a Priesthood blessing as we begin the road trip tomorrow, to Virginia Beach, and then back to Utah and Idaho.  He gave me a wonderful and very emotional blessing that will carry us safely across the United States with peace and protection!

It will be very difficult to close this blog.  I have posted all of our wonderful experiences here every single day except one in which the internet was down.  I have 590 posts and 11,424 page views over the last two years.  Now, our mission has come to a close, with our final interview from the mission president today.  Our release as full time missionaries will take place this Wednesday August 31st, which is our official release date from the missionary department.   However, we are all missionaries as President David O. McKay said back in October 1949;

"Every member is a missionary. He or she has the responsibility of bringing somebody: a mother, a father, a neighbor, a fellow worker, an associate, somebody in touch with the messengers of the gospel. If every member will carry that responsibility and if the arrangement to have that mother or that father or somebody meet the authorized representatives of the Church, no power on earth can stop this church from growing. And personal contact is what will influence those investigators. That personal contact, the nature of it, its effect depends upon you. And that’s one thing that I wish to emphasize. There’s one responsibility which no man can evade, that’s the responsibility of personal influence. … It’s what you are, not what you pretend to be that will bring people to investigate".

And President Spencer W. Kimball encouraged us to keep going when he said;

“We must not falter nor weary in well-doing. We must lengthen our stride. Not only is our own eternal welfare at stake, but also the eternal welfare of many of our brothers and sisters who are not now members of this, the true Church. I thrill to the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith in a letter that he sent to the Church from Nauvoo on September 6, 1842: 'Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward. … Courage … and on, on to the victory!”  ― Spencer W. Kimball 

We have learned so much about the Latter-day Saints who lived here in the seven years between 1939 and 1846.  My Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith has increased a hundred fold from the understanding I had about him before serving here.  The foundation that was established by Joseph and the Nauvoo Saints in the 1840's is an unprecedented history of the American people and needs to be shared with everyone who will listen.  Hopefully, in the next two days, we will be able to begin sharing these experiences with PopPop.

Our mission really has not ended, although the mission blog has.  We will continue our missionary service as we "transfer" from the Illinois, Nauvoo Mission to our next assignment back home!  We are excited to begin our journey tomorrow morning and we so appreciate your prayers on our behalf as we travel the 4,500 miles back to Rigby, Idaho through the city of Virginia Beach and then back across the eastern part of the United States. Our goal is to be back in time to share Jacob's 8th birthday!!  Thank you for your love and support of these two grateful senior missionaries!  Let the road trip begin!

August 27, 2016 - Saturday in Nauvoo

Looks like mom and I are down to the "last" of the experiences here in Nauvoo.  Today was our last walk around the Old Nauvoo township.  We had our morning devotional and prayers, and then left our cozy little cottage, and began our final four mile walk.  Along the path, we walked down Parley Street, where, on February 4, 1846, the Saints set out from Nauvoo to find a place in the west where they could plow their fields as they saw fit, worship as they wanted, and live life as they had a mind to!  We pondered about their faith, and their willingness to follow a Prophet of God, as we approached the crossing point of the river.  We are indebted to these precious Saints who gave so much so that we could have the Gospel in our lives.

You see, west was just a direction and not a destination.  They had to cross a partially frozen Mississippi River.  They had to experience the coldness of a minus 14 degrees on that day.  They had to leave behind so many personal treasures because there was just no room for them.  Ultimately, they endured hardships along the way with illnesses, diseases and untimely deaths.  All to faithfully follow a Prophet... and even more significant, many of them did not murmur or complaint when the struggles and the opposition increased.  These examples of faith and determination are an inspiration to us.

That is just a part of what we have learned here in Nauvoo and Carthage over the last 18 months.  I marvel to think about the many wonderful and often sacred experiences we have had during the precious time here in Nauvoo.  But we also know that it is time to return to our marvelous family.  We have served here every day and have tried to improve on our best efforts each of those days.  And now we are being "transferred" to our new area of service!!  Back to being with our loved ones!

We worked at the Family Living Center as extras from our scheduled assignment at the Handcart Station.  With that handcart site closed, we defaulted to the Family Living Center.  However, the schedulers did not reduce the missionary force, to make room for two more missionaries, so we had nothing to do.  The site coordinators finally sent us home at 11:30am!  We were grateful for the extra time this afternoon to clean and pack and load the van for our early Monday morning departure!!  Yeah!  Here we come!  And here are some "parting" shots from our assignment today;

Mom.... sewing?  No.... can't be...

The master Cooper - anyone know what a Cooper does?

Sister Webb and mom cutting fabric strips

Mom preparing fabric strips for the Weaver

Elder Brown and the piano music

First selfie as we are leaving - FLC is in the background!

A final picture of the wonderful residence of E/S Lasher!

I had to include a picture of Elder Brown at the piano.  He is one of several new Editors I have had the privilege of working with.  He will perform in a different cast, but I got to work with him over at the Cultural Hall this morning as we blocked his scenes.  

Mom and I feel so grateful for the opportunity we have had to serve this mission together.  There are no regrets or even sad feelings.  We just feel that our Heavenly Father has approved of our service and has been pleased with our efforts.  Our ultimate goal was to serve this mission together and share the message of the Restored Gospel, and we feel that has been accomplished.  

That is all we need to know as we return home with lots of stories and happy experiences to share!  We hope our precious grandchildren are ready!  We sure are!

And now my closing thought;

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.   -  Zig Ziglar

Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/z/zigziglar120890.html?src=t_motivational

August 26, 2016 - Friday in Nauvoo

Here we are entering the last weekend as missionaries in the Nauvoo Mission.  After last nights successful Rendezvous, I did not get to bed until 10:30pm.  It was about 3:30am when I first woke up this morning having had a few good hours of sleep.  But over the last few months I don't think I have had more than six hours of sleep in any one night.  I expect to be catching up on my rest over the next few weeks!  Is that possible to "catch up" on missed rest??

Levi is giving grandpa an idea......

Granny and Grandpa can't be going to see PopPop first! - Bad dream!

Mom and I began our early morning with our prayers and our devotional.  We then began our usual early morning walk at about 5:10am.  It was still dark outside with lots of clouds.  By the time we had walked a mile, we started seeing lightening in the horizon and made the decision to cut our morning walk down.  We took the shorted path and got home about 6:00am.  

Mom was assigned as the second wagon narrator and had to be at work by 8:00am.  I had the late shift at the Family Living Center and reported for work at 11:45am.  I also had a rehearsal at the Cultural Hall at 9:30am.  I thought that I would ride the wagon with mom for her 11:30am wagon ride, but I had to go back home to get mom's purse, after the rehearsal, so she could drive the van home after her shift.

This was the last narration assignment for mom and it was a fairly slow day.  It was the same in the Family Living Center just adjacent to the wagon ride depot.  We only had 89 visitors come in during the entire day.  I got a lot of visiting done with some of our fellow missionaries.

Elder and Sister Lowe

After mom finished her assignment as the wagon narrator, she came home and gathered  all the 1840's clothing we have been wearing, this past 18 months, and took them to the sewing room as a donation.  The only remaining 1840's clothing we now have is what we will wear tomorrow on our last day of site service.

We will then wash those clothes at the end of our shift tomorrow and donate those to the sewing room workers.  Things are now winding down rapidly as we finalize our preparations to leave the Illinois, Nauvoo Mission early Monday morning.  Unbelievable!

As mom and I look forward to our family reunion and to the upcoming Christmas season, I wanted to share this message;

First Corinthians 13, Christmas Version

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
Strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
But do not show love to my family,
I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,
Baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
Preparing gourmet meals
And arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime,
But do not show love to my family,
I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen,
Carol in the nursing home
And give all that I have to charity,
But do not show love to my family,
It profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
And crocheted snowflakes,
Attend a myriad of holiday parties
And sing in the choir's cantata,
But do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.  Charity never fails!

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust ... but giving the 

gift of love will endure.    Claire Jordan

Now, thinking about Christmas and the message this poem brings, why should we wait for Christmas to act on this message?

August 25, 2016 - Thursday in Nauvoo

Well another chapter in the lives of these two senior missionaries came to a close tonight.  We participated in our final Rendezvous Play, and, as a bonus, we had two shows!  Mom and I had the leading roles as Editor and Relief Society President.  I can't even begin to describe what a privilege it was for me to be able to represent "an entire printing industry" here in Nauvoo in the 1840's.  

As I look back on the past 11 months and 68 performances, it is humbling and amazing to me that I got to participate at this level in this play.  Telling the story of the Saints who lived here during the Nauvoo years of 1839 to 1846 will always be one of the highlights of our mission.

On the average, I went over those eight, plus, pages of lines, 6 days a week for the last 13 months.  It was so important to me to be word perfect so that I could play that sensitive role, of the Editor, and a story teller extraordinaire!  And, after our second performance of a nearly filled Cultural Hall, we received a standing ovation!  This was one of our very best performances and certainly one of the best feelings!!....

As mom and I were walking off the stage in the final "Little Town" Vignette that ended the show, the audience quickly stood up and gave us that standing ovation.  I have to admit that tears came to my eyes!  And then this wonderful impression came over me that the Lord was pleased with our efforts here in the mission field.  I appreciated that more than words can express here in this blog....!  No regrets for sure and I am so excited for what lies ahead in this next "mission transfer"!

Here is a picture of Elder and Sister Clark.  We both served as Editors this past 11 months, and mom and Sister Clark were the Relief Society Presidents.  I think we had the best time working together as we rotated every week the role as Editor and Relief Society President.

The Lasher's and the Clark's

An Editor admiring a beautiful Relief Society President!

Our day started off with our morning devotional and prayers, coupled with our walk around Old Nauvoo.  We have two more days to enjoy our early morning walks, and they have been wonderful, over the last 18 months.  We then went to our site assignment at the Family Living Center early so that I could work with some senior missionaries working on their new Vignettes.

Watching the new senior missionaries take on these frightening assignments of memorizing lines and learning the blocking, on and off the stage, has been fascinating for me.  And the ones who are filling in for the missionaries preparing to go home are doing an incredible job of learning and memorizing their lines!

Now, back at home, here are some pictures we have gotten this past few days;

One worn out precious little Kenzie!

Levi waking up on his morning walk with his mom

I love my family!  Come and cuddle with me!

An award winning picture from Ali!

Now, here are some fun pictures from our shift at the Family Living Center today.  Mom and I had fewer than 20 visitors come into the center to see the activities of the early Saints.  Take a look;

Mom teaching how candles were made

 

Mom tying the woven rugs

Here is Grandpa teaching rope making

Two sisters pretty excited about the rope making process

When I was making the ropes today, the precious girl in the red shirt was so excited about the rope making set-up.  She could hardly wait to get her family to come and listen to my presentation!  Well, my presentation is all "hands on", and I love getting the kids involved.  She and her sister wanted to know everything about ropes and making the finished product.  Even tying the ends in the "whip" was fascinating to her and she was able to learn that process as well.

But the neat part about these girls was that after we made their family rope, and I had given them the message that the rope represented, (working together makes a family stronger), they left to see some other presentations.  As I was about to start a new rope making demonstration, this precious girl and her sister came back and were watching me begin.  When I noticed them, I invited them to come up and give the presentation with me.  They quickly and happily agreed, and proceeded to give the presentation to this man flawlessly.  Even down to tying the rope ends in the whip!

Then, as they handed the finished rope to the man, they explained that this rope began with a single fiber of the Sisal plant.  With hundreds of fibers of this plant woven together, they were able to make this piece of rope that was strong  and unbreakable, unlike the single strand of the Sisal fiber!  Working together they were stronger than working separate from each other.... and they ended the presentation as the man accepted the rope!

Frankly, I was pleased, and proud, of these two young sisters learning early in life how important it is to work together.  Putting aside all petty differences, they were able to "weave" into their lives a piece of rope that would be very hard to pull apart.  That life message came to them here in the Family Living Center, under the presentation of making a simple rope!  And now, they were passing that message on!

And my thought for today;

  “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on "fighting" the old, but on "building" the new.”  ― Socrates

August 24, 2016 - Wednesday in Nauvoo

Mom and I had to forfeit our morning walk this morning as we attended our last Wednesday morning training meeting for the senior missionaries.  After our morning devotional, we went over to have mom get her last haircut from Robert.  Her appointment was at 6:00am.  The haircut took about 15 minutes, but I got up at 4:30am in order to have my shower over with before her appointment.  That gave her enough time to get ready for the day and get to the training meeting on time after her appointment with Robert.  With the handcart's not being scheduled, that gave me the opportunity to attend this meeting with her.

Mom had the assignment to work the split shift at the Stoddard Tin shop and I had the assignment to steam clean the handcarts and get them ready to store for the winter.  I worked alone since my assigned companion went to Quincy for some other business.  I also helped two new Editors in blocking their moves in the Rendezvous play.  Helping Sister Lowe has been gratifying for me, especially because of her background in theater and musical productions.... she TRUSTS me in helping these missionaries learn their new Vignettes!

After my assignment with the handcarts, I picked mom up at the Tin shop and we had lunch together before she had to return to her site.  I have been having problems with my phone downloading pictures, so I drove over to Keokuk and visited the Verizon store, and had them check out the phone.  Since it is getting to be four years old, they attribute the problems I am having to the age of the phone.  However, we were finally able to get the pictures to download. Here are some pictures from today;

Mom made the fhe final "cut" by Robert in Nauvoo

There is one excited boy to see Granny and Grandpa!

Ready for his "back to 'home' school" blessing...

Beautiful grandchildren ready to be roughed up!

More precious grandchildren - first day of school

Anna ready for first day ever of going to kindergarten!

Best 4th grader in Rigby...ever!

Bring on the third grade!  Jacob is ready!

Farewell, Sister Hansen - last day in Tin shop together!

The grazing family outside our back door!

August 23, 2016 - Tuesday in Nauvoo

We had another cooler temperature day here in Nauvoo.  We began our early morning with prayers and our devotional together.  Then we took full advantage of this exceptional walking temperature and made our 4 mile trek through the streets of Old Nauvoo.  

The early morning sunrise

We left the house at 5:00am and got back at 6:10am.  We made what we think might be our last temple session at 8:00am.  Our temple missionaries friends, the Shaw's joined us for the session and then took us on an hour tour of the temple.  Then, I spoke with the temple president and got permission to climb the 97 steps to the top of the temple tower with Brother Shaw and one of the temple engineers.  We saw the inter workings of the clocks and the bolts holding the base of Moroni, and even ventured out on the roof over the Celestial Room.  From the top of the Angel Moroni to the ground floor is just over 160 feet.  The wind was blowing and the half moon curve of the Mississippi was so pronounced at that height.  Mom was not interested in the tour of the tower, but that was a real treat for me!

Mom and I love going to the temple!  Here in Nauvoo, we have been able to visit the Nauvoo Temple 96 times over the last 18 months.  The temple presidency has been so kind to us and the president thanked us, again, for our service in the temple along with our responsibilities as missionaries.  President Thomas S. Monson has said; 

"The blessings of the temple are priceless. One for which I am grateful every day of my life is that which my beloved wife, Frances, and I received as we knelt at a sacred altar and made covenants binding us together for all eternity. There is no blessing more precious to me than the peace and comfort I receive from the knowledge I have that she and I will be together again".

I have known that, first hand, as the message of the temple sealing sunk deep into my heart almost 45 years ago.   That is what caught my attention of the Church when my friend, Ellen, told me about the temple and the sealing power contained therein.  I am grateful, more and more, each day, to have the blessings of the temple deepen my understanding of the eternities, and what life would be like without these saving and sealing ordinances!

Then mom and I had lunch together when we got home at around noon.  What a nice a relaxing afternoon, we enjoyed together, before we began our shift at the Visitor's Center.  Our shift was from 3:00pm until 9:00pm.  In that amount of time we shared the shift with 5 other missionaries until 6:00pm and then we covered the Visitor's Center together until 9:00pm.  We ended up serving less than 25 visitors in that six hour shift.  Yes, it is really slowing down here in Nauvoo and there is a surplus of missionaries to keep busy!  But it was great to be able to talk to those 25 visitors and share our testimonies with them!

August 22, 2016 - Monday in Nauvoo

Here we go!  Our last P-day in the mission field.  And how did we spend it?  We got up early this morning and had our morning devotional and prayers.  Then at 5:30am we set out for our 4 mile morning walk around Old Nauvoo.  We got home about 6:45am and got ready for our trip to Quincy to have our car serviced for the 4,500 trip home.  

It is interesting to note that our journey to Nauvoo began in November 2014, and took us from the Provo, Utah, MTC to Laoag, Philippines, back to Rigby, then back to the MTC on February 16, 2015, and then here to Nauvoo where we arrived on February 19, 2015.  The distance we traveled to get here?.... 22,500 miles!  So the 4,500 mile trip home seems like a piece of cake... right?

We had a safe trip to Quincy where the appointment for the car was 10:00am.  It took about 45 minutes and then we shopped at Sam's Club for a few items to carry us through this last week.  We then came home and mom and I had our breakfast for lunch meal since we missed it yesterday.  Mom had some laundry to finish and then we left for the 4:30pm Rendezvous rehearsals that we are helping with.  I am grateful that we can help our Rendezvous director in the transition from new missionaries learning the parts that the old missionaries are vacating.  That has been fun and very interesting for me!

At about 6:00pm tonight we got an email from our Stake President releasing us from our mission effective August 31st.  We will be traveling for about five of six weeks before we get home and he thought that it would be best for us to be released here in the mission field!  There are so many experiences we can't wait to share when we get home!

And then we snapped this picture of the sunset tonight as we were leaving Rendezvous;

It was so much more awe inspiring in person!

After our Rendezvous play I got to return a phone call from one of my grandsons who was just checking up on me and making sure I WAS coming home to rough him up!  Thank you for the call Bobby!  It is so fun to hear from these precious grandchildren!! 

I had some additional pictures that I was hoping to post here, but they are taking forever to download!  We have had a wonderful day and we appreciate you checking in with us tonight!