Hey dear followers, sorry for the lapse in writing! They've been keeping me busy at school and Tara has a full-time job now, so our blogging time has been greatly decreased. There's definitely a lot to tell you about now. The biggest thing that we did was take the hour-long drive up to Palmyra, N.Y. and check out the Hill Cumorah pageant and all the church sites up there. We started off at the Smith farm where we went on the tour. Tara had already been there before, but it was a first time experience for me to see these places that I had only read about.
Being the weekend of the pageant, it was really busy there. The sister missionaries that were leading the tour said during the week of the pageant roughly 50,000 people visit the sites. We started off getting a history lesson, and then toured the Smith homestead cabin. The cabin itself is a replica, but it is built on the original foundation of the 1820s Smith cabin, and it was built without using any modern technology.
Following that we went down to road to the Smith frame house that was built later on. It is the original structure, and they showed us the different places in the home where the gold plates were hidden. From there we went through a threshing barn that was built by Brigham Young's brother and later moved to the site. Then we went to to the shop where they made and repaired barrels (the name escapes me). After that, the formal tour ended and they turned us loose to go wander through the sacred grove. It was really amazing to be there, knowing what happened there. While wandering around, we found some remnants of the original rock wall the Smith's built, and even tried a couple wild raspberries.
Being the weekend of the pageant, it was really busy there. The sister missionaries that were leading the tour said during the week of the pageant roughly 50,000 people visit the sites. We started off getting a history lesson, and then toured the Smith homestead cabin. The cabin itself is a replica, but it is built on the original foundation of the 1820s Smith cabin, and it was built without using any modern technology.
Following that we went down to road to the Smith frame house that was built later on. It is the original structure, and they showed us the different places in the home where the gold plates were hidden. From there we went through a threshing barn that was built by Brigham Young's brother and later moved to the site. Then we went to to the shop where they made and repaired barrels (the name escapes me). After that, the formal tour ended and they turned us loose to go wander through the sacred grove. It was really amazing to be there, knowing what happened there. While wandering around, we found some remnants of the original rock wall the Smith's built, and even tried a couple wild raspberries.
After the Smith farm we headed into Palmyra and drove to the E.B. Grandin Print Shop where the Book of Mormon was published. Being a journalist, it was awesome to see how the old printing presses worked and see what people of that time went through to publish a book.
When we were done at the print shop, we just drove around a little bit following some of the streets and seeing the city. I'm an avid fan of the "Work and the Glory" books, and it was crazy to drive down these streets that I've read about – even if they are completely different than they were back then.
Finally, we headed down the road to the Hill Cumorah to catch the last night of the pageant. This was an experience in itself, but maybe not for the expected reason. As we were pulling up to the parking area, there were a few anti-mormon groups out hollering, protesting and generally making an uneducated nuisance of themselves. A couple had megaphones, and were spewing out words of hatred at the oncoming crowd. It is amazing to me that no matter where the church gathers in large groups, these people show up. Maybe I just notice it because it's my religion, but I'v never seen so much animosity built up towards other religions.
Then we entered the actual pageant area, and the scene completely changed. There was clearly just as many (if not more) non-members as there was members, but as we walked through the gates, MoTab blocked out the megaphone guys and the spirit completely changed. I'm not usually one throw on some church music and just kick back, but it was such a change from the scene driving in, that it was impossible not to notice.
The pageant itself was really cool. They had a lot of special effects and it was definitely a high quality production. I knew it was a big deal, but I had no idea that is was 9,000 people's worth of a big deal. It was great to see such a big gathering of people to see church stuff so far away from Utah! Also, during the production, something stood out to me. I won't go into too much detail and get all religious, but sometimes those resounding moments happen that confirm this religion is no joke.
During the production, they act out scenes from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. In one of the particular scenes, they're acting out Lehi's dream. They didn't go into all the details from the dream, including the part about the people that are in the building yelling and mocking, but it hit me right then and there – that's exactly who the people out front with the megaphones were. They were the people in the great and spacious building, mocking and yelling at those who sought after the gospel. It's awesome when scriptural things happen right in front of you!
Anyways, needless to say it was a fun and eye-opening weekend.
Other than that, Tara and I have just been busy working! Between the two of us, though, hopefully we can get back on track and write a little bit more often. Stop back soon!
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