New York Church History

We planned our NYC trip around wanting to visit the Hill Cumorah Pageant. So, we left NYC on Thursday morning. We took the subway to a station where we could catch a train to the New Jersey Airport. There, we rented a giant white van. I think it was a 12 seater. They didn't have any 8 seaters, so we all got to spread out a little. From there we drove first to Pennsylvania to stop at the Priesthood Restoration site which was just recently fixed up. We watched a great film there that is only shown there. We got to see a replica of the home that Emma grew up in and walked down to the river where Joseph and Oliver were baptized.












Then we headed toward Palmyra and stayed the night in a town about 10 minutes away. The next morning we headed into Palmyra and first visited Joseph Smith's homestead and the Sacred Grove. While we were in the Sacred Grove, a thunderstorm came and poured buckets of water on us. We were thinking about just waiting it out, but Kate was freaking out. Im not sure if it was the thunder that was scaring her or the fact that she was getting drenched. We Southern Californians are not used to thunderstorms. We finally decided to run for the car. We got soaked, and Carter managed to get a video of Kate freaking out so someday she can look back and laugh at herself. We drove to the Palmyra temple and walked around the grounds while the sun was out. It didn't take long to dry off. We decided to go back to the Sacred Grove. It had felt like our visit was cut short from the storm. It was really neat to be there. I felt an appreciation for Joseph Smith and all he went through to restore the gospel. It was truly a sacrifice for him and his family.

After the Sacred Grove, we visited the Peter Whitmer Farm which was fun and went through the printing shop in Palmyra where the Book of Mormon was printed. Then, we headed off to the Pageant. I was so tired and at one point, I couldn't sit up anymore. I laid down in front of our chairs...we were just waiting for the show to start. The pageant participants were walking around and visiting with people, so when three ladies came and started talking to us, I woke up and visited. :) It was neat to see people come together from all over and put together the pageant in like a week. It was beautiful and fun to watch.