12-November-2023-Sunday
It was an exciting day. It's a regular trip to Rutland to play the organ and then play for primary with Dede leading, which is always fun. We looked around Rutland for bulletin boards where we could hang a flyer about the lights at the JSB. Rutland is a big city with big city stores that do not have bulletin boards like the gas stations and general stores in villages. Strike out. However, two people in the ward are supposed to help in the area. On the way home, we drove down VT-4 toward Woodstock and then over the hill through Pomfret and placed two flyers in places not on our list but near the site. Who knows if anyone is moved to go to the JSB after reading them, but we can say we tried.
I was able to work for an hour on the document. Much of it transferred from Pages to Word. However, the footnotes did not work correctly. They are there, but I will need to copy and paste them in again as footnotes. This is a bother, but it can be done with all 300+ of them. What is nice is that Word has a much better editor, so I am correcting many tacky errors. When I clear out what Word finds, I will use Grammarly to help with grammar and improve my writing. This editing will produce a document I can confidently give a few people to read and comment upon.
We invited the Hoopes over for dinner tonight. Dede made a great meal. Not really that extraordinary, but they seemed to think so. Have I mentioned lately how spoiled I am with my missionary companion? She is a mountain of patience and the best cook in the mission, probably in all world missions.
13-November-2023-Monday
Today, after our meetings, I remembered how grateful I am that we have the opportunity to meet weekly with other senior missionaries. I was thankful for our schedule. We know when to be at the site and do our work. This makes our mission so much easier. All assignments are not so easy. Some missionaries rarely see other seniors or mission leaders. Many do not have structure unless they create the structure themselves.
We had the most delightful family at the site: a brother, his wife, and his three sisters. They were so ordinary of faithful families. I was so grateful for the family bond that united them and their apparent love for each other. The Gospel and the Church are powerful in building that depth of love and gratitude. I want to praise our kind God whenever I see such love.
It's hard to believe, but we also had time to work on lights. I had to laugh; there was one tree with so many gaps in the lights that we struggled to listen to each other and tell which gaps were critical to fill. Learning and growing are all we can do.
I want to give a shout-out to my sister, Viv. She is a wonderful person who protected her little brother as he was growing up. I still consider her one of the kindest people I know. Her current circumstances are undesirable, but I am grateful she is my sister.
I purchased Grammarly for my document. It also checks my blog. I cannot believe how many changes it suggests; for the most part, they are improvements. Hope it makes the blog easier to digest.
14-November-2023-Tuesday
What a fun day! Ralph Eddy returned and brought us about 100 pictures we had requested from him last month. We then spent 90 minutes reviewing the photographs and asking more questions. Finally, he requested a tour of the visitors' center. Dede and I led the tour, creating an opportunity to ask further questions and get further clarification. At the end of the tour, Ralph took me in his car to show me different places we had been discussing during our time together. I will provide a review of the main points below.
While quizzing Ralph Eddy in the visitors' center, Dede had a man and his son come in. They had limited time, but Dede toured them through the center while I finished up with Ralph and rode with him. Dede was excited about the Spirit these two people brought into the center. She said the father was in tears several times during the tour.
Among other things, we discussed the following with Ralph Eddy.
One picture in our slide show of how the monument was created is from Barrie, VT., where the die stone is loaded onto a wagon before its shipment by rail to Royalton.
Ralph identified a stone wall near the former sugar shack along Dairy Hill Road, across from the Joseph Smith Memorial Site. We drove to a wall along Dairy Hill Road that Ralph felt was the correct spot. Dede and I then returned after our shift and found the location of the old sugar shack. The place was littered with old debris. One could see the fattened spot where the home had stood and parts of rocks from the foundation. Further were pieces of chimneys. Pictures follow:
Not on the church's property, Ralph Eddy told us the location of the Prescott-Shepard sawmill that was moved to the Shelburne Museum. I found this description of the mill: The Sawmill building houses the Trescott-Shepard sawmill, initially located in South Royalton, Vermont. The water-powered mill on Mill Brook was built in the late 1700s by Jeremiah Trescott and his partner, Captain Stevens. Trescott's descendants, the Shepards, operated the mill until the early 20th century, later giving the mill contents to the Museum.
The Sawmill features tools dating from 1787, including the up-and-down saw and logging equipment.
The stream where the mill was located is unnamed on the maps. However, it flows from McIntosh Pond. Ralph called the home the Shepherd place. It is about the same size as White Water Brook at its mouth to the White River.
Ralph also took me to the location in Royalton where the monument stones were unloaded. This site is north of the town of Royalton and not where the Royalton depot once stood. Today, this site has a cement retaining wall along the road.
As we drove down Dairy Hill Road, Ralph showed me where the original road led. I was close to describing this earlier in the blog, but he showed me changes I was unaware of. This was helpful, and I will update my document with this information. I will add a photo to the blog with these changes once I create a new map. I am also including a picture of Button's home, as it looks today, where the infamous Button's Bog was located.
Ralph identified the location of the houses versus the barns at the Joseph Smith Memorial Farm, making it clear that the foundations I had found, which are rocks set with concrete, were from the barn erected by the Church and not from the home. Will need to update my document with this information, along with his pictures of the farm.
Ralph also identified two places where photographs were made while pieces of the monument were being hauled to the birthplace site. I will attempt to show the pictures then and now side by side below.
These two pictures are south of South Royalton. In the colored photograph, one looks across the White River from VT14. In the second photograph, one is looking across the same road, and in the background is a large building that manufactured carriages before the flood of 1927. The men are hauling up the bottom piece of the monument and have not reached Dairy Hill Road.
In the following photographs, one sees the obelisk piece at the siding in Royalton before it is unloaded from the railcar. The second photograph shows that location today. One can see a cement retaining wall between the tracks and VT-14. This was north of the Depot in Royalton. Today, there is no siding, which probably existed in 1905.
This pairing occurs within a mile of the siding where the stones were unloaded from rail cars. One is looking toward a house. Behind the house is Aubachons, a local hardware store. The house is the one seen in both pictures. There was a large barn behind the house with foundations visible in Aubachn's drive.
15-November-2023-Wednesday. PDAY
Another great trip to Boston. We had some slowdowns but arrived well before 9:30. Both sessions were great. We had 12 men and 11 women in the Endowment session, which is very high. I enjoyed our sealing session. We finished everything in under an hour.
We returned to Salem, MA, to visit the National Park Sites in Salem. At one time, Salem was one of the largest ports in the USA. During the Revolutionary War years, merchants hired privateers to capture British ships laden with cargo to bypass the taxes and the blockage of the Boston Harbor. After the war, several merchants operated out of Salem. Mr. Peabody, who was rich, paid $1.9 million in customs in one year. I will post pictures below. We saw a famous Pilgrim statue in front of the witch museum. The area is dedicated to the memory of those hung or pressed for being witches. Surrounded by the many witch-themed shops. It amazes me that people go there to celebrate witches when those who made it famous died because they would not confess to being witches and "repent" to escape death. I fail to see evidence that there were witches in Salem. I also did not realize how widespread the witch trials were. I knew two had died in Topsfield, which is within 15 miles. But one was executed in Maine. It's such a sad affair.
We also found a sign on the side of the Felt Home. Brigham Young was at this home visiting his daughter when he learned of Joseph's death. The house has been moved and is part of the prominent museum complex.
Salem has so much to offer beyond witches. We want to return and tour the House of Seven Gables, walk the city, and read signs highlighting the history. The city is so accessible, and parking is cheap compared to Boston.
Dede at the Derby Wharf lighthouse. Looking down the wharf at a model trading boat, a merchant warehouse, and the customs house.
The customs house and the storage provided by the customs house allowed merchants to store their goods before they were sold. An alley of Halloween (witch) decorations.
This store claimed to be the oldest chocolate shop in America. I think the two pieces we purchased testified they were old. Statue of Nathaniel Hawthorne, a former Salem resident. Everyone needs to see the outside of the witch museum. We did not go inside. Today, parking was plentiful. I understand that was not the case in October.
Nathaniel Henry Felt's home, although it was moved to a different location. Brigham Young was here with this member of the Church when he learned that Joseph had been martyred. There is a plaque on the outside of the home describing that event. A memorial to the women slain as witches. Each protrusion from the rock wall remembered a slain woman.
Modern art. Trees are painted blue to protest the killing of trees. The blue and yellow created a stark contrast. Entrance way into the National Park Center. The building was the armory, home to the oldest National Guard unit in the USA.
16-November-2023-Thursday
A sunny day was spent inside as I worked on the blog and the document. My writing style is too folksy, so Grammarly finds many errors to fix in the blog, especially in the longer paper. Oh well, I want it to read well. Dede got her hair cut and then shopped. She hopes not to shop again until after Thanksgiving.
We had a wonderful couple visit us from Utah. They had boarded a cruise boat and felt they should leave. There were storms where they were to go, so they thought they made the correct choice. With time to kill, they did Palmyra, the Priesthood Restoration Site, and our site. The husband especially seemed to be very happy with the turn of events.
Put up a few more lights, mainly fixing trees that needed to be better covered. That is in the eye of the beholder. I like many lights and look at trees from several angles before quitting. I will spend the remainder of the evening on the document.
17-November-2023-Friday
We enjoyed two couples this morning at work. The man in the first had been a member in his youth. They wanted a short visit, which Dede provided, but seemed interested. I am guessing the prayers from the other side of the veil prompted him to come. The second, a mother and son, wanted the entire tour. She radiated confidence. She told us she was the COO of a company that supplies aptitude testing. We got her card for our grandchildren. Mostly, she seemed to appreciate the gospel.
Today, we listened to the funeral of President M Russell Ballard. It was so well done. Although he was not among my favorite speakers, I have always appreciated his testimony and desire to change the church's thinking. He will be missed. Last night, I read that Elder Holland was set apart as the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve. He spoke at the funeral, and although he used a stool, he looked healthy and ready for the new responsibility. Many of the Apostles are looking frail. President Nelson was not at the funeral.
Had the car serviced after our shift. Bought colored lights for our little tree. Tonight, we are feeding the Knudsons. It is personal-size pizzas tonight.
18-November-2023-Saturday
I have used Grammarly to correct my documents for the past few days. Wow, I feel like an old man who has not written since college. The corrections on my 140-page document are innumerable. I aim to get below 1000 errors to just take them in order. As is, I need to look at it paragraph by paragraph. Unfortunately, I did not do well writing my 400 endnotes.
We had the second shift and had no visitors until nearly 4 pm when 5 different groups came in. It was memory lane as we had 2 missionaries who served in VT and an older couple who were from New England but lived in California for 30 years and have recently returned. It was fun to listen to their experiences and share what we know now and the Spirit of this holy place. I am so glad to serve here.
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