March 4, 2015 - Wednesday

Good evening from Old Nauvoo!  Mom and I have an evening off tonight...well we at least got to stay home after our site assignments.  We had dinner at 5:00pm and started reviewing our songs for our debut Friday  night on the stage of Rendezvous!  

Mom and I both have parts assigned!  Mine is .... "Wait...Jed, stop!!!  Brigham Young says we gotta leave.... Listen to me Jedediah, leavin's gonna take a lot more courage than fightin'! 

And mom's part is; "Oh my stars!  Just think of it... the Ashby's and all ten children living side by side with the Snows."

Unbelievable!... they are taking a big chance on us ....

Mom worked at the Riser Boot Shop and I worked at the Blacksmith's shop and gave my first presentation!  Take a look at these pictures:  My process in making a horseshoe!

Heated coals to about 1800 degrees

A hot iron ready to be pounded into a horseshoe sitting on the anvil

Look at that cute little horseshoe!

This was the work area with the fire, a bellows and the anvil

So I started with building a hot fire.  It doesn't take too long with the fans and the coal in the fireplace.  Then I heated up the iron rod and began shaping it into a horseshoe.  (This is one instance where you do not want to hold fast to the iron rod without a good set of insulated gloves!)  I then flattened out the rod and shaped the ends and then stuck it in some water to cool it off.  There is the finished product on the anvil!  I can't wait to show you the process when you get here!

We began the day with our weekly mission training meeting this morning at 7:45am, and we had a discussion on the humanitarian efforts of the Nauvoo Mission.  Here are some pictures and then I will explain;

Over 230 hats mostly knitted by one of the Elders with no previous experience!

Comfort bears for children in hospitals or in shelters

Blankets and quilts

Beautiful quilts at that!

New baby packets and different quilts and blankets

As a Nauvoo Mission this is the 2nd of 3 batches of humanitarian items made this winter.  The last one will be delivered April 5th.  There were over 1500 items completed by about 50 missionaries this past winter.  All of these items were donated throughout the Nauvoo Stake, (that covers three states), through the Relief Society sisters, to non members.  They went to homeless shelters, women's shelters, hospitals, cancer units, firehouses for distribution to fire victims and many other community efforts within 100 miles of Nauvoo.

Now for some stories from this effort;  One sister got here last Spring, and after she got settled, she went to community garage sales in her time off and P-days.  She was obsessed with buying fabric although she did not sew.  Her husband questioned her sanity with bringing back boxes of fabric.  She questioned bringing back boxes of fabric!  Then, after the summer season, in November, the Humanitarian project started moving.  Sisters discovered she had fabric and suggested they start quilting.  It was then she realized why she was obsessed with collecting the fabric and dozens of the quilts were made.  

Another sister was in charge of the humanitarian funds collected in the mission.  She got that job in October but was so afraid to spend any of the sacred funds.  Then, there was a point where she had to spend a small amount for some supplies.  The very next day that she spent the money, donations came in to cover what she had spent.  This happened many times over the course of the winter, and each time after the money was spent, they had that amount donated the next day - small amounts by many people!  They started October with $185.  This morning they reported that they had about $190 in their account and that was after putting together over 1500 items this winter...

As missionaries we can't help but see the Lord's Hand in this work.  Whether it is making quilts, baby blankets, or teddy bears, singing songs or remembering lines, meeting people with sacred life's stories or seeing each other in a Zion Society's light, this is the Lord's work and we just need to trust Him that He is in charge!

This day has gone by quickly, but I have just a picture or two more to show you about life in Nauvoo.  Take a look at these shots:

A wooden snow sled for the children!

A typical wagon that carried the Saints across the plains

Tools needed by the wagon and wheel makers

Different items made in the Blacksmith's shop

So many talents were needed to build the city of Nauvoo, but the sled was a quiet reminder that they also took some time to have fun.  Let's enjoy each others company a little bit more and appreciate the blessings we do enjoy!

Mom and I are so excited and thankful for the timely and thoughtful notes from home.  We love hearing from you and picturing your time away from us!  We miss you and love you so much and we so appreciate these notes and well wishes and encouragements and timely thoughts that remind us so much about one of the reasons we are serving this mission!  Families Can Be Together Forever!  And so can friendships!!  And we know that people need to be exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and this is one of His ways he is allowing people that exposure!!  One more story...

When we leave Nauvoo on our P-days, or time off afternoons, we are required to wear our missionary name tags and dress in our Sunday best clothes.  On a trip to Quincy by one senior couple a few weeks ago, a non member customer shopping in the same store as this couple, recognized the name tag and approached them.  She identified herself as a nurse at the local hospital and shook their hands and thanked them for the baby blankets.  She spoke of several occasions where those blankets had touched the lives of the recipients and she recognized that they were from "those missionaries in Old Nauvoo".  

I am more grateful and in awe each day to be a very small part of this effort... we love you!

March 3, 2015 - The balance of the day!

The temperature here in Old Nauvoo finally got above 32 degrees around 11:00am this morning so we were on for our site assignments at 12 noon.  Mom was assigned to the Family Living Center and I headed off to the brickyard. The black ice was pretty much gone so we had a safe walk to our assigned areas.

What a charming brick maker!

Reporting for Tuesday duty!

It was a fairly quiet day for us in the brick yard as far as guests were concerned.  We had two come by around 3:00pm, and I got to give the tour.  Sister Lasher had a family of 7 come by the Family Living Center just a few minutes before the site was to close for the day, and they stayed to give them the site information.  They were an LDS family of 7 and they were on a family vacation.

It was a beautiful walk to our assigned areas and then we met back up on the road home to our apartment, after our assignments were completed for the day.  We had a quick dinner and then went to Rendezvous practice at 6:00pm and stayed for the 7:00pm performance.  Mom and I went through our parts for Friday and tried to freeze the picture in our minds of where we stand, what we do, and who we follow.  So glad there are no crowds here right now!  

I must admit that we are letting the defenses down on our greatly restricted abilities and we are jumping in with both feet.  I have made copies of all the songs and placed one complete copy in our bathroom.  From time to time, I get a chance to do some serious reading and why not read and sing the songs of Rendezvous?  It's like killing two birds with one stone...... bad analogy..... Just so you know, we are doing this "willingly" - "because we have to!"  (Ask Sister Call what that means)

Last night at our dinner party mom was talking to Elder and Sister Singer and in the conversation it was discovered that Elder Singer went to the same Junior High School that mom went to!  There was a 10 year difference in attendance dates, but mom only went to that Junior High School one year!  

This is a very small world we live in with some pretty amazing events that we share!  It is so much fun to anticipate new findings each day as we meet and get to know more people!  Our mission is filled with ordinary people who have done and continue to do extraordinary things.  

It puts a whole new meaning to my favorite Scripture found in 2 Nephi 2:25!

What lies ahead for tomorrow???  I can't wait to find out!!  Thank you for reading and posting on our blog!!!

March 3, 2015 - Early Tuesday morning

We woke up to some "black ice" conditions and got a phone call cancelling the morning site schedule.  That means we begin today at 12 noon instead of 9:45am.  I went outside and the sidewalk was immediately slippery.  There is no exaggeration when these conditions prevail, and every effort is made to protect these senior missionaries!  

So, with the extra time I took some additional pictures around the apartment.  We are upstairs in this home and I will note what the pictures represent;

Sitting on the couch looking into the kitchen/dining area

The cute little kitchen with lots of storage space!

A view from the kitchen sink

Looking at the sitting area (like we have time to sit!)

From the dining area past the computer and looking into the bedroom

Outside the bedroom toward the downstairs

Another view of the bedroom

Closets on both sides of that dresser

Heading downstairs

Nice thick padded carpet on stairs

Then our "front" door

See the nose of that cute Odyssey?

The "front" door - with a thin layer of black ice on that sidewalk!

March 2, 2015 - Monday

Our days do not slow down.  We were up this morning for our last orientation meeting with the mission presidency at 8:00am.  Mom went to the sewing room for some final measurements right after the training and then we went to our assigned sites by 9:45am.  Sister Lasher had the Lucy Mack Smith Home and shared the morning with double duty at the Wilford Woodruff Home.  I helped her get open this morning:

Monday Assignment for Mom!

Before dropping off Sister Lasher this morning we stopped by this wonderful building.  Can you tell what might possibly be picked up here?

Nauvoo Missionary Mail room!  

It was a short walk to the Lucy Mack Smith home from our apartment and I proceeded down the the Wainwright shop.  We had double duty with the Seventies Hall as well.  

This is where the Blacksmith is located along with the Wheelwright shop.  Here the Wainwright builds the wagon box and the steering mechanisms and the wheelwright builds the wheels, spokes and hubs for the wagon.  Pretty interesting process.  This was my first time here and the four Webb Brothers were the builders here that worked together.  In fact, Chancey Webb built the wagon that carried Brigham Young to the Salt Lake Valley.  Quite a vote of confidence from the Prophet!  And it was interesting to note that these talented craftsmen willingly followed the Prophet of God from their beloved Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley some 1500 miles away.  I will post some pictures of that facility on Wednesday when I return.

My duties there today included making souvenir horseshoes and prairie rings.  There was an interesting origin to "prairie rings".  The story goes that there were three young men who wanted to marry a young lady on the trek to the Rocky Mountains.  They each asked the father for her hand in marriage and he told them that the first one who gave her a diamond ring would have his blessing.  Well, diamond rings were unheard of on the trek so two of the young men dropped their efforts to court her.  The other one became very creative... he took a horseshoe nail and bent it to form a ring and took it to the father and asked for her hand.  The one thing that got him the OK from the father is that the horseshoe nails were manufactured by the "Diamond"  Company.  He got the nod to married the fathers daughter, and invented the "Prairie Diamond".  I made up 500 of these today.  Every visitor to the Webb Blacksmith shop will get one of these pictured below:

The horseshoe nail and the finished product!

The process of making a Prairie Ring!

In the top picture I have two rings that I made today.  The somewhat flat ring was my first attempt, and the better one was the result of practice!  Then in the lower picture, you will see the vice that holds the nail and the arm that pivots about 240 degrees and perfectly bends the nail into a round ring.  I set up an assembly line of nails facing the correct way, and bent them in a sequence that I was able to time at 8 seconds per ring.  Hey, what else are you going to do in the process of bending 500 nails??

Then I met Sister Lasher at the Blacksmiths shop.  She got done with her site before I did and I got to show her how to make these rings and how to make a souvenir horseshoe.  I will take some pictures of the horseshoe making process on Wednesday. 

We were invited to dinner at Sister Olson's home tonight with four other couples.  Sister Olson is on her 4th mission.  She will turn 83 here in March.  She plays the piano, performs in the Rendezvous Play and will be a part of the summer Sunset Program.  She has outlived two husbands and has decided not to "idle" her life away.  What an example!  

Quick story; she was in a Rendezvous Play this past summer.  In front of the stage there were beautiful flower vases, huge floor vases.  As she was picking some of the flowers as part of the skit, she tripped on her dress and fell to the floor and dropped all her flowers.  Of course they scrambled to make sure she was alright as they picked her up off the floor and set her down on the front row bench.  One of the men had gathered up her dropped flowers and having found out she was OK, he absentmindedly handed her the flowers.  But she was quick to say, "that is the first time someone has given me flowers for a bungled performance"!  Typical of who we get to work with here!

And finally, we ended our day with a 6:30pm practice for our summer play "Sunset".  This is where those lucky enough to come to Nauvoo for the performances will get to see me dance....  right step, shuffle, left step, shuffle, giddy up one, giddy-up two, bounce one, bounce two, bounce three, bounce four, pivot right, Turn! ... and repeat....  that's all you get right now!!!

Somehow this was called a "mission".  Most of us refer to it as "enduring senior performers".  Should be interesting... should be interesting.  Anyways, check out the you tube video "A place in the Choir by Celtic Thunder".  Add a touch of Nauvoo imagery in your mind, sprinkled with senior missionaries, to suit your taste!

Thank you for joining me tonight!

March 1, 2015 - Sunday - Bobby's 8th Birthday!

Happy 8th birthday to Bobby!  This is one of the tough sacrifices we  have to make when we miss a birthday and soon a baptism.  We got to talk to Bobby this afternoon and got pictures this morning of him dressed in his new suit and white shirt and tie and his own set of Scriptures.  I showed your picture today and Bobby, we are so very proud of you!!  We love you so much!!!!

We woke up to about 4" of beautiful fluffy snow and I have pictures to prove it!  It was lightly snowing this morning as we left for our meetings.  We have Sacrament Meeting at 8:00am at the Stake Center right near the Nauvoo Temple.  Then we move to the Nauvoo Visitors Center for Sunday School, Priesthood and Relief Society.  Sister Lasher and I got our first teaching assignment today.  Sister Lasher was asked to teach Relief Society on March 22, and I was asked to teach Priesthood on that same day.  We are grateful for the opportunity!

This mission is a complete education in how a Zion Society operates.  The lessons are taught with so much love and appreciation for the Gospel and it makes me want to work harder in my studies.  Today we were taught about the Wentworth Letter and how it was written by John Wentworth who was a friend of the Church.  Incidentally this letter was published on March 1, 1842 in the Times and Seasons, a Nauvoo newspaper.  What a great lesson in history and testimony.

This afternoon Sister Lasher and I worked in the Family Living Center.  I have some pictures there as well.  We were there with another couple and a single sister and we got to spend most of the time getting acquainted with them.  The single sister is serving here until January 2016, and the other couple leaves here in April of this year.  It is amazing how attached you get to the other missionaries and you don't want them to leave!... and they have a hard time leaving!!

Every month the missionary couple assigned to take mission pictures, makes a DVD for all the activities of the previous month.  They put together the mission pictures for February 2015, and this is the first one Sister Lasher and I were in.  It was wonderful to see the month in review and all the activities that were captured throughout the month... and they do this every month so we will each have a history of our mission experience on 23 DVDs.  There is another sweet experience we were told about, and that was that in the Land records office here in Nauvoo, they asked all the missionaries last month, (January), to put together their ancestral fan charts and bring them to the Land Office.  There, they research any ancestors the missionaries might have connected to Nauvoo in the 1840's.  Out of about 120 missionaries there were only about 10 who did not have any connections to the Saints in Nauvoo!  That's one area I want to explore a little better for sure!

Then the Mission President lead the Zone Conference discussion at 7:00pm about difficult questions that members and non members might have in their visit to Nauvoo.  What an informational and spiritual meeting.  He had us tie these questions into experiences and Scriptures that made the questions a little more manageable for those struggling.  What a choice meeting that was!

Well, Sister Lasher and I are certainly staying busy.  We have so much to learn and we have been so extremely blessed to be in an atmosphere where we can be taught by the Spirit and by choice Elders and Sisters and our mission President and his wife.  President and Sister Gibbons have been all over the world on Church assignments when he was in the 2nd Quorum of Seventy.  He is kind and soft spoken and firm in his testimony.  What a privilege it is to learn from him!

Today we also got notes from Cambry, Cody, Zac, Callie and Courtney.  It warms our hearts to hear from our grandchildren!!  Keep those notes and texts coming!!  I will answer all of them in due time!!  I promise!

Now for some more pictures:

Another view of our cozy apartment

A view leaving the bedroom into the sitting area

 

The dawn of a perfect day in Nauvoo!

March 1, 2015 - Sunday Morning in Nauvoo!

The Family Living Center - Sewing Presentation

The 1840's sleigh carriage

Heber C. Kimball's carriage he used in Salt Lake City

Tools of the trade - everyone worked together!

Typical Carriage - 1840's - One horse power!

The art of the Cooper (Barrel making)

The tools used to make the barrels

They built homes with these tools!

This is a working display of how to make rope!  Come to Nauvoo and let's make some together!!

Look at this beautiful pioneer lady!  (Granny)

The fireplace and the bread oven!  Fresh bread is made here every day but Sunday!

28 February 2015 - Saturday

The morning started off very cold!  We were out walking by 7:00am this morning and I thought my face was going to freeze.  We must have walked around 2 miles and came back to the apartment for breakfast.  This was our "P-day", or preparation day where we had no assignments.  After getting back from the walk and having breakfast, I had a hard time warming back up.  We stayed inside for the balance of the day until we attended the 6:00pm temple session with our cast members.  Mom and I wanted to get there early so we arrived at 5:00pm and sat in the waiting room enjoying the feelings inside the Nauvoo temple.  During the balance of the afternoon before our temple session we spoke with each of our children.  Tomorrow is our grandson, Bobby's 8th birthday and we missed him at home today so we will make a special call to him tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Bobby!  Granny and Grandpa are so proud of you making the decision to be baptized!  You have so much to offer with your talents and abilities and especially your love for Jesus.  He needs good disciples to help Him with His work on the earth in these the last days.  We pray that you will be one of His biggest helpers!!  We love you so much! 

27 February 2015 - Friday

Well, for those of you who are following us, we have now completed the first week of our mission here in Nauvoo.  We started off this morning with a monthly mission breakfast.  Each of the three casts made breakfast for their cast members as a pot luck effort, and we all ate together in the Stake Center near the Nauvoo Temple.  Most of the activities we participate in are centered around our cast and it has been wonderful getting to know so many marvelous people!

Take the Toomers.  Elder and Sister Toomer are from Fresno, California.  I was baptized into the Church in Fresno back in 1971.  I have a dear friend, Ellen Draper Clayson who introduced my mom and sister and brother and me to the Church.  There is not a more special person in my early college days who has had such an impact on me as did Ellen.  She has been a dear friend and I am grateful for her involvement in my life, my brother Doug's life, and my sister Jackie's life.  Ellen is a true example of a faithful Latter-day Saint!

And  I have to say right here how much I love my sister Jackie.  She was instrumental in getting me involved in the Church through the Young Single Adults in Fresno.  She was one of the leaders and in a very timely manner, she got me involved.  It was less than six months later that I was promoted, by Long's Drug Stores, out of Fresno.  If she had not pulled me into the mainstream of the Church, I know that I would have been hopelessly lost in the corporate world and who knows what path I would have followed?  It would certainly not have followed to the point of meeting my eternal companion and most inspirational person in my life in October 1976!

Well, here is the tie-in with Ellen.  The Tooler's son married Ellen and Jeff Clayson's oldest daughter.  I\We have many other friends from Fresno, but what a precious tender mercy to have that connection made here in Nauvoo!  If Ellen is reading this blog... again I thank you for inviting me over for Family Home Evening at the Draper home back in 1971.  You have affected two more generations, (and counting), of Lashers and hundreds of ward members I have served and now how many thousands we have the opportunity of coming in contact with here in Nauvoo!  Here is the difference one person can make!

The breakfast ended with several couples sharing their final thoughts on stage, of coming to the end of their missions here.  We were very emotional with the farewells and we have only been here a week!

I have posted, at the end of today's blog, a picture of the couples and single sisters who were on the stage. Some sang and most made up poems of their experiences here, and one of the Elder's who is 70 years + made up the absolute cutest rap song... priceless experiences that were entertaining and emotional for those leaving as well as those staying on awhile longer.

I had the assignment to work in the Stoddard Tin shop, today, and Sister Lasher worked in the Brigham Young home again.  I had the opportunity to give my first presentation in the tin shop out of two groups, and Sister Lasher had no visitors at her site.  The temperature was -14 degrees this morning and got up to a +10 degrees this afternoon.  It was not a crowd pleasing day!

We both were done with our site shifts at 3:00pm and we went home and changed into our missionary clothing and went to Keokuk to do some grocery shopping.  We came back to Nauvoo around 5:30pm and attended a community fund raising dinner for the Nauvoo Orchestra and then went to the evening performance of Rendezvous at 7:00pm.  It has been a full day!  I even took some pictures to share at the end of today's blog!

As I taught in the tin shop today, each of our lives follows a pattern, as did those working to make useful articles out of tin.  We need to follow patterns that will make us what we can become and many of us have great parents, friends and family members to help us begin to pattern and shape our lives.  But the best pattern we can use is our Savior Jesus Christ.  He is the way for us to follow and His ways will help us become everything we can become  as we strive to learn His ways and return to our Heavenly Home.  

I received a wonderful phone call from one of our precious friends back home, Sister Mary Call.  She and her husband spent 18 months here and got us so excited to serve here!  Every time I see Rendezvous performed, I see the Calls participating!  Thank you for your phone call tonight!  It made my day!

Now for some pictures!

This is how I picture the Calls performing in Rendezvous.  This is a scene from George and Agatha

.

Here are some missionaries getting ready to leave the mission.

The Nauvoo Temple tonight!  A light on the hill!

This is a braided rug from the Family Living Center that we purchased yesterday

This is a table runner that mom fell in love with!