Pageant and Palmyra

What a trip we enjoyed to the Hill Cumorah Pageant and other church history sites in Palmyra, NY! 

B & B's, outdoor uplifting pageant, strengthened faith in the Restoration of the fullness of the gospel, eating delicious food, and beautiful vistas through the Finger Lakes. Loved it whole heartedly.

These places are important to us because it was in Palmayra that the young man Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God and restored many lost truths and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These plain and precious truths were lost through centuries of wickedness and lost priesthood power on the earth.

Jared and I love old Bed and Breakfast joints. Something about them makes us feel richer than we are. Like this one was located on "millionaire's row." Yeah, we're millionaires. :)

Our day was very full. We visited the sacred grove, where Joseph Smith went to pray when he was 14 years old. In his town, there was a great religious revival and many religious sects contended to grown their congregations and prove the others wrong. He wanted to join the right group and studied the Bible in search of an answer. His own words of what led up to his experience here goes like this:

"In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be^aright, which is it, and how shall I know it?

 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of ^aJames, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack ^bwisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

 Never did any passage of ^ascripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed ^bwisdomfrom God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects ^cunderstood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in^adarkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God..."

"So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the ^awoods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a ^bbeautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to ^cpray ^dvocally...

I saw a pillar of ^clight exactly over my head, above the brightness of the ^dsun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I^bsaw two ^cPersonages, whose brightness and ^dglory defy all description, ^estanding above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My^fBeloved ^gSon. Hear Him!

My object in going to ^ainquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.

I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all^awrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those ^bprofessors were all ^ccorrupt; that: “they ^ddraw near to me with their lips, but their ^ehearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the^fcommandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the ^gpower thereof.”

We reread those words while in this special place and had a beautiful experience. We read Joseph Smith's history and then prayed as a family. The Spirit was there and we had a peaceful reminder that what we read is true. It was the first time I have been able to that with my little family. Very special. 

This monument is erected on top of the Hill Cumorah. On this very hill in the year 421 AD Moroni, the last survivor of a great civilization (the Nephites,) finished his people's history and hid the record in the ground. This monument shows many key events leading up to the publication of this record, now published as the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. 

As part of prophecy, the record was brought forth in a time when people were righteous enough to accept it.  Moroni appeared as an angel in 1827 to the young prophet Joseph Smith. Moroni showed Joseph where he hid this sacred record, and Joseph Smith translated it into English by the gift and power of God.

In the last chapter of the last book recorded in The Book of Mormon Moroni left an invitation for all future generations who might read the book. His invitation is inscribed here:

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ^aask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not ^btrue; and if ye shall ask with a ^csincere heart, with ^dreal intent, having ^efaith in Christ, he will ^fmanifest the ^gtruthof it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost." (Moroni 10:4)

Later before Joseph Smith returned the record to Moroni, he was given permission to show the original record to other witnesses the Lord had chosen. You can read the testimonies of those witnesses here.

Yes, I am very pregnant. :) Now I am 32 weeks along.

All the different languages of the Book of Mormon. It's been taken to almost all the world!

The Palmyra Temple grounds.

The publication site of the first copies of the Book of Mormon in English. I took a picture of the floor because it is the original floor that was there back in the 1830's. So cool.

Two books that witness that Jesus is the Savior of the world. 

Pageant peeps

Props and the set. This is the scene in the Book of Mormon when Christ personally visits the America's after his resurrection. It was a beautiful pageant.

We really had a great couple of days. I am sure we will go back later when our kids are older, but this trip was extra special for me. It is the first time I went and actually remember being there. :) I was too young the last time I was there. We even discussed going back one summer and being IN the pageant with our kids. 

Here's to hoping.