Here is the back of our t-shirts with our tour cities. The only thing that isn't quite accurate is that originally we had planned to stay the first night in North Platte, NE,, but ended up stay in Julesburg, CO (AKA Creepyburg). This trip was pretty much a church history tour in reverse order.
Day 8 was Palmyra, NY-- the birth place of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Our time here was sacred.
This was taken in the Smith family log cabin replica that is built on the original foundation. When our sister missionary tour guides told us -- in a way meant to shock us--that a family of eleven people lived in this cabin, a few of our kids agreed, "We could have done that". Anytime throughout these tours that there was a bedroom that had slept a lot of people, the boys would say, "This would have been our room!" So basically, our children consider their quality of life similar to that of the early pioneers.
In the upstairs loft where the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith.
The view out the back door of the threshing barn that I thought was so pretty and I wanted to remember.
Our time in the Sacred Grove-- where God, the Father and his son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith-- was just that-- sacred. I will be forever grateful for this time and this experience. And as you can see in this picture, Elinor is just about to be translated:)
It's kind of small in this picture, but Elinor and I are hugging in the Sacred Grove. We shared a miraculous experience that I won't share here, but I will say that God is good and generous and merciful and kind and he answers our prayers, very often in the very way we pray for.
Grateful.
One more picture of us, because I love it.
Abe and Faith. Here are a few of the one word descriptions we chose to describe our experience in the Sacred Grove: special, calm, powerful, miraculous, beautiful, quiet, and peaceful.
Pretty much all the church history sites are seriously out of the way. You don't just pass by them on your way. You have to want to go to them. They aren't very convenient, but they are absolutely worth it.
The gravesite of Alvin Smith, Joseph's oldest brother.
On the back side the original gravestone is embedded on the new one.
We stopped by the Martin Harris Farm.
This was a very cool moment when we had parked in front of the Grandin building (where the Book of Mormon was first published) when I saw Hank Smith-- a church celebrity of sorts-- walking with a tour group down the street! Their group split up for a bit and we snagged a picture with him. Family fan-girl moment.
Inside the Grandin Print Shop. We had a really great sister missionary tour guide and everyone agreed this was a favorite tour of the day.
It took two years to publish the
Book of Mormon. It was shocking just how slow and painstaking so many jobs were back then.
Sister Grayson recommended The Chill & Grill for an ice cream treat. We partook:)
Next up was a visit to the Hill Cumorah and the Visitor's Center there.
We hiked up the hill to see the memorial at the top. During the tour Elinor remembered a story Uncle Lane had told on one of our Memorial Day family history moments. If she remembers correctly and I'm sure she does because she has an incredible memory, we are somehow related to the guy whose face was the model for the Moroni statue atop the memorial.
Selfie on Hill Cumorah.
Our final destination for the day was the Whitmer Farm-- where the Church of Jesus Christ was officially organized. Truthfully, everyone was pretty tired at this point. We'd been on a LOT of tours! But we did it and we were glad we did.
Inside the Peter Whitmer farmhouse, where Joseph and Oliver completed the translation of the Book of Mormon. It was also in this area that the three and eight witness saw the plates.
Greta and her pose.
The kids were very ready for an evening of swimming and watching some mind numbing cartoons and shark documentaries.
He is beloved.
No comments:
Post a Comment