Week 72 Hegsted's Mission

 10-December-2023-Sunday

The weather repeats itself.  Another lovely day heading to Rutland, with rain during Church and then rain for the rest of the day.  Tonight, we should get snow.  It's pretty much a repeat of last week. We had spiritual meetings.  Presidents Benson (Elders) and Shelton (Stake) spoke exceptionally.  Great spirit was felt by all.  The organist was mediocre. Primary, as always, was fun.  We sang only one song, but the primary will sing on the 24th, so it was good to review it several times.  We enjoyed a light rain storm all the way home.

We had 3 hours before our shift, so we reviewed the Blog, and I worked on the document.  The rain increased in volume, and fog hung in the valleys as we headed to the site. We had a few cars drive through, and fewer got out to come inside.  The Buswells came over and visited for the last hour, making a delightful end to the day.  Now we are home, ready to eat.  

11-December-2023-Monday

We had good meetings today.  Dede had the thought and showed the video about the Church's California raisin farm.  The Modesto Spanish ward has an assignment they fill every year on their only day off, Christmas Day.  They are busy pruning grape vines every other day, which is very high-paying.  They thought, this is God's day, and we can do something for Him on His day.  Dede reflected on each of us being away from family; for some, it will be a single year, and for others, this is the second year.  It is a sacrifice, but we love Jesus and are happy to do it.

It's hard to believe, but I worked on the document for about 10 hours today.  It was raining and snowing most of the day, so I kept working during our shift.  I have finished many mundane tasks, such as adding captions and chapters.  I also looked to see how often I used "that" in the report.  I was pleasantly surprised by the rarity, but still too many.  I was pleased that my quotes had more "that" words than my prose.  Grammarly helped me remove many of my sentences containing "that." 

Miles called Dede.  He was so gabby today.  He sang songs and read a book.  He is purely delightful. It makes Dede's day to talk to the grandchildren.

We had two groups.  The first wanted pictures, but the second wanted to know history, which was fun.  The snow and rain slowed, but it was Monday, and few people came through.  Oh well, I got a few more hours of editing completed.

12-December-2023-Tuesday

I was able to iron 5 shirts this morning.  Not a record, but it's not bad.  We had two people come into the site during the morning shift.  The first nonmember stayed about 15 minutes.  The other person seems to run into the Church regardless of where he goes.  He was headed to Saint Gaudens today from Killington, saw the Joseph Smith sign, and stopped to talk for a few minutes.  A fascinating man who has lived in many states and visited many countries.  He now works at Killington making snow. He wanted to know why Joseph left New England for New York and what happened to the golden plates.  Excellent questions with easy answers.  He grew up near Rochester, NY, and had been to Palmyra several times.  He left with a BoM and a pamphlet on Joseph Smith.  

The next gentleman was a member from the Highland area of Utah.  He was in Vermont on business and wanted to visit Joseph's birthplace.  He was spiritually ready for a tour, and it was a delight to talk with him.  I do love it when people come in eager to learn.

Dede and Sister Buswell practiced for 2 hours after our shift.  They plan on performing on December 23 at the Church. They still need to receive confirmation.  It would be nice.  Dede is on the flute, and Sister Buswell is on the piano or organ.  I thought they sounded great.  Good for them.

We will return to the site tonight and interview President Johnson from the S. Royalton ward.  His family has a long history with the site, and he lives next to the site.  I am excited to learn from him and increase my site knowledge.  

President Johnson witnessed a wreck and needed to stay and help.  He called, and we visited on the phone for 90 minutes.  We will visit again on Wednesday night.  I can add a few things to the document based on his knowledge.

13-December-20223-Wednesday PDAY

We slept in this morning before driving over to the Enfield Shaker Museum. Sadly, it is closed for the season, so we could only walk around the grounds.  Numerous buildings, many stone, and other wood, were built for this community.  One stone building is massive. Their work ethic must have been tremendous.  They were self-sufficient.  They believed in celibacy, so I am unsure how they replenished their colonies.  We will not be able to go back before we leave.

We drove through Enfield, a pleasant village, and to Jericho, VT.  We passed through an unpredicted snowstorm, which seemed to last much of the day in certain areas. Jericho, VT, is the home to the Bentley Snowflake Museum, the Snowflake Chocolate Store, and a great restaurant.  We visited all three.  Bentley was a pioneer in analyzing and photographing individual snowflakes.  From him, the world learned all snowflakes are unique.  His museum is in the Red Mill building, with a gift shop and the town clerk's office. It is fun to ponder this eccentric man spending long hours making photos of snowflakes and arranging photos for sale.  He never married but never shirked his duties on the farm.  The Jericho Historic Department purchased equipment matching the old mill and presented a video on the mill.  It was great.  I have inserted pictures of the Old Red Mill. The chocolate shop was terrific.

Dede found a place to purchase wool so she could felt more figures.  We tried to visit Fort Ethan Allen's Museum, but it was closed. Hopefully, we will meet with President Johnson tonight.

14-December-2023-Thursday

It is getting old, but I spent the morning working on the document while Dede shopped.  I did put a few Christmas ornaments.

When we arrived at the site, we had 2 missionaries from Palmyra waiting for a tour.  It was a fun tour.  They said it was dead in Palmyra, so they got a few days off.  The lights help us in December.  Sounds like they have a fun mission.  As we finished, a MLS couple serving in Portland, ME, showed up.  They were great. They had beautiful stories to share.  Two members from Rutland showed up, and we found out she was baptized at 8 years old in the old font next to the Memorial Cottage.  How fun. She is looking for a picture of the font room from her baptism.  Hope she finds it and shares it with us.  The overlap between the missionaries and this couple was fun, and many stories were shared.  The MLS couple works with French refugees in Portland, Maine.  There are 10 missionaries for the ward due to the refugees from many countries.  They inspired me.  Local visitors showed up, making it a great day.  I am tired and ready to call it quits.  

I need to give a shout-out to Jon.  He has been our salvation for our mission.  He checks the house, flushes the toilets, fixes sprinklers, shovels, walks, and rakes leaves.  Who knows what else. We could not serve our mission without his service.  Thank you, Jon.

15-December-2023-Friday

As far as the morning, ironing shirts before our shift was my highlight. For the first time in months, we did not have a visitor. I should not be greedy; yesterday's visitors were superb, and there must be "opposition in all things."

We rushed home, changed clothes, and drove to Shelburne Museum to see their light display. The only comparison would be Thanksgiving Point in Utah. The museum has acres of land and hires professionals to design and layout the light show. Hundreds of people were there, but it is spread out and thus viewable.  They have a ship, a train, and many buildings to decorate.  Each area had a separate theme.  I was overwhelmed.  I wish I had enough money and land to try my hand at this level of light decoration. I will show photos, but they do not begin to display what the human eye sees.  We were blessed to have a warm evening.

We ate at Texas Roadhouse on the way home.

16-December-2023-Saturday

I spent a frustrating morning working on the document.  The changes are needed, but I felt like I was spinning my wheels.  Dede saved me.  We drove to Silloway to buy creemees before our shift.  They had chocolate and maple flavors today, so I had a twist.

The night shift was terrific.  We had over 260 people come into the visitors' center. We were busy the entire evening.  We finally had to lock the doors and escape at 8 pm.  It was warm, so the cars went through a steady stream all night.  This is our third night of 200 people.  We should have a solid December to compare to other years.

Came home to eat oatmeal and a sloppy joe.  Oatmeal is a great late-night meal.