Missionary Moments #38--May 24, 2015

When we left work on Friday I told Scott that I needed a three day weekend.  I couldn't explain why but it was a hard week for me.  I am so grateful for Scott's good example because he never complains and just keeps on going. How can I slack off with his good example?  We started our weekend in Sugar Hill, NH at Polly's Pancake Parlor (wish you could have been with us Rachel) and had a wonderful experience.  Apparently it is the go to place because there was an hour and a half wait just to get in.  We were asked if we minded sharing a table with other people to speed the time up and we agreed to do that.  After about an hour and a half we were seated with two men who were cousins.  The one lived in the area and his cousin had come up to visit him over the Memorial Day weekend.  The minute we sat down the conversation began and most of it was about family history. The local man told us that he had found Family Search and really enjoyed the experience. When he found out we did record preservation he was so impressed.  He made the comment that now he knew how they got all of their wonderful information.  We spent most of the breakfast telling them about what a probate file was. What happened after we took a picture of the document and where some of the places are that record preservation missionaries are working.  I felt so proud of the Church for providing such a valuable service and felt good to meet someone who is benefiting from the work.  Oh by the way the pancakes were worth the wait.  They have plain, cornmeal, buckwheat, and oatmeal. They had real maple syrup which I have to say was very good.  We will definitely be going back and the waitress gave us a card to use so that if we came again we could get in a little faster! When we left Northern New Hampshire we went over into Vermont and headed towards Burlington.  We wanted to find some things about Ethan Allen because Ava had told us in a letter that she had learned some things about him.  It took some doing but we not only found the cemetery where he was buried but his homestead.  The area was beautiful and it turned out to be a really nice trip.  This morning when I opened my email in preparation for writing our missionary moments there was a email from Family Search telling me I could view the gravestone of one of our ancestors.  When I clicked on it I found that it was a many great grandfather through my Grandma Della McGriff Hickey line.  His name was Nathaniel Tilden and he was born on July 28, 1583 and died July 31, 1641.  The exciting thing is that he is buried in Scituate, Massachusetts which is just southeast of Boston.  I know where we are going next weekend!  We had already planned on finding the grave-site for one of Grandpa's many great grandfathers.  I will let you know what we find.  Because it is Memorial Day tomorrow we are going to spend some time in the cemeteries around here. Be sure to check the blog later in the week and I will share some of the wonderful things we discovered.  We will definitely start at the Veteran's Cemetery which is just 15 minutes from our house.  So grateful for all of the members of our family who served.  My brother David will always be a hero to me because of his love for our country and the suffering he has endured as a result of his injuries in Vietnam.  Thank you Veterans!