So much to see and do!

The visitor volume is increasing as we approach the summer season.  We're meeting great people from all over the world.  We are giving tours 6 days per week for 5 hours each day (often 6 or 7 hours as tours and conversations continue beyond our shift cutoff hour).  We work 9 am to 2 pm or 2 to 7 pm depending on the day of the week, with Wednesdays off so we can see the sights.

Tuesday June 10 visitors from Cameroon Africa, here for their daughter's graduation from Dartmouth College.
Each graciously accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon with a commitment to read it.  That same day Lynne gave a tour to a Catholic priest from Syria who visited to honor a Mormon friend from Salt Lake City who had recently died.  He was on his way to serve in the Montreal Canada Archdiocese.  He taught us a great lesson on how to meditate, as he sat almost motionless on a bench on a hillside across from the monument for over an hour.  He asked Lynne to pray for him two separate times during his tour.  She was quite impressed with his sincerity and pleasant demeanor.
  This afternoon, Friday, June 20, I gave a tour to a couple from the Congo brought here by two elders serving in the Concord NH area.  They were in colorful native clothing.  Her floor length dress was blaze orange!  The wife accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon in French.  He is a member while she is investigating the Church.

Wednesday June 11, 2014 day off.  Visited Burlington, Vermont and what did Lynne find?  A chocolate outlet, of course!

The Shelburne VT museum, a huge place with over 20 buildings chock full of carriages, circus artifacts, art works, blacksmith shop, old drug store, and much more.  Carousel ride, anyone?!

One of dozens of carriages, conestoga wagons, horse drawn hearses, etc. all in great condition.

The detail on these tiny circus performers was amazing!  Here's a fun example.

I actually had this happen to me on an airline flight years ago, so I had to capture this image.  The flight attendant cleaned my shirt with club soda.  It worked great.  It only burned for a little while!

This picture is in honor of the Durants in our family.  We had not known that a Durant
 vehicle had ever been built.  Did you?

How do you make this contraption go??  I'm working hard but not getting anywhere!

Some people kiss frogs.  Lynne goes for bigger game!

Try to count all the figures in this miniature 3 ring circus.

A good barber had one sharp straight razor for each customer.

We cruised Lake Champlain on the Spirit of Ethan Allen 140 foot cruise ship.  It was cool and windy.

Gerrit Dirkmaat and Michael MacKay are BYU church history professors, both Phds, who toured the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial with me on Thursday June 12.  They arrived about 6 p.m. intending to spend less than an hour.  After their tour they chatted with Lynne while I conducted another tour.  Michael was excited to learn that Lynne is the 3rd great granddaughter of Philo Dibble, one of Joseph Smith's bodyguards and a close friend of the prophet.  Michael has been trying to gather info about Philo, and Lynne had a booklet about him with her in our briefcase!  Talk about great karma!  At 9:30 p.m. they were still there, so Sister Osborn fixed supper for all of us so they could continue to regale us with their exploits as Joseph Smith Papers team members.  Their knowledge overwhelmed us!  They were to give lectures at Cornell University in Ithaca NY Friday morning - a 5 1/2 hour drive from our site.  We reluctantly saw them off about 10 pm.

Mitt Romney's summer home is in Wolfeboro NH next to Lake Winnipesaukee.  

Lynne on the dock in downtown Wolfeboro.  What a beautiful day to tour central New Hampshire.

In Honor of Our Fathers

With Fathers' Day coming up soon, it is very fitting to honor our fathers and grandfathers who made it possible for us to be.  What could be better than to see them here and now!  We love our family and hope you treasure our heritage as we do.  HAPPY FATHERS' DAY!

We don't yet know just where the Likes family came from, but it was surely Western Europe.
Thank you pilgrim fathers for your courage to come to America!

Nimrod Likes 1848 - 1924
Paternal Great Grandfather of Ivan Leroy Likes

Clyde William Likes Sr 1882 - 1970 and Retta May Appier Likes 1888 - 1958
Paternal Grandparents of Ivan Leroy Likes

Ivan Randle Likes 1907 - 1997
Father of Ivan Leroy Likes

Ivan Leroy and Christia Lynne Barlow Likes with our beautiful family in 1976

James Ford Bush 1866 - 1948 and Levina Chilcote Bush 1861 - 1940
Maternal Great Grandparents of Ivan Leroy Likes

Reetis Otheral Bush 1889 - 1958
Riding a corn stalk in 1949.  Grandpa's sense of humor was legend!
Maternal Grandfather of Ivan Leroy Likes

Israel Barlow 1806 - 1883 and Elizabeth Haven Barlow 1811 -1892
Second Great Grandparents of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Wilford Elbert Barlow 1854 - 1926
Great Grandfather of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Elbert Henry Barlow 1883 - 1923 in missionary attire
Grandfather of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Robert Cleo Barlow 1910- 1977
Father of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Robert Sweeten 1840- 1936
He was the last pioneer in Utah to die of those that came across the plains with Brigham Young.
Paternal Great Grandfather of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Henry Wells Jackson 1827 - 1864
Paternal Second Great Grandfather of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Philo Dibble 1806 - 1895
Personal bodyguard and friend of Joseph Smith
Paternal Third Great Grandfather of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Anthony Anton Larsen 1866 - 1953
Maternal Great Grandfather of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Louise Sophia Larsen Poe 1896 - 1998 and George Perry Poe 1890 - 1957
Maternal Grandparents of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

Eline Marie Sorenson 1828 - 1909 and Lars Christian Larsen 1831 - 1904
Maternal Second Great Grandparents of Christia Lynne Barlow Likes

June is here!

Our director Elder George Osborn loading balloons for the Chelsea VT parade.  He's from Spanish Fork UT

Sister Likes enjoying the blossoming tree next to the Director's residence.  The blossoms
only lasted about 2 weeks.

Cornish-Windsor Bridge near Claremont NH, 50 miles southeast of the visitor center on the Connecticut River.

Longest covered bridge in the world!

Our Chevy and apartment in South Royalton VT.  We live in the lower right garden level.  Cozy!

Sister Likes drove the golf cart for the first time a couple of days ago.

Test run before allowing passengers on board.  She loved it.  A couple of guys who took her maiden trip with her said "she only wrecked a couple of times" - kidding of course.

Our Director Sister Osborn, young sister missionaries Smedley and Lundahl with Sister Likes

Elder and Sister Likes with young sisters, who live in our neighborhood.  They're on fire!

Elder Mike Mooney, a finish carpenter and one of our 6 facilities maintenance missionaries,
built this miniature monument float for the local  parades this summer.  It's sitting  out in
front of our Church so the members can see it.

Hello to our family and friends

It's June 2014 already!  Vermont has turned into an emerald forest paradise of multi-shades of green.  Every day puff balls of white clouds stream by, sometimes blessing us with bright sunshine, sometimes "liquid" sunshine, always clean and fresh air.  We have continued to explore the state to build our knowledge of the origins of Joseph Smith's ancestors and Church leaders.  The number of visitors to the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial is growing as the weather improves and schools let out.  We had our first bus tour of the year with 66 youth and their 4 leaders from the Richfield Utah area this past week.  They were here and gone in less than 2 hours, their schedule full of visiting Church sites throughout the Eastern U.S.

Here's a hymn we sang today in church, text written by Lynne's relative Wm W Phelps.  It expresses how we feel about our mission:

"Because I have been given much I too must give.
 Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live
 I shall divide my gifts from thee with every brother that I see
 Who has the need of help - from me."

The bay at Gloucester MA honors the 5000+ seamen
 who have lost their lives while sailing in the Atlantic.

Joseph Smith's ancestors were active farmers, civic and Congregational Church leaders in
Topsfield MA for several generations in the 1700s.  Robert Smith migrated from England
 to America in the 1600s.  Joseph's grandfather Asael Smith bought cheap acreage in central
Vermont and took his 20 year old son Joseph Sr with him to establish their family farms in
 Tunbridge VT.   There Joseph Sr met his bride Lucy Mack, whose family came from  Scotland
 and settled in Connecticut.  Her older brother Stephen Mack introduced her to Joseph Sr.
Stephen Mack was a founder of Detroit and Pontiac MI.

Topsfield MA is 15 miles NE of Boston.  

The Smith family farm in Topsfield MA is beautiful!  Makes
you wonder why Asael Smith moved to Vermont.  The answer
is that his older brother inherited the Topsfield farm, so he
 needed his own property to raise his family.

Joseph Smith's great grandfather Samuel is buried in Topsfield MA

Bob Barlow wanted to drive the Gator!  Church insurance
wouldn't allow it.  Bob was the first member of our family
to visit us in Vermont!   Hooray for Bob!
Todd Willardson, his wife and 5 beautiful kids
visited the Center yesterday.  He is the oldest son
of dear friends Don and B.J. Willardson who used
to live in Douglas County, CO before moving to UT.
We want to see more family and friends!

It's fun to borrow the FM Missionaries' gator to
explore Patriarch Hill next to the Monument.

Heber C. Kimball was born in Sheldon VT
about 100 miles north of Sharon VT.
He was an apostle and later the first counselor to
President Brigham Young in Utah.  Both men
were Lynne's relatives.

The South Royalton Ward where we go to Church is just below the Memorial on the
 "Mormon Property" as the locals describe it.  What a beautiful setting!