Hill Cumorah & The Sacred Grove: Summer In Palmyra 2020

The Hill Cumorah pageant may have been cancelled this year due to Covid-19 but tradition is tradition and we still made the trip up here. We absolutely love this place with or without crowds and as you can see by the photos on the hill cumorah there was like zero people! This was definitely the place for social distancing and to take in the peace and joy that these historical sites give. I am so glad we made the 4.5 hour drive up year. It is soooooo worth the drive to feel all the vibes that these places give especially in their 200th year! What a blessing it is to be here and to continue this tradition with our two youngest children who on their own motive love to come here. I honestly think they enjoy this trip  because we always grab some lunch at Mark's pizzeria and eat dinner at Tom Wahl's burgers. Oh, and staying at The Palmyra Inn is always their favorite part of this trip! I captured a few photos atop from the hill cumorah as well as the The Sacred Grove. We probably saw five people which were all missionaries from the church in the grove but it was so nice to have some major quiet time to ponder all that happened here 200 years ago! Such special places! 

Hill Cumorah Pageant 2019.

For the past ten years since moving to the east our family has watched the Hill Cumorah pageant. As much as we love the story, and the message behind the Book of Mormon the pageant food is good too! My kids love the pageant potatoes, and walking around before the pageant starts to go on a prophet hunt. The pageant is a must-see performance that will incredibly touch the core of your heart, and I recommend coming to watch it in their final year which will be in 2020. 

Saturday In Palmyra, NY!

The Hill Cumorah Pageant this year was, as always a great experience! In spite of leaving late Friday evening, and arriving in the wee hours of the morning we filled our Saturday making memories as a family. This place never grows weary on us, and every year we come here we leave with a different experience, and it is always a good one! 

Church History Sites In Palmyra, New York.

For those of you who have known us for the past ten years know how much we love going to Palmyra to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, and all the historic sites in the area. It is what makes our summer, and helps us to overcome the world. We love the peaceful feeling we receive while walking inside the sacred grove, and for once to pretend that life is absolutely perfect! It is the place where one can go to feel peace, and joy. There is no place I'd rather be than with my family while exploring this wonderful place, and to know that it all started here. 

Hill Cumorah Pageant '16

The past couple of weeks of July have gone by so fast that it seems as if we came back from upstate New York yesterday! After blogging about Lexie attending EFY in Kirtland yesterday I realized that i didn't document our spontaneous, quick trip to Palmyra to catch the Hill Cumorah Pageant. 

When we picked up Lexie on saturday morning we figured we weren't too far from Palmyra, and we all decided to take advantage and watch the pageant. It's become tradition, and we didn't want to break tradition! Counting our blessings for five hour energy drinks in which Jon takes only when we drive more than five hours, and in this case we did. 

We normally stay overnight at a friends home in Palmrya, but ended up going home right after the pageant. We figured since it was so last minute not to impose on them. Come to find out they weren't home all weekend due to a reception, and when I mentioned to them how we were there the weekend they were gone said how we could have had their whole house to ourselves! Such awesomeness coming from great friends, but it was meant for us to go straight home, and even though we arrived at 5am we still managed to attend church at 9am! Jon and I were running on fumes, but were coherent during sunday school, and I was asked to teach on the temple next week which is tomorrow! I think all the commenting I've done in class in this ward has prompted the Relief Society President to ask me to teach! I'm excited to finally teach a lesson. I hadn't taught one in so long, and the time couldn't be more perfect. Especially since we have the Philadelphia temple ready to open the doors to the public. I have been preparing my lesson in hopes that it'll inspire at least one person! 

The pageant, as always is spiritually amazing! We just love coming here. We had the time to walk through the sacred grove, and go by the temple. 

Another small, beautiful temple! 

Wish we had time to go through, but it was nice to walk the grounds, and capture these cute kids in front of the sign with such beautiful flowers. I look at this picture compared to last years post, and the kids somewhat look the same, but are still getting older. Wish they wouldn't! 

As always Jon took the kids on a "prophet hunt." Noah was so excited, and always looks forward to this. It's almost like an "i spy a prophet" game. He is getting better at becoming familiar with the prophets from the book of mormon. I know that by teaching him at home, and especially when we come here that it helps him to remember who they are, and what they did, as well as beginning to appreciate their role in how they lived their life. 

Here are a few photos of a few prophets he spotted. Of course the first one that caught his eye was Joseph Smith. 

 Here's my sweet Noah with the not so nice Noah!

 Like me Noah has a few favorite prophets. There are just so many that were such great examples to the world. Here he is with Abinadi.

Lehi. 

and here are all the kids with two of Lehi's sons Nephi, and the not so nice Laman. 

We absolutey love coming here every year. It's like spiritual food, and going to Kirtland before coming here was perfect! So grateful for these opportunities, and the blessings that come from it. Here's hoping that everyone will make it to the pageant someday. It'll truly change your life, and you'll leave feeling so inspired! 

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! 

Hill Cumorah Pageant '14

Attending the Hill Cumorah Pageant is one of the highlights during the summer, and a time for us to bond as a family on a spiritual level. Ever since we moved to North Carolina, and watched it for the first time we were all hooked. Maybe it's the fact that my girls love the theatrics, but now that they are older they love the whole story behind it. "It's like the Book of Mormon coming to life" Chelsea said. She was almost four when she watched it for the first time, and there were several years where she would fall asleep, but now she's wide awake. Noah is the same age as her now, and he is even more in awe, and intrigued by the whole storyline. His eyes were glued to the stage especially during the fighting scenes. When I asked what his favorite part was he mentioned the part when they built a ship, and when the fire came out "popping in the air", and when Jesus is "coming down from the sky." It's so interesting to watch my kids as they get older, and how they continue to learn more about the history of the church in various ways including going to the pageant. 

Ever since Chelsea, and Noah have gotten older they love going on prophet hunts. When Sierra, and Lexie were younger we really didn't really seek out the actors who were dressed as the prophets, but they still loved taking pictures with them. Noah has been going to the pageant since he was a baby, and I think the fact of having a boy gets Jon enthusiastic to have him meet the characters who play the prophets. Now that Noah is older he is beginning to really understand this whole prophet thing and he gets really excited to meet them. 

Every year we sometimes hear of friends having gone to the pageant or plan to go to the pageant, but what are the odds of actually running into them. There have been many instances where the girls have bumped into friends they met at EFY, and the fact that we've lived in many different wards in various states gives us more opportunity to run into some old friends. I mean...what are the chances right. You'll be surprised...especially the year when Sierra ran into Hannah whom she met at the Boston temple, and then later saw her that same year participating in the pageant. Or the year we ran into the Laney's and my dear friend Eliza. It's a small world, and this year we saw Becca from our stake, and it was really nice to have seen her there with her family. Even better passing the time talking, and getting better acquainted with her. Thanks for the company Becca!

We are so grateful we had the opportunity to attend the pageant again this year, and every year it's the same storyline, and it never gets old. It's never a waste of time, and the five hour drive is totally worth it! Each year our testimony builds, and we see it in our children as well. When summer arrives, and pageant time hits Chelsea will always ask if we're going again this year. And I always tell her yes. No matter the drive, or little time we have throughout the weekend to spend with each other (because Jon won't get vacation time until after a year with the company) we will take advantage of all the sights, and history of this wonderful church, and the gospel that was restored by Joseph Smith. It's an amazing, inspirational  true story with so much to learn, and spiritually grow from, and if you ever have the opportunity to attend I encourage you to go. You will not regret it, you won't fall sleep, and I guarantee you will feel leaving with a happiness that you've never felt before.