Palmyra

After Niagara Falls we went to Palmyra New York where Joseph Smith lived as a boy and where he experienced The First Vision.  

I had really high expectations for what I wanted the experience to be like for my kids.  That morning I was a little nervous that my expectations were unrealistic and that I was going to be disappointed.  For weeks I had been praying and fasting that my kids would have very real and very powerful "personal moments" in The Sacred Grove.   I am so grateful that my prayers were answered!  Each child felt the spirit deeply.  Each child came away with a greater testimony of Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ and the restored gospel.  Even as we were entering the grove Gavin turned to me and said, "Mom, I can tell this is a really special place because I feel the spirit so strong!"

In order to create the experience we were hoping for Grayson spent most of his time in the Sacred Grove like this...

We started our day early in the morning and we were the only ones there for several hours.  We sang some hymns as a family, read the account of the first vision from the Doctrine and Covenants and Bret gave a beautiful devotional.  We then had our children go out on their own with their journals for some private time.  We asked them to pray, ponder and write what they were feeling and experiencing.   Gavin was the first one to come back but he still look about 10 minutes to himself and wrote a beautiful testimony in his journal.  The other three kids each took about a half an hour before they came back.  

Gavin and Grayson spent some time throwing rocks and sticks...

We then gathered back together and had a little family testimony meeting.  It was one of the greatest experiences to share together as a family.  I am so grateful the Lord blessed us with such a beautiful experience.  

We spent some time outside the Palmyra Temple.

Grayson wasn't happy when everyone tried to take a picture with him...

We then went over to the Smith Family Farm and saw the house where Joseph lived with his family.

And the frame house they moved into a few years later.

If you look closely you can see the Palmyra Temple through the trees.

We saw where they printed the Book of Mormon.

And we climbed our way to the top of Hill Cumorah.