Family Vacation Part Four: Palmyra, NY and Niagara Falls

This is my FOURTH and FINAL post covering our amazing family vacation to the Northeast. For post one covering NYC go HERE. For post two covering Boston and Plymouth go HERE. And, for post three covering Vermont go HERE.

Our last leg of the trip ended on a very spiritually high note for us as we spent time in Palmyra, an area that is pertinent to Mormon Church history. Some of you may not have much interest in this section (no worries), and/or may not be familiar with the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). This was a very sacred and uplifting experience for our family that I really wanted to document in this form. It meant a great deal to us to be here and learn and feel the things we did. I won't go into major details in this post, but will touch briefly on where we were and some of what we experienced during this part of our trip.  

DAY TEN: Palmyra

We started our day at The Sacred Grove. This is where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus. We first started our tour in a replica of the old log home that Joseph Smith lived in on the Smith Family Farm. This is where he read the inspired verse from James 1:5 that lead him to kneel in prayer in the woods near his home to find the answer he sought regarding which church was true.

The room in the attic where the angle Moroni visited Joseph Smith and told him about The Book of Mormon.

The Sacred Grove behind the Smith Family Farm. 

The frame house that Joseph Smith's family lived in at the time he obtained the golden plates, the record that The Book of Mormon was translated from. This was the actual house, not a replica. The inside is staged of course with a few items that were original. There were several places that Joseph Smith had to hide the golden plates in this home. Learning about the persecution that Joseph and his family endured was very humbling. There were stories that we had never heard before. The girls really enjoyed a particular story about how Joseph Smith hid the gold plates in-between two of his sisters who were laying asleep in their bed when a mob came into their home. The mob came right into the room and the sisters lay with their eyes shut. The men searched the room, but never disturbed the girls.  

Replica of an old barn.

The Cooper Shop. This is where they made and repaired barrels. It was another hiding place for the plates.

This was right before we headed into The Sacred Grove. It was so peaceful. To know that Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, spoke to Joseph in this very woods and revealed that Christ's full, original gospel would be restored meant a great deal to us. It was a very humbling and spiritual experience. Such a beautiful place! 

This display was at the Hill Cumorah Visitor Center. This is the hill where Moroni buried the gold plates prior to his death. The Book of Mormon contains writings of ancient prophets who lived in America. The Angel Moroni came to Joseph Smith and revealed to him where the plates were buried. 

Monument of Angel Moroni. There were TONS of ladybugs all over it!

Of course, the kids HAD to roll down the hill :).

We had a tour of the Grandin Printing Press where the Book of Mormon was first published. WOW! Joseph and I both agreed that this was one of the most fascinating places of our church history tour. There were so many elements that came together for Joseph Smith to get the Book of Mormon printed. Grandin himself was not a fan of the Mormon church. He finally agreed to print the Book of Mormon solely for business purposes. 

The printing press also served as a bookstore. The wood floors in the building are original!!

 Pictures of Grandin and his wife.

The Grandin Printing Press building itself is original and is surrounded by the visitor center on the inside of the building. Hard to explain. It was just really cool. Grandin had one of the most up to date printing presses that was pulled up by ropes to the floor level it was on.

The room where the Book of Mormon was printed.

The typeset is so small. Many letters were found in the floorboards that were most likely there during the printing of the Book of Mormon.

The binding room.

An original copy of one of the first printed Books of Mormon.

Just down the street from the printing press were these four churches. So interesting to see churches on each of the four corners of the intersection. You can tell how there were so many competing religions at the time, which greatly confused and disturbed Joseph Smith, who wanted to know which church was true. How blessed I feel that he found out that the true church would soon be restored and that he played a great role in that restoration!

Just really liked this one :).

 The headstone of Alvin Smith, Joseph's older brother who died at age 25.

The original headstone.

The Martin Harris Home was closed for tours, but we were able to walk on the grounds and take a few pictures. LOVE the style of this home! So pretty.

DAY ELEVEN: Niagara Falls

We originally weren't going to go to Niagara Falls, but decided that it was too close (only an hour and a half drive from where we were staying) to not see it. WOW! It is truly magnificent! So glad we made the drive. It was worth it to see this natural wonder. The kids were getting pretty tired of picture taking at this point, though ;). It would have been fun to take a boat near the falls and walk along the bottom with a cool poncho, but with the kids, we just walked around and enjoyed looking at it from the upper views.

DAY TWELVE: Palmyra Temple and Peter Whitmer Farm

Joseph and I had the wonderful opportunity of being in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Palmyra Temple. We each did what is called a "session" there. So spiritual and relaxing after all the traveling and long days of this trip. It was a perfect way to start the very last day of our vacation.

Yep, they were getting pretty tired of picture taking. The temple sure was beautiful, though.

Some smiles :).

After our sessions.

Our last church history stop was at the Peter Whitmer Farm. This is where Joseph Smith did some of the translating of the Book of Mormon and where the church was formally organized on April 6, 1830. Joseph and I both loved the church building here. It was designed after the old New England Presbyterian churches. 

Replica of Peter Whitmer's log home. What was so neat about the replicas the church has built, is that they built them on the old foundations that they found on the properties.

OK, the kids were really not wanting to smile and hold still for pictures at this point. Two weeks of being asked to smile at the camera were just too much for them, haha. This was inside the Peter Whitmer home.

 Beautiful bust in the visitor center.

I really love this painting! Just beautiful. Love my Savior with all my heart. So wonderful to end our trip with such a renewed testimony of His love for us and of the significance and truthfulness of the restoration of the gospel.

Kids had a chance to play some fun games. They didn't want to leave, but we needed to get back to our hotel to pack for our flights out of Rochester the next day.

On our way back to the hotel we had to stop at this dairy farm that makes delicious cheese.

Always fun to see how others milk their cows, especially for Joseph :).

They have this adorable barn store.

 And to end our entire vacation, the kids had a blast playing in the rocks by the barn.

This whole trip was incredible! We were pretty wiped out by the end of it, but wouldn't have changed a thing. Feeling so blessed that we had this opportunity. Can't wait for the next Shumway Family Adventure...