Friday, August 05, 2016 – Mission Breakfast, Newmark Ward, Gopher Snake, Lingmann’s, Elder M. Russell Ballard

Wow, what a day. We started off with a mission farewell breakfast honoring four couples and two YSSM’s as well as all of the YPM’s who have completed their missions and are going home this month.  The breakfast was great and the program was wonderful too. All of the YPM’s (Young Performing Missionaries) took the stage and sang to us. The song and their performance was very emotional. When they finished we gave them a standing ovation. They deserved it; they are the hardest working young people I know. Each one of them can sing, dance, act and play an instrument or two like a professional.  They are really good.

After the breakfast we had to hurry back to Carthage to clean the sidewalks before the guests started to arrive. Last night there was a huge storm that trashed the visitor’s center again. There were limbs, leaves and debris everywhere. This week I’ve completely cleaned the parking lot twice in preparation for Saturday’s visit of Elder M. Russell Ballard but this morning it looks like I didn’t do anything. It was a mess again. 

 

This afternoon Sis. Johnson and I were in Nauvoo to attend a special meeting with all of the missionaries to listen to Elder M. Russell Ballard. This was a special meeting for missionaries only that included the Senior Couples, the YSSM’s, the YPM’s and the Nauvoo Temple Missionaries. And it was a real treat to meet with and listen to an Apostle of the Lord give us personal instruction, teach us, inspire us and give us some background and tell us stories about Nauvoo most of us didn’t know. It was amazing to have Elder Ballard all to ourselves for an hour.  Moments like this are very rare in the life of a member of the church. Sis Johnson and I are very lucky and very blessed serve here and have these wonderful opportunities and moments that we will cherish the rest of our lives.