Week 32 Hegsted Mission

 26-February-2023-Sunday

On a day which was supposed to have less than an inch of snow we had 2 or 3 inches.  Not significant if one is not driving home in it from Rutland turning our 60 minute trip into a 80 minute trip due to being caught behind a snow plow for 20 minutes.  Oh well.  Organ went better today.  It helps that I was more comfortable with the hymns chosen.  Dede was alone in the primary, so she taught the littles in the first 30 minutes and then when the bigs came in we left as the chorister and pianist had singing time.  Lucky or we would have been late getting back to the site.

It was beautiful at the site.  We shoveled and raked snow and talked to Anna on the phone as she made plans to come here in May.  However we did not have visitors.  Shortly before 5 pm, President Ewer came over and we had a delightful visit for 40 minutes covering so many topics.  He is such a great man.  It must be much harder keeping senior missionaries happy compared to young missionaries.  We are so opinionated, but he and Sister Ewer do a great job.  Surely if one could earn their way to heaven, they would be in the front of the line after putting up with me.

27-February-2023-Monday

Happy birthday to me.  As a 65 year old, I am now eligible for all senior discounts.  (And best I am married to a younger woman.).  What an accomplishment.  We had our normal Monday morning devotionals so my wife made cinnamon rolls, and then seeing that they were not raising as well as she hoped made cream-cheese marble squares to take with us.  May I say that I felt like  a 3rd grader who gets to take cupcakes to class to celebrate his birthday. (Two wonderful treats were brought.)  Obviously this was a pre-Covid practice and is probably beyond the memory of many of my readers.  But that is how I felt and I love Dede for showing me this kindness.

We cleaned Jody's ramp.  Again we did not see her, but could see she had taken out things from her home so we assume she is all right.  At the site, the Buswells had noted dripping water in the theatre.  We had raked the edge of the roof, but then it snowed and melted, creating an ice dam.  Then on a warm day like today, the water melts runs down the roof until it hits the ice dam and then backs up until it becomes deep enough to run back under the slate shingles and leak into the Visitors center.  We cleared more snow trying to get above the ice dams which I repeated after everyone left.  I then threw ice melt up on the roof hoping to get the ice to open in channels so water can flow out and helpfully we can break the ice from this area.  The slate roof is pretty, but it is tough.  I wonder if they should consider heat cables for the backside of the VC?

We had the left over meatballs for lunch.  Wow were they good.  Thanks Sara for the recipe.  Tonight I get another special meal plus Dede has serenaded me with every primary birthday song she knows.  Lucky me.

28-February-2023-Tuesday

It snowed all day.  It was fun watching the weather forecasts go from 12 to 2 inches.  I think we got about 8 inches although it reports 5.  So hard to say because the snow is so light and fluffy it would be hard to predict the inches of snow since the amount of moisture content is so small.  Needless to say the roads were not good and were slick.  It almost felt like everyone thought it was not really going to snow so they decided to wait until it was gone before plowing.  Needless to say, we did not have visitors although we got to shovel and enjoy being outside.  There was absolutely no wind and the temperature was very nice so walking was great (although again very slick wherever a car had smashed the snow which immediately turned to ice.)  

We had another great visit with President Ewer.  He is so well read, that it is fun to talk to him.  Also, he knows many of the older BYU professors and so he has interesting insights on each.  

I was shoveling at the apartment and raked the edge of the roof.  I had done so before and the ice that come down in my area was about 3/4 of inch.  However where I had not raked previously it was about 3 to 4 inches thick and came down with a real crash.  Glad it did not hit a car or a person.  Ice dams on roofs are a real problem here.

1-March-2023-Wednesday-PDAY

The snow did stop and we went to the temple.  Probably faced the worst traffic in Boston we have faced.  In MA, the roads were clear, but I am guessing people were nervous or perhaps late from shoveling their own walks and so haste makes waste.  In this case car wrecks.  When you get car wrecks it seems you get more people speeding to make up for time between wrecks and the vicious cycle begins.  Regardless we made it and enjoyed an endowment followed by a sealing session.  The Boston Temple is adapting to the new times and getting people through better so they can start the next session.  Still next week there will only be 3 men on shift and so it will be hard.  The supervisor for weeks 1 and 2 was very discouraged today when thinking about next week.  Perhaps the brethren should make changes to the presentation of the endowment more often.  We have had larger sessions and I am much more focused than I was and I prided myself on focusing before.  There is so much to be learned in the endowment and the changes made have given me so much to think about.

We completed the last portion of the Battle Road.  And then went back to the North Bridge.  I must admit, my thoughts about the revolutionary war are (to paraphrase Joseph) "deep and often poignant".  I cannot believe what these people did.  I wonder if some went home that first day and cried in fear knowing the monster they had unleashed?  We left early because of the threat of snow and drove the last 45 minutes in snow, but it was warm and not sticking.  However when I got home the roof had slid so I got to shovel, then rake and then shovel some more.  

A few pictures to consider:

Dede loved the glass on this door which appears to have been poured.

I think 7 Colonists were killed in the early morning at Lexington.  Then at Concord when there was more of an actual battle at the North Bridge, the first two British Soldiers were killed along with 2 colonists.  This was the turning point.  Also for the first time, colonists fired upon British soldiers by way of order from a commanding officer.  It was truly the shot heard around the world.  The soldiers realized the colonists were gathering a lot of people, maybe 5x their troops and they were a long way from Boston and so they began to retreat.  About 1.5 miles from the North Bridge, the colonist began firing upon the British to harass them all the way back to Boston.  Two British soldiers were shot here and buried here.  This was really the point of no return.  It would have been one thing to stop the British at the bridge, but then to continue the attack showed much more revolve and was surely an embarrassment to the crown.

I love this statue at the North Bridge.  It was done by Daniel French.  Last week I showed his grave marker from Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord and the North Bridge is in Concord.  I also mentioned that he had done the stature of Abraham Lincoln at the mall in Washington DC.  This is also fine work.  From two angles, it shows the citizen soldier leaving his plow behind, symbolically leaving his coat hanging on the plow and taking up his musket and bullets to face the mighty British army.    The detail on the statue is superb, but it is the feeling that it evokes.  It stands on the colonist side of the bridge where they would have faced off across the bridge the British army on the other side.  It is a solitary soldier and although there were about 400 colonists who had gathered at Concord and marched down to meet the British, each solider had to make the decision on his own about leaving his family and the comfort of home and committing to join a ragtag army to fight the greatest military might of the world at that time.  I do not know how they did it, but I am grateful.  The Lord said he raised up wise men to found our nation and I usually think about the Washingtons, Franklins, Hancocks, etc.  But I have previously not been aware of the wise men who bravely left wise wives to care for their children and marched out to fight and then to win the war.  It is really beyond my comprehension.  It probably helps that I am leaving the temple and coming to this sacred ground already feeling the spirit when I come here as it is within 10 miles of the temple and I try to comprehend these things.

2-March-2023-Thursday

What do I say about today?  we got 2-3 inches of very wet snow and the roof slid about 12 inches so I spent the morning shoveling and raking the roof and then shoveling again.  It was about 33F, so the snow was very wet and heavy.  Did not realize how tired I was until: 1) I fell asleep in the chair at the site for the last 15 minutes, and 2) we stopped and Jody's to clean her ramp and my muscles put on a protest.  We also went into Lebanon to shop and then went to the site.  Unfortunately no one came during our shift, but Buswells had two groups, so I can rejoice in that.  It did leave time for scripture study and to begin thinking about what I will do for SS class this week.  My muscles are sore but it is a tender mercy to know: 1) God gave me muscles that work and 2) I can still shovel snow at my advanced age.

I took this picture from my apartment front door this morning.  I thought it was stunning with the snow falling and in the trees.

We stopped in S. Royalton to look for something that we sought by visiting 3 stores in Lebanon earlier today with no luck.  However I took the following picture which I think is a masterpiece of advertising.  Who does not want to eat at RB Delicatessen which proudly also sells night crawlers and worms (see the yellow sign in the window.)

3-March-2023-Friday:

What a difference a Friday can make.  We had three different groups to give tours during our shift.  Two single young men came in one right after the other.  The first was a member wearing a BYU sweatshirt (and t-shirt underneath).  We gave him the full tour and then he was off to Ben and Jerry's to tour their factory (which is a tourist favorite in VT).  What a wonderful person.  The second was a nonmember whose fiancee is a member.  They serve in the National Guard and have been assigned in R.I.  He saw the sign and stopped in.  He seems so open to learning about the gospel.  A very humble soul.  We made sure he got pictures to send to her. He assured us that he would return with his fiancee.  I hope they will find eternal happiness together.

We then had three sister missionaries pull up and eat lunch in the parking lot before a district meeting.  I told them to come in and we gave them a full tour.  I think under past presidents both site and proselyting missionaries have been told they were not to talk to each other.  I asked in our meeting and Ewers have no issue with us teaching them and she contacted the mission president's wife and they have no issues.  We have been giving tours as occasions arise, but now we will be more inviting of them to participate.

This morning was warm and so I went out and raked snow from the roof and shoveled it away.  When we came home it was hanging over the edge, so Dede took pictures of me raking it off the roof.  When it is hanging over the amount that falls can be impressive.  Dede took some fun pictures.

You can see the rake head as I am lifting it up to the roof in the first pictures and then in the second picture you can see a 15 foot chunk of snow falling from the roof.  But wait there is one more series.

In this series the chunks of snow are smaller, but Dede did a great job of catching the falling snow.  It is more work than it looks and then once it hits the ground it tends to freeze hard so it is hard to move, but let's face it; it is fun to do this and so I am actually hoping we get our promised 13 inches of snow tomorrow so I can do it both here and at the site.  We do not get good overhangs at the site because we keep it raked better, but it is still fun to do the work.  Hopefully I do not hurt my back like other missionaries have done.

Tonight we had our devotional taking another chapter from the Book: Know Brother Joseph.  It was a good discussion and great food.  Dede made a dip for fruit that was better than the chocolate dip she made last week.  Life is so great for the spoiled.  

4-March-2023-Saturday

Say goodbye to another week, by having a fantastic day.  The weather forecast held up and we got our 13 inches of snow down at the apartment, but I think we had over 15 inches up at the site.  I was up early enough to clear snow at the apartment so Elder Berger could get out.  However he came out and said Elder Wilcox would pick him up in the site pickup and that he thought the site would probably not open today.  From President Ewer's reaction last night to the suggestion of shutting down the site, I guessed we would open today  Bottom line, I jumped in the pickup and spent 3 hours at the site shoveling, running the snow blower and raking snow off the roof.  Can I say, what a good time.  Can I explain to you how hard it is on muscles that rarely do any resistance training?????

Came home to eat and shower and then we went back.  The storm was supposed to end around noon, but it continued all day and the snow on the roofs slid because of the warmth so there was plenty to do outside when we returned.

Do I not look like a professional snow removal person with a white shirt and tie?  I wonder if I will be a trend setter and soon all Vermonters will want to wear a white shirt and tie while working?

Who am I kidding outside of our church, I have not seen a white shirt and tie in VT.  

Did you catch the beautiful woman in the middle picture?

The Buswells came in about noon after we had finally cleared the walks and roofs and they had a couple come for a tour.  We came in at 1:30 and had 2 different couples come in for tours as well as doing the work shown above.  All three couples expressed gratitude that we were open and they were able to attend as they were all passing through the area and this was there only chance to be here.  Of our two, one had driven up from Virginia for the day and the other had flown into Connecticut and were heading to Canada for a baby blessing and then heading right home.  I am so grateful that the FM missionaries would take their Saturday day off and come in and prepare the site so that all three couples could enjoy the spirit of the site.  It is sad that I got to move snow and thoroughly enjoy that activity, but also got to join with my wife and provide tours for two of the couples.  We try to express our appreciation to the FM missionaries, but it probably seems a little hollow.  

On the way home we stopped and cleared Jody's ramp.  The snow plow had come just before us.  We had to plow a 15 yard path from the plowed parking space to begin on the ramp.  Her car was really buried.  I hope she does not plan to drive tomorrow.  I took off the majority of the snow from the car, but I doubt he car would be able to do the 15 inches of snow in front of it and then break through the edge of the plowed portion.  She came to the door yesterday and visited with us, but not tonight, although there were lights on, so hopefully she is okay. Wow shoveling up her ramp was painful.

We returned back to the apartment to see this huge overhand of snow.  When I tapped it, the whole thing went down,  I must be over 50 feet of curled snow.  It was so magnificent that Dede forgot to take the picture, so you will just need to take my word for it.  As mentioned before, it is difficult to get the rake up this high, but then one gets to shovel all the snow that falls.  While we shoveled, the snow slid 4 inches over the edge of the roof.  We will get to repeat our fun tomorrow or Monday.