Road Trip Day 7 - Palmyra, LDS Historic Sites

Today was the Sabbath; a perfect day to visit the LDS Church historical sites. We went to sacrament meeting and then went to see some places that are very sacred to me, my family, and to other members of our faith.

We started at the temple. This is where my parents are serving their mission. The grounds are always beautiful at LDS temples.

This is what my dad does when I tell him not to grimace in the photo. (I get my photogenic qualities from my dad.) 

One of the most beautiful beliefs of my religion is that family relationships continue after death and that family units can be sealed together forever. That has always been a big comfort to me.

Near the temple is a spot where you can see a wall that originally marked the border of the Smith Farm. 

I loved to imagine that I was touching stones that had been carried and carefully placed by Joseph and his brothers Hyrum and Alvin, and their father. 

I thought this trunk was cool. 

I also thought this striped rock was cool.

Smith log home. This is the first house the family built in Palmyra. It is where Joseph was living at the time of the First Vision. It is also where the Angel Moroni visited Joseph to tell him about the golden plates. 

Inside the home. 

 Upstairs where Joseph was visited by  Moroni.

Notice how the beams are held together. 

Upstairs view that Joseph would have looked out upon. 

Trap door to the cold cellar. 

Back of the house.

A short distance behind the home is a grove of trees where Joseph went to commune with God after reading James 1:5. He did not expect to see God the Father or Jesus Christ. He just wanted answers to his questions. What happened next changed history and has had a profound effect on me and the life I live. It truly is a sacred grove to me.

I liked this twisty trunk. 

Crooked Creek still runs through the grove as it did in Joseph Smith's day.

 The Smith Farm 

Honey bee hives 

Rock walls and wooden fences

A garden 

The white frame house was a better structure built by the Smiths later on. This is when they "moved" from Palmyra to Manchester (a couple hundred yards down the road). This is where Joseph brought Emma after they were married.

Joseph's mother, Lucy, made oil cloth rugs like the one shown here.

Walls

Joseph was often forced to hide the plates from those who would try to steal them from him. On one occasion, the hearth of this fireplace was dug up and a hole placed beneath it so that Joseph could put the plates there.

Lucy Smith was quite proud of her "indoor plumbing" because the water could drain right outside. 

Cold cellar 

It is possible that after Alvin died, this tree in the front yard was planted to remember him, as was customary at the time.

 

Phinneas Young's barn was moved piece by piece to the Smith Farm by the Church. Phinneas was Brigham Young's father. It was a threshing barn.

Trough

This slip would have been used for hauling things behind livestock. The cauldron could have been used for boiling sap to make sugar. 

Honey and syrup buckets

Joseph's father was a barrel maker. His shop would have looked much like this.

We watched a little fawn walk into the orchard and lay down. This is the same orchard where Joseph fell exhausted after Moroni's evening visits and where he saw him once again. 

Views of the farm 

Our last stop was the Hill Cumorah. This was the hill where Moroni led Joseph Smith to find the lost plates. It still had the stage set up from the pageant, which ended the night before. 

There is a monument there to commemorate this event. 

Tomorrow we will continue our journey and start the homeward half of our trip. I will miss my parents so very much.