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Published: March 18th 2007
Palmyra
Pushing the limit for two days in Palmyra New York..... What a time we had !
Day One We drove four hours or more from Vermont to arrive in Palmyra New York. On the bus they make us play silly games and watch LDS movies to pass the time. We are fast becoming favourites in the bus, but I suspect that it is because of our accents. We are the only bookstore owners from overseas who were eligible for the trip. ( 2 from Alaska and about 6 from Canada- but that doesn't count 😉 One lady on the bus had her 9 month old daughter with her and I asked if she needed help with the pram. Every one burst out laughing and one lady said "Ohhhh, you are like straight out of a Jane Austin novel!" I also used the word Jumper which they thought was funny but our friend Ryan had served his mission in Ireland so he knew what I was talking about! However some people were trying out some very bad Australian accents ( One guy kept saying my name fast and pronounced like Bubby - convinced that is how
I say it!! - I wanted to say I prefer it the American slow drawl Bah....beee... than the way they were saying it. )
First stop was the Whitmer Farm on the outskirts of Palmyra. There is a lovely big chapel located here and the Log Cabin where the church was first organised. "The whole Church of Christ in a little Old Log House" as they say. We had a tour of the log cabin and shown how they lived in those times. The rooms are always decorated as if lived in. The Cabin was small (about 20 feet square) and filled to the brim (50-60 people) the day The Church was organised in 1830. Many hours of translating the Book of Mormon occurred in the upper chamber of the Log Cabin. Some of the farm is still there and corn (i think) was growing in the fields. It would be great to attend the chapel there, with a small farm on the same land!! In all of these places we have been visiting you can really feel the sacredness of these buildings and places. I often felt such stong feelings in the open spaces, which is
Log Cabin
Whitmer Farm where church was organisedwhy the church must spend some much time in making the gardens so beautiful - they speak to your soul.
A car had reversed into a ditch and a lady was looking for help. Ken was the first one, and one of only a few people who jumped in a car and went up the road to help the people whose van had fallen off the side of the road!! What a hero!! Seems we we were all on tight schedules with buses etc and most people were afraid their bus would leave without them. So Ken and a couple of other guys held up our bus by a few minutes, but we didn't leave without them. There was also fundraising for the scouts or the youth selling drinks and food and Tshirts. Though I did notice it was mainly parents 😉
Then on to the village of Palmyra which has four churches on four corners in town. We saw the Grandin Press which was where the Book of Mormon was printed and the press is now restored into a display. It was very interesting to see how books were printed 150 years ago. It was
Grandin Press
A photo of a photo, so you can see what it looked like also interesting to hear how the man who offered to print the Book of Mormon was not usually in the printing buisness having other jobs and was only a printer for two years, just enough time for the Book of Mormon to be printed. You get to learn all these amazing facts from the Sister Missionary tour guides at all the church sites. The grave of Alvin Smith is also found in the old cemetary in town. It was a cute town which must find it very amusing when 1000's of LDS people turn up in Summer!
Palmyra is situated on a glacial plain, at the northern end of the Appaliachian Plateau. It is near the Eerie Canal. I never knew that Palmyra was near the Lakes area and quite close to Niagara Falls, so it was good for me to put all these historical sites into context. The area was formed by glacial erosian, which scooped out depressions where lakes are today. The glaciers also formed drumlins - a type of long skinny hill (of which Hill Cumorah is one). "The Hill Cumorah owes its unusual shape to the fact that most of the land in present
day New York was at one time covered with ancient glaciers. Flowing ice from these glaciers deposited debris into "elongated half-egg shaped forms, the symetrical ones being called drumlins." Hundreds of these narrow hills, oriendtated in a north-south direction are found in New York, and nowhere in the world are they better developed than around the Palmyra region. The Hill Cumorah is a typical drumlin, with its south sides rising gradually up to a level yet narrow top, while the east, west and north slopes drop off sharply."
Day Two Don't laugh at our matching T-shirts!! To count the trip as part of Tax write off for the Americans we had to have atleast 2 or 3 meetings during the 9 days. To fit it all in we had to go to a 6am meeting. We were given blue Leven Thumps shirts at the Desert Book meeting and told that if we all wore them we would get lots of inquiry's at the places we were visiting that day, which were going to be really busy as it was the middle of summer. Well I will say the Sales people were right. People asked us
Hill Cumorah
Moroni statue "What is Leven Thumps?" quite often. Some people who go to Church historical sites go as family reunions, or youth groups etc and wear matching T-shirts. Some people asked if we were on a family reunion!!! HA HA... Imagine if that was your name. Our group burst out laughing.. Yeah a reunion for the Leven Thumps family!! (Actually Leven Thumps is a Fantasy Novel.) Most people in the bus were nice, wouldn't be too bad to be related!
We left early in the morning to see the Hill Cumorah and to save our seats for the pagent. Ryan and Bridget had been smart enough to bring a blanket off their hotel bed and said they had saved four seats in the middle sort of front and would love to share with us!! Great!! I suppose familys of the actors had secured all the seats up the very front nice and early. We actually drove up the top of the hill in the bus. There were quite a few people so it was difficult to get a shot of just us and the monument. The hill is busy in summer as half of it is sectioned off for the
pagent. It is a very large set, apparently designed by someone famous in the set building industry from Hollywood. Hundreds of actors can stand on it at the same time. It is one of the world's great outdoor theatrical productions.
Each July, seven evening performances are presented on the beautiful Cumorah hillside next to the Visitors' Center. A beautiful story on an enormous 10 level stage, twelve-tower lighting, Hollywood special effects, and a costumed cast of over 650 provide a truly spectacular showPeople apply for the pagent early in the year and parts are given out. Those people then are obliged to stay almost three weeks of the summer at Palmyra or nearby. As there are no speaking parts (it is all narrated - smart thinking) the actors come to practice for two weeks then perform for seven days. This is all on a volunteer basis and many of the actors live in Caravans nearby the hill for the whole time. Some families do this together so they are all involved in some aspect of the show.
We sat in the shade of a tree on the grounds of the Palmyra Temple and listened to another
Perfect Grass
Deep, green, soft grass. Had a little rest while listening to talk by LDS Scholars talk by LDS scholar. The Temple was very similar to Brisbane. It did have moonstones and sunstones and stars. Though on this temple the order was moon, sun, stars. Which those of us that know about the celestial Kingdom might think is a bit odd. But the scholar said that is the order of things you go past in order to reach heaven! Very interesting. Under the pathway that goes around the temple Primary Childen from about 10 wards in the area decorated a rock each with their name. These rocks were then placed in the steel gridwork and covered over with cement. That will be a wonderful memory for each child. See the link at the bottom of the page for photos of this. The Temple is on the same street as a the Smith Family home and the Sacred Grove. There is a small parcel of land between the Temple and the Sacred Grove. Pres Hinckley asked for some windows to face the Sacred Grove. We were told he asked the people who owned the land if they could cut some trees so those in the temple could look to the Grove. The people rejected the offer. Since
fence
Fences built using traditional methods - no nails. See Temple in the background and the Gap in the woods provided by nature! that time there was a storm, and it knocked down trees in that exact spot. No where else was affected, just the spot from the Temple that looks to the Grove! How amazing is that! See my photo of "The Gap."
Our time was definately too short in the Sacred Grove. If I was to do this tour on my own I would have stayed all day here, or atleast half a day. Our tour was run by sister missionaries (not surprising - they are everywhere.) The Japanese sister was just amazing and wonderful. We toured through the vistors centre and then through the Log Cabin and A frame house. The surrounding area is still woods or farm and there are fences done as they were back then. The stair case up to the rooms in the top of the house was very narrow and the ceiling/floor creaked alot. There are hundreds of visitors per day in Summer, so I was worried with all us thumping through the house, it would fall down. It was great to see where Joseph Smith saw the Angel Moroni. It was interesting to note just how close his brothers and sisters also
Hill Cumorah
looking down to the seats ready for the pagent were!! In the barn we saw the type of work the Smith boys did and examples of barrelmaking. The visitors centre and the farm and the Grove were great to walk around and browse and do as you please.
Then you follow a path into the Sacred Grove. We had a map with the following written on it:
"There are numbered trail markers which run through the Grove. They are numbered so you can navigate your own path. The Sacred Grove is visited by tens of thousands of visitors each year. There are trees in the Grove which were alive when Joseph Smith was a boy. The Grove is a living, fragile woodland. To allow the Grove to continue to inspire us and future generations, we must avoid activities that are harmful to the trees and plant life. For the health of the Grove and for your own saftey, please follow these guidelines:
Please remain on established trails. This will minimize damage to the root systems of the trees and plants. It will also help you avoid poison ivy, poinson oak and poison grape that are part of the natural growth of the Grove.
Please
Stone Wall
This marked the edge of the Smith Property leave all plant material in the grove whether dead or alive. New growth is important part of the natural cycle of the woodland. Dead plant material nourishes the ground and trees in the Grove. Please leave trees free from any carving or marking. Cuts in the bark leave permanent, unslightly scars and expose trees to infection.
The exact location where Joseph Smith Jr experienced the glorious visitation of God the Father and Jesus Christ is not known. When Joseph decided to pray to God to learn which church to join, he said he "retired to the woods to make the attempt." The Sacred Grove, a natural old growth forest in easy walking distance from the boyhood home of Joseph Smith Jr has been preserved and maintained as hallowed ground. When we enter the Sacred Grove we can have the assurance that we are near the very spot where Joseph had his vision of the Father and the Son. "
The Sacred Grove was everything I imagined it to be and better. You really could feel something. The dappled light gives off a wonderful ambience. There a quite a few areas that appear slightly circular, that makes you
Palmyra Temple
Don't laugh at our matching Tshirts think.. was that the spot? Birds twittered and the trees rustled yet it was strangely silent. Not really silent, yet an all encompassing feeling. There were wooden benches to sit and ponder occasionally along the paths. Many people were writing in journals. The woodland is quite large and even though there were many people along the paths, you could find a quite spot to sit and contemplate. We both sat are wrote down our feelings we had while in the Sacred Grove. Most people were quiet and very respectful so the atmosphere was spiritually conducive even though there were thousands of people visiting each day.
The only downside was that it was unbearably hot. I don't think I have ever been so hot in my life. It probably didn't help that we were outside and sightseeing the entire day. We also left our hotel at 6am and were told we wouldn't be returning until around midnight. There was also a possiblity of showers or storms so we were told to dress for that (as the pagent would be outside) and to wear long pants or take things to mind our seat. Well that was the worst advice I
Bedroom
Bedroom at the top of the house - Where it all happened have ever followed. Apart from wearing matching shirts with about 20 other people, I was also wearing jeans which I spent the entire day sweating in and it was so hot they clung to me all day. I almost felt like I was suffocating while we were in the hot sun walking around the Smith Farm. So I sometimes reminisce and feel sad that I didn't dress better or more appropriately for the Sacred Grove. I had a wonderful spiritual experience in the Sacred Grove but I think it was hampered by how hot I was.
Back in the bus and back to Hill Cumorah. We spent some time in the visitors centre which had a display of costumes used in the Pagent over the last 20 years or so. I really enjoyed looking at these and anyone who enjoys sewing or costumes etc would have loved it. They also had displayed Book of Mormon's in every langauage. There were heaps!! That was cool to look at all the different scripts, and to see how different they all were. Thinking back now we probably also enjoyed it because of the airconditioning!! We then got dinner from all the
food stands and even tried the famous Salt Potatoes which were nice and of course obligatory American Hot Dogs which were OK.. you get sachets of pickles - weird! Many of the stalls were from places, groups around Palmyra doing fundraising, so it was all in support of good charities.
The actors in the Pagent spend time walking around the large grass and seating area for about and hour. They talk to the audience and you are able to take photo's and ask them about their experience. The actors range in ages from around 14 or so to 50 or more and the ones we spoke to were really nice. We spent the rest of the time watching the sun go down and chatting with our friends who also happened to be really funny especially Ryan. The Pagent was fantastic. I loved it so much. It told the story of the Bible and the Book of Mormon simultaneously. Ten stories from the scriptures were used. "More than a thousand volunteers are involved in bringing to you some of the excitement and truths of the gospel." Lights would focus on part of the stage telling the story and then
Other half of the room
Never really thought about it - that the rest of the family were up here too the actors were all moving and rearranging on the other half of the stage (but you couldn't tell) and then other parts of the stage would light up. The had real water splashing around for the Crossing of the Ocean and the actors got really wet! They also had real flames when Abinadi was burnt!! The Set was basically a big pyramid. At the end the actor who played Christ came down through the air suspended on a wire, but you didn't know what was happening until he was in mid air. It was so cool!! Unfortunately it was impossible to get a photograph with our camera and I think they discouraged it anyway.
It had been a very long day and we trudged along with a few thousand other people trying to find our bus amongst the hundreds. It was after Midnight when we got to the hotel, we fell into bed very happy chappy's.
Click the next page (page 2) to make sure you see all the photo's from this very busy day, as I know you don't want to miss a thing!! I had too many to just fit on one page!
Pagent Stage
Just before the show started Extra Information
click
here for a site about the palmyra temple. Go to the photo journal
Click
here for a slide show about the Grandin Press and for photos that i forgot to take! Click on New York, BoM publishing, Multimedia.
Next stop - Niagara Falls
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Jane
non-member comment
matching t shirts
aww I think you look cute! And not at all hot. I love the story about the trees being felled by Nature...hey one way or another....sure would be interesting to know what the owners thought. I enjoyed your description of the Sacred Grove, the quietness, people writing in their journals etc. And now I know how the Hill Cumorah came to be...I have a friend who has mowed it!