Rock of Ages

Today for P-Day we went to see the Rock of Ages Quarry in Barre Vermont. It is from this quarry in Barre VT. that the granite for the Joseph Smith Memorial Birthday Site Monument was taken. Within about 20-25 miles there are a few quarry's and each has its own distinct color of stone, in Barre it is a grey speckled color, in Bethel Vt(where the stone for the Bountiful Temple came from), it is white. The Quarry in Barre VT. is thought to be about 4+ miles wide, 5+ mile long, and 10+ miles deep. At the current rate of use there is enough granite to last another 4500 years. WOW! The pictures (taken from the internet) show the method the granite is cut .... not straight down, but with ridges so as to retain strength as they cut deeper. The water at the bottom is rain/snow and water used in cutting to keep the stone dust down .... from time to time they must pump it out. The large cranes have 15 miles of guy wires to give them strength in lifting stone from the quarry floor, and to keep them standing in a high wind. They do very heavy lifts but prefer to bring up cuts of 35,000 lbs or less. NOW all that said. This is the very quarry that the stone for the monument came from in 1905 when the monument was built. It was a new quarry in 1896 so the stone would have been close to ground level .... thank goodness. Our trip there today gave us a much better appreciation for the work that was done to complete the Joseph Smith Monument. As the monument sits it is 100,000# of granite. The Obelisk is 40,000#, and the base is made up of 5 pieces and weights 60,000#. We feel so priviledged to have been called to serve in this very special, sacred place.

Flowers on the Monument Grounds

The spring flowers on the grounds at the Joseph Smith Memorial are all in full bloom and they are beautiful. We took a few up close and personal shots today, another day we will take shots of the whole grounds. Everyday we come to work we thank our Father in Heaven for this wonderful opportunity to serve here at the birth site of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The Beauty of the Monument

I was going through a file we have at the center today and found several pictures of the monument, so....... I added theirs to ours. We are so blessed to serve in this wonderful place. Everyday we come to the center we are greeted by wonderful music, the monument and the beauty of the grounds. We have three sets of FM (facility maintenance) missionaries on site. They are here just like us serving the Lord as they were called. Our grounds are so well taken care of by the wonderful FM missionaries that all who come first feel the spirit outside before they ever come inside the center. The spring flowers are all out and the summer flowers will soon be planted. The beauty of these grounds just take my breath away some days, sometimes the sun catches the monument just right, other times its a rainbow and still other times its the freshly mowed grass and the flowers all around the monument that makes it really stand out, and still other times its the setting sun.