Where it all began

August 16, 2017

We headed out early in the morning to drive to the Fayette/Palmyra area for the day. We drove through beautiful rolling hills that a misty fog had settled on, like a soft, fluffy blanket, during the night. For most of the drive to Fayette, we traveled through the small villages and townships so prevalent in this area. At one point we were driving right along the shore of Cayuga Lake, one of the finger lakes, for several miles. The mist had completely lifted at this point and we had incredible views of this pristine lake. We also drove right through the city of Ithaca which we found to be a lovely city. Once out on the open land where the Whitmer Farm is situated near Fayette, we had unobstructed views for miles. The land is much more flat there than in the Colesville area and there were no rolling hills in sight. It is still a beautiful area, very well-suited to farming. We passed field after field of tall corn stalks ready to harvest, fields of freshly cut hay, fields of potatoes and beans, and even several vineyards with ripening grapes. One of the most pleasantly unexpected sights we were met with in that area was seeing two different Amish buggies traveling right down the same roads we were on. One was clipping along at around 20 mph with the buggy being pulled by a beautiful black horse. The other one was being driven by a boy, probably about 10 years old, with his father sitting next to him. It is clear that we were in Amish country. Seeing these two horse-drawn buggies so near to the Whitmer farm made history come alive for us, and it was not hard to imagine Joseph and Emma traveling in that same manner from Harmony to visit the Whitmer's in Fayette.

Amish horse and buggy

We were greeted at the Whitmer Farm visitors' center by a senior sister missionary. She is from Payson, Utah and was so happy to be the one to take us on a tour there. We were again given VIP treatment with the entire place just to ourselves. The visitors' center has a new film to show depicting the events that took place at the Whitmer farm and log home, but other than that, it was much the way we had remembered it from our visit there in the 1990's. There is a very special spirit there as this is where the translation of the Book of Mormon was completed, where Moroni appeared to show the gold plates to the three witnesses--Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris--and where the Church was officially organized on April 6, 1830.

Visitors' Center at Whitmer Farm in Fayette

The fireplace and kitchen of the Whitmer home where the Church was organized.

Kitchen of the Whitmer home

Exterior of the Whitmer home where the Church was organized

After leaving the Whitmer farm, we drove a very short 30 minutes and arrived at the Hill Cumorah visitors' center. This is a new addition since our visit there in the 1990's, and it is a very special place with a welcoming spirit and beautiful surroundings. After touring the visitors' center, we drove up to the top of the Hill Cumorah and walked around the monument there. We found Satan there (in the form of a little snake) and Eric took a picture of him. We enjoyed conjecturing on where the plates might have been buried, and where those annual visits and teachings from Moroni might have taken place there on the hilltop. There is a stunning view from there of the surrounding area. When we last visited, there was no road leading to the top, so we climbed the stairs to see the monument at that time. It was also nice to imagine Emma in Joseph Knight Sr.'s wagon, anxiously anticipating Joseph's return, waiting at the bottom of the hill the night that Joseph was finally able to obtain the plates.

/Visitors' Center at the Hill Cumorah

Sculpture in the Hill Cumorah visitors' center

Stained glass depiction of Joseph receiving the plates from the Angel Moroni

Display of the different language translation of the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is currently translated into 112 different languages.

Monument at the top of the Hill Cumorah

That old serpent, Satan

View from the top of the Hill Cumorah

We left the Hill Cumorah and drove the very short distance to the Smith farm, homes, and Sacred Grove location. We were surprised to see this area much changed from our visit in the 1990's with several more homes around the area and a welcoming center. We began our experience there with a walk through the Sacred Grove. We don't remember the trails through those sacred trees being quite so extensive the last time we were there. We were beginning to wonder if we were ever going to emerge from the grove. When we finally did, we were a great distance from where we had entered it. There is a special spirit in the grove, and it isn't difficult to imagine the monumental spiritually significant events that transpired in that hallowed place. After leaving the grove, we walked around the farm, orchard, log home, and frame home, all of which we have toured before, and they are all very much like we remembered them.

Entrance to the Sacred Grove

On the trail in the Sacred Grove

Inside the grove

Another location inside the grove

A barn on the Smith farm

The frame house on the Smith farm. This is where the Smith family lived when Joseph received the plates.

The orchard on the Smith farm

Looking toward the Sacred Grove from the Smith homes

The log home the Smith family lived in when Joseph had the First Vision

The welcome center at the Smith farm and Sacred Grove

We then traveled into the Village of Palmyra and saw the intersection where there are four different churches on each of the four corners. This scene helps bring to life the great religious excitement, with many different sects vying for converts, which Joseph Smith describes taking place prior to his first vision. We visited the grave site of Joseph's older brother, Alvin Smith, that is in a little cemetery across the street from one of the churches at that location. Just down the road from the cemetery, we visited the Martin Harris farm and home. Seeing this property helps one appreciate the sacrifices that Martin Harris made to finance the first printing of the Book of Mormon.

The headstone at Alvin Smith's grave

The other side of that headstone with the original headstone placed inside it

Martin Harris home

The four church steeples that are on the four corners of the same intersection in Palmyra.

Earlier in the week we had made an appointment for a 3:00 temple session at the Palmyra Temple. This temple is one of the smaller temples and session times are available only by reservation. After visiting the Martin Harris home, it was time for us to keep our scheduled time at the temple. We were surprised when we arrived there that the parking lot had very few cars in it. We entered the temple and were stopped short of the recommend desk by two sister ordinance workers. They asked if we were there for the 3:00 session to which we replied in the affirmative. One of the sisters asked us to please wait there while she went to check if anyone was in the dressing rooms to receive us. Being used to Utah temple experiences, this was somewhat unusual to us. This sister came back and told us that we could proceed, so we then showed our recommends at the desk and were admitted into the temple. We were taken back to the dressing rooms where it was obvious that we were the only two people preparing for the 3:00 session. Changing into our temple clothing, we felt somewhat conspicuous as the dressing rooms were completely silent other than the noises we were making as we changed. After changing, we were taken directly to the ordinance room and seated in the chairs as the witness couple since we were the only ones there for that session. We waited for several minutes, and then we were joined by the sister and brother ordinance workers that had assisted us in the dressing rooms. They joined us on the session as patrons rather than ordinance workers so we wouldn't be the only ones on the session. When we were in the dressing room following the session, we learned that our experience there was not unique, but happens frequently, and that the ordinance workers are mostly missionaries called to serve in the Palmyra Temple from other states because there are not enough members in the area interested in being ordinance workers or attending the temple as patrons. We found this to be very sad. The Palmyra Temple is a special place and very beautiful. It looks out over the Sacred Grove, and it is hard to imagine that the local members would not want to be there frequently to partake of the abundant spirit of that place.

Drive leading up to the Palmyra Temple

The back side of the Palmyra Temple

The front entrance of the Palmyra Temple

We left the temple and went to the E. B. Grandin print shop on Palmyra's main street. The Church has really changed the experience there by purchasing the building adjacent to the print shop and turning it into a visitors' center that wraps around one side and behind the print shop. We were met there by the sweetest young sister missionary from the Philippines. She had a wonderful spirit about her and shared her powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon with us throughout the tour. There are three different levels to the Grandin building. The bottom, main floor level is a book store where E. B. Grandin sold many different types of books. The next level is where the printing press is located and where the pages of the Book of Mormon were printed. The third and final floor is where the binding of the books took place. The visitors' center has wonderful displays and original paintings that depict the visits of Moroni to Joseph Smith, the Hill Cumorah location where the plates were buried, and the work of translating the Book of Mormon. We felt like our experience there was well worth our time and we were sincerely touched by the sweet sister missionary that we were privileged to spend time with.

E. B. Grandin's print shop

Our sweet sister missionary that guided our tour

The printing press

One of the original copies of the Book of Mormon

The exterior of the E. B. Grandin print shop