Wednesday, April 13, 2016 – Yard work, the dump, John Deere

Sis. Johnson & I spent most of the day working on the grounds of the Carthage Visitor’s Center. By the end of the day we were both very sore from raking, then stooping and bending to pick up leaves, branches and stick. But it’s a good kind of sore; we are performing a valuable serve here.  We did break up our morning by running errands. 

First we went to the city dump. Well, it’s not really a dump; it’s the city’s burn yard. City residents dump their green waste and green burnables there. The leaves and grass clippings are composted on site but the hard wood waste like tree trunks, limbs and branches are all burned.

 

Our next stop was at the John Deere dealership 8 miles outside of Carthage. We had to pick up a belt for our large riding mower. We also pick up all of the orders for parts & supplies the Facilities Management office needs. From Nauvoo it’s a 70 mile round trip to the John Deere dealership. Sis. Johnson and I drive in to Nauvoo about 4 evenings a week anyway, so to save gas and time, we pick up all of their orders and take them with us to Nauvoo. It’s just another way Sis. Johnson and I get to give service.

Sis. Johnson told me about a woman who stopped to talk to her after she had just finished the Carthage Jail tour. With tears in her eyes, the woman was so emotionally choked up she could hardly speak. She said, “Thank you for making this place so beautiful and special.” She couldn’t continue because she was so overcome with emotion having just been in the room where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred.