Brent & Eddy had us on the bus this morning at 7:45 am (that's 5:45 am Utah time) so that we could arrive at the Sacred Grove well before the missionaries and other visitors. It was a glorious morning with sunlight weaving its way between the trees. Once inside the grove, we stopped and sang "Oh How Lovely Was the Morning" and listened as Jon read the account of Joseph's vision. We then had time to wander. We met up again and were escorted to the Smith family's log cabin by two sister missionaries. In the main room one of the sister's bore us her testimony and used the scripture Helaman 5:12 - remember, remember my sons to build your faith on the foundation of Jesus Christ. It impressed me as that is the central scripture for the gospel doctrine lesson I have to teach next Sunday. Upstairs we saw the room where Moroni appeared to Joseph where he was sleeping with several of his brothers in the same room.
We walked down to the frame home which was a step up for the Smith's. We saw the fireplace with the original bricks Joseph dug up to hide the gold plates underneath. Outside was the Cooper's barn - a cooper is a barrel-maker - something I didn't know until Brent told me. Cabinetmaker Gary further enlightened us by telling us that barrels are made of white oak which is solid not red oak which can leak because it is riddled with tubes that carry the sap through the tree. As the story goes, Joseph was impressed at one time to move the gold plates to the loft of the Cooper's barn which he did. A short time later, a mob came to their home and completely tore up the floor of the Cooper's barn looking for the plates. Because Joseph had followed the impression given him, the plates remained safe in the loft.
We left the sacred grove and drove up to see the beautiful Palmyra temple. Although it is closed right now for cleaning, President Jones came and opened the door for us and we had a long visit at the temple entrance. This temple is all about windows. It is the only temple in the world that has a clear window. You can look clear through from its entrance - you look through this window out to see the sacred grove. Many years ago a young missionary served here who was promised that if he served a mission he would be freed from his stuttering. This promise was fulfilled. He was asked to extend his mission, which he did, and during this time he learned the art of making stained glass. When plans for the Palmyra temple were in the works, this former missionary was contacted and he submitted many wonderful sketches for stained glass windows that reflect the trees in the sacred grove. They loved his sketches but had no money in the budget for stained glass. They told him they would love to have these windows if he could find a way to finance them. Living in Orem, his wife knew of a wealthy couple. She called them and was surprised when they not only agreed to help finance the project but said they would pay for the windows entirely. A week before she called them, they had been impressed that they should invest some of their money in furthering the work of the Church - they had been prepared for her phone call and today the temple is adorned with fabulous stained glass windows depicting trees from the sacred grove.
There was a wonderful visitors center at the E.J. Grandin print shop - three stories high with rooms on each floor depicting how the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon came into being. After lunch we drove to the Hill Cumorah and went right to the top to see the monument to Moroni there. You can look down and see where just weeks ago 900 chairs were set up to view the pageant on this hilltop. In the visitors center below they have a white statue of the Christus surrounded by a background of trees on one side and a half circle of windows on the other. The sister missionaries took us from this room in to see a film. When the lights came back up we were greeted by a real live angel - Sister Ward. Brent & Eddy's daughter is serving in this mission and they haven't seen her in over a year. It was thrilling to witness this happy reunion. As luck would have it, the battery on our bus died and our time at this stop was extended -- I don't think Brent & Eddy minded a bit -- none of the rest of us did.
It was a 40 minute bus ride from Cumorah out to Fayette to see the Whitmer Farm where the church was organized in 1830. We were greeted at the lovely chapel on the site by an Elder Crump who seated us inside and spoke to us about the site. As he was speaking, I began to recognize his voice and mannerisms. When he finished I asked if he had taught history at Skyline High School in the 60's. Yes, he was my former teacher and I remember so well that I was in his class the day that President Kennedy was assassinated and we listened to the news as it was happening in his classroom. Small w0rld!
A short ride brought us back to the Palmyra Inn for the night. En route we saw fields of soybeans, corn and whole fields of dancing yellow sunflowers.
No comments:
Post a Comment