Palmyra continued

There is more to see in the Palmyra area than Peter Whitmer's house and the Grandin Building where the Book of Mormon was first published. We also ran over to the Palmyra Temple, the Hill Cumorah, Joseph Smith's old home and the Sacred Grove. It was probably alot more than one should see in a day, but that's all the time we had....luckily the kids only got tired on the last stop. But when you're in the approximate area, it's such a great chance to check out the historical sites and we'd be sorry if we never made the trip.

The Palmyra Temple seems completely secluded because of the extensive land all around it and the expansive fields that seem to go on quite a ways.

My Bud

Security on site. Don't mess with the one on the left.

This is what I mean by seclusion. Nice spot of land.

She likes all things pink. She's told me she's going to fly a pink airplane to see her Poppy and Bama, she told Trent that I had promised her a pink American flag (which I certainly did not promise) and today in church she told Trent she is going to ride a pink horse one day.

Kyleigh likes pointing out the shiny gold guys on top of the steeple. Angel Moroni. To see why we have temples, how we build them, how many there are, what they are for, who they serve, etc. Click here.

After circling the Temple, touching its walls, we got back in the car and drove south to the Hill Cumorah. They have a visitor's center and inside are costumes used in the Hill Cumorah pageant. Very detailed stuff. A costumed cast of 650 and 100 voice children's choir perform for an audience of 6-9,000 each year for 7 days in July. This news story, http://www.ksl.com/?nid=296&sid=22469293, says it takes 900 people to build the sets, costumes and perform.

After checking out their costumes, we ran up to the top of the hill to see the place where Joseph Smith uncovered the gold plates. Angel Moroni was there, too. Very fitting since he is the one who was last in charge of them, buried them and then showed Joseph a few years later where to find them.

They guys "took the [path] less traveled by".

This is the hill on which the Pageant is performed.

But this Angel Moroni isn't blowing a trumpet like on the Temples. He's holding a Book of Mormon and maybe proclaiming to the rest of the world of its origins.

Inside the Visitors Center they have a Christus.

We got to listen to a little audio piece on Christ.

After this, we got back into the car and drove over to Joseph Smith's old home and the Sacred Grove. This is the home where he and alot of his brothers and sisters all lived. Way too tight of quarters.

 Can you imagine a family close to this size (this is a photo of Joseph Smith's family. I'm just not sure how many were born when they lived in this home).

Buddy is firing up the stove for us.

 We had one other family with us when going on the tour. Brenden didn't mind much...

 Master suite.

B ready to perform the patriarchal duty of reading from the family bible.

Example of the hand hewn beams. 

B had some very good questions this round. Like he was paying attention and trying to assimilate all that he was seeing. 

The cane Joseph had to use when he had his leg operated on. No, it's not the real one, but he was in this home when he used one similar to that. A couple people said he'd loose his whole leg, but they had a doctor perform an experimental surgery to remove the infected piece of bone and it worked. And done without antiseptic or drugs. He just had his Dad hold his hands down while they grabbed the saw and started cutting away.  

Once you leave the old log home, you walk down this path to the larger home Alvin had started before he died and takes you also to the entrance of the Sacred Grove.

On the way down this path, look to your left and you see the Palmyra Temple peeking through the trees.

My kid. 

House that Alvin started. If you want to know more about it, just read the plaque in the picture below. (especially what Lucy Smith said when they left it).

Fireplace bricks where the plates were hid when a mob came to steal them.  The kid in the picture is checking to see if they're still there.

Much nicer kitchen

 No faucet. Just use the bucket brought in from the well.

Tree that the Smiths planted when Alvin died. 

Barn. Not used for animals I think. Storage and work tools. 

Water trough. 

Someone needs to clean up their mess.

They are tour troopers. 

 Sled

Path into the Sacred Grove.

 Snake.

 And we only have 1/3 of what was actually written on those plates. Someday we'll have the other 2/3rds to read. Something about learning how to appreciate and use the first 1/3rd we've been given...before receiving more.

Book of Mormon: 150 Million copies. Translated into 82 languages and partially translated into 25 more. Pretty cool for a kid from rural New York with no more than a 3rd grade schooling. And is most definitely one reason that 14+ million members have decided that God's truth is found in this Church. "And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, ... and they teach all men
that they should do good." 2 Nephi 33:10
Fun trip.