Sacred Beginnings

This was a long day in the Palymra area so there are a lot of pictures (and I only posted a few of the ones I had taken). Our favorite was the Smith farm and Sacred Grove. You could just feel a peace in the Sacred Grove and we were also privileged to hear the singing of "I Believe in Christ" and "Joseph Smith's 1st Prayer" by a traveling choir as we entered and exited the grove.

This is the 1st log home the Smith family had when they moved to Manchester, which is a stone's throw away from Palymra and the present day temple site.


There are 2 bedrooms upstairs in the log home. The first one you enter was the boy's room and were the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith.


The kitchen were many gospel discussions were held. This would be the fireplace mantle that Joseph leaned upon when he felt faint and his parents asked him what was wrong.


The back of the Smith Log Home.


This is the view of the Palymra Temple from in between the two Smith homes.


This is the distance from the 1st Smith Log Home (on the right) to the new Smith Frame House (on the left behind the tree) just down the road.


Frame Home Sign


The front of the Frame Home


The granite sink that Lucy Mack Smith was privileged to have. It was one of the first...it does not have running water, but you could pour water down it that would go outside.


The kitchen area were the Smith Family would listen to stories Joseph would tell from the Book of Mormon.


The fireplace hearth in which Joseph put the plates under when the mobs came looking.


These are huge hollowed out logs that the Smith family used for food storage back in the day. The Amish, I'm told, still use this technique.


This is the Cooper's shop. A Cooper is someone who would put the metal ring around the wood barrels, among other things. This shop is significant because it is another place that Joseph hid the plates when the mobs came looking. He was smart enough to put them overhead and the mob ripped up the floorboards.


This stream separates the Smith Family Farm and the Sacred Grove area. On a side note the Smith family had a pretty big farm, which was covered in trees when they moved there, but they cleared the land. They farmed hay and other things and also had an orchard.


There were many birds, especially these yellow ones, along our trip. There were also lot of butterflies, dragonflies, and mosquitoes around the Smith Farm and Sacred Grove.


Sacred Grove Sign


Sacred Grove and path


Looking upward in the Sacred Grove were Joseph "saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun."


Hill Cumorah Memorial (the Memorial and landscaping were by Willard Bean, who was a missionary in the early 1900's, if you want to read more I highly recommend the book, "A Lion and a Lamb" by Willard Bean).


Peter Whitmer Log Home in Fayette New York


Inside the Whitmer Home were the church was organized and held its first meeting. This is also the location were Joseph finished translating the Book of Mormon (the 1st half).


The Erie Canal, which transported many Saints.

More to come!