Week 3

 9-August-2022  Tuesday

Welcome to Week 3 of the Hegsted Mission and my feeble attempt to record it.

Yesterday, Monday 8-August were had our own 4-hour shift.  It was a slow afternoon as only one group of three came into the site with one drive by.  Dede and I spent time studying the site manual and gave a partial tour to ourselves.  We were fortunate to have Gary Boatwright come over the last hour and instruct us one-on-one.  Gary is the managing director of the church historical sites and wrote the site guide for the Joseph Smith Birth site and was visiting us to provide training and updates.  We have a great deal of information we can share, but we need to focus on the three key messages of the site 

• Prophetic nature of Joseph Smith
• The Smith family heritage of work and devotion to God.
• Family History.

I was grateful for the experience.  We later had dinner with the site missionaries and Gary.  Afterward he provide instruction and answered more questions.

Today we had the morning shift.  Before arriving we went to the Post Office and rented a post office box.  Our official mailing address is PO Box 244, Sharon, VT, 05065.  Our actual residence is is 5623 Rt 14, Sharon VT 05065.  Interestingly enough Google Maps locates us at 5632 VT-14, South Royalton, VT 05068.  Rather confusing.  

We had a slow morning, (our shift was from 10 to 2), but after lunch we had a couple come in followed by a family.  The couple had previously lived in VT and were members.  We just sat down and we asked them their favorite memories of the site and they had several touching stories and brought in a great spirit.  We then added a few details that might not be typically covered as we bore testitorny of Christ's prophet, Joseph Smith.  The second family, from souther Utah had two returned missionaries a son and older daughter and three young children.  They were delightful to teach.  They knew the gospel so well and had great insights to share with us and each other.

We came home to eat and then went on our first sight-seeing trip.  We drove up through Tumbridge where Joseph Sr. and Lucy met and were wed, about 8 miles from the birthplace.  We then came back down RT 14 to return to Sharon and home.  We chose the route to visit covered bridges for which VT is so famous.  We found 8 or the 9 on the route.   Vermont has 100 covered bridges.  More bridges per square mile than any other state.

10-Augu-2022 Wednesday

Today was our first P-Day and so we left for the Boston temple at 7 am to arrive in time for the 10:00 session.  On Wednesday, Boston has 4 sessions at 10, 12, 6 and 8.  It was not busy.  I was told that the Hartford temple took about half of the district away and they have been small ever since.  It is a beautiful temple.    

We also made it a shopping day as Dede gets all of the stuff needed to run not just a, but her household which is far superior to the average household.  We stopped at both Costco and Walmart and so we did not arrive home until 6:45.  We found a nice restaurant near the temple called Jimmy's Steer house.  Had a good lunch there.

Beyond being with Dede, the highlight of the trip was listening to two different Come Follow Me Podcasts on the Psalms.  Both had invited Shon Hopkins who led our tour to Israel to talk about the Psalms.  Both were different approaches to the subject, so we learned a great deal.  It amazes me how much is available regarding Come Follow Me and that excites me.   

Danielle had been told us to watch for Elder Richardson who is serving in the New Hampshire mission.  He an assistant to the president and so came to the site as part of his new missionary experience and we ran into him in the parking lot and Dede got a picture with him.  Danielle had taught him piano lessons back in Sierra Vista, so we let his companion know he could play.  Mom sent the following picture to his mother via Danielle, and she reported it was the first picture in nearly a year.  The next week Dede took and sent a picture of just him.  Poor Elder.

11-August-2022  Thursday

We had the afternoon shift today, working from 2 to 6.  When we arrived there were two groups that we took out to the monument site and while we were there a delightful couple who split time between New Hampshire (her home farm and home) and Seattle (where kids live.)  Not members, they had never been to the site and were gracious as we explained the site as well as spent time with the restoration.  They were also kind to share with us.  He was raised in Barre VT, where the quarry for the monument was obtained.  Apparently in its day it was a thriving town with many workers of granite.  According to our visitor,  their skills split on ethnic lines, such that one ethnicity would carve stone out of the mountain while another would shape stone and still another would etch the words. 

Before our shift, we went to the see the covered bridge at Quechee which came up in a Google search as one of the best covered bridges.  The bridge was fairly ordinary although it also had a walking lane, but the river around it was marvelous.  They had built a dam to create a millpond and had run mills (flour, grist, fuller and then clothing mills).  In later years it was bought and the water course deepened to install a turbine power generator to power furnaces for a glass blowing factory.  We toured the store and I marveled at the prices of the blown glass.  We then went downstairs and watched six to eight people blow glass and one person using a mold to make Christmas trees. The results were great.  I saw that each person or each pair of persons (some worked in pairs) focused on one item and would repeat making that item.  They worked almost like robots as they repeated each step, knowing exactly when to do each thing and even seeming to follow the same steps as they moved from work station to cooling station and to initial heating station.  Dede and I have always loved watching glass work.

12-August-2022 Friday:

We worked the early shift (i.e. 10-2) which is obviously not that early as we can leave at 9:35 and still be there in time to open the site at 9:45.  It was such a beautiful day especially before lunch.  Dede and I took gloves with us and we weeded and dead-headed in the gardens during the first two hours.  Because we were outside,  we were able to greet two couples who would probably have merely driven through.  I fear that they felt they would need to pay to come inside.  

The funnest experience was with a family who came with their daughter who had served at the site as a young sister missionary during Covid and had done all of her work doing virtual tours.  We suggested that she should lead her family on the tour.  When she said she had forgotten too much we encouraged her that we would fill in as needed.  It was fun.  She did not want to leave as the spirit of the site was upon her and she took a wonderful trip down memory lane.  I doubt we will ever lose the special love we have for this site.

  We drove up to Bethel and ate ice cream at a smallish restaurant that also has an outside window where they do togo orders.  Dede had a swirl maple syrup creamy (which I would have called a soft ice cream) and it was excellent.  I had a scoop of hard coconut flavored ice creamed I am a fan.  We then drove into Woodstock which is a fancy little town.  They still have the central common area which is nice.  There is a National Park there and the town reminded me of a Park City type of place with art shops and much walking around.  We could not spend much time as we had the devotional at 6:30.

The devotional was good.  We watched a video of President Hinckley speaking from the site 23-Dec-2005 to commemorate 200 years since the birth of the prophet.  It was excellent and so fun to see and hear him speak and to know he was speaking from our visitors' center.  We then ate treats.  Needless to say, it was not a very healthy evening food wise and I will surely pay fort that indulgence.

13-August-2022 (Saturday)

This morning I walked out for a minute and watched a doe walking in a field about 40 yards above our apartment near the trees.  She was very peaceful and did not seem to be bothered by me, probably very used to people being around and she slowly moved into the trees.  Very serene on a wonderful morning.  

We had the most marvelous day at the site.  With the YSA groups coming and going, we never had a chance to get a drink or use the restroom.  That is so different.  We also had our normal number of visitors.  I was able to take through non-members.  One had come up to play for the square dance for the YSA activity and had always seen the sign about Joseph Smith and was interested.  The other nonmember, from Boston asked great questions at the restoration timeline board.  He wanted to know why people would join the church and I was able to send him home with a Book of Mormon.

One YSA young man told Dede and I the most wonderful story.  He is a convert to the church of less than two years.  He was looking for the truth and was meeting with the missionaries via Zoom.  He had a dream in which he saw books in a case.  He desired to obtain the books, but there was taunting and he did not obtain them in his dream before awaking.  Note he was taking the discussions with the missionaries using Zoom.  He eventually joined the church and came to the Joseph Smith Birthplace site last year with the YSA group.  When he walked into the room restoration room he realized that the books that he saw in the dream were the 4 replica books shown in the display in that room.  It was a wonderful testimony.

One of the final people I took through had come into the area to play the guitar for the YSA square dance that evening.  He had often seen the sign on I-89 regarding the site and finally decided to see what it was all about.  He was very respectful and full of questions,  Mostly he was just appalled that mobs would gather to drive out any group, let alone a religious group and wished that we could somehow resolve that issue in the world.