Palmyra, New York

This post is a little late in making it into the blog. You see, we've been in the process of moving over the last several weeks, and I just had a moment to sit down and try to catch-up.

A few weeks ago, we sold our home in Shrewsbury, MA (near Boston). We decided that, instead of leaving for Austin right away, we would stay another week to attend our local congregation's annual campout. What better way to say goodbye to our dear friends in the area? This presented a problem...and an opportunity. What would we do for a week, without a home? Instead of staying in a local hotel, we decide to take a little trip to some Church historical sites in the Eastern U.S. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of road trips. While I may fly over 100,000 miles every year...I can't stand long car rides. However, my wife convinced me that it wouldn't be that bad, and off we went.

Our first stop was Palmyra, New York. This was only about 6 hours away. For those that don't know, Palmyra is a very sacred place for members of the LDS Church. This is where our founding prophet, Joseph Smith, grew up. Mormons consider Joseph Smith to be a prophet, like Moses or Abraham, a man through whom Jesus Christ restored His church as it existed anciently. This part of New York is the area where he sought answers to his religious questions at age 14. Which church was right? Which one was he supposed to join? In the spring of 1820, after reading James 1:5, he knelt down in a grove of trees to find answers from God. As he was praying, our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph. He received his answer, and so much more. It's an amazing story. If you would like to know more about this account - just let me know, or check out Mormon.org. If you'd like to hear a stunning song (sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) that depicts the events, check out the video below:

We began our time there with a visit to the the Smith family home. While the original log house is long gone, a detailed reproduction stands in the same location. Inside, you saw exactly how it was like to live back in those days:

Outside, the rest of the farm was beautifully preserved. A home that the family built years later was still standing and restored to its original condition. The grounds were beautiful:

The area that Joseph experienced the visit from our Heavenly Father, is commonly referred to as the "Sacred Grove". It's a peaceful, beautiful collection of trees:

I think that any time you get to walk through a beautiful grove of trees…it can become a peaceful and profound experience. This, however, was even better for me. My vocabulary and writing skill are simply insufficient to express how I felt, walking there. Luckily, I had my family with me…and my 3 year-old G-Man had fun:

Following the wonderful experience at the farm and Sacred Grove, we went to the nearby Palmyra LDS Temple:

It's a small temple, by LDS standards. However, the location is just across the road from the farm and has beautiful trees, hills and flowers surrounding it. One feature that I absolutely adored was the two groups of stained-glass windows in the temple. In magnificent artisanship, they depict the sacred grove:

From there, we traveled into the heart of downtown Palmyra. There, you can find the Grandin Building. This is where the Book of Mormon was originally published in 1830.

I could take hours to talk about the miracles that surrounded the translation and publication of this sacred text. The Church has recently restored the building as a museum and it's such a great place to visit - as you try to understand how labor-intensive it was to publish books in the 1800s.

Inside the museum, they had a collection of paintings. One depicted a scene from the Book of Mormon - Moroni hiding the Plates in the Hill Cumorah. Painted by Tom Lovell, this is a piece of art that most LDS members grew up with. The painting in the Grandin Building is the original. I was stunned. Such a great piece of art, and something I've seen over and over again. It was like some of my visits to the Louvre - getting to see the originals!

Our adventure continued, as we made our way to an area just outside of town called Hill Cumorah. Inside the hill, a record of people living on this continent over 2,000 years ago, was deposited around 421 A.D. In 1827, these gold plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them. We now have the record as the Book of Mormon. The visitor's center and monument were just beautiful:

Inside the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center, I found a stunning piece of stained-glass art, depicting Joseph Smith receiving the gold plates:

The final stop on our visit to the Palmyra area was actually about 45 minutes away. The Peter Whitmer Farm was an important part of LDS history. On April 6, 1830, the Church was formally organized in the farmhouse.

Although the house is now a perfectly-restored reproduction, I was still amazed at what took place on this very site. To think that - what began with only six members - is now an organization with over 13 million members around the globe.

What an incredible day! Next up: Niagra Falls...