Tuesday, after sleeping in, we stopped by a little bakery in Niagara Falls and each got a treat - very yummy. We then drove to Palmyra, New York and started the church history part of our trip. We went to the Hill Cumorah first. They had a display inside the visitors center from the Hubble Space Telescope. The pictures were amazing. Seeing them through a more 'religious' atmosphere than science just hit me hard again on the creation of everything and that it is all a testimony in and of itself that there is a Supreme Creator. After going through the visitor's center we went up the Hill by the monument they have at the stop. The Hill Cumorah is a key place in the history of the making of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. "In A.D. 421, Moroni, the last survivor of a great civilization that had inhabited the Americas since about 600 B.C., buried in this hill a set of gold plates on which was recorded the history of his people. In 1827, Moroni returned as an angel and delivered the plates to Joseph Smith, who translated them and published them as the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ" - taken from here. They have a pageant here every summer - maybe one of these years we'll make it back here so we can watch it. I've heard its amazing. After walking up the hill and looking around we kicked the soccer ball around, then drove on to the house that we were staying at. It was a home that they rent out - it was wonderful to be able to spread out. We had a family game/movie night topped off with pizza.
C jumped out of the car and said - "I'm going to go read 2 pages of scripture"
Statue of the Christus inside the visitor's center. I love how this one has the scenery of the forest with farmland behind - makes you feel like you're in the Sacred Grove.
The plaque describing the monument.
The statue of the Angel Moroni holding the gold plates
C slowed down a little after he fell off of a 4 foot wall.
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L pondering the sites and what to write in her journal
L & R - these two are such good friends. I love seeing pictures like this.
The kids playing and resting in 'our' house.
Wednesday morning we woke up and Lea wasn't feeling well. She had a lowgrade fever, sore throat, runny nose and absolutely no energy. She still wanted to go through all the sites since we were there. We were just down the road from the Joseph Smith, Sr. Farm and Sacred Grove - if it was better weather we could have walked down to it. But - it was snowing and FREEZING. When we walked into the visitor's center Bruce asked one of the Elders there to help him give Lea a blessing. I truly believe that was why she had the strength to make it through the tours that we did. It's wonderful having the blessings of the preisthood whereever we go. We took a tour through the Smith's log home and the frame house. Upstairs in the log home is where the Angel Moroni came to Joseph Smith a few years after his vision in the Sacred Grove. This house was so small and had 11 people in it. Lucy Smith was an amazing woman. The missionary then showed us the path to the Sacred Grove and then let us go on our own. We didn't stay as long as we were originally wanting to but between the weather and how Lea was feeling it just wasn't a good idea. One thing nice about going when the weather was so miserable was the fact that we were the only ones there. There is also a silence that snow brings. It was nice having that as were in the Sacred Grove. The spirit was very strong in every place that we went. I am thankful that Joseph Smith and the early saints went through so much so that we could have it 'easy' today. He could have so easily just given in and denied he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ because of all the persecution - but he didn't. After we finished at the Sacred Grove we headed over to where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. We forgot our camera inside the car for this tour - so there aren't any pictures. Because of weather, time and the fact that everyone was tired - we didn't make it to the Martin Harris Farm or the Peter Whitmer Farm. We drove on to Kirtland, OH in pretty bad snowy conditions. Bruce did a great job at getting us there safe. I'll post Kirtland details on the next blog.
In the cabin
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The bedroom that the Angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith
In the frame house that Alvin Smith started for his parents
The box on top fo the dresser is a replica of the box that Joseph Smith hid the golden plates in
The fireplace that they hid the plates under the bricks.
L wasn't feeling well - luckily they had benches throughout the houses so that she could rest.
This was in the cooper's shed out behind the frame house
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The Sacred Grove - a little different than when Joseph went in on a fine spring day
1 comment:
Wow. So amazing! Can't think of a better place for a family vacation- especially since you'll be going west soon. And how great you took so many pictures so you'll remember. What a treasure this will be for your family. We went to the sacred grove in the springtime when Celeste was a baby. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life.
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