Church History Upstate New York

The next leg of our Memorial Day weekend trip was the Ohio and New York state Church history sites. What a wonderful experience to be able to take our children to see some amazing church history sites. I can't say they were truly reverent, but I think the older ones got the jist of what they were seeing! I didn't expect to have a deep spiritual experience, with small children in tow- but to be in the places that amazing events took place always sends something to the heart. Now I can say that I have seem almost all of the historic church history sites- including Nauvoo, everything in Utah, the Missouri sites, and even the Mormon Batalion Historic Visitor Center in San Diego (which was only last year!) Now we can add the Ohio and New York sites- from one side of the country to another in just a year or so.

Anyway- Palmyra was our next stop.

The Hill Camorah visitor center and monument (with a view from the top of the hill where they have the pageant):





The Temple (which is right by the Smith Farm, and right down the road from where we stayed!




The Smith Log Home:



The Smith Frame Home:






The Sacred Grove was the best part of our visit. The quiet, cool woods were so peaceful and we could sense the importance of what happened there. Again, being there with small children meant for a different kind of experience- not an intense spiritual experience, but a sense of "this is right- this is where we are supposed to be- and this IS what we believe". Actually, as a mother of small children, this seems to be the kinds of experiences I have most of the time. I learned that at this season of my life- this is exactly what I need. It doesn't have to be the intense spiritual experiences of my youth- just enough to know that my chosen path is the right one and the peace that comes with that. Anyway, it felt like we had left the world and it was just our family- the people I most love in this world.

Outside the grove:



Inside the grove:

I was so proud of Cynthia. The first thing she did when she entered the grove was find a nice bench and pray.




Enjoying the scenery at the Smith Farm and outside the Sacred Grove, I was amazed at the beauty of this world, and of the Gospel.



In the main city of Palmyra, we visited the Book of Mormon Publishing site- where the Book of Mormon was very first printed. The visitor center is incredible, actually, with the historic printing presses and store front, and even original LDS artwork and other historical artifacts.






Besides a little side trip to the Rochester Science Center (our Detroit Science Center pass got us in for free) for a few hourse while Jon stayed behind for Tyler to take a nap, our other stop of the area was the Peter Whitmer Log home. This is the site where the church officially was organized on April 6, 1830.

A few pictures at the Science Center:



The Peter Whitmer Log home and visitor center: