March 31, 2016 - Thursday in Nauvoo

What a special treat it was to have the Jeppson's stay over one more day!  The early Spring storms, along their route back to their home, had traffic stopped, so what better place could they have stayed to wait out the storm than with Granny and Grandpa?

Mom and I started off our day with our early morning devotional and prayers.  We were in this morning preparation when a huge thunder storm and heavy showers hit our little home.  The storm here in Nauvoo lasted about ten minutes and then stopped as abruptly as it had started.  Therefore, we were able to take our long morning walk in the freshest of morning air!  Take a look at these morning shots;

The muscle clouds hanging over the temple - view from Parley St

Residue of the morning storm

Spring is here!

The precious reminder of our wonderful family visit!

Then mom and I took off to our separate assignments.  Mom went to the Wagon Depot to narrate the late rides beginning at 10:30am.  I headed to the Blacksmith shop, and shared the site with the Seventies Hall, to continue my training of two new missionaries.  I took Isaac with me, to open things up, and he was such a big help!  We got the lights on and the forge fire hot and had our morning prayer with Elder Taylor who was my morning trainee.  We had a fun morning as you can see in these pictures;

Prairie Diamond training!

The apprentice making awesome horse shoes!  Best day ever!

Then, after we got open this morning, I got two more trainees into the Blacksmith shop to teach them the art of Blacksmithing;  Any idea who these beauties are?

Callie and the prairie diamonds!

Courtney building the best horse shoe ever!

Courtney preaching to the Seventies!

 Mom was the wagon narrator today and we caught her on one of her three rides.  She loves narrating the stories of Old Nauvoo and we were able to catch up to one of her narrations this afternoon with the kids as her wagon rounded Main Street and Parley Street;

The world famous narrator!

Oh LOOK! ... There's my family!!!   Hi!

Now..... where was I......?

Later this afternoon, check out these pictures taken after our shifts today.  Mom and Amy and Cambry and Courtney and I took a walk to the temple and the rapidly setting sun;

Joseph and Hyrum - last ride

View over the Mississippi from our walk toward the temple from our house

Temple view

The sky on fire!

The fire outline on the evening clouds

Eagles view!

We had a great time with these pictures.  As we were walking home there were some marvelous sky shots that we missed!  This was so fun to walk down with the kids and catch those pictures we did shoot!  We have had just an amazing visit and one we won't forget!  The next time we get to see the Jeppson's will be when we return back home to be with our precious family!  There is no place like home!

March 30, 2016 - Wednesday in Nauvoo

We have sure enjoyed having the Jeppson Family with us this past few days.  And we found out today that they will get to stay a day or two longer!  Yea!  The roads in Wyoming, where they will travel back to their home, have been closed because of severe weather.  So, rather than getting stranded somewhere along the way, they will wait out the storm here with us!

Mom and I began our day with our morning prayers and devotional.  We then had our Zone meeting at the stake center at 7:30am.  We went over a little early, to keep down our morning noise level for the kids to sleep a little longer, and took a short walk around the area before the meeting.  We then met up with the FM leader, Sister Knapp, and began our work day in the gardens.  It was a beautiful overcast day and a perfect temperature to work outdoors.

Isaac helping Grandpa blow out the leaves at the Lyon Drug Store

Greenhouse #2 and full of plants!

Here are some of the Coleus plants we transplanted last week!

Our shift ended at 1:30pm so mom and I met the family back at the house.  We both took a quick shower and then drove to Keokuk for some supplies.  I could not believe how heavy my eyes were this afternoon!  I was ready for a nice long nap right when we got home.  I was able to catch a power nap while mom and Amy and Josh went to buy some Nauvoo souvenirs.  

Boy was that nap helpful for my performance tonight!  The play went well and the Jeppson Family occupied the front row.  That was so much fun for mom and me to perform for our family!  And we had a full house and an excellent audience!  The audience had to number over 100 easily.  It has been a good day, and the best part of the day?  We don't have to say goodbye to the Jeppson's tomorrow!!!

March 29, 2016 - Tuesday in Nauvoo

Mom and I worked our first day at the Handcart site!  And our first family group that we have had, at this site, was the Jeppson Family! We had a great morning, and we were able to take the trek with them at 8:15am before our next group, that was scheduled at 10:00am.  Here are some action shots;

How is this for a "selfie"?

And so the trek begins!

A muddy and a steep incline ... what a combination!

What is that gooey mess on Courtney's shoe?

The clean-up committee - our 10:00am group today

There is nothing like a trek to see how the early pioneers had to work together.  It was under very difficult circumstances that the pioneers made their way to the Rocky Mountains.  They suffered every privation imaginable and yet they kept the faith in following a Prophet.  What a privilege it is to be able to serve this summer in the Handcart Pioneer site!

Our morning started off with our morning devotional and prayers.  We then made our way to the Handcart site after breakfast to get things ready for the day.  We had three groups that we served today on the trek and they all left with a positive experience relating to the early pioneers.

We then toured the Blacksmith shop, the Brickyard and the Seventies Hall.  I was able to give the tours in each of the sites.  The day turned out to be even more awesome when the premiere Blacksmith, Brick-maker and resident Seventy happened to be on duty....  We met some amazing men representing the 1840's here in old Nauvoo!  Priceless!

And we were close to the Smith Family Cemetery, so we took a few minutes there as well.  Mom and I then went to the house to prepare dinner before our Sunset practice tonight at 6:30pm.  We had a great day with our precious family today!!  And they got to see us in the Sunset practice!  What a great day! 

March 28, 2016 - Monday in Nauvoo

We had a marvelous day with the Jeppson's!  Mom and I were up early for our morning devotional and prayers.  Then we began our morning walk at 5:50am to get a jump start on our P-day!  The air was crisp and cold!  The temperature was around 29 degrees!  But we had a great walk, and got back home around 7:00am.  We had breakfast and Josh and Calli and Courtney and I went to the FM facility to wash the Jeppson's car.  It looked so much better after we got done...

When we got back, we got ready for the day's activities.  Cambry was scheduled in the temple at 10:00am and Josh and Amy were going to the 11:00am temple session.  During the temple session, and after Cambry was done with her confirmations, we came home to bake some cookies!  Oh how I love baking cookies with my grandchildren!!!  Then we visited a few historic sites and made it to the prairie grass burning demonstration.  We had a full day!

Selfie Training

Cambry, mom and dad on their way to the Nauvoo Temple

We walked down to the temple to meet Cambry

Cambry's first visit to the Nauvoo Temple - completed!

What a precious group of grandchildren!

Cookie time!

The Prairie Grass just before the fire

The burning begins

And quickly spreads....

And continues to spread...

All within 5 short minutes

I cannot imagine what the pioneers must have done when the prairie caught fire.  There was no place to go!  This heat was intense from 50 yards away, and this was only an acre of grass.

Tonight, I got to share some wonderful pioneer stories, with the children, from Nauvoo and Carthage.  It was so fun to relate to them the struggles and challenges the pioneers had to make in comparison to the struggles and challenges we face today.  These precious children are at the perfect age to begin the learning process of many of the untold stories of these precious early Latter-day Saints!  It has been a great day!  I understand more fully the importance of the word "remember" as President Hinckley and President Kimball often taught.

March 27, 2016 - Easter Sunday in Nauvoo

Happy Easter Sunday!  We have certainly enjoyed our Easter Sunday with the Jeppson's.  We were able to attend Church together and be edified by the Sacrament and the messages and music that was shared.  We had a family breakfast together after the meetings and then mom and I served at the Heber C. Kimball home.  Then we came home to an Easter dinner with the Jeppsons and a fun Sabbath day evening.

Courtney and Isaac

Precious Callie

We had a game tonight with the children called charades.  One of the phrases that was acted out was for, "side burns".  In a wonderfully hilarious moment, Callie acted out the charade by rubbing her rib area and pretending to pull the hands away as if they were "hot".... thus.... "side" "burns".  She was so cute and we had a little too much laughter when she became self conscious and just a tad embarrassed.  It is so good to be with our family this week!!  (An understatement of the year!)

March 26, 2016 - Saturday in Nauvoo

This morning we had a very abbreviated workout since we were scheduled in Carthage.  We needed to be in Carthage by 8:45am.  That meant that we needed to leave our home by 8:15am, so we scrambled to get everything ready.  After our morning devotional and prayers, at 5:15am, I was able to take a short walk before breakfast.  I came back home and had breakfast and showered by 8:00am.  It all turned out great and we left right on time!

It was good to be back in Carthage.  We had a group ready to go just minutes after we walked in the door.  They were so excited that we would start early for them!  We had about 20 or so tours today and we got to work with Elder and Sister Black.  The testimony I have of Joseph Smith being a Prophet of God has really been strengthened, and the tours were so much fun to be involved in again.

Of course, every group has a special story to tell about.  I had one group of 5 Young Single Adult men who came over from Omaha for a two day excursion.  They saved Carthage for their last stop before heading home.  It was my privilege to take them through the movie and the jail.  The experience was wonderful and when we got down to the well outside the jail, I had a nice opportunity.  You see, this is where I tell the groups about the Oak tree.....

The Oak tree is right next to the jail, and the well, (where Joseph fell to from the upstairs window).  I always preface my remarks, here, with facts about the age of the building (175 years).  I then ask them how old they think the huge Oak tree is.  While they take stabs at the age, I suggest to them that by looking at the tree it would be a perfect "tree fort" tree.  I explain how I could build a great tree fort for my grandchildren and use one of the thick branches for a swing for Granny and Grandpa!  Then I prod them one more time to guess how old the tree is.... 

Then I tell them, after they guess in the range of 200 years, (trying to stay close to the age of the jail), that the tree was a sapling in 1958, making the tree less than 100 years old.  Then I explain that the water table is so high here in this area that the trees soak in the plentiful water without the much needed nutrients to keep its growth life in balance.  That leads me to a Gospel message of keeping ones life in balance with not focusing on one good required thing in life (like the water), but several required things (like the temple, Sacrament, Scriptures and service.  

Only with these Young Single Adult men I substituted, not just taking a Church history road trip, but dating to find your eternal companion, and bringing her on a Church historic road trip on their honeymoon!  Boy did I get a great response from that!  They said something to the effect that, "Elder Lasher, we have heard that so many times", but they were able to understand the analogy!!  I even gave them until November to find their eternal companions, get married in the temple, and come and see me!  

Then, our anticipations were finally realized!  The Jeppson's arrived in Carthage at around 4:45pm!!

What a great looking family!

Two precious Callie and Courtney birthday girls (yesterday)

Cambry playing the baby grand in the Carthage Visitors Center

Isaac playing the baby grand in the Carthage Visitors Center

We are so excited to share the next four days with our precious family!  There is no place that I would rather be than with my family for time and eternity!  Thank you for checking in with me tonight!

March 25, 2016 - Friday in Nauvoo

Happy Birthday Callie and Courtney!  We love you and can't wait to see you tomorrow!

Today we had our first time assignment working in the gardens together.  We worked directly with the resident horticulturalist, and with Sister Knapp, and what a treat that was for us!  We were transplanting various garden flowers and plants into bigger pots in preparation for the May planting of all the gardens and decorative pots for Nauvoo and Carthage.  Here are some action shots;

Inside one of three 30' by 60' greenhouses!  I want one!

Taking seedlings and potting them in individual pots

We had a great time working with the experts today.  Richard is pictured with us in one of the workshop areas, and Sister Knapp is with us in one of the greenhouses.  What a wealth of knowledge Richard has about the hundreds of plants being prepared for beautifying the gardens throughout Nauvoo and Carthage!  

The day began early with our usual prayers and devotional this morning.  We left for the FM opening meeting at 6:40am this morning and participated in their morning devotional and prayers, as well.  Then we toured the greenhouses and did the re-potting.  We then went to the sites and worked on cleaning out old growth and leaves.  The temperatures by the time we got outside was a very comfortable mid 40's and sunny.  What a great day to work in the gardens!

After our shift ended at 1:30pm, we drove home and changed clothes and headed to Keokuk.  We needed to get a few more things for our long awaited and anticipated visit from the Jeppson's!!  They arrived safely in Kearney, Nebraska, this afternoon.  We were very thankful for their safe journey so far.  They plan on meeting us in Carthage tomorrow!  Oh happy day!!!

Then, for our Rendezvous Play, we had two performances.  Things went really well, and I had a sweet experience with two members of the audience.  They were in the Blacksmith shop yesterday to witness the miracle of Elder Lasher making their amazing horse shoe.... Those precious girls who were around 5 or 6 years old, came up to me after the show and with the biggest smiles on their faces said "Hello Elder Lasher!".... I got to give them knuckles and invited them to come to Carthage tomorrow for a tour with us there.  Today was a sweet payday for this senior missionary...

March 24, 2016 - Thursday in Nauvoo

Today was another extended day of training new missionaries in my site assignment.  The schedulers had me in the Blacksmith shop from 9:45am until 5:00pm, and two new Elders in for training.  Elder Aina came in from 9:45am until 2:20pm and Elder Mauncha came in at 11:45am and served until 5:00pm... Both had their first day of training in the Blacksmith's shop, yesterday, with another seasoned missionary.  Our new mission president has designated all seasoned missionaries as trainers, so there really is no standard for training as I found out today.

As I was working with these brethren, I found out that they had not been taught how to make a horse shoe.  One Elder had tried making 18 horse shoes with absolutely no success in making one good one.  When I asked him how he was trained to make them, he said the "trainer", (ie seasoned missionary), told him to just go ahead and practice.  The trainer further taught him to just be on the Blacksmith side of the tour while he took the wagon side of the tour.  As a result, he knew nothing about that side of the presentation.

Needless to say, it was a long day of correcting the method of training they both received yesterday.  (The concept of "training the trainer" has not reached theborders of Nauvoo...)  However, they both responded well when I showed them how I gave a tour and demonstrated between tours on how to make the perfect horse shoe.  They were both given my best shot at trying to understand the needs of each tour we gave today and reaching into the key messages of the tours to connect with the visitors.  I worry about tomorrow's "trainer".  That Elder is known for giving information that is not approved and will give a 20 minute tour in about 60 minutes....

We had all levels of tours today with reaching out to the pre teens, the teenagers, the young adults, the less active members and the investigators.  I was tired when I got home but I was satisfied that I had given this day my best shot at teaching correct principles.  It was so much fun to switch gears with the level of understanding folks had in these tour groups.  I think the new Elders picked up well on the teaching opportunities.

I had so much fun teaching the young people in each of my tours today.  As I gave the presentation and shared the historical facts, I could sense those that needed a little more attention.  As I made the horse shoes, I would "marvel" at how good they were coming out.  I would keep saying that this shoes was going to be the "best" shoe ever!  (and the shoes did come out pretty good looking)... I would then do a little more "bragging" about what a great Blacksmith I was.... (because a good Blacksmith made a lot of noise...) and then I would brag some more about the excellent quality of the horse shoe I was making.

Then I would suggest that maybe this horse shoe was sooooo good that maybe it should be a collectors item!  (fun!).  Then I would ask if anyone wanted it before I gave it to the "excellent horse shoe museum"...  Of course they always wanted the shoe, and I would give it to them, and they would gently look it over and enjoy the fine quality of workmanship ... (after all it was the best horse shoe they had ever seen today)... And then I would say something like, "whenever you look at this horse shoe, remember the faith of the pioneers who were brave enough to follow a Prophet of God to the Rocky Mountains...............  I absolutely love teaching the young people!

Perhaps one of the reasons I was so tired today was that we had taken our morning walk this morning of 3.5 miles.  Then mom took the van to her assignment at the Visitors Center for an early shift from 8:45am to 1:30pm.  And I walked back down to the Blacksmith's shop for my shift.  That distance from our house is about 2 miles.  After my shift ended at 5:20pm, mom came down to drive me home.  It was snowing this afternoon, so the walk home would have been sooooo cold! 

It was good to take my shoes off and put on my pajamas tonight!  I was ready for a nice quiet evening at home!  My legs keep saying thank you!  And that's the way my day went today!  Thank you for joining me tonight!  We sure love you!

March 23, 2016 - Wednesday in Nauvoo

Challenges are always plentiful when you are trying to do the right things.  Here in the mission field some days are just more challenging than others.  I can now compare that to life before and after a mission.  It is how you deal with the challenges that will make the biggest impact in our lives.  I am finding that the Lord is really trying to put me through the refiners fire, and I keep pulling back away from the flames!  I am trying to be more open and obedient in my consecrated time and service here.  It is important to be tuned into what the Lord needs me to do even as it comes at inconvenient times.  Schedule changes and denied requests seem to be the top challenges for me, but I am getting better at trying to be more flexible.

Like today.  I had the challenge to train two new missionaries in the Seventies Hall.  Both Elder Rober and Elder Winegar were assigned to be with me.  I had the all day shift assignment and they had an opening shift and a closing shift.  It actually worked out very well.  I got to review the basics of the Seventies Hall and then gave tours so that they could get a feel as to how I did them.  And we had some great visitors today with lot's of teenage young men and young women.  It was a perfect combination to help these new Elders learn the key messages associated with the Seventies.  (See Luke 10:1)

Mom and I were asked to be the greeters this morning for the weekly training meeting.  The mission president did not want to impact the training time, when he wanted to introduce the new missionaries, so we were all asked to come 30 minutes earlier, at 7:00am.  Mom and I arrived at 6:30am to fulfill our assignment there.  We learned about each new couple, 8 this week, and then we sang a special mission song.  Then we had the training portion.  

After the meeting, mom was scheduled to be a wagon narrator and I had the assignment at the Seventies Hall.  Well, there was sickness in Carthage so the schedulers asked a sister to go out to fill in.  This sister did not want to go so she suggested mom go out.  So mom did not get to be the wagon narrator, something she has really enjoyed doing.  Instead she drove to Carthage by herself to fill the assignment.

We closed the day with a temple session at 6:00pm.  It proved to be a long day, but the temple session took a little of the challenge out of the events of the day.  Never a dull moment!  It really is important to sacrifice who we are for who we can become, even with the associated challenges!

March 22, 2016 - Tuesday in Nauvoo

I sure got a lot of walking in today!  After mom and I finished our morning devotional and morning prayers, mom went to catch a ride with Sister Knapp to the 7:00am FM meeting and I went off on my own morning walk.  I got back to the house and went through my workout routine and got ready for the day.  

Scheduling, who normally micro manages every missionary's schedule, called me to change my schedule.  I got to work the split shift at the Blacksmith Shop.  That meant that I got to walk the 1.9 miles to the shop and work 9:45am to 12:00noon, then walk back the 1.9 miles to our home.  Then at 2:30pm I drove down to finish the second half of my shift from 2:30pm to 5:00pm.  By the end of the day, I got my 8 miles in!

I also got a call from the mission president.  I had asked to give a Monday Family Home Evening tour of Carthage to our family coming to town this week.  He denied the request saying that it would set a precedent that he did not want in the mission.  After I gave my thoughts on the matter, and after hanging up the phone, I knelt down and offered a prayer of repentance for feeling the way I did about the decision.  Who says serving a full time senior mission is not for the growth and development of the senior missionary himself???  

When I got back to the house after the first half of my day, mom was not yet home.  But, we had a brand new washing machine to replace old smoky...  I got to get some of our laundry started before she finally got back home around 2:00pm.  

Then, after my second half of work, we got ready for the Rendezvous Play.  We had two more shows tonight!  However, mom and I had to leave right after our parts in the second show for my hair-cutting appointment at 8:45pm.  Yep, mom was up with me until past 9:00pm!  It has been a full day for both of us as mom got to work in the gardens and around some of the historical sites raking out the overgrown vegetation.  We will get to work together at FM this coming Friday.

A full moon tonight!

The haze is from the perpetual Nauvoo fires

I got these two pictures while I waited for mom to finish her part in Rendezvous.  There is a tradition here in Nauvoo to irritate the Mormons.... They have a fire pit that the Nauvoo City keeps burning almost all year long.  They burn anything they can with leaves, and old branches, and downed trees, and old scrubs being plentiful.  And the fire-pit is right across the street from the main historical sites.  

I think that we have had way too many members of the Church come to Nauvoo and disrespect the residents here.  They walk in the middle of the street and park in the wrong places, and drop trash around town.  I think I would be upset if that were happening in my home town!  Hopefully the visitors coming this summer will show more respect.

Time for bed!  We have a new start time for the Wednesday Training meetings... 7:00am instead of 7:30am.

March 21, 2016 - Monday in Nauvoo

Well, typically, our mornings usually begin the same way.  Morning devotional together and prayers together.  And this morning was about as typical as it gets, until we were in the act of praying together....  Mom had started her first load of laundry for our P-day activities, and we were kneeling in prayer before our morning walk.  It was then that the fire alarm went off over the washing machine.  Thinking it was another false alarm with a dying battery, we were shocked to see smoke coming from the washing machine.

The "smoking" machine

The bed sheets from the machine, wet, but not burned!

I quickly pulled the plug on the machine as mom was turning it off.  I have never seen anything like this with any of our appliances.  As the reality set in, that this could have been much worst, we thought about how we were just ready to walk out the door, after our prayer, and take our one hour walk.  We have seen and heard about many Nauvoo miracles from other missionaries, but none quite like the one we experienced this morning here in our new little home.

Yes, we still took our walk after I made a report to the housing folks at facilities management.  We were so very grateful that we still had a place to stay when we got back a little over an hour later.  The temperatures this morning were in the mid twenties so we bundled up really good.

And since today was our P-day, we went grocery shopping in Keokuk as we are preparing for the Jeppsons to come this weekend.  Yea!!  We then went to the 11:00am temple session and spent the afternoon cleaning the house and doing a service project at the Old Nauvoo Cemetery.  Many of the early Saints are buried here that died before the Exodus in February 1846.  This was our first visit to this sacred site.

The entrance on a quiet back roadway

Some of the sadness recorded by Wilford Woodruff's wife ...

The peaceful setting about 2.5 miles from the Main Street, Nauvoo

A statue by DJ Bowden capturing the feelings ...

We got back home about 4:00pm this afternoon and I laid down for a nap.  I did get a blessing for my aching knee from Elder Skinner.  It is good to report that, tonight, it is feeling much better!  Some were suggesting I see a specialist, so I did....... I went to see an honorable Priesthood man!  This may be our only resource in the coming future!  We love Elder and Sister Skinner!  And I am so grateful for the power of the Priesthood restored in these last days to benefit all of us!