Week 27 - rounding the clubhouse turn

Dear family and friends

Being a friend isn't always doing big things. One of my fellow missionaries needed me in a session and I went as a follower even though I would have normally been a patron with a very small session. later I found out why, it was piece of mind under the circumstances. That is being helpful even when you don't know why.

Monday afternoon we looked at a sugar maple operation - 1600 trees. This is an average sized operation.

The day felt cold, so, of course, we went off to the woods together.

 The little blue lines run from tree to tree and down hill. they collect the sap when it runs in February or March.

 They only tap trees 12" or bigger. You see the dangling lines? This are inserted into the tree to collect the sap, about 5% of the trees total and 10 to 15 gallons. Early sap has 2% sugar and it goes down over time, which is why they have 4 grades of syrup. All sap must be boiled down and the longer it takes to get rid of the excess water, the more carmelized the sugar becomes and so darker.

 Those are all sugar maples in the background, about 400 altogether in this grove.

 This is where a tap went in last winter. They drill 1 1/2 inches and stick  the tap in 3/4 in.

 Here you can see the big line that brings it up from the collection tank at the bottom of the hill.

 This old milk tank collects the feed.

 Monitoring equipment is essential

 This is the line to the sugaring shack.

 This is part of the settling. Human hands never touch it so no bacteria gets into the sap.

 A roaring fire is run inside the steel shafts and they are covered in 3" or so of sap. As the water is evaporated the sap is then moved.

 This hood is dropped right on the pan because there is so much water that must be vacuumed up. The back pan and hood further concentrate the sap.

 Part of the energy process

 And more fancy gadgets. It all used to be down on roaring fires in steel pots while the sap was collected by hand. VERY expensive, now it is only expensive.

 Lots of options including all four grades.

Then we helped clean up the Temple president's garden. Turned in the last of our things for our mission memory booklet.

The Hill is gaining more color.  This is a poem I wrote about the Hill Cumorah.

Rock and soil,

Sylvan fair;

Death and fury,

Blood, despair.

What is real,

What is not?

Present here,

Past forgot?

Is hist’ry

Vain, no story?

Leaving naught,

No glory?

Do we see?

Is this all?

Do we feel?

Do we fall?

Above a hill

Standing spare;

Is it mere

Feature bare?

Or dost stand

For much more?

Do we judge?

‘Tis a door!

Open hearts!

Open minds!

Touch the Spirit,

The sublime!

By seeking,

Eternal,

Understand

Supernal.

Stretching out,

Humble prayer.

We can know

If we dare.

The Hill calls,

Touching deep,

Challenging,

Secrets keep.

Climb the Hill,

Senses wide.

Faithful work

Reap, abide!

Rock and soil,

Leafy cloak;

Life and glory,

Peace and

            growth.

It is real!

He redeems!

Praise his name,

Jesus beams!

Tuesday we just worked hard getting things in shape. Wednesday was nothing extraordinary, simply working a split shift in the Temple. I gave a spiritual thought on water.

     Water is essential for life on Earth. We find it everywhere and it has certain important and unique properties. It is so important that it took the three and a half billion years of the Earth’s existence before there was enough of it for life to really get started. There are vast rock formations over a billion years old composed of the compressed remains of blue green algae which were necessary to make the water. The mats of algae must have been hundreds of feet thick to leave behind such massive rock formations.

     Pure water is life giving. It allows light to filter through and refracts it, which, if it is a thin sheet of water acts exactly like another liquid, glass. However, if you add even a drop of oil to even a gallon it reduces water’s life-giving properties and begins reflecting light instead of allowing it to shine through. The more oil added the more opaque it becomes and less worthwhile.

     We need to be like pure water and allow the light to shine through us by keeping our thoughts and deeds pure.

Thursday we went to Letchworth State Park "the Grand Canyon of the East." You can decide if that's true. It was very pretty, however.

First I had to sit in the big boy's chair, but I was too small.

At the low end is a dam to stop the major floods that occur every seven years.

As you see above and below, it is dry now and only 500 feet deep.

 There are five layers of shales

 Middle falls

 Good stone work creating this nice pond.

 Here you can see the middle falls nearby, upper falls in the back and the trestle.

 This is the lower falls

So, is the Grand Canyon of the East?

It was fun to get butterflies this late in October.

 What a beautiful girl!

 Old fashioned dining room at the Glen Iris Inn.

 Beautiful rivulet

 Lots of underwater steps even in a dry month

 What a walk.

 This is a cabin built by Mary Jameson, the White Woman of the Seneca for her daughter. The cabin, last council house and open air council were down where the river is, but the dam forced a relocation up on the hill.

 She was captured and then saw her family massacred, then she became a major force among the Seneca. She had ten children with two Indian husbands and thousands of Indians claim descent from her.

 A council house was built by Mr. Letchworth as his tribute to the Seneca

 Loom in the Jameson house

Open air council

 Council house

Good Spirit in the Temple Friday and Saturday. I walked on the Hill Friday and wanted to share these pictures. On Friday I felt like I needed to go walk and jumped right out. However, I stopped to take some pictures as I was walking up the Hill. When I reached the bottom near the Visitor's Center, I saw two sisters, one in a wheelchair, who were gazing longingly up the Hill but certainly could not make the climb. A man with them had climbed up and they were waiting. I felt impressed to stop and tell them of the car road up the back they could drive up. It was exactly what they needed to hear. I am grateful I could be there at the right time. If I had needed to push the wheelchair up, I would have done that, too.

Sunday we spoke in the branch. My subject was Miracles. I discussed Moses 1:10 where Moses saw all the creations of the Lord and declared that he was "nothing". I then referred to the same chapter where God declares that what is important to him is the immortality and eternal life of man. We are the least of His creations and the most important in his sight. I then referred to Moroni 7:35-37 that the age of miracles has ceased if we have no faith. The greatest miracle is changing the heart of man.

Faith is essential, because we can look at anything and claim it is a coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences, it takes way more blind faith than knowing God can do all things.

I have seen many miracles of healing. I talked about Mary Fielding Smith's ox getting sick in Iowa with no AA available, (Joel Terry being her drover.) She blessed it with faith. Then I discussed Grammy's Rambler American crossing Wyoming without a water pump in the winter in a snowstorm by faith until it arrived at the dealership when it stopped, not to move again until repaired.

Upon occasion I have seen those we are doing the work for. I was honored baptize a proxy for Katheryn MacNacaird, my 4th great grandmother and felt her presence. I talked about the experience with the four sisters late for baptism which led to meeting the sister in Breen's who we were able to assure that God loves her and wants her to return. I mentioned meeting Cousin Pat in the Sacred Grove when the timing had to be perfect to run into each other. I also talked about the Community of Christ family that visited the Hill Cumorah Visitor Center when we were there on the 4th. They went to eat and when they came back I was able to hand them over to the site missionaries (Unsurprisingly, the site missionaries being late was perfect for this to happen.)

I bore my testimony that I know the Savior and that He lives.

Sunday School we were able to help the sister who is replacing us. Perfect because we were talking about using questions to teach. What a coincidence...or not!!

Tonight at the Temple Worker Devotional we had Elder Christensen of the Seventy and Elder Stephenson of the Quorum of the Twelve. Elder Stephenson spoke about the doctrine of Christ and it was very uplifting.

Love you all

Grandad