Palmyra

Palmyra was one of my favorite stops on this trip. We arrived early on Monday morning. We had made previous arrangements for Maddie and Jayd to do baptisms for the dead with Jeff. I am so jealous. They said the temple was nearly empty, so after they had completed the baptisms, the temple worker showed them a few things in the temple, like the one window without a stained glass forest. This one window looked out over the sacred grove.
We reunited as a family and went to the Joesph Smith Farm. We were able to see a replica of the log cabin where Moroni appeared to Joesph, and the original family farm where he brought the plates and hid them from the ensuing mobs. Then we were able to wander through the sacred grove. It was so beautiful, just like I had imagined it. There were spindly leafy trees with scattered sunshine shining through. The sunlight lit up the leaves making a bright green color. It was quiet, and peaceful. We enjoyed feeling of the sweet spirit during our visit there.
We went up to the Hill Cumorah. We were not there for the pageant, it ended about a week before we arrived, but there was still plenty of evidence that a large gathering had taken place! We enjoyed being atop of the hill. The kids wanted to roll down the face of the hill, a rather steep drop, but we convinced them to walk down the wooded path on the back of the hill.
We also visited the printing shop where the first Book of Mormon was printed. They had a very nice demonstration and display on how books were printed and bound in the early 19th century. We really enjoyed that.
We ended the day with a visit to the restored Peter Whitmer cabin, the site where the church was organized on April 6, 1830. Gabe had a very hard time believing that 30-40 people could fit in such a tiny room. It must have been very squishy.