Week 25 Hegsted Mission

  8-January-2023-Sunday

Absolutely stunning day, chilly, not real cold, but clear blue skies all day.  This made the drive to Rutland fantastic.  The ski hill has some snow and with the below freezing weather, they were making snow for all they were worth so there were skiers.  I played the organ and Dede led for the last time in primary.  She will miss this greatly.  The Rutland Branch is a wonderful place.  People are kind and close knit.  We are so glad that we were assigned to attend there despite the hour drive over and the hour back.  We returned a different way which added time to our trip, but allowed us to drive new roads.  We went past a series of lakes that were a delight.  It was a richer tourist/summer home area and so it was fun to see.  We also drove by the Calvin Coolidge homestead and museum.  It is not open in the winter and we may never actually stop at this visitor's center, but it is on top of a hill and in a wonderful place.  But really, who but a Vermonter would want to spend time learning about Calvin Coolidge?  Vermont is such a wonderful place to explore especially when the sun is bright and the reflection from the little existing snow is available and the roads are clear.

We actually had a family of five come into the site.  We have given them a tour in the past and returned for the peace.  He is a traveling nurse and they need to decide whether it is time to move back towards home and family.  I hope they found what they are looking for.

We then went to back to the site as it was President Ewers' 76 birthday and we celebrated with ice cream and cake, a bad rendition of the Happy Birthday song, and wonderful conversation.  They had pork roast and sauerkraut as his birthday meal.  This has been a lifelong favorite for him.  I will be sure to not eat any if they serve it to us so that there is plenty for him.  I do not like cabbage before it goes rotten and find that rotting it does not improve its taste.  The cake was yellow with chocolate frosting and no hint of sauerkraut.

I fear that people (you wonderful readers) believe that all Dede and I do is play.  And it is true that we have been able to get out and see so much.  One must however realize that we plan well to be able to do this.  Dede gets the chores finished before our PDAY so we can get to Boston to the temple and then do other things on this day.  But I think just as important, we constantly look for things to do, so that when we have a few hours before or after a shift, we can jump in the car and go and explore.  This allows us to see so much.  Vermont is such a small state and in 25 minutes, we are in New Hampshire which is another small state.  Thus it is easy to get out and see things several days a week and still meet our obligations as missionaries what we are seeing and hope they will also take the time to get out and visit the state.    The Buswells are also explorers and they have shared many places to visit and have been a great inspiration to us.  We also ask the locals when they visit the site.  This helps build bonds with the locals and has provided us with ideas that are not found in the tourist books and are actually quite close.

9-January-2023-Monday

I am a bit sore this evening.  Continued taking down Christmas lights from the trees.  I was given a long pole to help with the work and between lots of high reaching, using the pole and pulling on the lights, I am feeling it tonight.  Plus without having to walk laps around the site,  I stilled logged 17,000 steps.  There are still a number of trees with lights that need to be removed, but we are slowing getting the work done allowing the FM missionaries to focus on other tasks.  Dede is usually out with me during our shift and she makes it so I can get so many more lights down as she keeps them separated into piles so we can take them inside and roll them.

We started the morning with our devotional.  Elder Buswell shared the following thought:

A man passed away and was waiting in a very long line at the pearly gates.  As he stood there, he saw that some were given passage through the pearly gates while the remainder were sent done to Hell where the Devil was casting them into the preverbal pit of fire and brimstone.  However as he stood there he noted that there was a small group whom the Devil did not cast in to the pit and which were stacked along side the pit.  Finally curiosity got the best of him and he approached Satan and said "Mr Angel of Darkness, who perchance are these creatures who do not get cast into the fiery pit?"  The Devil answered: "Oh these are Vermonters, they are too cold and too wet to burn even in the fires of hell."

As I have mentioned, we have had delightful weather and so I do not feel that cold.  Wet perhaps because we have had many rainstorms instead of snow.  But the thought was fun.  I hope I do not insult any Vermonters.  I am rather certain, that the Vermonters I have met would not be going to hell in the first place.  

We continue to discuss our teaching approaches.  I am somewhat frustrated as they do not seem to be consistent in the site guide.  I know this is my issue, but I love straightforwardness and the church loves to teach principles and let us work it out on our own.  So I will stop whining and study the principles and learn to govern myself.

We finally broke down and got a transponder for the car so that when we go to the temple, we do not need to stop and pay tolls, but can drive through and have a lesser amount deducted from our account saving time, money and adding to the safety of all.  What could be better????  Perhaps...eliminating toll roads????

10-January-2023-Tuesday

A very full day.  Dede informed me very early that my cousin Susan Wahlen Markham had passed away from cancer last night.  She is one of the kindest sweetest people I know.  It would be impossible to meet her in a crowd and not have her single you out and make you feel important.  As I pondered this in my prayers, I could not help but think of the wonderful reunion that was occurring on the other side of the veil.  Her parents, her brother, my grandfather and grandmother Phillips, my parents, and so many others would be waiting there for her to greet her.  As we sadly mourn her passing and absence from us, so many (who are so very near and dear) are rejoicing that a covenant path adherent has passed the test of life and has returned so clean and pure.  I must admit, I was thinking about the 50's song with the words, "so I better be good, so I can see my 'loved one' when I leave this world."  

At the site, we actually had 4 visitors.  The first two were super interesting.  They both from Cambodia.  She had been raised in Kansas City and had some level of involvement with the church there.  However due to her issues with English, she and her family avoided many invitations.  The man with her seemed to be a good friend who knew little about the church, but had many questions and was so intent on learning.  They live in Lowell Mass., and the Elders approached her on the street and gave her name and address to the sisters there.  She said they invited her to church for Christmas, but she did not remember their names. We gave them Cambodian Books of Mormon which they proudly showed in the picture we took of them in front of the monument.  The local Elders said they would contact the Sisters in Lowell and see if they can follow up.  Interestingly enough the local Elders came in last night and mentioned that their mission extended into Lowell and most of Western Mass.  Otherwise I would not have known I could contact them about this fun couple.  I know it will be a challenge as her English is still not superior, but I can hope for the best for a lady willing to drive 2+ hours to see a site about Joseph Smith after being taught by our wonderful sisters.

We had two sisters show up right at switch time.  Dede spent about 20 minutes with them as I had a few things to visit with President Ewer about and then we left them in his capable hands.  They were full of questions and President Ewer will do a super job with them.

We had an appointment with Calvin to work on my Medicare.  It appears I screwed up and only got part A when I should have gotten A&B.  There is no simple way to request this on line, so I filled out the paper work and mailed it in.  Hopefully within 3 weeks it will be processed so we can finish up getting parts D and G.  As was miffed at myself, but Dede pointed out the blessing it was that we were getting it done before my birthday so all should be well.

We got a different microwave for the apartment from the Manchester Mission.  The old one has a hole in the top of the cooking compartment.  We will also get a different dryer as our current dryer is burning up bearings.  Our neighbors, the Bergers will get a washing machine as theirs has died.  Both will be used machines, but hopefully we will be able to do wash and they will last for a few years beyond our service here.  Note the Bergers leave the mission in June.  The FM Executive Secretary called them to tell them their replacements have been called.  This seemed way too early to me, for them to be reminded their mission will soon end.  But then what do I know?

Tomorrow we will leave early for the temple. I am so glad we can attend the temple and I love the time with Dede spent coming and going.  We also want to visit the Lexington and Concord battle sites and learn some more history.

11-January-2023-Wednesday-PDAY

We had an easy drive to the temple.  Normal slow downs, but were able to arrive in about 2:25 which is quite normal and then enjoy the 10 am endowment session followed by initiatory.  I am so grateful for the people who staff the Boston Temple on Wednesday morning.  It is not easy for them to do initiatory as it is not easy to find 3 men.  Today, they made it go in one at time, so two could do the work, but it got done.  Thank you devoted temple workers.

We went to an Italian restaurant recommended by the Ewers and Buswells.  It was good.  From there we were 5 minutes from Walden's Pond.  It was cold so we did not do the walking tour there.  Instead we went the 5 minutes to the North Bridge in Concord made famous the the phrase "the shot heard around the world."  The battle of Lexington was already hours old when the British were driven away from the North Bridge by the rebel forces which started a long retreat back to the safety of Boston while the rebels after losing 8 in Lexington patriot troops poured in on the British to extract revenge.  Credit the British discipline for not losing more troops than they did, but credit the rebels for winning the propaganda war from the first battle allowing them to continue to punish the British by their mere existence.  I cannot imagine the courage of these men.  They were fighting literally in front of their families, but also for their families.  It would have been so easy to merely stay home, but they did not and they changed the world producing the only country in the world where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints could be organized and then survive.  Obviously some pictures are in order.  Two views of the recreated North Bridge.  In the third you can see the monument first erected on the site.  This was on the British side because at the time there was no bridge for access.  The middle shows the farmer soldier waiting to defend his land and rights while the first is a side view of the bridge.  (He is leaving his plow behind and with musket in hand is facing the British across the bridge.)

At the North Bridge,  the number favored the rebels unlike at Lexington Green.  They marched down to meet the British in file and did not fire until fired upon and then they returned fire and drove the British away from the bridge.  The British forces were to protect the bridge as they had forces who had moved on to attempt to find the arms stored on a nearby farm.  When fired upon, the rebel leader told his men to return fire.  This was the first shots fired by the US side under command to fire.  The war was underway.

It was miserably cold.  We walked around for nearly an hour, but gave up.  There are many places to walk and see and we plan to return.

12-January-2023-Thursday

We had beautiful snow which fell for about 6 hours today.  Fine flakes so the accumulation was only about 2 inches.  It was warm and nice and thus allowed me to spend the morning and then our shift taking down Christmas lights.  We ended up with 4-inches of snow.  We got lights from two trees down and the lights rolled.

Had delightful conversations with Danielle, Anna and Gwen after work.  Nothing else to add.  It was truly a quiet day.

13-January-2023-Friday

We ended up with 4 inches of snow and when we awoke this morning it was raining as the temperature went up during the night.  The slush was very thick on our drive so I shoved it back, but the amount of water dammed up by the slush I pushed back created a lake.  Same at the site, the sidewalks had been cleared but the melting snow made them look like shallow rivers.  This is just an odd year.  Supposedly the snow from the end of December remains except for a brief January thaw.  However this year almost every snow has been rained out within a few days of falling. I think I came East to avoid the storms of the West.  I read an article that Philadelphia has not had snow yet this year.  It has been 50 years since the last year Philly missed snow the entire year.

We did take the opportunity to clean Jody's walk on the way up to open the site.  I need to figure out a better way to get out from her house.  I did not want to pull into her parking lot because of the wet sloppy snow on top of frozen ground, but in trying to back out and turn uphill into the neighbor's drive way, I almost managed to slide the car off the road.  We were protected and got out without a major incident.

It was too rainy and wet to work on lights so I worked on Family Search while Dede read Lucy's history.  We then had a visit from Bob the FM manager.  He is kind and is full of such great information.  We visited for 45 minutes and then he went to lunch.  I attempted to scope water out of the sidewalks.  I could scoop, but it just poured back in.  Thus we walked for a few minutes before receiving a call that the FM missionaries were delivering our dryer and the Berger's washing machine.  I took off to meet them while Dede stayed at the site.  The new dryer is so quiet even though it is old.  Hopefully it will last through our time.

I went back to the site and took down lights as it stopped raining and was pleasant.  Dede was in charge of food for tonight's dinner and prepared a delicious pork tenderloin in a mushroom sauce served on mashed potatoes.  All thought it very fine and I am stuffed.  Good food and good company is hard to beat.  Came back home to fix the bathroom door and for Dede to watch videos of Hailey swimming in an invitational swim meet.  She is swimming events she does not like, but which no one else on the team qualifies so there is always a hope for team points.  She is swimming the 500 free, 200 IM and then anchors two relay teams.  Busy night and she will get to come back and swim at least the relays tomorrow.  This is more like district and state where you swim multiple times in the same event if you keep making the cut.  So fun.

14-January-2023-Saturday

Since we had the late shift, we decided to continue our tour of covered bridges using our new book.  Since we slept in for a lazy morning we took the nine covered bridges that are closest to us and which we first visited  when we arrived.  Without the book, we had missed several of these bridges, but more important, we did to realize how the truss system in each differed.  The new book explains the trusses in the appendix and then gives an explanation for each bridge, as they often have slight variations.  The bridges we saw today were multi-king and queen post bridges.  The King Post bridge can only span a small space, while the multi-king can span a much larger space.  The queen post is in the middle.  We also saw two bridges with a half multi-king truss.  Originally these were not covered and thus saved in construction costs by using the half truss system.  We learned that covered bridges have the advantage of keeping the wood dry from rain and snow so the wood lasts longer.  However in the day, the Town would then need to shovel snow onto the bridge to allow sleighs and sledges to pass over the bridge.  All of these bridges span the 1st and 2nd forks of the White River and all are within 15-20 miles of the site.  Obviously I will need to show some pictures.

This is Howe Bridge.  It is on Belknap road and if you follow that road up the hill and turn right you will pass right by the Joseph Smith Birthplace site.  The other side of the bridge is the Howe Farm.  The road splits the farm and the barns.

This interior is a multi-King-Post Truss design.

This is the Cilly Bridge and is just up the river from the Howe Bridge and still below the village of Tunbridge.  This road is on Howe Road, but is not the Howe Bridge.  The interior is almost identical to the Howe Bridge.

This is the Mill Pond Bridge in Tunbridge.  I have shown this before as the brick building behind the bridge is the site of. one of Steven Mack's Mills in Tundbridge.  Above it is the mill dam for the races to the three mills.  Pretty much the same truss design.

The next bridge up the 1st Branch is the Larkin Bridge.  Same basic truss design, however this bridge is to square across the river and os the posts do not align and cross pieces which hold up the roof are not set over the same post 

Had to show more on this bridge.  Beautiful wife posed in front for second photo.  First picture one is looking at the longest hand hewn beam in a covered bridge in Vermont. In the third picture, one can see the rock buttress walls which is still in place after 100+ years.  They knew how to build rock formations here and all without mortar.  This is a queen post design for the truss.  There are two queen posts tied in with triangular boards.  The two queen posts are in tension holding the road bed at the bottom and tied to the beam on top.  The triangle pieces are in compression bearing the load back toward the banks in an angled manner.

The next two bridges were very similar in design and size so I will only show one.  This red bridge was once called the blue bridge and was painted blue.  This bridge is in a sketchy neighborhood.  We are parked next to a trailer house (camper type) which it appears has placed full trash bags all around the outside.  Perhaps to add to the insulation???  The entire place was sketchy looking.  The trailer was the worse, but the next property is working hard to catch the trailer.

Looking inside, there is a "half" multi-king bridge design, as originally this was not a covered bridge, but an open bridge.  This was common for small spans.  Thus this wold look like many bridges made of steel today.  Later they built on the top of the "half" portion of the Multi-King Bridge so they could build the roof on the bridge.  In the other bridge, the top part is a queen post truss, which added stability to the second bridge.  These builders were so clever.

This is my final picture for the day.  This is a South Royalton, Vermont traffic jam.  Second time this week we have been obliged to stop for a flock of turkeys on the road going up to the site.  Life is truly hard on us.  We did not have any visitors today.  It was cold and windy, so I do not blame people.  We were able to roll the lights I took down yesterday afternoon and pull down more and get them rolled today.  Worked short time outside to avoid exposure to my pretty face which includes my ears that are the most sensitive to the windy cold before coming inside to roll lights.  We have been taking down lights for two weeks now.  Should finish by next week.  I will be glad.  My arms ache from working above my head and my hands are stiff from rolling so many balls of lights.  Life is so hard when one is a wimp.