Palmyra

There are many wonderful things about living in Philadelphia.  (I tell myself these things on a daily basis so I don't get too down about living in a new place, very far away from family and friends.)  Here are a few of the things that I have really enjoyed while being here in Philly.

1) Produce Junction - I can buy 2 lbs of red peppers for $2.  That's even better than Winco's prices!
2) The fall leaves - if I had a better camera (don't worry, it's on my 'to do' list) then I could try to capture the bright orange and yellow leaves that I have been seeing around our town.  Maybe next year.
3) Friends - We live next to a few young LDS families who are have lived in Philly for a few years so the husband could attend graduate school.  It's been nice to have friends so close to us.
4) Historical sites- We live very close to many tourist sites... all of which are completely new to me and very exciting.  Hopefully this will encourage you to come visit the east coast and stay with us in Philly!

That's all I can think of right now.  Anyways, one of the historical sites that David and I decided to see this weekend was Palmyra, NY, where Joseph Smith grew up.  David just finished 3 tests, and had Friday off from school.  So we left early Friday morning (10:00 am) to drive 6 hours north to Palmyra.  Along the way we stopped in Harmony, PA (now called Oakland, PA) to see where the Aaronic Priesthood was restored.  There is a monument at this site, which explains how John the Baptist appeared and confirmed the priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry.  We also saw the burial site of Alvin Smith, Joseph and Emma's first child.  Emma's parents were buried next to Alvin.

David next to the monument

Alvin Smith's grave- with restoration grave around it

Right after the Priesthood restoration site, we jumped in the car and headed to Palmyra.  We were only in the car for a few minutes when we entered the state of New York.  I missed seeing the "Welcome" sign on the side of the road.  Being so patient and kind, David quickly found the nearest exit and retraced our route so I could see the NY state sign.  We entered NY twice that day.

We arrived in Palmyra and checked into the Liberty Bed and Breakfast.  We decided to spend the final hour of daylight in the Sacred Grove.  I was very excited to walk in the Sacred Grove- where Joseph saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  It was a chilly, but sunny, fall day.  The leaves had changed colors and were falling to the ground as we walked around the Sacred Grove.   It was very peaceful and beautiful inside the grove.

David in the Sacred Grove

The Sacred Grove during fall

After we walked through the Sacred Grove, the sun went down and all sight-seeing went out the window.   The only alternative was finding a place to eat dinner. We drove into Rochester, NY to find a buffet.  I learned that I don't like the Old Country Buffet, and will not eat there again unless I bring along some hand sanitizer or baby wipes.

We stayed the night in the Liberty Bed and Breakfast.  A portion of this Victorian home existed during Joseph Smith's time.  It was located right next to the famous "Four Churches" intersection in Palmyra.  In the morning we had a delicious breakfast- everything completly homemade by someone other than myself.  It was very nice.  We ate chocolate muffins, fruit salad, french toast with berries, ham, eggs, hot chocolate, and orange juice.  I passed on the coffee.

We began our day by visiting Alvin Smith's grave (Joseph's older brother).  Alvin was a strong support for Joseph.  Later, after his death, Joseph was concerned that Alvin had died before the church was reorganized and was, therefore, not baptized.  From this inquiry came the revelation of temple work and baptism for the dead.

Alvin's original grave, with the restoration grave around it

Next, we went to the Grandin Print Shop, where the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed.  On our tour we learned about the many steps needed to make each copy of the Book of Mormon.  It made me incredibly grateful for a computer and printer.  Some things that I learned about the Grandin shop and the printing of the Book of Mormon were:

• E.B. Grandin was paid $3,000 to print 5,000 books.  Martin Harris mortgaged his farm to finance the money.
• The Erie Canal allowed Grandin to come to Palmyra and set up his print shop. He used the Canal for getting supplies and distributing his finished products.  I know Heavenly Father had his hand in this decision, and was preparing the way for the Book of Mormon to come forth.
• Each copy of the Book of Mormon cost $1.25.  This was equivalent to 2 days of work.

This is the exact room where the Book of Mormon was printed. 
This is the original floor, and you can still see black ink stains.

We then headed over to the Palmyra temple.  Our orignial plan was to attend the temple on our trip.  However, the temple was closed for cleaning, so we just walked around it.  The temple is located on the land where Joseph Smith grew up. It overlooks the Sacred Grove. An interesting fact- there is a window in this temple that was left transparent, at the request of President Hinckely, to provide a view of the Sacred Grove.

The front of the Palmyra temple

This is looking at the temple from the Smith's home...close to the Sacred Grove. 
You can see the area that was left open to provide the view of the grove.

Our next stop was the Smith family farm.  Joseph was born in Sharon Vermont.  This is where he had the surgery on his leg.  Joseph's family had a difficult time prospering in Sharon, VT, so Joseph Smith Sr. decided to venture down to a town called Palmyra, NY.  After finding fertile land, he sent word to his family to join him.  As Lucy moved her family and belongings to Palmyra, something special, and significant, happened to Joseph.  He was playing with another boy his age in the traveling company.  Joseph and this boy got into a little tussle, Joseph fell out of the wagon and hit his head against a rock.  No one knew about the accident, and the wagon train moved on.  When Joseph came to, he found himself in a pool of blood.  His next memory was a man who came and scooped Joseph in his arms and carried him the rest of the way to Palmyra.  No one knows who the man was, but we do know that Heavenly Father had an important work for Joseph to do.

 Joseph Smith Sr. owned 100 acres of land.  Hyrum bought 80 acres of land adjacent to his father's property.  The first Smith family dwelling was a log home and was built on Hyrum's property.  The original foundation of the home was found, and a replica of Joseph's house was built on the same foundation.  They used the trees from surrounding areas to make the log home as authentic as possible.  Interesting fact- when the Church was restoring this home, they found a gold bead in a portion of the foundation.  Lucy Smith, Joseph's mother, recorded a story about a gold beaded necklace that she broke.  She found all the beads except three.  This was one of her beads.

In front of the Smith family log home.

I actually really liked this home- it seemed quite cozy.  There was a kitchen, parents bedroom, and birthing room on the bottom floor.  Upstairs there was a larger room used as the boys bedroom (6 boys) and a smaller room used as the girls bedroom (2 girls).  The Smith family had 9 living children total, 6 boys and 3 girls.  The youngest girl, Lucy, slept in the small birthing bedroom adjacent to the parent's room.  I always knew the youngest was spoiled :)  The small birthing room was also used as a sick room.  This room is where Alvin Smith died at age 25.  In this home Joseph was taught about the Bible.  With the religious revival occuring during that time - there were 18 churches located in the small town of Palmyra- Joseph was quite confused on which church to join.  This is the home where Joseph first heard/read James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God."  This scripture spurred Joseph's prayer in the Sacred Grove.

This picture is blurry, but I still wanted to add it.  This is in the upstairs room of the log home, where Moroni appeared to Joseph to teach him about the gold plates.

While the Smith's lived in this small log home, they were building a larger framed home on Joseph Smith Sr.'s property.  We walked over to this home next.  This house is 85% original from the time Joseph lived in it.  It was quite a bit larger, but the tour only allowed us to view the downstairs.  We didn't get a picture of this home, but I did take a picture of the tree next to the home.  This tree was planted in memory of Alvin Smith.  It was called the Alvin tree and still stands today.

The Alvin Tree

One of the neat things about this frame home was the original brick in the fireplace.  On one occasion Joseph hid the plates underneath this fireplace brick to keep them safe from a mob.  Our picture is blurry, but I still wanted to add it.

There is also a barn next to this frame home (we didn't get a picture of it).  The Smith's original barn was destroyed.  After the Church did some research, they found a barn that was built during the same time period as the Smith's barn.  They disesembled the barn they had found and rebuilt on this site.  This barn had originally belonged to Brigham Young's father- pretty neat!

The next stop was Hill Cumorah.  We took the tour of the visitor's center and then HIKED up the hill to the monument.  I didn't realize how steep this hill actually was until I saw it and hiked it. (Dad, you should add this to your list of "Places to hike.")  It didn't take very long to hike- about 4 minutes.  David took a view from the top.

The Monument on the top of Hill Cumorah

Our last stop in Palmyra was Martin Harris' home and farm.  There are no tours at this home, I think senior missionaries live in it.  We took a picture outside the home.  This is not Martin's original home.  His burned down and this one was built in it's place.  The rocks used on the outside of the home were pretty neat.

On our way back to Philadelphia we stopped at the Peter Whitmer home in Fayette, NY.  This farm is about 45 minutes south of Palmyra.  This home was where the church was orgnaized on April 6, 1830.  There were about 50 people in attedance in this little home.  Afterwards, there were people who were baptized in a local body of water to become members of the church.  I found it interesting that Joseph and Oliver were the first to be baptized- they were previously baptized in the Sesquahana River (for entrance into God's kingdom), but now needed to be baptized for membership in this new church.

Here are some interesting facts about the Peter Whitmer farm. 

• David Whitmer (Peter's son) had met Oliver Cowdry on his way down to Harmony, PA.  Oliver was meeting Joseph in Harmony to be his scribe as he translated the Book of Mormon.  David wanted Oliver to send word when he learned more about Joseph Smith and the golden plates.  When it became difficult in Harmony, Joseph and Oliver searched for a new place to finish the translation of the Book of Mormon.  Oliver contacted David.  David Whitmer pleaded with his father to allow Joseph and Oliver to come to their home.  Peter insisted that there was too much work to do on the farm, and Joseph would not be allowed to come until all the work was done.  David decided he could work hard and get two days work done in one day.  When he finished his work he asked his father again.  Peter explained that the fields needed to be covered in plaster of paris before anyone could come to the farm.  This project would take a long time, and required much work.  However, that night the Whitmer family went to bed.  When they woke in the morning they found their fields covered in plaster of paris.  The job had been completed in the middle of the night.  David's sister, who lived near by, reports seeing 3 men working throughout the night to cover the fields.  No one knows who the men were... you can defnitely tell Heavenly Father was helping the gospel work move along.  This was a little miracle that allowed Joseph and Oliver to finish translating the Book of Mormon at David Whitmer's house.
• The church was formally organized on April 6, 1830.  This home was the location of the first meeting (and probably the first two general conferences).

• In the fields next to the Whitmer home, an angel showed Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdry, and David Whitmer the gold plates.  They are the three witnesses and have shared their testimony of this experience in the Book of Momon.

Inisde the home where the Church was organized.

We loved our mini-vacation to Palmyra.  I know this post was long, but there were so many little stories and details that I wanted to share so I wouldn't forget them later.  After our stay in the bed and breakfast, I'm considering starting my own Bed and Breakfast company here in Philadelphia... in our home.  We have a spare bedroom... anyone interested?