Cold Jail- Furnace broke

Sunday- Jan. 19, 2014
We went to our regular meetings in Nauvoo on Sunday and then we had to hurry back to Carthage to open the Visitor Center & Jail.  We have had cold days and the furnace broke in the jail so FM people came a week or two back and pulled it out the top window which they took out and had a machine that lifted the furnace out side the jail.  We got two small furnaces now but only one is working at the moment.  We also had a leak in the attic from the new gas furnace which we hope is fixed now.  We had to put a garbage can under the leak and towels around the floor to try to stop the wood floor from getting wet in the Dungeon Cell.  They have had electric heaters in the jail when their was no furnace but the heat only got up to 33 or 40 degrees.  We would give tours in our coats.  It was really cold. The one heater is heating the bottom floor at the moment but I think it is heating better since we got up to 55 degrees, heat wave.

    Sister Ballard and Sister Harris cold in the Martyrdom Room. We tell the stories in this room around the heater.

 Here is the original door in the Martyrdom Room. It gets so cold in the Jail. The window behind is the window Joseph Smith fell out off.

Monday- Jan. 20, 2014
The other furnace which I hope they get going tomorrow since it was Martin Luther King Day today of course they were off.  This one man is hired by the church and is working with another Elder that works on furnaces and air conditioning.   It has been a really hard time to get the jail warmed up since the lime stone rock is about 3 feet thick all around the bottom of the jail.  The second furnace should heat up the up stairs rooms which one of them is the Martyrdom Room. We like it to be warm since we spend most the time telling stories and listening to a tape.  The spirit is so strong in this room whether their is heat or not but it is nice when you feel warmth. We had about 5 tours today which is good because we have had no tours for 3 or 4 days in a row in the winter months.  We went for a walk at noon today because it felt warmer but tomorrow they say it is going to get colder again.  We do love the warmer days. Here are some pictures we took today in the jail.

      This was taken through the bullet hole in the door with the window that Joseph Smith fell out off.
Their is not much heat up in the Martyrdom Room. This is Elder and Sister Harris. This isn't as clear as some pictures I take for people.  You have to take off the flash so we don't have the hole looking like it is on fire.

                            This is Elder Ballard showing the table set in the dining room.
                                 
   Here is  Elder Ballard showing the Debtor Cell in the jail.  Also showing the original door in the Martyrdom Room.