The Great 2013 Vacation: Palmyra (Day 2)

A lot to cover for this day's entry, so I better jump right in.  The first place we visited on day 2 was the Sacred Grove--the place where Joseph Smith received his First Vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ.  As we approached the area (which also has the recreated log cabin where the Smith's first lived when they moved to the area and the frame house they moved into later), I began noticing differences from our previous visit.  A visitor's center with a parking lot had been built north of the log cabin.  I remembered a makeshift gravel parking lot next to the cabin, but it was no longer there--the road had been realigned.  Tours had not started, so we decided to go into the grove first and quickly discovered access to the grove from the parking lot (another new wrinkle).  Several markers reviewing the Smith family's life on the farm as well as other markers discussing how the First Vision and the showing of the gold plates (from which the Book of Mormon was translated) by Joseph to the eight witnesses occurred in the grove lined the path.  As we entered the grove, the walking trail leading from the center was narrow and covered with a crushed, red gravel which gave way to a packed dirt path that was a bit wider.  Benches were interspersed throughout the grove, but the larger "gathering" areas (for lack of a better descriptive word) had disappeared.  We read the markers and talked about them.  Eventually, each of us had quiet moment to reflect, the only sound was our shoes crunching on the path.  After a while, we found a place to sit and take some pictures.  I was very impressed with the care that has been taken with the grove.  The caretakers have tried diligently to preserve the "pristine" feel while allowing visitors to walk through the area and reflect on the significance of this place.  The spirit I felt was calm, peaceful and reassuring.

Sacred Grove Entrance



Sacred Grove

After walking along most of the trails inside the grove, we exited using the path leading to the Smith Family frame house and found this area to be completely altered as well.  The crushed gravel returned.  A bathroom facility, built on the outside to look as though it belong in the 1800's, was located about 100 feet outside the grove entrance/exit.  An old style fence (put together in a way one could picture Smith's building it) lined the left and right sides of the path.  More signs explained the way the family cleared the land and used it.  One of the signs talked about an apple orchard planted not far from where the frame house was built.  As I looked toward the house, barn, and cooper's shop some 200 yards or so from where we stood, I noticed another fenced off area with apple trees.  Again, I was very impressed with the care and eye for detail exhibited in giving the land an authentic feel--I could picture the family leaving their log cabin or frame house to work in the fields and care for their farm.

Smith Family Farm

Smith Family Log Cabin

Smith Family Frame Home

Barn

Cooper's Shed

Having spent about an hour or so in the Sacred Grove, we walked back to the visitor's center to be taken on tour through the Smith Family log cabin and frame house.  The cabin was pretty much as I remembered it from our previous visit.  After the foundation was unearthed, the cabin was rebuilt.  Written records were used to recreate the home as accurately as possible.  It was a modest place for a family of their size to live in while they cleared and cultivated the land and built their farm.  It was here Joseph returned after receiving his vision of the Father and the Son and it was here, in the upstairs bedroom, where Moroni appeared nearly 3 1/2 years later.

The frame house was the place I was very interested to see.  On our last visit, it wasn't open to the public as it was being remodeled to restore it back to its original form.  In the yard was a huge tree which may have been the "Alvin tree" planted in memory of Alvin after his death.  One aspect pointed out to us when we entered the home was that some of the rooms had oil cloth rugs on the floor.  Lucy Mack Smith would make these and sell them as a way to help supplement the family's income.  This was where the Smith's were living when Moroni entrusted the golden plates to Joseph to translate.  There were several places in the house where he hid them: in the bed of his younger sisters while they were underneath the covers pretending to be asleep, under the bricks of the fireplace hearth in the living room, in a box belonging to Hyrum and in the cooper's shed.  I very much enjoyed being able to enter the frame home this time and to get a feel for what everyday life may have been like for the family (we were all impressed with the soapstone sink in the kitchen--it looked as though it should have been rough, but we all found it to be smooth to the touch).  After looking at the barn (which was actually a barn built by Brigham Young's father--it had been moved to Palmyra to double as the Smith barn) and the cooper's shed, it was time to move on to the Hill Cumorah.

 

At the visitor's center at Cumorah, we met the second sister missionary who made an impression on us: Sister West from Idaho.  She greeted us as we walked into the visitor's center, asked us some questions and brought us into the room where the statue of Jesus was located.  One of the best pictures of the four us was taken by her.  After playing the recording of the words of Jesus taken from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, she asked if we had time to see a video.  We did, so she lead us into a small "theater" and showed us a movie about families based on the principles taught in the Proclamation on the Family.  When the movie ended, she came back into the theater and asked us how we felt about what we had seen.  For me, the combination of listening to the words of Christ while contemplating the statue and seeing the movie really struck me.  My family means so much to me and I love my wife and sons very much.  They have helped me to become a better husband and father, and I hope I have helped them in return.  When we base our lives on the teachings of Jesus and try our best to follow His example our family relationships become even better.  Seeing that statue, with the arms outstretched, reminded me that Jesus wants to lift us up--to draw us into His embrace, but he cannot do it unless we make the effort to come to Him.  She asked us if there were any names that came to mind who she could call and share a message.  At that moment, no names came to mind, but she told us we were a great family and had a good spirit about us.  "I think," she began and then stopped, "no, I know there is someone out there for you to share the gospel with."  In light of the calling I received about a week after we returned home--ward mission leader--I can't help but wonder if this was what she meant.

Moroni Statue @ the top of the Hill Cumorah

After parting from her, we looked at other presentations throughout the visitor's center and then went outside to climb the Hill Cumorah to see the statue of Moroni at the top.  This was the second thing we were able to do this trip that we had not 13 years earlier.  By the time we visited Palmyra back then, the Hill Cumorah Pageant was only a week away--missed it by that much.  Because the stage was built and electrical wires and such were on the path leading to the statue, the path was blocked and we couldn't get close to it.  This time we were able to take a close look at statue and take pictures.  Later, when we returned to the bottom of the hill, Ben and Isaac wanted to "recreate" a moment from our original trip when I had Isaac strapped to my back in a carrier while I chased Ben around on the grass.  Luckily, they didn't want me to strap Isaac to my back again, but they wanted me to chase them until I caught them.  I learned 2 things from this exercise: 1) my boys are a lot faster than they were 13 years ago (obviously); and 2) once I finally did catch them both (and I did), I was done.

                 

Our next stop was to find the old town cemetery and locate Alvin Smith's grave site.  His original stone marker has been replaced with a more modern marker, but this marker incorporates the original headstone in the back.  We then walked to the corner of Main and (appropriately enough) Church Street where an Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian church stands on each corner.  None of these churches were built at the time Joseph Smith lived in Palmyra (although the plaque on the Presbyterian church says it was erected in 1832), but if these buildings stand where former church buildings once stood, I could imagine the confusion Joseph felt as the various congregants spilled into the street after Sunday services and began heated debates over various points of doctrine and beliefs (See JS-H 1:5-6).  From there, we drove down Main Street a short distance and visited the E. B. Grandin Print Shop where the Book of Mormon was first published.  It was fun being reminded of how the Book of Mormon was printed and the painstaking effort of the printers back in that day.  I think about how the type setters had to set up each printed line backwards and how I probably would have screwed up that process.

Palmyra Temple

The final stop of our Palmyra stop was a trip to the temple.  Ben wanted to recreate his "Hi, Moroni, we're going to have lunch now" moment.  I gave him a signal when I started the video camera . . . and he immediately flubbed his line and had to try again.  We slowly walked along the sidewalk, taking in the peaceful feeling surrounding that sacred edifice.  When we reached the place where the capstone is located, I asked the boys if they would like to bear their testimonies as a way to update their prior visit.  It was happy to find them willing to do so and gratified to hear what they had to say.  It was a great experience to return again to Palmyra and to be uplifted and strengthened in my own testimony as to the events that took place in this relatively obscure area of upstate New York. 



As I mentioned earlier, Niagara Falls was the final "mystery place" of our vacation.  It didn't take too long for everyone to figure out where we were headed (the road signs gave it away).  I was the only person of the four of us who had been to the falls--visiting a little over 30 years ago as a teenager.  When we finally arrived, I was quickly reminded of how massive and powerful they are.  We spent a couple of hours there.  We didn't have time to take the tours down to the base of the falls or to ride a ferry, but the perspectives we saw were good enough.  Seeing this natural wonder caused Ben to rethink the other waterfalls he has seen during his 16 years.  He told me the falls he used to think were big would now be classified as "decent sized."  Isaac liked the power of them.  Jennifer thought they were beautiful.  Another two hours of driving from Niagara got us back into Pennsylvania and our second rendezvous with Steak 'n Shake.  We were greeted by statues of Elvis and the Blues Brothers and had another good meal and yummy shakes.  It was dark when we arrived at the Erie KOA.  We put up our tent for the first time in five nights and crashed.