PALMYRA

Palmyra was wonderful! It was so nice to learn about Joseph Smith my whole life and then actually be able see where he grew up. Palmyra is a fun little city and still has the small town feel. First we went to the Smith's Farm. Here we are at the little visitors center there.

This is the house that Joseph and the Smith Family grew up in. Here is a picture of the kitchen area where they ate. After they ate dinner, Joseph Smith Sr. would get the Bible out and they all knew it was time for scripture study. You can see the Bible on the table and it is opened to James 1:5 so we read that out loud with our tour group.

I think this is Joseph's parents room which is to the right of the kitchen.

This is the boys room upstairs. We didn't get a picture of the other half of the room but there were two twin size beds that all 6 boys shared, 3 in each bed.

The girls slept in a room behind the boys room. There wasn't much room for privacy but it was such a comfortable little place and it made me want to live in a similar place, with a bathroom in it of course.
Here is the view of the temple from the Smith's farm. They cut the trees down that way so that you can overlook the Sacred Grove from inside the temple.

Most of the temples have stained glass windows or frosted windows but the 3 long and skinny windows that face the Sacred Grove are clear so that people can see the view while attending the temple. This was requested by President Hinckley.
This is a picture of the house Alvin Smith (Joseph's brother) built for his new bride and also for his parents in their old age. Notice the rocks under the fence. This is how they separate their property lines.

This is a shed where Joseph hid the gold plates in the floor boards. He was propted to move them a few times so he moved them to the atic of the shed. Some men heard that the plates were in the floor boards and that night these men tore the floor apart looking for the plates but never found them. This was not the only time that the plates were obviously protected by our Heavenly Father. It really is amazing how everything works out.

Here is the barn...

They would cut down these large tree trunks and use them for storage in there shed.




THE SACRED GROVE

The Sacred Grove is beautiful! When we started walking through it there was a youth group in the distance having a devotional and we could hear them singing hymns so it just made the moment even better. I really can't explain how peaceful it is there. It is a place where imediately you feel peace and reverance. I am so thankful that we could visit the very place where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. It is an overwhelming feeling.




BOOK OF MORMON PUBLICATION SITE

It was interesting to see what a long process it was to publish the Book of Mormon.

This is the book store on the first floor.

This was E.B. Grandin's desk (the owner of the publication site and book store). He was never a member of the LDS church but he agreed to publish the Book of Mormon the second time Joseph Smith came to him.

The Printing Press

They printed 16 pages on one big sheet of paper and then folded it so that all the pages are in order.

Here I am folding the paper and I really had to pay attention on how to fold it so all the pages were in order.

This kind of shows how they bound the books with leather.


PALMYRA TEMPLE





THE HILL CUMORAH

Palmyra is a pretty place and the view from the Hill Cumorah was incredible. They make it really convenient now so that you can drive right up to it but John and I decided we wanted the full experience so we walked. The path was paved in zig zags up the hill so it is not so steep. I know I make it sound like I can't climb a hill but this really was an accomplishment for me. It seems that being pregnant makes physical activities two times harder.








This is a trail we went down to get back to the visitors center.