Joseph Smith Memorial

On our first P Day we chose to take advantage of the 80+ weather to visit the Joseph Smith Memorial. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place. This granite memorial was placed here in 1905 on the site of the cabin where the Prophet was born. I can't tell you how strong the Spirit was here! The Memorial site covers many acres.

After enjoying the Visitor's Center, we took a path down the hill to the site of the homes of Solomon Mack (Lucy Mack Smith's father) and Daniel Mack (her uncle). It was so peaceful and quiet!
This picture is for Tom. It's a beautiful little stone wall on our path.

I don't know how well you can see this, but it's an old stone bridge which was here when the Mack's and Smiths lived here in 1805. The next picture is Garth who kept saying, "I wonder where they got their water."

I was resting because the path which went down to the water went back up the hill.

Then we went to the small town of Tunbridge, Vermont, where Solomon and Lucy first met at a little country store. There were three covered bridges and this sign was on top of this one.

We really enjoyed our day and certainly felt the hand of the Lord in the beautiful creations.

Our little piece of heaven?

Don't they say a man's home is his castle? Well, here's ours.

I'm standing in front of the stove. The first door is the small bedroom, the second the bathroom, the third our bedroom and the tiny door is a little storage closet. The black things you see are the plug-ins--black plug-ins on stark white walls.

Now I'm at the opposite end. You can see how tiny the kitchen is. You won't believe how much the rent is. We've gone really cheap in what we're decorating with-- spent over an hour in Wal-Mart.

We went today to the State Archives. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of boxes of records. Remembering that Vermont dates back to the 1600s, it's very sobering. Brother and Sister Evans helped us get things set up. We enjoyed them very much. We have Zone Conference tomorrow in Lebanon, NH. We're squeezing in four elders! Then Wednesday we'll actually start imaging. I'll keep you posted.

Our arrival in Vermont

This is a sunset on Lake Erie near Janeen’s house which Dad took on Wednesday night. It was so beautiful and truly amazing. You can’t believe the size of it and it’s the smallest of the Great Lakes. While we were at Janeen’s we saw an incredible (can’t think of a better word) bronze sculptures display. The artist’s name is Angela Johnson and her website is http://www.ajsculptures.com/. It’s called The Healing Power of Jesus Christ. It moved us both to tears. Of course, you weren’t allowed to take pictures. We had a wonderful time at Janeen’s.

Thursday morning we left at 6. We crossed just a tiny corner of Pennsylvania and got to New York. The toll roads are rather interesting because there aren’t many exits but every 30 miles or so there’s a service area. You can buy gas, eat at a McDonald’s or some other restaurant and shop at a gift shop. There’s also usually some historical information about the area. The toll roads are the best roads. The rest of the roads are abominable!
After the toll roads came Bennington, VT. My favorite place so far. I can't wait to go back one p day to check it out. First we saw this monument to a Revolutionary War hero's wife--Molly Stark. You can see it for miles.


Here is the Colonel. He's famous for saying to his troops: "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" A little old lady with a thick Massachuesetts accent insisted on taking our picture for us. We had been traveling for nearly ten hours.
Molly Stark is a real hero around NH and VT. For miles between Bennington and Manchester, we saw signs for another obelisk for Molly, but turned off before we got to it. She has churches, schools, taverns etc. etc. named after her. We followed the Molly Stark Trail over the "mountain" but turned off before we got to another monument to her. When we got gas, this is what we saw:



They have full service gas in Bennington and the attendant was a real character. He told us to be careful of going over the "mountain" because there might be snow. It had been closed the weekend before because of a big storm. He also said he didn't know what was on the other side because he'd never been over there!

We've spent the last two days getting an apartment and getting acquainted with this area. We're both a little turned around. It's beautiful here--everywhere you look is a photo op. It will be prettier in a couple of weeks when the deciduous trees have gotten their green leaves. I want to take many, many more photos. This is typical:


This was taken after we left Sharon, VT.
We're going to church today at the Montpelier Ward which is just around the corner and up a very steep hill. All Garth can say is "I should have brought the four-wheel drive!" Everyone has alluded to the snow and hard winters. Our landlords winter in Florida. I can't wait!
We're anxious to get started on our work. We've been told that there is much to do here. We'll start our work tomorrow. We love and miss each and every one of you.

Fun and Frenzy

Wednesday is new missionary day at the MTC. What fun. Luggage is piled along the walkways while the missionaries eat lunch and receive instructions. Yesterday this is what we found on our way to lunch.

After I had taken these three, I found one more smaller bunch. These do not account for the group of senior missionaries --a very large group--who arrived on Monday.
The new missionaries wear a small orange sticker on their name tags so that you can help them. Now think of cereal--every kind of cereal you can buy in the big bags. These guys consume cereal (I swear) by the ton! You will see big, husky kids carrying 5 bowls of cereal stacked one on the other. They inhale food. The meals here are wonderful--3 full meals a day. So far we haven't gained any weight, but not because we haven't been trying!

Here is Elder Gunter at work. Well, sort of. He was shutting down equipment when I took the picture. Usually, I'm the one sitting at the computer and he's standing at the black board where the materials to be imaged are placed. You can see an old (1896-1907) ledger book of which we have imaged half. We're a little like a comedy act when we're doing this, but we're getting better. It's very exacting work, but we're loving it.

Today is the last day of our training here in Provo. We have enjoyed our instructor although he's full of the gift of gab, but he's let us fumble our way through. Tomorrow we go to Salt Lake City to meet some of the staff at the Family History Center. On Saturday early morning we'll leave for Vermont. We'll be working in Middlesex, Vermont, but we're homeless there at the moment. After class today we're going to the Provo Temple which is actually considered to be on the MTC grounds and we're going to the Creamery. I've missed the BYU brownies and am hoping you can buy them at the Creamery. The temple is very pretty nestled against the mountains.
One of the senior missionaries said: "This place vibrates with the Spirit." This small army of missionaries is fun to be around. They are enthusiastic and have boundless energy, but they are respectful and kind to we seniors. The Lord has an important errand for every missionary and we are anxious to begin ours.

Life at the MTC

Here we are missionaries at the MTC! We are truly loving every moment, but it is very hard work! We're exercising our bodies, minds and hearts.

Here is our group:

In this group are doctors, lawyers, farriers, nurses, farmers. They'll be serving the Lord in places like Nepal, Africa, Phillipines, Scotland and Siberia. In the US in Georgia, Fort Worth and Kentucky. They are all wonderful people.

Here's Elder Gunter paying bills. He's spent a lot of time studying at this desk.

We thank you all for your warm wishes and support. We pray for you day and night and weep a tear or two when we think of you, but we are focused on our task. We have learned the important lesson that we have a truly loving Heavenly Father.