Palmyra, New York

We flew into New York City Thursday night (more about that another day) and drove to Palmyra on Friday. New York is bigger than I realized - it took 6 hours! But it was a beautiful drive. We were going to go to the Hill Cumorah Pageant that night, but it started raining hard on our way there; so we decided to go Saturday night instead. We stayed with our college friend Sherry in Rochester (just 20 miles away from Palmyra), and went back to see the historical sites Saturday morning.

We started out at the Sacred Grove, which the boys were most excited about. It was so beautiful and peaceful, even though there were lots of visitors there for the pageant. We showed the boys a movie of the First Vision before the trip, and they kept pointing out the window as we drove through upstate New York, saying, "There's the Sacred Grove!" They're not used to seeing so many trees.

Then we took the tours of the rest of the Smith property. Here is the family's first home. It's actually a replica - built just like the original, with the same tools and all.

The new Palmyra temple, seen from the path between the two homes. I didn't realize how close it was. If we were dressed appropriately, I would have loved to go in. Maybe next time.

Here's the 2nd Smith home. It's been fixed up a bit, but 80% of it is original. I can't imagine how hard it would have been to leave it.

All the rooms are decorated in antiques from the period.

There was more we could have seen - various farms and cemetaries and such, but the kids were tired and hungry by this point, and we decided to meet up with our friends and go to the children's museum in Rochester.

That evening we went back to Palmyra for the pagaent. I love how all the actors walk around beforehand for photo ops. Here are Nephi and Nephi.
Here's wicked King Noah. Great costume!
The pageant was just as amazing as I remembered it. The boys were blown away. If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it. Just ignore all the annoying anti-Mormon protestors yelling at you as you enter. I wonder if they realize the contrast they are providing, because the spirit was so strong once we entered the gate.
Here's Nephi's vision of the Savior's birth. I love all the special effects. And I didn't get a picture of it, but my absolute favorite scene is when Christ descends from heaven to appear to the Nephites. It gives me goosebumps every time.