Historical Sites of Palmyra

I had the good fortune of growing up in this area and visiting these places often with Seminary, Young Women, on my own or with friends and of course my family.  Later, Rick and I visited some of these places when we were dating.  But my children are growing up quite far from this area.  Making the most of our last day, we packed in as much as we could and after lunch we headed to Palmyra.  After a visit to the book store where everyone seemed to drop their remaining spending money we went to visit the Joseph Smith Home.  The family lived in a little cabin that I love going through.  Smaller than my home, their larger family lived here.  I love imagining what life would have been like for them and thinking about the wonderful things that took place here.  I love the rustic look of this house and its contents.  I love the quilts on the beds.

There was a girls bedroom up in the attic on one side and a boys bedroom on the other side.  There were three children to each bed and two or three children shared a trunk at the foot of each bed to keep their clothes in as well as any sparse belongings they might have had.  The Church has put central air into the cabin to make it a little more comfortable for visitors.  Upstairs was still very warm.  I have a hard time imagining how uncomfortable it would be to sleep up there or cook downstairs in the fireplace without even a fan during the summertime.  And then the flip side is the winter with its length and its cold up in this region, trying to sleep in a freezing attic.  You had to be hearty back then.

While their cabin is smaller than my house they have a more open living space since it must have a multi-function effect.  Upon first glance, their place settings look much like my plate ware for camping.  I was allowed to pick it up, however, and it was MUCH heavier.  Definitely not the same.

On our way down the path from the cabin to the frame home where the Smith family later lived you can catch a glimpse of the Palmyra Temple off to the left.  Nathan, who was toddling along behind us, heard a couple of the children and I talking about the view and looked over.  He got all excited and started calling to me “Mom!  I see a Temple!”  I picked him up so he could get a better look and he pointed at it saying “Look!  A Temple!”  Usually this is just a picture to him so he was very happy to see one with his own eyes right there in the distance.  He wanted to stay and look at it but I told him we needed to go and we would see it up close later. 

The frame home was a little bigger, designed to be a home to the oldest Smith boy’s family as well as his aging parents.  Alvin, however, died before the home was finished.  My children enjoyed picking up the loose bricks on the hearth where the plates were hidden at one point from the mob.  Try imagining what that must have been like.  The kitchen was large and airy.  I would like a big kitchen like this.  It featured a self draining sink; very modern for its time.

Here is one of the bedrooms.  This one cannot be entered but I enjoyed looking at it from the doorway.  On the right is Kaitlyn walking behind the exterior of the frame home.  This house might be slightly larger than my home, but it was built to hold more people.  Something that struck me was how neat and clean everything was kept, including the cellar (which I could only glance down the staircase at).  I think they had to be fairly neat and clean to maintain sanity with so many people living in a small space.  Also, life depended on everyone doing their part.  Clearly there was a strong work ethic going here.

Here is one of the barns near the home… and this is artwork that tells part of the story out on the grounds.

Here are some of the fields out past the barn on the way out to the Sacred Grove.  The split rail fence and Queen Anne’s Lace look beautiful in the afternoon sun under a blue sky.

I always like crossing this tiny bridge and looking down at the little stream running under it.  We spotted some frogs in the shallow water this time.  I don’t remember when I was last here in the summer time to see frogs.  Whenever we’ve come here in the recent past it’s been during the winter so as to avoid the Pageant crowds so this was a nice treat.

We entered the Sacred Grove enjoying its deep shade and the special spirit that can be felt here as we thought about Joseph Smith praying somewhere here in these trees and then seeing God the Father and His Son who called Joseph by name, knowing him as an individual and answering his prayers.  Nathan took advantage of the dim coolness as he rode in the stroller and fell asleep. 

Kaitlyn played among the trees and rocks quietly.

Here are my girls.  1… 2…                                 And 3!

My sister and nephew met up with us mid-way through the Grove.  We enjoyed picking up with our visit where we left off.  Kaitlyn enjoyed some “space” this afternoon, wanting to be within sight but on her own.  Vacations sometimes give the feeling of more closeness than usual that doesn’t let up.

I keep trying to catch all five children in the photo but my camera is never quite fast enough… two seconds too slow and Nathan was gone.  I found all 5 looking over the bridge just prior.

Here are some of the beautiful flowers just outside of the Visitor’s Center.

Porter came toddling along next to his Mom at the end of our visit to the Grove and found his Daddy in the parking lot!  What a nice surprise.

From there we headed over to the Hill Cumorah and decided to go into the Visitor’s Center there to see the Christus.  My children have always been fascinated with this lit up at night through the window, even as babies when we would stop to look at it at night after the Pageant was over with.  We got all six of our squirmy children in the frame and were pleased with this success.

We declined doing anything else in the Visitor’s Center, there being too much to do with the time we had left, and we began our climb up the side of Hill Cumorah.  I tried to imagine what this climb would have been like off in the rugged terrain in the dark of night.  Parts of this climb are pretty steep so you kind of zig-zag your way up on the paved path.  The view from the top is beautiful.

Here we are at the top under the statue of Moroni, who was the last of his people and the last ancient prophet to make an engraved record on the plates of gold before hiding the record in the ground to protect it from the Lamanites and to be saved for approximately 1500 years until the Latter Days, now translated and known as The Book of Mormon (Mormon being the father of Moroni).  One of my favorite stories in The Book of Mormon is the story of Christ appearing, visiting and teaching the people in the Americas after he was crucified and rose again just as the Bible tells of Christ and his life and resurrection in the Old World.  Some people think that “Mormons”, as we are commonly referred to, are NOT Christians when quite the opposite is true.  The fact that we do believe in Jesus Christ should be evident by the name our church bears; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We spent a little bit of time at the top of the Hill visiting and admiring the view from our height.

I got a picture of everyone sitting still accept for Nathan who was on the move ever since his brief nap ended in the stroller.

Rachael’s arms were full with two squirmy little boys who were loving being together.

Here is a view of the monument looking up and the center pic is one of the engravings at the base of it. 

Before leaving, Isaac asked if he could get a group shot of our family for us.  We took a good number of these trying to get a good one and this one appears to be the best that we got.  We were all warm, tired and starting to get hungry.

We quickly drove over to the Palmyra New York Temple just a short distance away.  It was Monday night, Family Night, and so the parking lot was empty and we had the grounds mostly to ourselves.  Nathan was so excited to see the temple right in front of him.  There was no doubt that Nathan knew where he was.  This is the temple where Rachael and Isaac were married almost six years ago now and it is a beautiful place to be.

Whenever I see the stone with the date I remember President Gordon B. Hinckley, whom I love.  I watched him put mortar around that stone on the day that this temple was dedicated in April (6th?), 2000.  I used my recommend to get into a Stake Center down in Kentucky that was set up that morning to show the dedication via satellite and I felt so fortunate to take part in this from such a great distance.  This was a little bit unusual so I knew I was lucky to feel a little of “home” that day.  During President Hinckley’s years as Prophet the temples were brought to the people.  Our temples are now smaller but so many of them dot the Earth now that they are much more easily accessible which is a wonderful thing. 

As I see little Porter reaching up at the entrance I can’t help but hum our little Primary song in my mind:

“I love to see the temple.  I’m going there someday To feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray.  For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty.  I’ll prepare myself while I am young;  This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple.  I’ll go inside someday. I’ll covenant with my Father,  I’ll promise to obey.  For the temple is a holy place where we are sealed together.  As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth: A family is forever.”

We were enjoying the peaceful grounds outside of the Temple and admiring some of the stained glass that we could see which depicts various parts of the local church history and are unique to this Temple alone.

Nathan on his way to the next set of flowers.

Here is a photo of the grounds out behind the Temple.  This is probably the only temple I have seen where it is not built up all around it.  Kaitlyn ponders alone on the side of the hill next to the Temple.  A beautiful day has turned into a beautiful evening.

I catch a few pictures of some of the flowers growing on the grounds.

Nathan and Tristan agree that if this tree were in a different location it would be the perfect climbing tree.  I must have taught Tristan something for him to come up with that on his own.  I’ll take any sign of success whenever I can get it.  Much of parenting is hopeful.  There are very few times when you can actually measure progress.  Tristan stated this all on his own.  Nathan somehow just gave the tree a pat, though it must have been tempting.

I’m happy that my children were able to wander the grounds of temple on this evening and feel the spirit here about this place.  I’m grateful for blessings the temple has given to me and my family.  It is a very special place; here Heaven and Earth are blended together and bless our eternities when we keep our promises.  We had a wonderfully lovely day.