Palmyra, NY Part Two

This is the beautiful Palmyra temple looking out over the sacred grove. Marianne was able to go to a session the night we got there. Garrett and I went last time we visited and we loved it. The stained glass windows surrounding the outside of the temple are all scenes of the first vision and church history.

The next morning we got up and went to the Smith home tour. They took us through the first home that the Smith's lived in when Joseph was a boy.
This is the home that he lived in when he walked into the grove and received the First Vision. It is also the home where Moroni visited him three times to tell him about the golden plates. The tour takes you up into the bedroom where Joseph would have slept and Moroni appeared to him. It is amazing to me how many kids slept up there and how none of his brothers or sisters woke up during that night.

All this property was owned by the Smith family at one time. And if you head down this road you get to the frame home (pictured below) where they lived later on in Joseph's life. He lived here at different times after he was married to Emma and had to hide the plates in several places throughout this house including under the fireplace bricks and outside in their cooper shop.

This is the cooper's shop in the front of the frame house. I love the leaves in this picture!

More pretty leaves on the path to the grove.

Marianne and Nathan went ahead of us into the grove because we were looking for Carter's binky which he threw across the field. They found this amazing spot that looks exactly as I imagine the First Vision looking and read Joseph Smith's account. Then we caught up the them and sang "Oh how lovely was the morning" and then a few of us bore our testimonies. It was a great experience and we all really felt the spirit.

After our little meeting we wandered through the grove along the path. There is a lot of land through the groves so it is a beautiful walk. The kids loved seeing the leaves and talking about the First Vision together as a family.


I was struck again as I walked through the grove by my immense love and appreciation for Joseph Smith and his unwavering faith to do the Lord's will and restore God's church to the earth. I am so grateful for his willingness to be persecuted and hated and tested beyond my comprehension in order to fulfill the Lord's work and bring the gospel into the lives of millions.


After we were finished in the Grove we went to the printing shop downtown Palmyra where the first Book of Mormon was printed. Garrett and I hadn't been there before so it was really cool for us to see. They showed us the whole process of how they printing books in the early days of the church and it was a very time consuming process! Unfortunately we forgot our camera on this part of the trip so I have no pictures. It was a great trip and I think it was a really neat experience for my nephew Nathan to prepare for his baptism. We were so happy to share it with him.