CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP - Part D

CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP -- Part D

Palmyra, the Sacred Grove, and then CANADA!!

We left Buffalo on Monday, travel day ten. We drove to Palmyra, New York, and caught a session at the temple. Then we visited the Joseph Smith home/farm and the Sacred Grove.

Elder and Sister Wright in front of the "First Vision" statue in the Palmyra Visitor's Center.

We took a tour of the Smith homes and farm.

This is the bedroom, in the Smith log cabin restoration, where Joseph Smith was visited by the Angel Moroni. The day we visited there was Monday, September 22, 2008. The missionaries who took us on the tour pointed out that it was on the night of September 21 and the morning of September 22, 1823, when the Angel Moroni came to Joseph Smith three times and told him about the gold plates and taught him many principles. And we were standing in that exact same space exactly 185 years later!

This is a picture of the Smith family farm, looking toward the Sacred Grove. Notice the split-rail fences. It was while crossing one such fence, having not slept and then having attempted to work on the farm, that Jospeh fell in a state of exhaustion, and was again visited by the Angel Moroni. It was later that same day (still September 22) that Joseph saw the Gold Plates for the first time, at the Hill Cumorah.

Sister Wright with the missionary tour guides, in front of the frame house.

Alvin Smith built the frame house for his parents and family. It was here that many events pertaining to the obtaining and protection of the Gold Plates occurred. Later, the family fell on hard times and lost the frame home, and moved back into the log cabin. The frame house and the Smith farm were purchased many years later by George Albert Smith and donated to the church.

On top of the dresser is a replica of the chest that was built by Hyrum Smith to hold the Gold Plates.

This is the fireplace and hearth in the restored frame house. At one time, Joseph removed the bricks from the hearth, hid the Gold Plates beneath, and reconstructed the hearth, to protect the plates from the mobs.

This picture of the Palmyra Temple was taken from the road between the log cabin and the frame home. Inside the temple, there is a large picture window from which you can see the Sacred Grove.



THE SACRED GROVE

This is the path leading into the Sacred Grove (just beyond the signs where we're standing.)

A pathway deep in the grove.



We had a wonderful experience while in the Grove. It was was a beautiful day, and it was easy to imagine how it must have been the day of the First Vision. We walked quite a ways into the Grove and found a place like this one pictured, that we thought might have been similar to the actual spot where God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, and sat on a bench and prayed together. We expressed gratitude for Joseph Smith and for the restored gospel. It was wonderful! The Spirit was very strong! We are so grateful we were able to have the experiences of that day.

It was less than three hours from Palmyra to Watertown, New York, where we had arranged to spend the night. We got there in the early evening, found our motel and got a bite to eat, then re-packed our car and suitcases in anticipation of crossing the border the next day!



On Tuesday, September 23, we dressed in our best missionary "duds," put on our nametags, and headed for the border. We drove through beautiful, lush green countryside from Watertown to the Canadian border in about an hour and a half. We got to the border at 10:55 am. One of the reasons we chose that particular crossing is because someone told us it would be one of the minor, or less busy, crossings, with maybe one guard booth. Wrong! It was huge! Seven or eight booths, and a huge administrative building. If that's "minor," spare us from "major."

The girl at the check station booth asked us the standard questions: why are you coming to Canada, are you carrying any firearms or liquor, do you have any pets with you, and are you carrying more than $10,000 in cash. Elder Wright said something like "we wish we were carrying more cash than that," and she didn't think it was funny. We remembered you're not supposed to joke with them. She filled out a yellow form and told us to pull of to the left and take the yellow paper into the administration building through door #1.

Door #1 turned out to be "Immigration," where we quickly learned that it's better to explain that you are "volunteers" than to say you are "missionaries." The agent had NO concept of "missionaries." He took our passports, asked us questions about why we were coming into Canada, what we would be doing there, and how long we would stay. Then he told us to go sit down and wait. So we did.

We looked out the window, and two people in uniforms were searching a van. The van's contents were totally stripped and laying on the ground outside the van. The people in the uniforms were crawling in and out and under the van with flashlights. The didn't leave a thing unchecked. We anticipated how fun it was going to be to unpack, and then re-pack, our crammed car.

After about a 30-minute wait, however, the agent called us back to the counter, showed us a "Travel Plan" document that said we could be in the Canada for 18 months, but could only do volunteer work, not work for money and not go to school. He had us sign the documents, stapled them in our passports, handed our passports back to us, and we were DONE!

They never even looked in our car, at least as far as we knew. We decided they didn't think our little Sentra full of plain-colored clothing and religious books constituted much of a threat. We were at the border only 45 minutes total. What a relief! We had heard all kinds of horror stories about crossing the border, and had been more than a little apprehensive. The Lord blessed us.


We didn't DARE take any pictures!!



So! There we were in Canada. Now What?!?


STAY TUNED: Next Post: Montreal and the Mission Home