Snowshoeing around McIntosh Pond

We had a big winter storm last Saturday Jan 10th. So Ruby and I borrowed the landlords snowshoes and went for a walk around McIntosh Pond. Everything was clean, white and beautiful. We saw many deer tracks in the snow and had a great time till the sun started going down.

This is a picture of the entrance to McIntosh Pond which shows snow all the way up to the fence.

The ice storm, which has bent these small trees to the ground, from a couple week before Christmas did a lot of damage to the trees and many people lost power for several days. We were lucky as we only lost power for 4 days. Nearby in New Hampshire some people were with out power for 3-1/2 weeks. So we felt lucky even though it was not fun being without running water.

As always, Ruby, looks good even in snowshoes and big coat. The sun was out and the weather was very nice. This was taken on Saturday and that night we had another foot of snow which continued through most of Sunday. So church was cancelled. Later, Sunday afternoon our landlord, Stewart, knocked on the door and wanted company snowshoeing. So I headed out with him for another couple of miles. This time we took sleds with us and rode them down the hill which was a lot of fun.

This is an over view of the things we are doing on our mission here in Vermont.

The Lamb's, Sanford's and (us) the Jensen's spend most of our days serving at the Joseph Birthplace Memorial. We are called the FM (Facilities Management) Group and our primary assignment is to assist in the preservation of Church owned facilities within the mission. We have all been called to serve for 18 months. We, as a group, strive to keep the sacred grounds at the Memorial as beautiful as possible. It is our tribute to Joseph Smith as well as giving the many visitors to the grounds (about 30 thousand) a peaceful, lovely place to feel the spirit of our Heavenly Father.
We begin our day at 8 AM with a spiritual thought and prayer around a large table with Tim Packard and Gene Hill who are paid church employees. We talk about what needs to be done for the day.





In early Spring, the Elders are usually working together tree cutting and trimming, clearing around the ponds, taking up the boardwalk (wooden forms which cover the slate around the monument in winter, to protect and help with slippery conditions) and much more. The Sisters are getting the many gardens ready for planting, and raking, raking and more raking. We planted over 4000 flowers, with some help from the Elders, the first of June (after fear of last frost). We wanted to get them in as soon as possible, because many guests had already started to visit the Monument.

All Summer we care for "our baby's" and try to keep them picture perfect by weeding and deadheading nearly everyday. We fertilize and transplant, roll in the dirt, and even break fingernails and get bee stings for our plants. Fall is a busy and hard season for us. We must pull many plants that we have cared for all summer. It is probably the hardest thing we have to do, because most are still looking pretty good. We did leave some that could survive cooler weather, this year. Then it is time for planting the over 600 Chrysanthemums. Last week, all the flowers had to come out except for the mums and perennial plants, which had to be cut down. Right now the mums are looking pretty sad because of the freezing temperatures we have had. We will have to pull most of them next week. It is hard for us to see all our brightly colored flowers gone and just the dirt surrounding the monument and around the grounds.
Winter~ We check everyone of the 100 thousand Christmas lights, to make sure they work before going up on tall trees, bushes, fences and house tops. The Elders work from a cherry-piker lift to hang lights in high places. The Sisters put the lights on the fences, small trees and bushes around the property. About 15 thousand visitors come to see the Christmas lights and live Nativity each year. The Christmas lights start to come down after New Years Day. The Sisters work where they can to help take them down. Then as the Elders bring the wet, cold, strings in, we retest the 100 thousand lights, and package them up for the next year. Winter is long, so we organize and clean the shop, plan gardens for the next spring, paint, etc. The Elders make picnic tables, cut down trees, and work on equipment. But most of all, they do a lot of snow removal. They shovel the walks around the monument everyday, just in case someone comes to visit. They also travel to chapels around the mission to remove snow from the rooftops of chapels. There are always special projects to do around the mission as well. "Road trips" as we call them. Delivering supplies, landscaping, weeding, laying granite around the flower beds at Montpelier and inventory of all the chapels, to name a few. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to be in the service of our Heavenly Father. We are grateful and happy that we can give back to Him who has given us so much. We enjoy being a part of the team who are making the grounds a beautiful spot for visitors to come and partake of the wonderful spirit at the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial.