August 21, 2016 - Sunday in Nauvoo

Tonight I thought that I would catch up on some current pictures!  We have enjoyed our Sabbath Day and just got back from our second dinner appointment.  We had lunch with the Ramsey's and dinner with the Shaw's.  The Ramsey's have been in our Emma Hale cast for the last 18 months.  They came into the mission field a month or so after we arrived here and will be going home a week after we leave.  They have been so much fun to be with, and since they live in Burley, Idaho, we plan on seeing them often when we get back home.

The Shaw's are temple missionaries and have been here for about 10 months.  Their mission ends in November and they will head home to Utah.  They served in the Marshall Islands as mission president and came home two or three years ago.  We introduced them to the Poston's last year as they were preparing to serve in the Marshall Islands.  It has been fun to meet the Shaw's in the temple and we have had them over for dinner.  Tonight they reciprocated and we had a wonderful meal with them.

Now, here are the pictures;

Our creative grandchildren building their own swimming pool!

Look at this precious cocoon baby!

Look at this big helper with Levi!  Way to go Kenzie!

Hi Levi!  I'm your cousin, Kenzie and I have a lot of things to show you....

Once upon a time... a long, long time ago... Wait!  I'm not finished!

I used to chew on my toes until they put these heavy shoes on me...

Yes, you can cuddle with me!

Sister Anderson, Jimmy, Billie, Sister Henninger and mom

We worked with Billie and Jimmy in Carthage last year.  They are not members of the Church, but they did the custodial work at the Carthage Visitor's Center.  We have so enjoyed working with them in Carthage and getting to know them.  They came to one of our Sunset shows last year and told us they would try to come Thursday for our finale show in Rendezvous!

Elder and Sister Shaw - Temple missionaries and friends!

This has been a busy day for the Lasher's!  We were able to squeeze in a nap between dinner appointments!  And, we had such a beautiful morning, we were able to walk to the Stake Center for our meetings.  The temperatures were in the high 50's this morning!  A perfect walking temperature in Nauvoo!

As we begin this last week in Nauvoo, we are so grateful for the time we have had here, and, now, for the reunion we are going to soon have with our precious family!  Our mission has been a blessing for all of us and we would not trade this experience for anything!  But the prospect of being reunited with our family is almost overwhelming for us.  There is no place we would rather be than with our precious family!  Get ready!  Get set!  We start home one week from tomorrow!

Now for my closing thought.  It comes from Howard W. Hunter's manual on Teachings of the Prophets;

A man who holds the priesthood leads his family in Church participation so they will know the gospel and be under the protection of the covenants and ordinances.

In this day and age, the significant part of this excerpt is; "know", and, "under the protection".  I am convinced that an honorable Priesthood man will want to do everything he can to protect his family.  Mom and I are so excited to get back home and reconnect with each child and grandchild so that they know exactly what we believe, and, that they can hear our testimonies directly from us!