I feel like I'm really falling behind on my posts since I don't have internet access at every hotel. I can at least tell you about my two days in Palmyra, New York.
The drive from Boston was lovely, but it felt long. It was another clear and hot day until I neared Palmyra. The sky was very dark, almost black and I wondered if I'd be lucky enough to see a tornado! That's one of the things on my wish list. Earthquake was on there, too, but I experienced one in Vancouver in 2001 so that's off my list now.
Anyhow, by the time I got to the motel it was raining pretty steadily. The clerk told me they hadn't had rain in eight days. I guess for them that's a real long dry spell. I put all my bags in my room and headed out immediately to the Hill Cumorah. It was pouring so hard by then that the wipers on high couldn't keep the windshield clear and I could hardly see 40 feet in front of the car. All the traffic slowed down dramatically. Lightning was flashing and I figured, well, with this much fury it's got to blow over soon. Right?
I saw the signs for pageant parking first and then I looked over and saw the hill and I got a lump in my throat. This was it! This was the place where Moroni buried the gold plates, and then as a resurrected being gave them to Joseph Smith about 1400 years later! It was a surprisingly emotional response to seeing this place. Finally. I've been wanting to come for 21 years and today was the day I saw it with my own eyes.
I continued on towards the temple and the sacred grove but the crowds and the rain were both crazy so I continued on into the village of Palmyra to see if I could get something to eat there. I couldn't find a restaurant so I went back to Farmington to look. No luck there, either. I could choose groceries, gas station sandwiches, or take-out pizza. I opted for the pizza. I got a huge one for $15 and it fed me for a couple of days. I bought a couple of rain ponchos and got another one, thinking someone else might need one there.
I got to the Hill two hours before the show started, found a seat, draped myself, my backpack, and my chair in plastic and sat and waited. A young, newly married couple from Virginia sat next to me and we had a nice conversation before and after the show.
The rain had lessened considerably from the torrent a couple of hours previously. I had called the pageant to see if the show would still go on, and they said it certainly would and that only lightning would cancel it. About a half hour before the show the sky suddenly turned purple. We were all seated facing east, so everyone turned around to the west to see what was happening. The most amazing and vibrant purple sunset lit the sky. A few seconds before it had all been dark, and then suddenly we were treated to a most spectacular sunset. Everyone was taking pictures of it. Just a few minutes later it had faded.
A couple arrived in the rain and found seats a few rows ahead of me. They were unprepared for the weather and were quite wet. The husband had a small plastic shopping bag that he tied around his head, much to his wife's amusement. I took my remaining rain poncho to them to share and they were very grateful. They offered to get it back to me later but I told them to keep it. It had only cost me a few dollars and it felt good to have been able to help them out.
The lady next to me was very certain that the rain would be nothing but a "light mist" when the show started. I prayed many times in those couple of hours that the rain would stop, and the pageant started with an opening prayer asking Heavenly Father to "temper the elements". Just as the prayer ended the rain stopped and reduced to a very fine mist. The show started.
There were about 800 cast members and at the very beginning they all filed up from the aisles in the audience section, then scampered away to get ready for their scenes. It was all really well done. The set was impressive and versatile, the effects were really good, and the costumes were fabulous. The part that got me the most, though, was after the three days of darkness after Christ had died. All the lights were out, and the sky was dark with clouds. The voice of the Lord came through the darkness and the tears started. Oh, wouldn't it have been wonderful to hear that voice! Then the spotlights lit up Christ in the air, and then he slowly descended. He called the people to come to him, to feel the wounds in his hands and feet and side and I wanted to run up there to be with him. I just sat there and let the tears flow. I am so grateful, unbelievably grateful, to have a testimony of Christ as the Savior of us all, and to have a testimony from Heavenly Father that the Book of Mormon is real and true. I am so deeply blessed to know that.
The show was over shortly after and I got back to the motel and took a long, hot shower. It had been a long drive and it was about 11:30 when I got home, so I was good and tired.
The next morning was clear and warm and sunny and I went back to the hill to go through the visitor's center and go to the top of the hill. The visitor's center has a Christus statue, which is Christ standing with open arms, inviting us to come to him. We watched a video called "The Restoration", about Joseph Smith's prayer and his vision in the sacred grove. The spirit was very strong in there and tears came again. This restored gospel hinges on one thing; whether or not Joseph was a true prophet. I know he was, and I know this church is Christ's true church restored in these latter days. The spirit was burning strongly inside me all day.
I drove to the top of the hill and marveled to know that Moroni and Joseph, two of God's prophets, had walked this hill more than 1,000 years apart. What a privilege to be there on that hill.
I went to Palmyra next and had a tour of the E.B. Grandin printing shop where the Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830. The shop still has all the original floor boards and shelves and doors from that time. Joseph walked here, and this treasure of scripture, the Book of Mormon, was printed here for the first time. The spirit was very strong in that building, bearing witness that what happened here was so very important. I know it!
I had a bit of lunch and then went to the temple to do an endowment session. The temple is one of the small ones, and it was my first time in one of those. It was very lovely. All of the windows are stained glass and are patterned to look like trees in the sacred grove, except for the one window that looks west to the sacred grove. President Hinckely, the prophet and President of the church at that time, asked the temple committee to leave that one window with clear panes to allow the view of the sacred grove.
After the temple I went to the Smith farm and sacred grove. First was the log house the Smith family lived in when they first settled in Palmyra. It was surprisingly roomy. There were four beds in the upper level, and in the small room at the far end was where Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith. It felt very sacred in there. I still can't believe I stood in that same spot where that took place.
After a quick look through the frame house, their second and larger home on the same property (I missed most of the tour guide's talk as I was waiting to use the restroom outside), I was finally in the sacred grove. The missionaries had asked people to be reverent and quiet in there because many people liked to sit on the benches along the trails and ponder what took place in this grove.
The exact location of where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to young Joseph is unknown, but it did happen, and it happened somewhere in that patch of forest. I found a bench and sat for a long while, feeling the spirit so strongly and offering my gratitude to Heavenly Father for the opportunity to finally be there. I already knew that Joseph was a prophet and that what he said happened there really happened. I wasn't looking for a stronger testimony of that, because I already know it's true. But it was so special, all the same, to be there in the cool, quiet reverence of that grove and thank God for being part of this church in these last days.
Finally I felt it was time to go. As I walked back to the car I looked east and saw the temple on the rise, looking over the grove. This is where it all began. A simple, heartfelt prayer by a 14 year old boy set in motion amazing events that brought the full gospel of Jesus Christ back to earth for the last time, for this final gospel dispensation. And I know about it. And I know it's true. I am so blessed!
I was a little sad to drive away from Palmyra this morning, but I am looking forward to being in the city of Joseph, in Nauvoo, Illinois. Tonight I'm in Ohio but tomorrow evening I'll be within a few blocks of the Nauvoo temple. I'll be going to the Carthage jail where Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred. I wonder how that will hit me. Many years ago I watched a re-enactment of the events of June 27, 1844, performed by members of my ward. When the mob rushed the door I almost jumped out of my seat to protect Joseph. I knew I couldn't and my heart just ached. I can't imagine the Saints' pain at his loss. The enemies of the church thought the saints would be scattered and hopeless at Joseph's death, but they weren't. They grieved, got back to work amid increasing persecution, prayerfully sustained a new prophet in Brigham Young, and soon after crossed the plains to find a peaceful life in the Salt Lake valley. The church remained strong and is stronger than ever now because it is true. People are recognizing it as such and are coming to Christ through His restored gospel.
Joseph Smith is my hero. He was so faithful and dedicated and persevered even through persecution, pain, sorrow, and physical and emotional torment, and he served the Lord faithfully until his dying breath. I can't wait to meet him in the next life and thank him for all he did.
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