11-February-2024-Sunday
Dede and I are grateful for the Sabbath Day and the opportunity to attend church in the Rutland Branch. It is nice to be at Church or the temple at home in less than 10 minutes. However, there is also joy in leaving early to attend church an hour away and the temple 2.5 hours away. The consecration of time makes the experience more meaningful. I promise not to murmur when that is taken away from us in Pocatello, but I cherish these times.
It was a beautiful and warm day. When we passed Killington, they were skiing, but the snow was melting rapidly. Vermont is too far North to be impacted by the Nor'easter coming to lower New England in two days. Snow enthusiasts, including cross-country skiers, snowshoers, and snow machines, will search in vain for snow. The storm will hit Tuesday, and our forecast shows no snow. It will snow on the coast, and we might go to Portsmouth on Wednesday. If so, we will drive to Maine and watch the waves beat against the shores at our favorite lighthouse.
We took a more extended route home, covering a small section of the road we had not traveled. It was a great ride. At home, I took a nap. Slept poorly last night.
I am searching for information on those who helped with the monument. The book I am using is very inclusive, and I have found a few errors, but I am finding information on most people from Royalton. It is daunting but fun.
12-February-2024-Monday
It was strange to have our meeting this morning without the Buswells. Sister Knuteson gave an excellent thought, but it felt different. Next Monday, if we have a meeting, it will be led by President Nielson. We are excited to have them as leaders. We announced they planned to arrive Thursday and that Dede and I would feed them dinner that evening, followed by a dessert for all the missionaries and a meet and greet session. It should be excellent.
Sadly, we did not have visitors at the site today. This is the second day in February without people. However, I think we are ahead of January in the number of visitors. Dede continues to create hot pads. Sister Buswell showed her how, and she really liked their thickness and ability to protect from the heat. We both walked and enjoyed the sunshine. I worked on the monument worker's name file. As I did so, I was excited to think that many of these people will have a short biography in FamilySearch about them, thanks to the book I am using and a Master's thesis about Royalton. Sadly, I also realized that many people I know personally do not have a biography, and I have more work to do when I finish this task. After writing my document and editing it with Grammarly, it is interesting to quote the book and see Grammarly give me many errors. The book was published in 1911, and the rules for proper writing have changed. The book uses the phrase, he removed from Pomret to Royalton. We do not use removed; we would say moved. There are other similar examples.
13-February-2024-Tuesday
It would have been a nearly wasted day; however, I needed to iron two white shirts, and we talked to Miles on the phone for 20 minutes. We also spoke to Miles and Emma yesterday, which was truly fun. Miles is turning into a gab.
The news was reporting a Nor'easter pounding New England. The temple received a whopping three inches of snow. I feel for the weather forecasters. If they predict on the low side and people become stranded, they are in trouble. Also, governmental agencies are angry that people were not warned of the dangers. If they predicted the storm of the century, they got mocked. I think this is worse in big cities like Boston. Here in Vermont, the people expect snow and unpredictable amounts in the winter and just live with the results. The bottom line is that we did not get any snow, although the threat of snow down south probably kept our visitors away.
I did meet Bonnie Kenyon today as she was walking the site. She and her husband are long-time Royalton citizens. She had visited with the Hoopes, and when I saw her, I literally ran her down and asked her to visit me. She lacked time today but wants to visit and perhaps get her neighbor, another long-time resident, to join her. Hopefully, they will also bring photos. I usually walk 5 loops around the site, but today, I did 11. Dede also walked. She pinned a dress she was sewing and continued working on hot pads. Unlike me, she reads her scriptures at the site. This is probably why she is so spiritual. I continued finding information on the people who helped with the monument. I hope to begin adding information to FamilySearch next week.
We are home to eat leftover enchiladas. Num Num.
14-February-2024-Wednesday. PDAY
Happy Valentine's Day! We celebrated by going to the coast of New Hampshire. New Hampshire has ~10 miles of beach, but Dede and I love it. We visited the Rye Beach Science Aquarium first. It is an excellent aquarium with small tanks, but the touching pool was fantastic. The lady helping was terrific and knowledgeable, so that was fun. We learned about crabs, both indigenous and invasive. They had several small tanks that were clear and bright with various fish, but even better, coral and plant life. It is located on a point with a viewing area of the ocean. Outside, one could see Whaleback Lighthouse, and the waves were pounding the shore due to the winds. They were beating the shores, and the wind ripped the spray from the top of the waves and made the viewing spectacular. Some pictures:
We ate our Valentine's meal at Petey's Summertime Seafood. Although we had eaten there previously, we enjoyed the food again. Dede had a broiled fish trio, and I enjoyed fish and chips and a bowl of clam chowder. All was good.
We drove along the coast and got out several times to walk and take pictures of the surf. We saw surfers. The temperature was about 20 degrees, and the winds were fierce, but they wore dry suits and enjoyed the big waves. Pictures below: We tried to find a closer view of Whaleback Lighthouse but failed.
With that failure, we drove to Nubble Lighthouse. This is our fifth or sixth visit there. One is so close to it from the parking lot, and the waves constantly pound the dangerous rocks, so it is fun to sit and watch. Today's new highlight was a man with a gallon bucket of junk to feed the seagulls. He was dressed in slickers and wearing a mask due to bird poop, and the birds flocked to him and ate from his hand. It's not my idea of fun, but whatever. Some pictures from Nubble: The Christmas tree is made from lobster traps and decorated by buoys and teddy bears.
I need to note that Dede stays up and studies after I go to sleep. She sepnds a great deal of time in her scripture study.
15-February-2024-Thursday
Dede is baking cookies for our dessert with the missionaries tonight as the new Site Leaders, the Nielsons, are scheduled to arrive today. I plan to do several things. I need to walk to the clinic and pay my bill. I want to wash the car from the salt we gained yesterday and work on my name collection. We then work the afternoon shift.
We had a slow day until the missionaries ended their Zone Conference, and we enjoyed 16 missionaries who came in for a short tour and pictures. Missionaries are always delightful to have as guests and share our gospel testimony. As the last sister was leaving, she spoke to Dede: several months ago, I came here with a man who was interested in the church. His wife and daughter came but were not interested. However, after the visit, all are taking the discussions, reading scriptures, and attending Church. As Dede said, it is not the missionaries here but the Spirit of this Holy Place.
Nevertheless, Dede walks on water, and I am proud of her excellent work. She definitely brings the Spirit into every tour she gives. I was grateful for the tender mercy of this Sister sharing with Dede.
Our new site leaders arrived today. We met them briefly, and they will come over for dinner at 6 pm. Then, the other couples will have a cookie bar at 7 pm. They looked beat. They have been in meetings for two weeks and then crossed the nation by car. Same as all missionaries, but with the added burden of knowing they are in charge, they do not know the people or procedures we have and what problems (hopefully not me, but always a concern) they will need to endure. We have a wonderful group of missionaries, so it should be easy for them to fit into their leadership responsibilities. They seem like the nicest of people.
It was a relaxed evening. People were comfortable in our house, sharing and laughing as they ate cookies and talked. The Neilsons are kind and wonderful people who will fit into our group easily. We are lucky to have them here. Dede has such a way of making everyone comfortable when they are in her home.
16-February-2024-Friday
May the struggles of life always be like today's easy struggles. I ironed a shirt this morning and worked on my taxes for a few minutes. We will owe money, which is unsurprising since we live off investment income. We would rather owe nothing but are grateful to have money on which we owe taxes. We had snow last night, so the roads were wet with salt water. After being passed by a truck, my immaculate car is no longer clean. It will wash off and look presentable again. The day was cold and windy, but we could still get out and walk and feel the sunshine. We did not have visitors but visited with the Hoopes and the Nielsons for a few minutes. It was another fantastic day on our mission. It was made even better by having a loving wife at my side, propping me up. The words of the song "There is so much to be thankful for" keep ringing in my ears. How can I do anything but rejoice in the kindness of our God?
After our shift, we drove to Silloway again for a Vermont Creamee. The roads had a bit of snow on them and were well-rutted but frozen solid, so the going was easy. I do love going there. The Creamee is always a treat, but I love the atmosphere there. The people are always working, but they are friendly, and they love one another, and one feels it the moment he/she walks in the door. After enjoying our Creamees, we ordered two extra Creamees and returned them to the Hoopes and Neilsons to enjoy. Obviously, that was Dede's idea. It seemed obvious when she mentioned it, but it did not enter my mind until then. When I reach the judgment bar, God will say, "Did you do good of your own free will?" And I will say "no." "But after Dede suggested good deeds, I was willing to follow her lead." Hopefully, I get partial credit.
I continue to work on my list of people who worked on the monument and their families. Many of these people's ancestors came with the original immigrants to the colonies. It is hard to think of people living here in the 1630s, but I have found some. One gentleman was moving here from Connecticut. He stopped overnight in Royalton and was taken in the Indian raid and held captive in Canada. Nevertheless, he returned and added to the growth of the area. No wonder we tout Joseph Smith's New England heritage.
17-February-2024-Saturday
It was a crazy weather day with gusty winds, sunshine, snow, sunshine, and snow. We had good news, Dede wanted to get rid of our coffee table, so I put it out front on the street, and someone picked it up within 2 hours. Interesting how that works in Vermont. I started inputting data related to the monument into Family Search. Made some corrections and found some temple work to do. Most people do not have memories, and it is fun to add memories from the book I am using and from Erekson's thesis to enhance our knowledge beyond people's names and dates. Also, I am related, although distantly, to everyone I have worked on so far. I am surprised by this relationship. However, many of these people have stayed in the area and intermarried, so being related becomes easier.
We did not know what to expect at the site. The weather was not great, but it was a three-day weekend. We were happy that Hoopes were "swamped," having three different groups with 8 people in total. They were thrilled. We also had three groups, but only 5 total. The first was a father and daughter out of San Francisco looking for a college. She was supposed to study Mormonism in her world religion class this week, so they stopped when they saw the Joseph Smith Birthplace sign. They wanted a short tour but had questions, so it stretched to about 25 minutes. They were followed almost immediately by a young man traveling through who saw the sign and wanted to stop and get a picture for his member friend. We kept him to 15 minutes, but he was kind. We thought we were through and had closed up and gotten in the car when two men (son-in-law and father-in-law) came in. They had been skiing Pico, so we opened up and gave them a tour. It was fun to have members, but they were exhausted from skiing, and I hope they are safe driving home.
After a slow week, this was a great ending. We were blessed.
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