Hegsted's Mission week 91

 21-April-2024-Sunday

The branch's chorister finds all the hymns I have not played or have rarely played.  I am grateful that in what may be my last opportunity to play regularly, I am given a chance to play all the hymns, many of which will surely not be in the new hymnal.

This is the last Sunday we do not work, so we did not need to return for our shift. We took the scenic and longer route home. We then drove a circuit from the site to the Smith Complex, John Mudget's grave, Tunbridge, and the Mack properties. We might show Elder Martinez this route when he comes. I believe the activity will be canceled due to time, but I am prepared.  

Spent most of the remainder of the day working on the blogs. Editing and re-editing blogs to go out. Thank you, Dede, for helping me.  

22-April-2024-Monday

We had only a 30-minute devotional this morning, led by Gary and Aaron, who have stewardship over historic sites. They are wonderful people.  Gary repeated a lovely story. At 13, his parents, who had walked away from the Church, were going to Disney. For an unknown reason, his father stopped in St. George, and they went to the visitors' center at the temple. Gary felt the Spirit there and was aware of further nudgings of the Spirit in his life. He served a mission and now allows others the same opportunity to be touched at a Church History Site. We hope to touch souls, fully aware we will never know whom we may touch.  

We came home, and I worked on my project. Dede cleaned and is working on her list of things to finish before we leave so the apartment is ready for our departure.

At 1:30, we had the opportunity to visit with a family who had already had a tour. God kept them for me. He is a great-grandson of Edward Clifford, who worked with Frank L. Brown running the farm and, after Brown's death, running the site and the farm. I gave him a picture of his grandmother and her father and told them where the farmhouse, barns, and school his grandmother would have attended were. Also, I showed him where the McIntoshes lived and where his grandmother was employed making mincemeat. He confirmed his grandmother made the best mincemeat. I could share this because of my document. I knew the information and had the picture available on my phone. I noticed his fatigues had Whitcomb on them. We then established that his fraternal great-grandfather signed a petition in Royalton to allow the saints to use Woodard Hall for the dedication. This knowledge came from working on my current project. God brings people to us that we can touch differently than other missionaries would touch them.

We had a sister come in. She was carrying her mother's journal and read to us from the journal how her mother had stayed in the director's house after it was completed. Her mother served a mission in the New England States. She was touched and enjoying a trip down memory lane. We could talk about the timing and share much more information about the site relating to her mother because of the study Dede and I have been doing. What an opportunity.   

I explained how the monument was built to a cute family and sent them walking down to the foundations. When they returned, Dede gave them a tour with a family member. I was not available. At 4:30, Aaron said he wanted to hike Patriarch Hill, and I offered to hike with him. We arrived at the lower parking lot at 4:40, made the hike, and were back by 5:30 for dinner. The hike was lovely, but having Aaron alone for 45 minutes was amazing.  

We had a delicious dinner and were all chatting when I interrupted and said we needed to know about Kirtland. Gary was told about Kirtland the day we heard about it. Aaron, however, knew about it six weeks earlier so he could write site guides for the temple in Kirtland and the Red Brick Store in Nauvoo. Gary was tasked to ensure staffing was adequate, signs were up, etc. He assured us that he panicked when he realized they had only 20 days to be ready to open the sites again and have missionaries prepared to present at those sites.  As both told of their experiences in the past few weeks, the Spirit testified of who was in charge and why it was possible to accomplish so much in so little time.  

Parenthetically, Aaron apologized during our hike that, for some reason, he had not had time to read my document. I laughed as I thought about the stress he had been under. He is a good man.  Hopefully, he will read the document and approve it for the library at the site, but it is in God's good hands.  

God's tender mercies were on brilliant display today. As I think about King Benjamin's discourse, I am amazed. We are mere beggars; if we do anything, God immediately rewards us, and we remain beggars in His debt. Today, I can testify this is true. He immediately blesses me for the smallest deed I perform, and I will always be indebted to Him.  

23-April-2024-Tuesday

After my hike yesterday, I awoke this morning feeling a little off. However, I felt ready to go to the site after moving around. We had a fun couple come in. They recently returned from a mission in Hawaii, where they did military relations and MLS duties. They were still very excited and still had the glow of missionaries.  

Dede had a local member come, and she visited with her for 30 minutes and then showed her a video. She has not attended for some time and wanted to feel the Spirit. Hopefully, she will feel well enough to return to Church.  I had a non-member couple come in. He is a doctor at Dartmouth and found a house to rent in Sharon.  They did not want a long tour but wanted to know about their new town.  The JSB site is one of the few attractions in Sharon. 

It was sunny and bright, so we went west to view Thundering Brook Falls. We have been there before, but the streamflow was good today. The upper falls were beautiful as they were in the sunlight,

Dede remembered that several sisters in the branch had hiked to the marble quarries in Rutland.  We were thirty minutes away and met one of the sisters there who walked with us.  There were numerous quarries, and the infrastructure was impressive. There were old derricks, a long overhead crane, and other marble buildings. It appeared they were working, but they ended work one day and did not return the next day. I can only assume the operation failed financially.  It seems that some salvaging of marble is being done, and there was one area where they could harvest stones near the surface, which would not need to pump out water. However, the industry that built the Rutland area no longer exists at this site, and other nearby quarries are no longer used.  It is sad to see, but like the granite quarries, they have been consolidated and not necessarily in the same area.  

24-April-2024-Wednesday

The weather forecast was for rain, so we attended the temple again this week.  At times, we experienced pouring rain intermingled with sunshine. Had a wonderful experience in the temple. We were dressing in our robes, and I noticed a sister had gone back to help her husband. He was using a walker. When I looked back again, he was in trouble. He could not stand without the walker and thus could not put on his clothes. I was unsure what to do, but the sister officiator singled me to go, so I went back and tied his sash and helped him with his hat. What an inspiration he is. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to go to the temple in this condition and worry about what everyone thinks if the session is delayed. It was indeed an experience of seeing a person endure to the end.  In the Celestial Room, I hugged and thanked him for his excellent example.  Brought back tender memories of my father and his enduring to the end.

We drove home the long way, looking for waterfalls. Our route took us through Whitingham, the birthplace of Brigham Young. There is a nearby reservoir with a "glory hole." We hoped it would be functioning in overflow mode, but we were disappointed. This will be the last time in this area, so we visited the site of Brigham's birth.  We saw only two other waterfalls. We took fantastic back roads and saw towns and villages generally missed by the casual visitor.  

Mostly, I enjoyed spending another quality day with my wife. Our mission has brought us together in ways that would not have been possible had we stayed home. In the temple presentation, I became keenly aware of the pronouns I/me and we/us. Obviously, Satan says I/me. In contrast, Heavenly Father says we/us.

25-April-2024-Thursday

I spoke with Aunt Gwen; she seemed well enough to go home.  I wish we were home to be with Gene and visit Gwen.

I do not like today's date. Our last day is June 25, so we are two months away from leaving our mission.  

More exciting, Dede made reservations for rooms near Arcadia, and we will go there when Anna comes. That will be exciting.   

We had one sister come to the site today. Apparently, she is visiting temples and Church sites. She did not want a tour; she wanted to take pictures, walk around, and leave. I was surprised she drove so far for such a short visit, but everyone dances to their own music.

26-April-2024-Friday

Visited with Gwen, who came home Thursday. She seemed to be feeling better, and Gene was doing fine. 

It was a beautiful spring day in Vermont. I had requested the cart be made available. It is warm and dry enough. Our first visitors were a family of 6 from Boston. They were such a treat. The young children were so well-behaved. What a joy having them as the first family to visit the foundations in 2024. The family did not want to leave after the tour.  The youngest wanted to ride the cart again. The kids then rolled down the hill and played and laughed. I have forgotten how much joy families have when taken on the golf cart.  The children are very open concerning their delight, but it is apparent grownups love it also. Dede had another large family that she took down. Thus, on opening day, we both had a golf cart experience.

We had a busy day at the site and did not have time to eat lunch. What could be better?  We rushed home, changed clothes, and planned to eat our lunch during our drive. We wanted to visit more waterfalls. The first falls we visited we had visited before. It is a series of three falls with pools under each set of falls.  The walk between the falls was delightful. Above the upper falls was an old bridge, no longer used, but we hiked up and enjoyed the views.

Next, we drove to Cavendish Gorge and Falls.  The gorge is full of cascades and minor falls. At the top is a dam with a beautiful man-made-assisted waterfall. We have been hiking a great deal this week, and I could feel it as we hiked up to the dam.

The final falls, Hamilton Falls, was 45 minutes away. When we arrived, every tree along the road had a no parking sign. There was a space for three cars where one could park.  No one was there, so it was not an issue.  The trail to the bottom of the falls had been washed out. We went to the top and then worked our way down the falls. It was a scramble.  At the bottom, we ran into a rope we could not cross.  However, we were already in the area that was closed. We decided to hike straight up the hillside to the car. It might be slightly exaggerated to say mountain goats were rolling down the hill; it was so steep, but I was exhausted.  The waterfalls were amazing, but it was difficult to get a clear picture without getting to the closed-off section at the bottom.  I was amazed that a metal ladder was chained to the wall right at the top of the falls so people could get out before going over the falls.  Apparently, many have lost their lives here. All the more reason to scramble down along the falls to get pictures.  The last picture is a favorite. We were on Highway 121 and turned off on a paved side road, but 121 continues as a windy dirt road, as explained in the sign. This is not unusual in Vermont.

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27-April-2024-Saturday

Birthday greetings to Evan, a great brother-in-law.

I worked on my monument workers' documents most of the morning before washing the car. It will be too long, but it is what it is.  Most of the data is already on FamilySearch, so I am not cutting and pasting the data I spent weeks gathering. I am happy to see it coming together.

When we arrived at the site, we were told a large family had walked down and wanted to climb Patriarch Hill. Unfortunately, Brother Hoopes did not know where the trail started. With no one else there, I took down the cart, walked with them to see the cascades on White Brook, and then took them to the trailhead.

A delightful nonmember came in and wanted to know who Joseph Smith was. I spent a lovely half hour with him. He asked great questions and took a BoM. He is a park ranger for four small parks in New York along the Saint Lawrence River. After talking with him, I returned with the cart to pick up the family so they did not need to walk back up the hill.  What a delightful family.

We ended the day with 40 people.  The first 13 the Hoopes had, and then 27 more came in while Dede and I were there. I love days like today. It was a day of feeling the Spirit as people shared their testimonies.

I am looking forward to tomorrow, which should be another busy day.