We don't have any ancestors from Palmyra so today's post
will be short and just about Joseph's experience here. Tomorrow, however, we'll go over a couple
towns to Menden where the Greene's first encountered the church and were
baptized.
We started the day
at the Hill Cumorah, where Joseph was first shown then entrusted with the
golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. From there we went
to the Book of Mormon translation site and finally to the Smith Family farm and
the sacred grove.
Like I imagine most
members of the church do when visiting the sacred grove I was hoping for some
profound experience, a testimony of the spirit or some impression that I could
then re-count for years to come as I bore witness of the restoration. But as I walked toward the grove itself I
felt my mood shift. I was no longer eagerly anticipating something miraculous
or afraid that I wouldn't receive it, Instead my attitude became, "I am
willing to receive with gratitude
whatever the lord is willing to give". This calm thought permeated my
experience there. I felt no powerful impressions, just enjoyed a peaceful
stroll through a beautiful grove receiving what was being given. Sometimes the spirit is that simple and
that's just fine.
This is maybe a
little too short so I'll include that the next day(I'm currently one day behind
on this blog) we returned to Palmyra and the sacred grove for a short time and
then did some family baptisms in the Palmyra temple just across the street. The
Palmyra temple is on the original Smith Family farm and was the one hundreth
temple built of the church. It has the only clear glass pained window of any
temple that overlooks the sacred grove from it's entrance.
Looking out that window gives one a sense of
how far the church has come. What began as one boy kneeling in the woods has
culminated in these beautiful temples, the ordinances of salvation and
exaltation, and the sealing together of
the human family by priesthood power. And it's not over yet.
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