HISTORICAL MOMENTS DURING THE HILL CUMORAH PAGEANT '15.

It's amazing how quickly one year rushes into another, especially when it comes to the Hill cumorah pageant. This has seriously become a major tradition even when we don't have our oldest daughter with us. This year we invited the daughters of a dear friend of mine to experience this wonderful spiritual, theatrical experience with our kids and they loved it. 

I was a bit worried that we were going to get rained on because the forecast called for rain all week!! I was praying the whole weekend that we wouldn't! Apparently Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was asked to give the opening prayer on the first night of the pageant, and in his prayer he asked that the weather would not affect the pageant, and it didn't rain at all! It always storms every year around pageant time and so having that prayer was a blessing, and truly a gift from God! 

We saw all the historical sites which include the sacred grove, the top of the hill cumorah,  book of mormon publication site, the Peter Whitmer farm, Joseph Smith Farm, and of course I had to take a picture of the kids at the temple. 

In the past I've written separate posts about most of those sites here, here, and here, but this time I decided to put all the pictures with a snippet into one post and I hope you enjoy. 

Here are a few pictures of some our moments in Palmyra...

 ^^^ The clan at the top of the Hill Cumorah. I still can't believe I hiked this when I was seven months pregnant. That was five years ago! This time I was seriously out of breath when I got to the top! Made me realize I need to get back into shape! ^^^

 ^^^ Cute Lexie, and sweet Myesha. This was her first time here, and both she and her sister were so excited. You're probably going to see more pics of these two more than their sisters because they were too busy chit chatting, walking, and having fun. It was hard to capture a photo of them together! ^^^

Noah and Chelsea's favorite part of the pageant is going on a "prophet hunt" to talk, and meet some of the people portraying them. Here a few of their favorites...

  ^^^ Lehi. ^^^

King Noah may have been a liar, and overall a bad person, but Noah only likes him for his costume. The fact that he's tall, and stands out makes them want to take a picture with him even more. It isn't easy getting a photo with Joseph Smith. There's always too many people waiting to take pictures with him. We got lucky. 

  ^^^ Nephi. ^^^ 

  ^^^ Now, these two are among my favorites...Mormon, and Moroni. ^^^

  ^^^ The valiant Abinadi. ^^^

  ^^^ and another one of Noah's favorite...Samuel. ^^^

^^^ see, I told you you'd see more pics of these two. ^^^

As much as we wanted to do a session at the temple we didn't make the time, and besides...it's always filled to capacity! A little FYI...always make an appointment. We were lucky to have done a session the last time we were here! Still...it's nice to walk on the temple grounds, and take in the spirit. It truly is beautiful. 

 Taking these pictures really made me miss my Sierra. So looking forward to seeing her at Christmas!

This year we finally had a proper tour of the Book of Mormon publication site. In the past we normally would just walk in, read all about the history on how the Books of Mormon were printed, and look at all the tools, and machinery they used to make it possible. It is so amazing how all this came about in printing, and publishing so many books of mormon. 

 Can anyone guess who this is? For those of you who went to BYU, or read LDS books, or listen to audio Cd's will be familiar with this face... 

^^^ It's John Bytheway. The last time I saw him was almost nine years ago when I was at the Salt Lake temple. It was nice running into him here. Small world! ^^^

FOOD!! 

Driving around, and doing all that touring made us hungry!! We normally eat at a place called Chill and Grill, but instead we had this pizza which was delish, and then a couple of hours later had ice cream and "chilled." 

^^^ That pistachio tho. ^^^

The Peter Whitmer Farm is one of my favorite historical sites. I get really sentimental when I come here. The fact that this is where the church started is amazing! Who knew it would form with just six members, and grow in numbers. There are now at least 15 million members worldwide. Truly amazing! 

 ^^^ this boy on this particular trip was a little hard for him to look at the camera! still a cutie with his sisters.  ^^^

I didn't take too many photos inside the sacred grove as I was deep in thought depicting Joseph Smith kneeling and praying to God. Truly amazing what happened here, and how it has changed so many lives...including mine. 

 ^^^ Noah was pretty much carried the whole time sitting on Lexie's shoulders. He says he can see the trees better when he's high on top! ^^^

^^^ I couldn't end this post without thanking this lovely lady...my dear friend Emily. Her family is amazing, and she is such a wonderful host when we come visit and stay with her. She's so fortunate to live in the heart of it all. Sometimes I wish we could just pack up, and move up here! ^^^

Going to Palmyra every year is always a treat for our family, and in all honesty I never want to leave this place. This whole area has such a strong spirit, and I'm so grateful for the spirit that it brings. One that'll make anyone who's visiting whether LDS or not wondering why they're at peace mixed with feelings of appreciation of where it all started. 

At least that's how it is for me. 

"The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching." 

~Joseph Smith

Happy Monday, and hope your weekend was great!