Palmyra, New York

The last leg of our Pinehurst, NC / Niagara Falls trip was to visit Palmyra, New York. Since being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1989, I have longed to visit the sacred historic sights of the Restoration. There are not words to relay the deep feelings and impressions of my heart of this profound experience. I will only say at this time that my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith increased a thousand fold! How I love that great Prophet and I am so grateful for his sacrifice in restoring the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ back to the Earth ending the long period of darkness.

The first stop in Palmyra was the Hill Cumorah and the visitor center there.






This is a statue of the "First Vision" in the visitor center on the Smith Family Farm.


This is the "Frame Home" of the Smith family. This home is 85-95% original. In November of 1822, Alvin, the oldest son of Joesph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith began construction of this home for his future family and for the comfort of his parents in their advancing years. On November 19, 1823 Alvin unexpectedly dies at the young age of 26 years. At the time of his death the home is not complete. In the fall of 1825 the Smith family moves into the Frame Home although the interior is largely unfinished. They finish the home and in December with only one payment left they lose ownership of the farm.
This is the kitchen of the Frame Home.

This is a bedroom in the Frame Home.

This is a bedroom/birthing room where Joseph Smith, Jr. youngest sister Lucy was born July 18, 1821. The wall on the far side is the original whitewash.

Dave and me standing in the kitchen of the Frame Home.



The Smith Family moves from Norwich, Vermont, to Palmyra, New York with their six sons and two daughters. They build this Log Home in 1818-1819.
This is the kitchen in the Log Home (The Log Home is reconstructed by hand and dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley on March 27, 1998).
This is one of two bedrooms upstairs in the Log Home where the sons and daughters of Joseph and Lucy slept. This is where the Angel Moroni visited Joseph, Jr. three times on the night of September 21, 1823.


This is one of my favorite pictures. It is taken just outside the Log Home looking towards the Sacred Grove.

I love this picture also. It is the trial leading into the Sacred Grove. The next three pictures are taken inside the Sacred Grove. We spent about two hours in the peaceful and beautiful grove of trees. Once again the Spirit that is felt cannot be described with words.






This historic building was constructed in 1823 upon the completion of the Erie Canal. It is here that E.B. Grandin directed the printing of the 5,000 copies of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. Typesetting from the printer's manuscript began in August 1829, and the project was completed in March 1830.

This is the printing press. I have a new appreciation for the painstaking process of the translation and printing of the sacred record called the Book of Mormon. I think that no truer words were said than that of John Taylor, "that the Book of Mormon...cost the best blood of the nineteenth century..." D&C 135:6




These three pictures are of the Palmyra Temple. The temple is built on the original Smith Farm. It was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley on April 6, 2000. Dave and I attended the 6pm session just before heading back to our hotel at the airport in Buffalo. We had to leave the next morning, Oct. 25, to head back to Salt Lake.



This is my testimony, that "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it...He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood"--D&C 135:3

"SHALL WE NOT GO ON IN SO GREAT A CAUSE"