Hegsted Mission. Week 93

  5-May-2024-Sunday

It has rained most of the day. We had been blessed with sunshine, but today feels cold and miserable. It just dawned on me that we are entering May, which is my time to feel seasonal depression.  It is not debilitating, but I have to check myself to avoid feeling down about everything. I am grateful Dede pointed this out to me years ago so I can recognize it and work through it.

It was a fast and testimony meeting today. Dede bore a pure and sweet testimony about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and Jesus Christ. She is wonderful. A single man, a convert of a few years, stood and bore a sweet, brief testimony that warmed my soul. Just stated what he knew and sat down. The Rutland Branch has a unique number of older, single men. 

The second counselor told us a bit about his history. His family had lived in Paradise, CA., which was 90% destroyed by fire. They desired to rebuild, but the city of 20,000 was destroyed, and they were "forced" to move. That move brought them to Rutland, and he expressed gratitude for the blessings he received because of this disaster in their lives and for so many citizens of Paradise. As a lover of Irony, having Paradise burn is almost too much to handle. 

Dede covered the primary as the President was away. She helped with music but was not in charge. Singing was still fun. Dede then taught the senior class. We left at 11:55 and made it to the site by 12:55. I was worried we would be caught behind slow traffic, but God helped us meet our commitment.

President had been busy two hours before we came. We then had five different groups come through and had a great day. When the weather improves, Sundays are often a busy day. I hope the Hoopes have people. It will probably be a few weeks before people realize we are open until 6 pm. Google Maps has been updated, but not the Church's site. Hopefully, that will change soon.  It changed by Wednesday.

6-May-2024-Monday

Dede is on the phone with Anna, making plans for her trip here. We are excited to have her come and plan to do Acadia, Maine, and Franconia Notch, NH. We will do other local things. It will just be fun.

I spent time working on pictures from Lovejoy's book. I copied pictures of anyone in Lovejoy's book with a surname matching a monument worker. So far, they are not necessarily matched to workers, but it is fun to add pictures to FamilySearch. I received a thank you for pictures from Larry Trottier. 

We did not have any visitors to the site. Thankfully, the Hoopes had two groups first thing in the morning, so we were not skunked. We are planning to have Elder Martinez visit us in two weeks. I am preparing a PowerPoint presentation to share items unrelated to the site. It should be fun. I also worked on small items I had not completed due to the documents.  After I finished Elder Marinez's presentation, I had one more medium-sized task: writing a short history for Moroni Johnson, who helped me with my document.

Fun pictures from today. The trees are bursting out with blooms and leaves.  This smallish snapping turtle was crossing the road as we left.  

7-May-2024-Tuesday

Unlike Monday, we had 12 people visit the site on Tuesday. They came in small groups, so we were busy the entire time. We finally ate our lunch at 1:30, which is always good to lack time to eat. It was a bright, sunny day, so we started PDAY early by traveling to the Northeast Kingdom. We had not been to the eastern part of the Kingdom; we were looking for two covered bridges and waterfalls. We succeeded in finding the covered bridges but skipped one waterfall, replacing it with "a beauty" in New Hampshire. 

We ate dinner in a small New Hampshire town. It was a "western" bar, and the restaurant portion was closed for the season. I am not a bar expert, but I could have been in Riggins, Idaho. Same atmosphere I would expect if I grabbed a bite in Riggins. There were people playing pool. There was a young college student selling t-shirts whom most of the single men talked to when going to the bar for drinks. Besides Bud Light being the prevalent beer drunk, it seemed familiar. (We are in Vermont.)

Dede found an Inn on Lake Seymour. They market the place as a "return to the days of your grandmother." It was nicely done, with period decorations. The manager was amiable, and we enjoyed our stay there. The pictures start with the lodge we stayed at.

 8-May-2024. PDAY.   DEDE's BIRTHDAY

A great day to be married to the most beautiful woman I have ever met. We could also discuss charity because she puts up with me.  We awoke and walked along the lake; the beach was missing due to the high water level. Then, I returned for a bagel and we visited with the manager. Just a relaxed morning.

Before returning home, we were off to find waterfalls in the morning and more covered bridges in the afternoon.

We found ourselves in a small town we had previously visited and ate lunch at the Busy Bee Diner. We stopped there before; they have great omelets. It is small, they have 2 tables and 6 bar stools. They had set up outside seating, but it was raining when we arrived.   

Three more waterfalls.  I will spend a few moments on the first, in the town of Barton. The cascades here were long, and many dams were built to harness the water. You can see some in the pictures. Also, many mill buildings were constructed. There were so many brick buildings in the area that the children called it the "brick kingdom."  Today, trees are growing in the deserted buildings.  Barton was also blessed with the railroad coming through and was one of the first villages in VT to be supported by industry rather than agriculture.  Unlike Lowell, MA, there were mills of many varieties, whereas Lowell was primarily cotton mills. Like Lowell, once water power was unnecessary to power the mills, the mills shut down and were relocated where labor was cheaper. The last mill shut down around 1925 and was the final linen mill of its kind.  

Just up the road was Willoughby Falls. We were two weeks late to see the Steelhead run. These landlocked steelheads go to a vast lake 70% in Canada but run up the tributaries to spawn. It is ironic. In the west, they introduced the Eastern Brookie, a fantastic fish in the small streams of Idaho. Idaho wants to exterminate this alien species that I grew up catching in Weber Creek. They imported steelheads from the West to the East and still promote them.  

We were so close we stopped again at the Derby-line library. Built purposely on the international border to support people from both countries, it is a beautiful building with a large endowment. There is a sign in the window informing people that it is illegal for friends and family to meet in the library or the opera house from the two sides of the border to visit. In the past, Derby Line was one community in two countries.  They still share services, but now, people must formally cross the border to visit their neighbors. I understand the safety concern, but these " needs " impact people's lives." Following are photos of the library. I am straddling the international border inside the library. Dede and I are standing outside on the US side of the border.  

We drove across the central-northern portion of the state to end up in an area we had missed for visiting covered bridges and ended the day collecting more bridges and waterfalls. We ended the day eating at Pho Capital. It has excellent and cheap food.  We were blessed. We had torrential rain, but most of the time, the rain also ceased when we stopped.  The last pictures follow.

9-May-2024-Thursday

What a blessed day!  We started our shift 2 hours early and were awarded 22 people who visited the site, plus a gaggle of missionaries who had finished the zone conference. It was dead at first, so I walked 2 miles and, at the end of the shift, made copies of the monument workers' paper and placed them in binders.

We had a family of seven that were so fun at the restoration board.  The father closed with his testimony after some teasing that he would talk too long. He brought in a mighty Spirit, and Dede admonished the children to record that testimony and get it into FamilySearch to be shared with all.

Dede had a group of 5 nonmember younger women. They were out for a ladies' trip and just stopped on their way to Canada. We always hope a memory of their feelings will stay in their hearts. We had a couple who had served in Palmyra.  I drove them up to the monument in the golf cart so they could share in that portion of the tour without climbing the stairs.  Such devoted service by so many wonderful people.

When our mission ends, I will remember each day was like today. I will forget the slow days. Forgotten will be any frustrations. I will cherish each moment the Spirit bore witness to Jesus as the Christ and Joseph as His prophet.  

We came home, ate leftovers, and then returned to the Neilson for game night.  Although I took my computer, I played cards. Totally ruined my image as one who does not have fun!  I think it wise to keep people off-balance!

We are now close enough to our California vacation to begin reserving character meals online for Disney.  While talking to Miles, he showed us his paper chain, marking the days until vacation. There is a ring for Emma's last school day and another for Gram leaving her mission.

Dede had a fun experience. A man was wandering outside with a large blade hooked to his belt. It was a saw, and he was the new Church arborist.  Dede spoke with him for a few minutes and then said, I saw you cutting down a tree for Chris White in Pocatello. She was correct. He had worked at the Logan Temple. I hope to visit with him on Friday.

10-May-2024-Friday

Today was more laid back after putting 480 miles on the car Tuesday and Wednesday. We had the early shift and enjoyed beautiful groups. We started with a cute family of three. She is a Puerto Rican, baptized in Texas, and he is half-poly, half-white with an adorable three-year-old boy.  Supposedly, he does not do strangers, but Dede had him eating out of her hand within minutes.

I visited with a nonmember from Florida and had 2 young people, also nonmembers, who wanted only a short introduction and their own trip to the monument.  This was offset by a family of four. The son had been a missionary, whom we recall seeing who served in both S. Royalton and Rutland while on his mission. The family was great. However, I feared the 15-year-old girl would pass out when I told the leg story.  

My favorite today was a couple from Brattleboro, VT. She had been a member and brought her man to see a place she had visited as a youth. She was lost in the memories and the Spirit found at the site. She missed what she had but did not know how to retrieve it. We talked briefly, but she was courteous of her man and left us after hugging us both. The gospel of Jesus Christ has everything we need to be happy here and into the eternities.  It is never more evident than when one meets another who had that in their life and wants to find it again.

After our shift, we returned to Silloway Maple for Creamees.  The fantastic ice cream of Vermont will kill me if I do not go home soon. We then visited three cemeteries to clean and take pictures of headstones. We found and cleaned Stephen Smith's headstone in the North Royalton Cemetery, brother to Joseph Smith Sr. In Tunbridge's Hutchinson Cemetery, we cleaned the headstone of John Mudget, who gave Lucy $500 for a dowery. In the Drew Cemetery, we found the headstone of John's daughter, Achsah. Someone placed a new headstone for her. The old one was lying on the grave and is now illegible. She was born less than a month after John's death and died young also. I am trying to find Polly/Mary Mudget, the wife of John Mudget. Her two children died in Tunbridge, but I cannot find her after 1801.  

I have always enjoyed family history, but my joy has risen to a new level on my mission.  

11-May-2024-Saturday

Today was just not normal. As you well know, if anything unusual happens in our very routine life, it is extraordinary. First, Dede and I have begun listening to a Podcast called "Standard of Truth." It is hosted by Gerret Dirkmaat, an entertaining historian. That is not an oxymoron; history can be fun. Dede told me to listen to his US history series alone, and we would listen to Church history podcasts together. I am hooked. We have visited many historical sites in New England, and to have further explanation given by Gerret is music to the ears. I am glad I did not find him until now, or I would not have finished my projects!

We had one semi-normal tour today. A couple with an 8-year-old. He ruled the roost, so we kept it short, tried to entertain him, and still gave the parents information. He is a medical student at UVM and is from Utah. The young man knew little about the Church, so I hoped he felt something.

A couple told us they wanted to walk the "Ghost Trail" behind the monument. That was new to us, but I showed them where to see the foundations, etc. She told us she heard about it on Instagram. Dede could not find it, and they did not return and report, so we were left in the dark. Near the end of the day, a group of three came in. One lives just north of the site and she had brought her two friends, having walked from below. She was delightful. Her friend told us she had also seen the Instagram and directed Dede to it. I don't know who posted the short video, but it looked professional. She had two videos. One showed the flowers around the monument and explained that the site was a "no charge" garden for people. The second talked about the two foundations and the stone bridge down below. It also stated the Smith family had visions in the trees around, and she always felt a "presence" when she was in the area. She is promoting things to see in the area. We will bring it up for training so others are aware. I am happy to receive free publicity that is not slanderous.

We visited with the three locals for 30 minutes. They are just good neighbors, and I hope they feel welcome at the site whenever they come.  We have been blessed to meet our neighbors, and I am grateful.

We had several other short tours and ended the day with four people who had come to Montpelier to memorialize a family member. One had attended law school, so they came to South Royalton and decided to stop at the site. Again, it was more like a discussion with neighbors than a tour. I hope the site spoke to them, as I did not provide much spiritual momentum.