Nauvoo History and Other Things

Yes I 'do' my home teaching. Unfortunately, I only see one person out of a potential 4 homes. Then my self esteem takes a hit because I am only 25 percent. Some people are eager to have home teachers, but it would appear that the people to whom I have been assigned are resistant to the whole concept. I leave notes, voice mails, I stand for 10 minutes at the door and knock, but no one stirs within. I think one of them may actually be dead. I left a note on her door one month and came back the following month and the note was still there. I looked inside the patio window and saw nothing but some old newspapers on a table.

Do home teachees have any obligation to share some of the responsibility to be home taught? Can they call their home teacher and let him know that they welcome him and are anxious to see him, or , if not, at least let him know where they stand? Thanks.

I'm open to suggestions if anyone can impart some wisdom here on how to be a great home teacher.

This is anti-discrimination? Why do I need to be informed of a person's sexual orientation before I can get a chance to practice being unprejudiced? What business is it of mine, to know what a person's behavior is in his or her intimate moments?

Do I introduce myself as a monogamous, heterosexual male? Why are we being so narrow minded as to identify a person with a partial assessment of their being? Isn't it true that in an effort to bring about equality for everyone, that we are actually heightening the inequality? When we divide people according to their sub-traits, we form classes of people which we can then stereotype or see in tiny little compartments.

Yesterday was a great day. In the afternoon I was in the Keokuk Cemetary Walk, representing PFC John Thorson, a Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient from World War II.

Initially he was buried in the Phillipines, but was brought to America a few years later. At the time, the family was given the option to bury him either in the Arlington National Cemetary or in Keokuk National Cemetary. The family chose Keokuk. John is the only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient to be interred at the Keokuk Cemetary.

About 10 years ago the Veterans Administration contacted the family and informed them that the gravestone was eligible to have gold lettering, and this also makes it distinct from the other graves in the cemetary.

Here is the citation PFC Thorson received, signed by President Harry Truman:

He was an automatic rifleman on 28 October 1944, in the attack on Dagami Leyte, Philippine Islands. A heavily fortified enemy position consisting of pillboxes and supporting trenches held up the advance of his company. His platoon was ordered to out-flank and neutralize the strongpoint. Voluntarily moving well out in front of his group, Pvt. Thorson came upon an enemy fire trench defended by several hostile riflemen and, disregarding the intense fire directed at him, attacked single-handed. He was seriously wounded and fell about 6 yards from the trench. Just as the remaining 20 members of the platoon reached him, 1 of the enemy threw a grenade into their midst. Shouting a warning and making a final effort, Pvt. Thorson rolled onto the grenade and smothered the explosion with his body. He was instantly killed, but his magnificent courage and supreme self-sacrifice prevented the injury and possible death of his comrades, and remain with them as a lasting inspiration.

This museum is directly south (across the street) of the Old Carthage Jail. It houses the Carthage Historical Society as well as many items of interest to tourists interested in the history of the Hancock County including events at the old jail in 1844.