11-Decmber-2022-Sunday
The trip to Rutland for church was uneventful, but it began to snow during church and so the roads back were somewhat dicey. I am guessing the people who own the ski resorts in Killington were rejoicing to get even the little that was received and to have it cold enough to create snow. It is apparent that they have been creating snow on the runs so it would not take much more snow to be able to open.
I played the organ and then got to play piano in primary for Dede as she led singing. She is so fun and the kids sang and sang and were glued on to Dede. She is a song and a dance or a dog and pony show in motion, but she knows how to keep the attention of children. I loved playing for her. Next week in Sacrament Meeting, President Shelton will ask people to say why they love a particular Christmas Hymn and then we get to sing the hymn. This will be great fun for me on the organ. I do love playing Christmas Hymns.
We had two girls at church who have come from Peru to work at the ski resorts in Killington. The ward picked them up for church, but we took them home after church as we pass through Killington anyway. As they were getting out, it dawned on me that if they arrived yesterday, they might not have food. When we asked they agreed that was the case, so we ran them to a small market in Killington to get food. Grateful for Google Maps as we do not Killington at all. They got some bread and cheese etc. We told them they would need to catch a bus into Rutland to visit the Walmart.
We came home and Dede cooked a great chicken dinner with dressing and mashed potatoes. If I thought those girls were going hungry, it would have been a hard meal to swallow. She then made a baked Carmel corn which we distributed to the other site missionaries. It was snowing and the site was slow, we did not need to go in as we were in a backup position. Aaron who works under Gary Boatwright in the Historical Department had planned a Christmas Carol for site missionaries with his family. They are all very talented and so with Carmel corn in hand, we all enjoyed a wonderful evening of music. We could see other couples from historic sites who also participated.
12-December-2022-Monday
We were blessed again this morning to be under the tutelage of President Ewer. We continue to discuss how to interpret the site to allow visitors to see beyond what they see and to "provoke" then to feel something different and as a result act. We will rarely know if we achieve this goal that people actually follow up with the message they have heard, but that is the goal. We also discussed melding the interests of the visitors with the message of the site in order to help people want to learn.
We found our way to Jody Hardy's home and shoveled he ramp. It should not take long to do this. She came to Vermont for the solitude, but I am guess she gets lonely. It did not take long as the snow was light and there was only about 1.5 inches at the most. Makes one wonder about "All the Lonely People" as expressed in the old Beetles' song. How long can she survive now that she is needs a walker to move about. I would guess she will eventually end up in assisted living. I have never thought about people who do not have the church as a place and society to fall back on. Vermont has so many little homes buried away in the hills. Many of these homes look like shacks. Dede said Jody's floor was plywood that had been painted at one time. It is just overwhelming to think of all these people who live out lives of solitude both in rural areas like Vermont or perhaps worst in the big cities of the world. I guess we do what we can do and hope to touch a life.
Unfortunately I could not go searching for walls (i.e. walk around the the woods of the site). Tomorrow I hope to spend several hours hiking around. Perhaps some on Wednesday as well. Come Friday, it is supposed to snow 6-8 inches over a two day span which will probably make it very hard to look for walls etc. down below.
With snow, there should be more people coming than last Monday, but whether or not anyone stops will be in interesting questions. As a 4:50, no one has come into the visitors' center today.
13-December-2022-Tuesday
Dede left by 8:15 to shop leaving me home to study and prepare for beginning measurements of the stone wall along the Old Sharon Road. I was feeling better so it was good to have the time. She got home after hitting 6 different stores and had me at the site before noon.
There was nice snow (about 1 -inch) on the ground, but it helped that I had marked some places on the rock wall. I was somewhat amazed of how using a compass and really studying the course of the wall made it easier to follow. I also had Dede order graph paper, a compass, a protractor and ruler so I can create fairly accurate maps with the data I am taking. I actually started by measuring from the known stone wall, across to the Solomon Mack home's yard wall. I then measured by pacing off, the walls of Solomon Home and getting the angles for the walls. From the southeast corner, I then measured out to the corral and barn, making measurements there. I think it looks wrong on the current maps. I then began down the Sharon Road. I had noted that the maps are mostly missing rock walls in Sharon Township, but show more in Royalton. However as I studied this morning, I did find one rock wall marked on the map. I am not sure if this is the same wall I found while hiking, but hope to find this wall again and find out. I still need to verify the wall near Camp joseph as well as find another marked walled near the site boundaries. I am enjoying the work and hope that it will eventually be used by the church to actually survey them or at least add them to the Maps they do in the next round.
I came up from below about 2:45 and changed. Ewers had 2 people all morning. Around 3:30 we had two men from Bonneville Broadcasting who had come to film our Christmas lights for the Light the World in 2023. They are going to various sites (outside of Utah) that have Christmas lights (but both sites and temples). This will include some outside of the USA as well. One was a contractor who was amazing with a drone as well as still footage done with a hand-held camera and he was fun to watch. We were told we could have all the raw footage. I had them take some pictures inside the visitors' center to incorporate into the virtual tour. I hope to use the Christmas light clips and make a video to place on YouTube. We will see how that all works out.
14-December-Wednesday-Pday
It is always good to report on a fun day spent with my favorite companion. We went to E. Randolph to deliver Christmas cards which will be delivered by meals on wheels and then drove down by back roads to Chester VT, to eat a diner called Country Girl Diner. We had a great breakfast getting in just before they converted over to lunch. Like many diners in VT, they then close at 2 pm so they only work one shift. The diner was a dining car for the railroad. They have built a larger kitchen in the back, but we ate in the diner portion. Good food and service. The outside of the diner is below.
We then stopped at the Vermont General in a a neighboring town. This is a famous General Store and had a little more high end stuff and some interesting items. Old games and books. Many types of candy and a solid selection of clothes as well as food. We bought too much, but it was fun.
Apparently in VT, Santa's reindeer, have a sweet tooth and get better food than the oats and glitter that we have left them in Pocatello. I hope they get their teeth checked after a long night in Vermont.
I then spent more time below the site. I located another rock wall, which I believe is the Eastern border of the Solomon Mack farm. It is also at the boundary of the property, or was the boundary before the last parcel was added. I was able to measure it and get bearings on it. I then walked further south, but could not find any more rock walls. Nor did I get far enough to see a road or houses to give me a hint of where the road would come out. On one old Map, it says to school house #1. It would be funny (interesting) if the road came out near the current Sharon Academy.
When I came up from below, I took a gator (small tractor) trail and came up above the site. I was wearing an orange vest as Dede was afraid I might get shot by a deer hunter. Anyway, President Ewer saw me and he and Elder Buswell came up to find out why someone was hunting on the property. Since Dede had dropped me off, it did not occur to them that I was around. Perhaps it is a good disguise, I jumped deer and forest grouse and they all seemed eager to get away from me (think Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny).
I had a great experience while hiking below. I was measuring distances using my range finder. The trees are so thick that I have to go from tree to tree and because my glasses get steamed up I had put them on top of my head so I could see through the range finder. I got to the next tree and had measured the tree beyond when I realized that I no longer had my glasses. First obviously, a short but sincere prayer and then I traced my steps back tree to tree until I found them. As I think about this, with an inch of snow, it was easy to trace my footprints and find the glasses. However the miracle was that I noticed they were gone before I had gone too far away to be able to find my way back. God was so kind to me, and I want to publicly acknowledge His goodness.
After we left the site, we decided to go to the light show in Enfield NH. This is done at a Catholic Church/shrine. They have sponsors and do a great job. There is nothing about Santa or a secular Christmas, it is all wreaths, candles, angels, nativities etc. Obviously I took pictures
We ended the night with steak and baked potato that was cooked to perfection by Dede. Sorry, I did not take a picture of the steaks, so you will need to take my word for their goodness.
15-December-2022-Thursday
I helped Dede make fudge and two kinds of flavored popcorn to give to the other missionaries as a gift when we have our luncheon tomorrow. Dede would spend the entire morning cooking and bagging the treats until we went to the site about 2:30.
I went down below again. We are supposed to get snow tomorrow and I must assume that it will become difficult to do much hiking and finding with snow on the ground so I have wanted to get down and hike as often as possible before the predicted 5-7 inches of snow we are supposed to receive tonight. (This turned into a total of 17 inches at the site before the storm ended.). I decided to hike Patriarch Hill today. On our first two hikes, I had noted a wonderful stone wall near the trail which I wanted to document. I found it and took bearings on its direction and noted that it extends well beyond 100 yards, which is a nice long stone wall. I thought I would continue to the top of the hill and then come back and do a more accurate measurement. However, it occurred to me to turn around and look in the other direction (in line with the wall) to see if I could determine where the boundary line went. I have learned to look for large trees (especially large maple trees or stumps) when look for such lines and there were two within view so I hiked up to them and then was able to see that these had old barb wire fencing that had grown into the tree, so I knew I was on the right track. I was then able to follow this line (with barbed wire fence remnants) until I came to our property boundary which is well marked. This gives me a great line of site of the rock wall so success. At the boundary, one comes out on what is now a snow mobile trail, but which once must have been a fairly well used road. I say this based on the quality of the rock walls on both sides of this road. I have been on this road with Bob and so I know we own to the middle of the road. I walked it down to the South East corner of the property. I should have kept going but was deterred by the no trespassing signs and the fact that I was just plain tired. (I know, I am a wimp.) By the time I arrived back home, Dede had most of the work done, so I could eat and take a nap before heading up for our shift. [Two notes added later: 1) the road mentioned above is a snow-machine trail which is groomed and according to the map on line can be accessed from Dairy Hill near the Vt-RT-14. and 2) Elder Wilcox showed me a map which has this rock wall, which will be so handy when documenting this wall.)
We had several experiences at the site tonight, that I wanted to document as they touched me. The first involved an older woman who came in to thank us for putting up the lights. She had never seen them before. I asked where she was from and she said Sharon so she could not be more than 10 miles away. However she explained that she had never had a car and if it were not for the fact that a friend had brought her to the site, she would have never been able to come. It is hard for me to comprehend the poverty that exists around me. I am sure there is similar in Idaho, but it is somewhat more evident here. [Or perhaps because everything is new, I am just much more aware of things I take for granted at home.] There are homes that are well over 100 years old and look like they need a good fire or a ton of money to fix up. However, there are people living in them or in a portion of them. I am sure there is no insulation and little in the way of furnishings. I have been critical because many have bags of garbage all around. However, when I think about this lady who has never had a car, it makes sense why some of these old dilapidated homes have so much garbage. How would they get it to the dump or pay for someone to remove it for them? Obviously I am way to judgmental.
We then had a couple come in to express their appreciation for the site. They were somewhat subdued as they told us this story: Last night, the man had come up with 5 young men. He works for a health and welfare department which teaches young men living skills (over a period of 6 to 18 months with a 6-month followup.) One of the five young men after having been driven around the circle that goes around the monument and shown the lights, got out of the car and walked up to one of the trees and broke down in tears. At age 22, he had never experienced Christmas. He could not believe there could be all of these lights and that they could just come and enjoy them. He said he felt awash in a sea of lights. Obviously the man who told us the story, was very touched and he said he started to cry also. He wife said that never happens. Tonight he returned with his wife so she could also share in the magic of the place. They stayed and talked. It was obvious that they really did not want to leave and have the magic of good feeling end. They came back in to get a picture with us, because we were part of their wonderful experience. What a tribute to our. FM missionaries who make the place look so beautiful.
We had three other people come in with families or groups where one person in the group was obviously touched and wanted to learn more because of the spirit. One mother was especially funny. She said, "yes my son has questions, as he loves history" The son, about 8, did not want to put down his phone. And finally said, "mom why are you saying I had all these questions." Finally mom said, "well I want to learn." The father also seemed interested. Another couple (friends) came in. She knew quite a bit about Joseph Smith, he did not and had never been to the site. She was ready to leave, but he insisted to go to the second room and learn all he could. He looked like he wanted to stay and bask in the Sprit of the place. Finally a young man came in and after learning a little about Joseph Smith kept asking, "how could I (he) live with Joseph in my backyard and not know any of this?" It was truly an amazing evening at the site. They are not all like this, but thank goodness for such nights.
Dede and I have truly loved learning so much more about the Old Testament. We have listened to several Podcasts together every week as we have traveled and wonder at the knowledge that others have gained as they have studied the prophets of the Old Testament. As we discussed the Book of Malachi, we both marveled at the promises this book contains for us in the latter days. We wanted to be sure that we bear testimony of the principles and promises of tithing in our lives. We have not seen the singular, great miracles that one hears about in conference talks. However, we have always paid our tithing even when we had so little at the beginning of our marriage and the Lord has blessed us exceedingly, day by day, week by week and year by year. The blessing have included those of a material nature and we are grateful for those. However, the spiritual blessing have far outweighed the material. We have always been able to have a temple recommend. We have always been in the position to be able to say yes Lord we are full tithe payers and then been able to expect to see the windows of heaven open and have blessing poured out upon our heads. These are blessings of prayers answered. Fears resolved. Children blessed with testimonies. Confidence that our faith in the Lord and His prophets is correct. The opportunity to always have a current temple recommend and feel that we are worthy to attend the temple on a regular basis. These and many other blessings have been ours. There have been too many blessings which we have received, but I have been too rushed to acknowledge. God is so good to us. He blesses us so much and way too often we become too busy to count all of our blessings. We have always loved the law of tithing and its blessings. This week we learned a new concept that will forever change the way I look at my expectation of receiving blessing from tithing. THE BLESSING OF TITHING IS TO ALLOW US TO BE ABLE TO FULFILL OUR COVENANTS! We love this thought. The blessings are not wealth, unless that wealth allows us to fulfill our covenant by attending the temple, being able to magnify our callings, and to be better spouses, parents, and members of the kingdom. The blessing of tithing is the ability to stay on the covenant path and return to God and to feel his promptings telling us that yes we are on the covenant path and the reassurance that He will tell us when we are straying from that path and gently (at first) and then sternly (if needed) direct us back onto the path. (It is easiest for me to see the stern directions from the Lord because my pride too often helps me ignore the gentle callings.). WE LOVE TITHING.
16-December-2022-Friday
I got up at 6 am to shovel snow. That was supposed to be a highest accumulation of snow for the day, however it was only 1.5 inches and then it really began snowing hard. Brother Berger shoveled at 8 and then I shoveled before we left (about 2 more inches) went to site and then came back to pick up our dessert that we had forgotten and I shoveled again. They actually plowed our parking place out. I think we left with 13 inches of snow at the site and it was still snowing until we got 17 inches.). Pictures will be at the end, just a few because I shot mostly videos. It is just a different looking site with all the snow covering the trees and it was wet and sticky enough that the top of the monument was covered with snow.
We had a luncheon today with everyone bringing snack foods and/or a dessert. Dede made hamburger dip and then passed out a bag of goodies for all to have which she made yesterday. We did not have any visitors during our shift. We stayed until 5 to take pictures and had a chance to talk to Brother Johnson who lives next to the site. He had been out plowing since 5 am this morning. We had a great visit with him. We had another member come in which was more interesting as he is mad that things have changed at the site and missionaries are no longer doing everything with and for the ward. But mostly, that he no longer feels that the ward tells the site director what he should be doing. So hard, the church changes policies, and part of our challenge on earth is to be willing to accept the changes that come through our church leaders. I know I struggle with change and that I am not alone.
After we got home, we experienced our first Vermont power outage. We are so prepared for these at home. We have a generator with which we could light our entire house. We have a large battery to use first so we would wait to set up the generator until after an hour or more. [Although I bought the generator and set up the house, we have not used it yet}. We have the gas stove down stairs for heat. Here, not so much. We do have emergency lights and power and luckily water to flush the toilets. It was only an hour for us, longer for the Wilcox's The lights are still flickering so I have showered and Dede is attempting to do the same before it goes off again and we are forced to go to bed early. (Bed early? Did I mention how much the Lord loves to bless me?). The number of trees lining the roads (where the power poles also go) is amazing and so in a storm like we are having, thousands of trees and large branches falls on power lines numbers in the 10's of thousands. I think 40,000 was the initial count).
17-December-2022-Saturday
We lost power again at 12:15 AM, but were in bed so did not notice until about 2 AM. We did not have power come back on until 9:15 PM. Not quite a full 24 hours. I looked on line and there were so many incidents in VT that they were needing to fix and our county was the worst place. When you drive down the roads and see all the power lines snaking through thick trees, it is easy to understand how 15-17 inches of heavy snow would cause so many power failures. There were tree limbs down everywhere and obviously too many land on the power lines and need to be cut off to return power. It would be nice if they were buried, but the lines have been up so long and the ground is so hard to dig with all its granite. [One would need to clear them every 5 years to keep the trees at bay and that is expensive.]. Thus a perfect storm.
We spent most of the day at the site. We went up early to plug in our emergency lights that had drained down during the night and to get more water. Without power, there is no water as the water is all pumped directly to the house and not stored in storage tanks above the house to maintain pressure when power goes out like the water towers in the mid-west and west. We then made our way up to Jody's home and shoveled her ramp. The plow had been in before us and so we could get up the lane. She was still in bed (about 9 am) because without power it was better just to stay in bed. [Jody would not get power back until Sunday.]
We then went home and got Dede's sewing machine and returned to the site. She was making white stocking for the primary children and without power she could not get them sewn. I took up books and computers but spent the time shoveling and raking snow off the roofs, especially over the entry ways to the visitors center and president's home. Great exercise with wet heavy snow. We also shoveled at home before leaving. It was wetter and heavier at the apartment as the temperature was about 2 degrees warmer down by the river then up the hill at the site, just above freezing.
We then went to a diner with a generator (30 minutes away) to eat lunch before heading to the apartment to change and do our shift. It was such a beautiful drive as the sun came out and was brilliant on the new snow. We drove several places looking for an open diner.
Spent the early hours of the shift digging out bushes that have Christmas lights, but were crushed with the heavy snow and rehanging lights and fixing lights. We were open, but with generator powers only about 1/2 of the site's lights were on, and so the lane was not lit and some of the lights behind the monument were not on. Still had many people come and had great opportunities and teach and visit with people. People were understanding that we did not have all our lights and that the church was closed and we had no cookies and hot cider. I love this time of year; people are kinder than normal.
Sister Ewer had made soup for us, so we ate a bowl and I had hot chocolate before returning home to a coldish and dark apartment. Luckily by 9:17 we had light. I went out and looked atour neighbors, the Bergers must have packed it in and went to bed as there are no lights on there. They worked hard today doing snow removal and lights. Did I publicly give thanks for running and hot water?
It was a wonderfully busy day. The roads are now clear so we should have no issues getting to Rutland tomorrow for church and back to open the site at 1 pm. Did I mention how grateful I am to be able to go to the bathroom and have running water to wash one's hands. I am also grateful for water coming from the tap which one can drink. Did I mention heat and light and a warm house with a quilt from Aunt Gwen? (I had gotten out a second quilt in case we did not have heat tonight.). I can only hope the Buswells and Wilcox's also have power soon.
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