Friday, March 26, 2010
The Healing Power of Jesus Christ
When we were in Kirtland Ohio a year ago we were so blessed to see a traveling set of sculptures done by Angela Johnson. She had been an opera singer who at one point gave up that career and began working with clay. She said she was asked by neighbors and friends to make them selected pieces of art and was often told what a gift her hands had. At that point she decided to ask Father in Heaven what He wanted her hands to do. This is only part of the set we have. It is such a powerful missionary tool. In Kirtland there wasn't time to get up close to each piece and look into the faces of Christ, but here we have alot of time right now before the busy season, so I have really enjoyed spending time just studying these wonderful pieces of art. I look into the faces of each piece and try to understand the feelings that are there.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Sugaring the Vermont Way
The production of maple syrup, known as “sugaring“, takes place just as winter is losing its grip. The maple producers, or “sugarmakers“ look for weather that alternates between freezing and thawing; this is what makes the sap flow. In Vermont, sugaring weather usually starts around the beginning of March, and normally lasts for about six weeks. Before the sugarmakers can produce syrup they must tap their trees and this happens during January and February. Snow may lay deep in the woods at the start of sugaring, but the warm sun on the branches of the maple trees causes the long dormancy of winter to give way and the sugaring season to begin.
Vermont is the largest producer of pure maple syrup in the U.S. The climate and soil conditions are perfect for producing this amazing product from the sap of the sugar maple.
Sugaring was going on when we arrived. It has turned warm very fast and sugaring must then stop. The sap becomes very dark and bitter and not good for quality syrups. It has been very interesting to see trees with sap tubes, and buckets. Today we traveled down a loooooooooooooooooong mud road and there were buckets on every tree along the road. It was realy a site to see.
Vermont is the largest producer of pure maple syrup in the U.S. The climate and soil conditions are perfect for producing this amazing product from the sap of the sugar maple.
Sugaring was going on when we arrived. It has turned warm very fast and sugaring must then stop. The sap becomes very dark and bitter and not good for quality syrups. It has been very interesting to see trees with sap tubes, and buckets. Today we traveled down a loooooooooooooooooong mud road and there were buckets on every tree along the road. It was realy a site to see.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Our New Home
Two weeks ago today we drove into Sharon Vermont and opened the door to our new 18 month home. We are living in a dream of a mountain cabin. We live at the top of a steep, windy road and look down on the world below us, and it is beautiful. (Come next winter we will let you know how we feel about our road) It is such a wonderful, beautiful place. We have the bottom floor with a nice kitchen / sitting area, and two bedroom. Of all the things we/I enjoy the most about our apartment is the washer-dryer. Upstairs are three more bedrooms and a TV room, as well as a large kitchen / living area, that is rented out occasionally.
This is us/me arriving for our first day of work.
Monday, March 15, 2010
History of the Monument
Joseph F Smith was the Prophet at the time the monument was dedicated. It has been so wonderful for me to be here and have the great blessing to line up all the facts I have known, or maybe not, all my life in a row. Joseph F. was the son of Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith. He had a great interest in coming here and being where his father and his grandparents had lived. After the dedication,(Dec 24th 1905) the Prophet spoke again informally to the group who had stayed the evening. He shared with them what he remembered of his father, his uncle (the Prophet Joseph Smith) and the stories of his grandparents. He took time to locate the home his father was born in, as well as other homes his grandparents had lived in. He visited the ruins of the home his great grandmother Lydia Mack died in (Daniel Mack home / ruins are on these grounds) The Prophet was 3 yrs old when the family left the Solomn Mack farm, from Sharon they moved to Tunbridge, to South Royalton, and then on West Lebanon. The Prophet Joseph F. Smith said his trip here for the dedication was a very spiritual experience. He took the time after the dedication to go by rail to Kirtland and then on to Nauvoo where he found his childhood home.
Joseph Smith was born Dec 23rd 1805, in Sharon Vermont. Solomon Mack the father of Lucy Mack Smith bought the farm at the age of 72 hoping his children would gather close and farm the land with their families. Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith leased 68 acres in the early spring of 1805 and farmed in the summers and Joseph Sr taught school in the winters. It is in this home that Joseph Smith Jr. was born (Dec 23rd 1805) The footings for the Solomon Mack home are still on the grounds, unfortunately the footings for the home in which the Prophet was born are gone. (the prior visitors center and mission home built in 1905, were built on the exact spot of the birth home). Our site has two original artifacts, a Hearthstone and the Doorstep both found in the cellar hole of the 1805 birth home, and used in the cottage built on site in 1905. The church replaced the cottage with a new visitors center in the mid 1960's and moved the hearthstone from the old, to the new center, and left the doorstep on the birth site. The new visitors center was moved several hundred feet south of the birth site. I always have such a reverent feeling when I stand close to the hearthstone and think of Joseph as a young boy being nurtured by his parents close to this stone, and to the warmth of the fire.
The family moved several times and were living in West Lemanon, New Hamshire (about 15 miles from Sharon Vermont), when Joseph Smith Jr. had his well known leg surgery.
Just after the turn of the century Junius F Wells a history buff and the son of Daniel H Wells (a councilor to the Prophet Joseph F. Smith) came to Vermont to try and locate the prophets birth site. After much work on his part to document the 100 acre farm Solomon had once owned, he presented the idea to the First Presidency that a monument be build to commemorate the 100th year of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith . His idea was readily accepted and he then was given instructions to buy the land, design a monument, arrange for and supervise the construction there-of, and oversee the dedicatory ceremony. The purchase was made in the spring of 1905 which left little time to complete the monument project. He designed a monument that would testify to all who came of the life and sacrifices of the prophet Joseph Smith Jr. The shaft is 38 1/2 feet tall (representing one foot in height for every year of the Prophets life). The shaft weighs 40 tons and is one of the world's largest single pieces of flawless polished granite, the base is made of 4 pieces and weighs more that 60 tons. At the time the granite came out of the quarry the shaft weighed 60 ton.
In 1905 there were no large trucks or cranes for the lifting and moving of these massive pieces of granite. It came from a quarry in Barre (Berry) Vermont about 35 miles from the monument site. It came by rail the first 30 miles to Royalton Vt. That left more than 5 miles of curving, steep, dirt roads. A special wagon was built with 20" wide wheels to transport the granite the last 5+ miles. The road at the time of the move was so muddy that it required planks ( 8-10") to be placed under the wheels. As the wagon moved over the planks the men would pick them up from the back and replace them at the front. It took 33 days to make the move from Royalton to the monument site. It took 22 horses and several teams of oxen to make the move, and they also used block and tackle as an additional pulling method the last 2 1/2 miles which destroyed most of the large maple along dairy hill road. used. At one point they came upon a mud hole (Mr Button's Mud hole) they felt they could never cross. At the time they approached the hole a hay wagon was stuck in the mud up to its wagon bottom. Junius asked his men if they believed in faith, "lets all go home and get a good nights rest and things will be better in the morning" during the night the weather changed and the temperature dropped more than 30 degrees in some three hours, that allowed them to cross the mud hole in safety and without a loss of any time.
History of the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial.
Joseph Smith was born Dec 23rd 1805, in Sharon Vermont. Solomon Mack the father of Lucy Mack Smith bought the farm at the age of 72 hoping his children would gather close and farm the land with their families. Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith leased 68 acres in the early spring of 1805 and farmed in the summers and Joseph Sr taught school in the winters. It is in this home that Joseph Smith Jr. was born (Dec 23rd 1805) The footings for the Solomon Mack home are still on the grounds, unfortunately the footings for the home in which the Prophet was born are gone. (the prior visitors center and mission home built in 1905, were built on the exact spot of the birth home). Our site has two original artifacts, a Hearthstone and the Doorstep both found in the cellar hole of the 1805 birth home, and used in the cottage built on site in 1905. The church replaced the cottage with a new visitors center in the mid 1960's and moved the hearthstone from the old, to the new center, and left the doorstep on the birth site. The new visitors center was moved several hundred feet south of the birth site. I always have such a reverent feeling when I stand close to the hearthstone and think of Joseph as a young boy being nurtured by his parents close to this stone, and to the warmth of the fire.
The family moved several times and were living in West Lemanon, New Hamshire (about 15 miles from Sharon Vermont), when Joseph Smith Jr. had his well known leg surgery.
Just after the turn of the century Junius F Wells a history buff and the son of Daniel H Wells (a councilor to the Prophet Joseph F. Smith) came to Vermont to try and locate the prophets birth site. After much work on his part to document the 100 acre farm Solomon had once owned, he presented the idea to the First Presidency that a monument be build to commemorate the 100th year of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith . His idea was readily accepted and he then was given instructions to buy the land, design a monument, arrange for and supervise the construction there-of, and oversee the dedicatory ceremony. The purchase was made in the spring of 1905 which left little time to complete the monument project. He designed a monument that would testify to all who came of the life and sacrifices of the prophet Joseph Smith Jr. The shaft is 38 1/2 feet tall (representing one foot in height for every year of the Prophets life). The shaft weighs 40 tons and is one of the world's largest single pieces of flawless polished granite, the base is made of 4 pieces and weighs more that 60 tons. At the time the granite came out of the quarry the shaft weighed 60 ton.
In 1905 there were no large trucks or cranes for the lifting and moving of these massive pieces of granite. It came from a quarry in Barre (Berry) Vermont about 35 miles from the monument site. It came by rail the first 30 miles to Royalton Vt. That left more than 5 miles of curving, steep, dirt roads. A special wagon was built with 20" wide wheels to transport the granite the last 5+ miles. The road at the time of the move was so muddy that it required planks ( 8-10") to be placed under the wheels. As the wagon moved over the planks the men would pick them up from the back and replace them at the front. It took 33 days to make the move from Royalton to the monument site. It took 22 horses and several teams of oxen to make the move, and they also used block and tackle as an additional pulling method the last 2 1/2 miles which destroyed most of the large maple along dairy hill road. used. At one point they came upon a mud hole (Mr Button's Mud hole) they felt they could never cross. At the time they approached the hole a hay wagon was stuck in the mud up to its wagon bottom. Junius asked his men if they believed in faith, "lets all go home and get a good nights rest and things will be better in the morning" during the night the weather changed and the temperature dropped more than 30 degrees in some three hours, that allowed them to cross the mud hole in safety and without a loss of any time.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Such a Wonderful Place to Serve the Lord
We have arrived! We are in a very beautiful place. Winter has been long here in Vermont and just days before we arrived they had one last big storm which left the grounds so beautiful. We were given a few days to get up to speed and then we were on our own to give tours. Very humbling!
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