#4 The Palmyra Temple

The Palmyra Temple sits on a high ridge at the east end of the original 100 acres of the Joseph Smith, Sr. farm in Manchester Township, New York. The temple was announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley on the 21st of April, 1999. Ground was broken that May and the temple was dedicated by President Hinckley on the 6th of April, 2000, the 170th anniversary of the organization of the church. It became the 77th temple in operation around the world and has approximately 10,700 square feet of floor space.











The new Palmyra Temple can be seen from the sacred grove. It is on a hillside just east of the sacred grove. We spent two or three hours in the Sacred Grove and then walked back through the Smith farm and Smith homes. We then drove over to the Palmyra Temple. DeAnne stayed in the van this time so she could rest her knee.

I

got out and took pictures of the temple and walked around it. Notice the glass on the windows and doors. You can see the glass was made with images of the trees that in the Sacred Grove.

It was a peaceful feeling to stand in the temple courtyard and look out to the west and see the sacred grove.

The Church has a new stake center just a few blocks north of the Temple.

#3 The Sacred Grove

The guides from the visitor center pointed out the trail to the Sacred Grove and then left us so we could walk the trail at our own pace. As we walked down the trail toward the Sacred Grove, the fall leaves were so beautiful. They were falling on the ground all the way down the path which followed the log fence. The fence separated the barn and farm from the apple orchard. The fall colors were so brilliant in the sacred grove itself. DeAnne and I felt a quite peaceful feeling all around us as we walked through the grove together. We took a loop trail and soaked in the peaceful spiritual feeling by walking slowly and stopping to sit at some the benches to rest and to ponder.

We tried to picture what had happened there in the grove when God the Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to answer Joseph's first vocal prayer. What an experience for Joseph and for us!

We were asked not to remove anything from the grove because it was such ground. DeAnne's knee was really sore, but she was a real trooper and we were grateful for the experience we had in the Sacred Grove together. I was glad we had an excuse to stop and let her rest so we could spend more time in the grove. It is truly sacred ground!

Also, we must remember, that somewhere on the Smith farm, "In a grove of trees where the Smith's often went in secret prayer", is where the Angle Moroni showed the gold plate's to the eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon and let them handle the plates.

Aren't the trees beautiful? We will never forget our time in the Sacred Gove or the feelings we had there.

#2 The Smith Frame Home

Next we went to the Smith Frame Home, which is just down the road a bit and across the street. This is the home that Alvin started building for his parents. Alvin became ill and while on his death bed asked the family to finish building the home for his parents. This the family did. Joseph really loved Alvin. Alvin was a special person. Joseph was told to take Alvin with him to receive the gold plates. But because of the death of Alvin, Joseph was told to take his wife Emma to receive the gold plates.

While living in this home, Joseph had the gold plates and was busy translating them. Joseph hid them for a while under the brick stones in the hearth. There was a small room upstairs where the two young sisters shared the same bed. One night the plates were hidden from a mob by placing the plates in bed, in between the girls. The Smith family lived in the home for only three of fours years. Because of financial difficulties, they had to move back into the old log home.

Right across the street from the Smith frame home there is a nice barn where they put their animals and farm equipment. Joseph hid the plates up in the rafters of the barn one night and the mob couldn’t find them.

The main street to Palmyra used to be the street where the Smiths farm is. The log home was on one side of the busy street and the new Frame home was on the other side of the street. We learned from Newell, that when the Church purchased the Smith Farm Homes and the Sacred Grove, they asked the City of Palmyra if they would move the road to the east so that the old existing road could be used as a walking path by the visitors that would come to see the farm and the Sacred Grove.

An agreement was finally made with the city that they would move the road if the Church would give them their Stake Center. The City wanted it so they could use it as a City Hall. The Church agreed and we have pictures of the old Stake Center – New Palmyra City Hall. It is just to the northeast of the Smith farm. If you look a map of the Palmyra area you can see how the new bends out away from the Smith farm for short ways and then back again to bypass the Smith Farms.

#1 Our Trip to Palmyra, New York

I have decided to start typing up the experiences that DeAnne and I had on our trip to Palmyra and Kirtland. These posts could take a while to get everyting written. I will divide them into smaller pieces and post them as I get them ready. We had such a great trip we just have to share what we felt, what we saw and what we learned. Most of our children have already been there before us. We would like to sit down with them and compare notes and their feelings of their trips. Anyway I am starting with this post.

October 15, 2010 – Friday – DeAnne and I got up early and drove to Jared’s house. He was good enough to take us to the Salt Lake airport, drop us off and take our car back to his house while we were gone.

We met DeAnne’s cousin Kimball Harward and his wife, Maxine at the airport. We flew on a Sky West commuter plane from SLC to Denver. From there we flew on a United 767 to Chicago and then got on a United Flight to Rochester, New York. That was the biggest airplane I have ever been on and it was packed. In Rochester we met Newell Harward, his wife Gloria, Thomas Axtel and his wife Joni. They took us to our hotel in Rochester where we stayed for two nights.

October 16, 2010 – Saturday – We went to breakfast in Palmyra. When we went to get back into the van, DeAnne re-extended her knee. Not a good way to start our trip! We went to the visitor center on the Smith Family Farm.

Hyrum purchased the ground just north of his father’s farm. The Smith’s log home was actually built on Hyrum’s land. Although Hyrum’s land bordered his father’s land, it was in a different county and the county doesn’t require two set of steps to the upper level (for exits) for public buildings like they do in the other homes in county where Joseph Smith Sr.’s farm was. So we were able to go to the second floor of the Smith’s log home but not the upper floor of the Smiths Frame home which is in the other county.

We went into the Smith Family log Cabin, which has been reconstructed on the original foundation.

The upper floor is where Moroni visited Joseph Smith in his bedroom area. There were other Smith children sleeping in the same room, but only Joseph was privileged to see and hear the message of Moroni. For DeAnne and me, it was a special feeling to be the room where the Angle Moroni appeared three times. We could feel the spirit there. It was there that the latter day gospel restoration really began.

Blessing Baby Michael

Just a quick post to say how neat it was to have all of the family attend the blessing of Michael. It was great to see everyone together again and enjoying each others company. It was also nice to talk with and get to know Jones family a little better. Family is great!

We hope to see all of you at Tori and Garth's home this weekend for another good time!

Eating Purple Huckleberries - A Taste to Die for.

The scriptures tell us that Michael, Adam, Eve and all of us lived a pre-mortal existence. The name Michael really caught my attention because Michael is the name Garrett and Hayley have chosen for their new baby, who will soon be born.

Anyway, the scriptures tell us that Adam and Eve were the first people on this earth. When the time was right, God placed them on earth in a Garden of Eden, which He had prepared for them. God made sure it was warm and clean. The beauty of the Garden surpassed anything we can imagine. It was full of friendly animals that didn’t fight with or eat other animals. The garden was supplied with all kinds of flowers, shrubs, fruits, vegetables and trees. The cupboards and freezers were full of food.

My thought was this: If Adam and Eve got to come to this earth and their first home was a Garden of Eden, would Garrett and Hayley’s little Michael also get to come to this earth and have his first home be a Garden of Eden? What about the rest of us? Could we consider ourselves as Adam or as Eve and be blessed as they were, to have a Garden of Eden waiting for us when we first got to this earth? That got my brain gears clicking.

I decided my answer was yes. Garrett and Hayley have prepared a garden or room just for Michael. DeAnne and I did the same thing for our children. Father’s and mother’s everywhere prepare a special place for their newborns to come. A place where they will be very comfortable and have all that they need to be safe and be able to enjoy this world.

Like Adam and Eve, when the time is right, we are placed by our parents into our very own Garden of Eden. It is full of friendly stuffed animals that don’t fight with other animals. Their Garden is also stocked well, with clothes, diapers, formula, and food. The garden may have all kinds of flowers, shrubs, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and all kinds of trees.

Just like Adam and Eve, we discover all the things we are enjoying have been given to us by our parents as gifts. We don’t have to pay for anything. We have ice cream every night with our Father and Mother. Our parents give us some rules. For example, they tell us we can enjoy ice cream for eternity, or as long as we eat it while they are with us and we stay in their garden. We, like Adam and Eve are told, “You can partake of all things in the garden, the house, the cupboard, and the freezer, and the ice cream, but of the fruit of the Huckleberry Bush, you shall not eat! Nevertheless, you may choose for yourself, but if you partake of it, you will turn purple and surely die.”

That gets our attention real fast! What do they mean, we will surely die? That sounds pretty serious. What do huckleberries do to us? What do they taste like anyway? Why did Father put huckleberry bushes in our garden and show us where He planted them if He didn’t want us to eat some of them? How do our parents know that huckleberries have a taste to die for? Have they tasted huckleberries before?

As we grow older we hear kids at school and advertisements on TV saying, “You should try huckleberries! They are delicious to the taste and very desirable. Yes, they are very expensive, but you’re worth it.”

One day we take a stroll down past the huckleberry patch and we catch our brother, Lucifer, picking some of the forbidden fruit. He eats them right in front of us and smacks his lips with pleasure. Caught in the act of disobeying Father and Mother, he offers us some huckleberries. We tell Lucifer we’re not going to eat any, because if we do, we will choke, turn purple and die. Lucifer says, “You’re not going to die!” He sounds pretty sure of himself and he doesn’t look like he is dieing. He tells us, “Look, if you don’t eat some huckleberries with me, when Father and Mother come home they will notice some of huckleberries are missing and I will tell them you ate the huckleberries.”

Now faced with two choices, who do we choose to please? A big brother who is holding the forbidden fruit right in front of our nose, or our Father who is not home at the time? We decide to have our first taste of the forbidden purple fruit. They taste so, so good! It is different than anything we have tasted before. They are almost immediately habit forming. We want more of that purple fruit so we continue picking huckleberries. They would taste great on ice cream. As we eat, we also realize we didn’t die!

Then we hear the voice of our Father. He’s coming home to our Garden of Eden! Lucifer says, “Quick, hide. Father will see your purple tongues and lips. We hide. Father calls out to us two or three times before we decide we better come out and speak to him. He asks, in a loving voice, “Where were you?” We tell him we hid ourselves because we have purple tongues and lips. He looks at our face and asks, “Who told you you have purple tongues and lips? Have you partaken of the forbidden purple fruit, that I told you not to eat? And of course we admit what we have done and tell our Father, “The Devil made me do it.”

Father explains the rules to us again. He looks at our hands and they have turned purple too. He explains that the fruit is good, but because we ate it when he asked us not to, we have broken an eternal law that was irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of the world. We have broken the law of our Forefathers and we will need to leave their presence. What we have done has made us unclean, and he has no choice. He is going to have to boot us out of our Garden of Eden. We can no longer live with him because he cannot look upon purple with the least degree of allowance and we are covered with purple everywhere. Will the purple infection spread to other part of our body and kill us?

We will suffer a spiritual death when we leave the presence of God. Then we realize we won’t be able to have any more ice cream either! Suddenly we realize without ice cream we will surely die! Satan, the kids at school and the TV lied to us!

A loving Father and Mother then give us some good news. All is not lost, but we are going to have to pay a price for our actions in ways we never understood before. But we can still talk to Father and Mother; we just won’t be able to see them and hug them. They will need to place a veil between us and them.

Father will send us messengers that will tell us how to return to His presence. We just need take a bath, (get baptized) and clean up our act, (sacrament). If we talk to Heavenly Father every day, read the books he gives to us every day, (scriptures), and listen to His messengers, (apostles, prophets and the Holy Ghost), we will find our way back into His presence.

We are given more good news. We are told our older Brother, Jesus, loves us so much he has agreed to pay the price of the purple fruit that we ate! How can he do that? We are saddened to hear the price Jesus must pay, but we are so grateful for his willingness to do that for us. He must love us as much as Father and Mother! We must learn more about Jesus and develop the same love for Him that he has shown to us.

Eating the huckleberries has actually given us a knowledge of something that tastes wonderful. Father tells us, if we are willing to search for and listen to his messengers, they will show us how to find and eat huckleberries that they don’t leave us with dirty purple hands, lips and tongues. He will show us secrete hidden patches of huckleberries and give us other sweet experiences that will give us knowledge, feed our souls and purify our hearts.

After we have taken our bath and done our washings, Mother will show us her secrete huckleberry recipes and show us how to make huckleberry pie, and huckleberry cheesecake.

Father promises us he will show us how to bottle huckleberries and seal them up so that we can latter put them on ice cream, and the two together will become an everlasting treat for us and our families. If we keep our hands, lips and tongues clean, our hearts will become pure and clean also. Then we will be worthy to again enter Father’s presence. There are no loopholes or shortcuts. We cannot partake of the new sealed fruit until Father permits us.

Father also lets us know that he has set a security system around the temple of sealed ice cream, the treat of eternal life. He tells us if we go near this fruit, before he recommends us, alarms will go off and angels with flaming swords will stop us from returning to the temple of ice cream. We need to repent, serve others, and be WILLING to keep all of Fathers commandments. Then He will recommend us to the angels and they will let us pass by their flaming swords. After all of that, we can partake of the new and everlasting treat, and return to Father’s presence. We will be able to open the bottle of sealed huckleberries with our Father and Mother, put them on top of their eternal treat of ice cream and enjoy the blessings of the sealed fruit. We will also be shown the secret of partaking of this sealed fruit with our children and grandchildren.

See what Michael brought to my attention? I love my family! I hope we have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to understand. (Isaiah 6:10)

Memories of Mom

Mom loved a good joke!

I was thinking of Mom last night before I fell to sleep and I had another one of those dreams where things seemed so real. In my dream, I had a near-death experience that I’m sure will change me forever. I went horseback riding one day and everything was going fine until the horse started running and bucking out of control. I tried with all my might to hang on, but was thrown off. Just when I thought things could not possibly get any worse, I realized my foot had become caught in the stirrup. When this happened, I fell head first to the ground. My head continued to bounce over the bumps harder and harder, as the horse would not stop or even slow down. Just as I was giving up hope and felt I would surely die ... a thoughtful K-Mart manager came out and pulled the plug.

Seriously, I have had several thoughts and reflections about my mother since she passed away on the 8th of May 2010. I spoke about some of my memories of her at the funeral. Of course there are several others, but I have had a hard time deciding which ones I want to share with the world.

Mom was a very special person. She was a sweet daughter of God. I have a hard time talking about Mom because it brings back some tender memories and feelings. If I don't keep this a bit on the light side, I won't be able to see through the tears.

Mom was the one that taught me the gospel. She taught me how to pray. She taught me self worth, right and wrong and was always building me and my weak ego. She is the one that worked and saved up her money to take us on the only extended vacation that I can remember. We went by car, up through northern Idaho, Salmon, Coeur d'Alene, the Grand Coulee Dam, Flat Head Lake, Glacier and Waterton Parks, the Canadian border, and the Cardston, Alberta Temple. On the way home we visited with Dad’s sister Ruby and her family. Great memories!

Mom always expected me to go on a mission. She and I painted several homes and four-plexus, together to get enough money for my mission. We worked very hard together and had some great talks and experiences. I knew she loved me and I loved her.

Mom had a great sense of humor. She always loved a good clean joke and I loved to hear her little chuckle and her fabulous smile when she laughed. I think she would have enjoyed this one about the life after death.

Two men died and went to heaven. God greeted them, and said "I'm sorry, gentlemen, but your mansions aren't ready yet. Until they are, I can send you back to Earth as whatever you want to be."
"Great!" said the first guy, "I want to be an eagle soaring above beautiful scenery!"
"No problem," replied God, and POOF! The guy was gone.
"And what do you want to be," God asked the other guy.
"I'd like to be one cool stud!" was the reply.
"Easy," replied God, and the other guy was gone.
After a few months, their mansions were finished, and God sent an angel to fetch them back. "You'll find them easily," he says, "One of them is soaring above the Grand Canyon, and the other one is on a snow tire somewhere in Rexburg!"

I love you Mom and we will all miss you, but we are so blessed to know you on this earth and we know you are still alive, having new experiences every day and happy to be with your family that has gone before you.

Save a place for us!