Palmyra--Sacred Grove

DAY 2:

Next day we drove over to Palmyra, NY. This was my first experience to seeing any Church History sites. Such a neat experience.

Inside the Visitor Center I loved this table of all Book Of Mormons in different languages. Trent was checking his skills on Cambodian...a bit rusty!

Next, we drove by the Palmyra Temple. Wish I had gotten pictures of it...dah

Joseph Smith Sr. log cabin.

This cabin was a replica of the origional. To keep it authentic, the church made sure the cabin was built in the same conditions and with the same tools from that time. So in the middle of winter and with the same primitive tools, this cabin was constructed.

I just loved the inside!! So amazing how little, yet practical. 11 people lived in this small place. I wouldn't mind having a little cabin just like it.

On the table the bible was open to this inspirational scripture.

I thought the stairs going to the upper level were pretty cool...

Walking from Joseph Smith Sr. log cabin to the house Alvin Smith built, you can see the temple through the trees. When they were building the temple, the plan was to have a replica of the sacred grove as a stained glass window in the Celestial Room. But Gordon B Hickley said, why not see the real thing right out the window? This is the only temple with a one way window to see out/not in for the purpose to see the sacred grove from the Celestial Room.

This is the house Alvin Smith started to build for his fiance and his parents, but he had passed away before it was complete. So his family finished it. This house was 85% origional! It was amazing! These bricks at the hearth are original and the place Joseph Smith, at one point, buried the plates to keep them safe.

Beautiful house, I love the charm.

This is a dark locust tree. This is the tree the Smith family planted when Alvin died. It is still there and huge! Thought that was really neat.

This is the Sacred Grove. We walked in and just felt a wonderful peace. So glad we had good cool weather. So we just sat down and rested. I was a sweet feeling to listen to the trees sway in the breeze and ponder.

Yep, a great place to get a picture of the two of us...don't mind the remote...it wasn't working too well, need new batteries.

Getting up and walking around to find our way through the path, we saw this little fawn. Although we see plenty in our own yard back home, it was unique in this situation.