New Hampshire and Vermont

I must say that Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont are some of the prettiest states I have ever driven through.  So green and beautiful, trees and thick foliage everywhere.  Absolutely gorgeous! I loved it.  Too bad humidity had to go along with it.  Although our days in New Hamsphire were cool, overcast or rainy so it was fine.  On Saturday morning after sleeping in a little we drove to Tony's parents apartment in the Manchester, New Hampshire mission.  It was so great to see them!  They are such great people, and so happy to be serving the Lord.  You can tell that they absolutely love being missionaries even though they miss their family. 

They had borrowed the mission van so all of us could travel together to the Joseph Smith Memorial in Vermont.  It was a beautiful drive, and an amazing visit.  There was such a strong and peaceful spirit as soon as we drove onto the grounds.  Sister Fisher, who took us around the small visitors center there was vivacious and full of the spirit.  She clearly has done her homework, and as she told us about the Smith family and the experiences that led the Smith's to leave Vermont and go to Palmyra, and bore her testimony of the prophet, you could just feel her love of the gospel.  Clearly the Lord's hand was in the lives of the Smith family getting them to where they needed to be.  The Smith family had experienced two years of crop failure, and then in 1816 experienced the year without a summer, forcing them to look elsewhere for farmland that might be productive.  What they found was Palmyra.  She also shared with us the story of how they got the 40 ton, 38 1/2 foot tall solid granite monument up the rather steep hill to the site.  The site was dedicated in 1905 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Joseph Smith's birth.  Junius Wells who was responsible for the project said this of his experience, "I have been favored sometimes almost to the point of direct interposition of providence. The elements have been made propitious; conditions that seemed adverse have been removed; obstacles that appeared insuperable have either been overcome or turned out not to be serious." You can read the whole article about the monument here.  It was a beautiful and sacred place to visit.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the site that Tony's parents prepared for us complete with Karen's delicious macaroni salad.

That evening we ate at Puritan Chicken, a famous restaurant in those parts.  We had enough chicken to be dinner on Monday evening as well.  We finished up the meal with their famous homemade icecream.  So delicious! It was fun to drive around with them, and to see the mission office.  That brought back a lot of memories of Brazil when Dad was a mission president.

Sunday morning we attended church with Tony's parents and then spent the day with them at their apartment.  I used to hate going to new wards on vacations, but now I really enjoy it.  I love seeing the gospel in action no matter where I am.  I especially loved all the New England accents!  It made listening to the comments in Sunday School so entertaining.  My favorite comment was made after the teacher asked why Mormon included so many war chapters in the Book of Mormon.  One sister was quick to comment that it was because "He was a guy."  I am thinking that is probably not why, but it made me laugh.

It was so nice to just visit with his parents.  It was the first time I had heard Tony's Dad's conversion story.  I am so grateful for their example and willingness to serve.  We had a delicious spaghetti dinner, Breanna's favorite, and ice cream for dessert.  We were all a little sad to have to leave Sunday evening.