Palmyra, New York

You probably read earlier about our exciting trip to Montreal. We have failed to mention the exciting things we did on our way home from vacation. (I know- it was over 2 months ago, but what else can you do besides wait).
Bruce and I have both been to Palmyra before, but neither of us had seen the pageant. If you are wanting to visit the historic sites there, we suggest you do so when the pageant is not performing - you will actually see more things then.
Due to the large amount of people walking the sites, we really only had time to do 1 session and walk around the sacred grove. The wait line for the Joseph Smith home was 2 hours.

As we walked through the grove, I contemplated on how unprepared Joseph must have been to receive the answer he was given. I wondered if I ever really prepare myself to receive such a powerful answer from my Heavenly Father when I pray. I have to ask myself, would I really be willing to act on the answer God gives me? I know that he will answer my prayers, but he may not answer in the way I would expect. Thus, I need to prepare myself in order to not only receive the answer, but act on the answer as Joseph Smith did. Joseph Smith would not have played such an important role in the restoration of the gospel if he was merely casual in his prayers. Thinking of that makes me want to improve my prayers.

As we were coming out of the Palmyra temple, we heard "It's a long way from Illinois, what are you doing here?" When we turned to see the person speaking, we were surprised to see some friends of ours that used to live in our ward - the Paynes.
It's really neat to see people you know in other places. When you travel to church history sites, the world turns out to be very small indeed.
That night we saw the pageant. I didn't know what I expected it to be like, but it was much different than I expected. Elaborate costumes, cool special effects, and thousands of cast members to say the least. It was a quick (not detailed) overview of the Book of Mormon. It was pre-recorded so the acting wasn't that great - seeing that most of the actors waved their arms frantically so the audience would know who was talking. I was impressed with the performance, but it wasn't the same overwhelming feeling of peace I get when I see the Nauvoo pageant.
This is a picture of me with Nephi's daughter. She was from Nova Scotia. She and the other 5 members of her family travel to Palmyra every year to be part of the pageant. I was pretty impressed by that diligence knowing that hundreds of families throughout the world testify to thousands of people of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. What a powerful message.


It was kind of chilly, and I was glad that I brought a blanket to wear. On main street in Palmyra before the pageant, many protesters march down the street yelling things out about Mormons being frauds and needing repentance. This kind of behavior has always struck me as quite funny seeing how most of them are uninformed about what they are shouting or carrying around on signs. Most of these people have never stopped to listen to a message from the missionaries making their sayings not only inaccurate but invalid. This is why I let the truth of my beliefs resonate through my actions, deeds, and thoughts rather than just what I profess out of my mouth.
It was neat to walk through the sacred grove and know that I have a Heavenly Father who not only knows who I am and everything about me, but he also loves me and wants me to be happy. He has given me the blessings of the gospel so that I can be happy and return to live with him again.