Palmyra Day 1

Joseph and I just returned from a trip to Rochester, NY. Joseph took his annual medical conference trip. I was lucky to have wonderful in-laws who watched the children for us so I could go too.

On our first day in Palmyra our first visit was to the temple. It is a small temple similar to the one in Memphis, but this one just felt different. The decor seemed even more elegant than other temples and it had a special feel to it. All of the stained glass windows had a tree theme to depict the Sacred Grove. In the lobby of the temple there is a regular clear window that overlooks the Sacred Grove.

Palmyra Temple at Night



Celestial Room Window.



After the temple we went to downtown Palmyra for lunch. We walked along Main Street and took pictures of the intersection that is marked by 4 churches all of different faiths, one church on each corner. I don't remember all of the different denominations.

This is a panoramic picture that Joseph took of the 4 churches.



After lunch we went to the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center. It was a nice shaded walk to the top of the hill. I was surprised with how steep the hill was. At the top there is a monument depicting the events that transpired on the hill in addition to the showing of the plates to the Three and Eight Witnesses.




The top of the hill had some nice benches where we sat and looked over the hill and commented for the first time how we missed the children but our trip was more enjoyable and less stressful without them.


In the visitors' center there were some copies of the Book of Mormon in different languages. It is currently published into 108 different languages. Here I am touching one of the six volumes of the Braille Book of Mormon.



Our third stop of the day was the E. B. Grandin Bookstore where the Book of Mormon was published. Some of the original structure was still in place and the church just built and L-shaped visitors' center around it. It was neat to see this building and to see the book making process since I repaired books when I was at BYU.

The original "Christ in the Americas" painting hangs in the Grandin Building. Joseph LOVES this picture and had to sit and just stare at it when we heard it was the original painting.



In the Grandin Bookshop



The printing process. Type Setting



Printing



Sewing the books together.



Martin Harris Farm. The original Martin Harris House burnt down in 1849 after it had been sold by Martin Harris. The house pictured was built in the early 1850s to replace the burnt structure. No tours are given of the house because it is a private residence although they do have a parking lot next to the house and some sign where one can read about the history.



Alvin Smith Gravestone. The Swift Burial Ground was a little difficult to find because it wasn't marked very well even though it was just 1 block north of Main Street. There were some mosquitoes that were bothersome there so we didn't stay long. You will find that mosquitoes seemed to find us everywhere!



I liked this tree at the Cemetery and even though I'm not in focus due to mosquitoes I still wanted to show off the tree.