I met with a young man to release him from his mission a little while ago. He had served in the Raleigh N. Carolina Mission, so I asked him if he'd ever made it to a little town called Ash, because my father had served there on his mission. He said yes, only Ash isn't really a small town, it's a big city now. I told him my Dad was asked to build a chapel in that town, and though I knew it was no longer used as a chapel, I think it is still there, being used as some kind of storage facility.
His eyes got big and he smiled and said: I know that building! I was there just a few weeks ago. An elderly woman, a local member, lives there now. Your Dad built that?
I assured him that others assisted, but that he was in charge of the project (the general contractor for lack of a better title), and showed him the photos below. He said, yep that's the place. It's actually on what is now a major road and everyone sees it coming and going.
So I've added some pictures from HG's mission journal, and a couple of pertinent letters. Who knows how our paths will cross, and with whom - but one thing is for sure - its a small world in the Church.
In 1988 Dad and Mom took a trip back through the South to some places where they had lived and where he had served on his mission. One of their stops was the old chapel he'd built in Ash. Below is a photo from that trip.
And finally, some letters from his mission president regarding the assignment to build, and the dedication of the building, which took place just two months to the day after he left the mission field and returned home.
