Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning...

We began our day of touring Church history sites by making a stop at the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center. As I mentioned previously, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

So that you can understand why we were so excited to see these things, I will give a brief summary on what we believe. We know God loves all of his children. He puts prophets on the earth to help us. At times there have been periods of apostasy, but then God has called new prophets to teach the gospel (i.e. Noah, Abraham, and Moses.)

Before Christ was born, there were several hundred years when the gospel was not on the earth. Christ organized His church and gave priesthood authority to his apostles. With the death of these apostles, the authority of God (the priesthood) was taken from the earth. After centuries of spiritual darkness, a spiritual reformation started to occur. People wanted deeper spiritual meaning in their lives. The Reformation brought about many Protestant churches. It was during this time, in the early 1800's that a young boy named Joseph Smith prayed to God to find out which church to join. Joseph was only 14, but had faith that God would answer his prayers. He went to a grove, by his home, and offered a prayer. In his own words he said, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other -- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!!"

In this vision, Joseph Smith was told to not join any of the churches because they did not have the power of God and the correct doctrines. Over a period of many years, Joseph Smith restored the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that the same church that Jesus had in his day has been restored and brought forth again for us in these latter days -- complete with living prophets.

Matt and I had a wonderful experience in the Christus room of the visitors center. As you can see in the photo above, it depicts Christ standing in a grove of trees. The peace I felt in that room was amazing. It reminded me of the peace I feel when I am in the temple.

From the visitors center we walked up to the top of the Hill Cumorah. In this hill was buried a sacred record of ancient people on gold plates. An angel told Joseph Smith where this record was buried. Joseph Smith translated it into The Book of Mormon, which is another set of scriptures similar to the Bible, that tells the history of people on the American continent.
We went to the Palmyra Temple. Unfortunately it was closed, but we were able to walk around on the temple grounds. The temple is a sacred place where we receive blessings and are sealed to our family members for eternity. Those windows behind us are clear -- they are the only clear windows in the temple. Through those windows you can look out into the Sacred Grove, where Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ.

The photo below is the view out those windows into the Sacred Grove.

Photo of the Sacred Grove from the Joseph Smith farm.

Our first stop was a rebuilt home to look just like Joseph Smith's home growing up. Only parts of the foundation are original. This is the room where Joseph would've slept and had many visitations by the prophet, Moroni, in preparation for receiving the gold plates.

This is the Smith family kitchen. As I sat in this room, the thing that struck me was how righteous this family was. These parents must've been incredible to raise such good children like Joseph and Hyrum. The Smith family was always so faithful and supportive of Joseph as he did the work of the Lord. It gave me a renewed desire to be the best parent I can be to my children and to raise them in righteousness.

This is the other Smith home, just a few yards away. They built this home later on and 85 percent of it is original.

I loved envisioning this family living here -- Joseph walking those very floors when he was upset about Martin Harris losing some of the translated pages. Mobs entering the room, looking for the gold plates. The family enjoying dinner together. Joseph teaching his family the gospel...

This is the fireplace where the family buried the gold plates under the hearth, so the mobs wouldn't find them.

This is the Cooper's Mill where the gold plates were hidden for a time under the floorboards. Joseph Smith felt inspired to go and move them one night. He moved them to the loft that you can see in this photo. That night a mob came, looking for the gold plates. They tore up all the floorboards, but didn't bother to look in the loft. Once again, God kept his promise and protected the plates because Joseph was obedient.

Here we are in the Sacred Grove. The first day we went, it was raining. It was so beautiful in the rain. We went back the last day we were in NY, though, and were able to individually mediate in the grove. It was an amazing experience to sit with my Book of Mormon in this grove and read the Joseph Smith history where he chronicles the events that happened there. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus in this grove of trees! I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that he restored the gospel!

After our visit to Palmyra, we saw many other sites that were amazing. Our visit to the Whitmer Farm, in Fayette, was interesting. This is where Joseph Smith and other church members gathered to officially organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

We stood in this small room where many people crammed in to be there for the historic event, which included partaking of the Sacrament.

We also went to the Grandin Press, where the Book of Mormon was published. It took many, many months for them to publish the book and it was finished just a few days before the official organization of the church. I developed a renewed appreciation for that book and for what people went through to get it published. I know the Book of Mormon is true. On this trip I decided to start reading it again, cover to cover. This book teaches me about Jesus Christ and about how obeying the commandments makes our lives better. It also answers questions for me about life.

We visited the grave of Alvin Smith, Joseph Smith's oldest brother.

We went to the Martin Harris farm. Martin Harris mortgaged his farm to provide the money needed to publish the Book of Mormon.

I found this interesting... on an intersection in Palmyra are four different churches -- one on each corner. How symbolic this was to me of the spiritual unrest people felt in the early 1800's when they were searching for a church to join. Churches would compete with each other for members.

Matt decided that he really wanted to drive down to Harmony, Pennsylvania (now Susquehanna). Joseph Smith and his wife, Emma, lived there to escape persecution. The majority of the Book of Mormon was translated there. Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith received the Priesthood while there, and baptized each other in the Susquehanna River. The drive was several hours. I had a good nap in the car. Matt enjoyed the beautiful finger lakes on the drive. Our goal was to get there before the sun went down and we barely made it!

This is the cemetary, right next to Joseph's home. Joseph and Emma buried their son, Alvin here. Unfortunately it was too dark to find the grave. We tried using our camcorder light, and even called our neighbor, Rick, who is the Church history guru, but still couldn't find it.

This is the monument talking about how the Priesthood was restored here. Having the Priesthood back on the earth again is a big deal. We believe it is the power of God. It was taken from the earth back when the apostles were killed and this is the first time it was brought back. I am grateful that Matt holds the Priesthood. He has been able to bless me and my children. I don't think I fully understand everything the Priesthood is and can do, but I feel it's influence in my life.

There was not a soul in sight, so Matt set the camera on the car and used the timer. Not bad, eh?

We were exhausted at the end of this day. We put 650 miles on our rental car during the four days we were in New York, and loved every minute of it. The Sunday that we were supposed to fly home, we had a few hours and went back to the Hill Cumorah Visitor Center again. We ended our trip by watching the movie, "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration." It was awesome to see all the places in the movie first hand. I highly recommend this movie.

I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is a true book. I know that we can get closer to God by reading this book and by striving to live the commandments. I hope I never forget the feelings I felt at these places. If you want to learn more about our church, you can go to lds.org.