Slept in a bit today, all 6 of us snugged up in our double beds, Courtney the sweetheart actually slept on the floor, giving us a little more room. We all got us, showered, dressed and packed and I walked around the block to pick up our hire car. Fortunately, I found a parking spot right out the front of the hotel, by the time I got back, Jodie had already got all the kids and all the bags down into the lobby, which is a major feat in itself as the hotel only had one tiny elevator and with everybody checking out, the delays were long and frustrating. We all jumped in the car and were heading off through New Jersey to Harmony, Pennsylvania.
Only in America and only in New York would the following experience happen. On one of the major on ramps to the Lincoln Tunnel, stood a lone hotdog vender, right on the road. Of course I couldn’t miss this opportunity as none of us had had breakfast. I puled up along side, rolled down the window and bought 6 authentic New York hotdogs from an Indian hotdog vender. We then drove though the Lincoln Tunnel; out through New Jersey and the famous New Jersey turn pike to Harmony Pennsylvania. It was a pleasant drive and one of the great things about this hire car is that it has an in-built DVD player, so the kids watched movies. Jodie slept until we arrived at Oakland Township in Pennsylvania, which was formerly known as Harmony, Pennsylvania.
The church has purchased a parcel of land that includes the foundations of the Hale home, Emma Smith’s parents, and a local cemetery were Emma’s parent’s graves are and where the grave site is of their first born baby. I’m endeavoring to put together a movie of these and other sacred places for my children and for the Young Men in my Aaronic priesthood group back in my home ward, Kenmore. AS I was filming in the cemetery and filming the grave of Joseph and Emma’s first baby, I found myself overcome with deep appreciation and understanding for the hardships this young couple must of endured. I’ve always had a soft spot for Emma Smith and all that she did to support her husband and the hardships she endured. It’s incredible to think the persecution this young man, and indeed young couple suffered simply as a result of a humble prayer.
The church has erected a monument and a number of epitaphs instructing people and tourists of the significance of this sacred place. But what was even more enjoyable was that the local community/government/council has erected a signpost at the front of the property, which is part of their history marker program. It would appear that the local community is quite proud that this is a place where the early church had a lot of significant moments. Unfortunately the monument is separated from the banks of the river by a train line.so you have to drive around and over the train line to get to the parcel of land that the church owns on the very banks of the Susquehanna River. There is a lovely trail that leads down from the small parking area with apple large broad leave trees that Jodie might think are sycamores, providing shade sand greenery.
On the way to the rivers edge, you pass through a small depression with lush green flooring and large trees up ahead. In my minds eye I envisioned this to be the place where John the Baptist ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey and gave them the keys necessary to do the work. Coming up out of this depression with the large willow tree providing shade over a still water pool that was kind of set of from the flowing river. I could easily see that it was a pool like this, if not this one, where Joseph and Oliver baptized each other for the very first time. We lingered in this lovely place for nearly half an hour and I gathered some leaves to bring home to Australia to make some nice memorabilia for my son, who’s an Aaronic priesthood holder, and my Young Men back in my ward.
We left Harmony, stopping briefly for lunch, and driving another 3hours to Fayette County in New York State, to visit the Whitmer Farm. We knew we were going to be cutting it fine on time, so we pushed it a little in a hope that we could do the tour today, rather then tomorrow. We came off the main highway and drove through some of the nicest country that I have seen in America. This is the Finger Lakes district with lush, rolling hillside farmland and a series of small, deep beautiful lakes. We managed to get to the Whitmer Farm at around about 7:30pm. The volunteers that work and serve missions there were lovely and most accommodating. We got there after closing time, which was 7pm, but on the tail end of a large tour bus. They graciously stayed behind to give us a tour.
The site is a large farm with a number of buildings on the site. One is a chapel and fully functioning Stake Centre. The main chapel area is built as a replica of the Kirtland Temple and serves as the chapel for the ward and stakes that meet here. Adjacent to the Chapel is a Visitor’s Center that explains and tells the story of the organization o the Church and the need for modern day Prophets. We lingered long after everybody had left and this turned into being quite a lovely spiritual experience for the family and a great teaching moment as all of my children stood around Jodie and I asking some of the best questions and providing us a great opportunity to teach what we knew about the Gospel, Restoration and the Plan of Salvation.
We then jumped in the car to drive the remaining 30ins to a quant, quite spacious little motel in the Town of Manchester, just 4miles from the Palmyra Temple, Hill Cumorah and the Sacred Grove. We too the opportunity to drive down to the local store and do a bit of grocery shopping, again another fun family experience as we had fun getting some of the necessities that would see us through the next couple of days. We returned to the hotel for another late dinner and for some much needed sleep. Today really was the official start of our Church history tour and my desire to make the scriptures come alive for my children.
Only in America and only in New York would the following experience happen. On one of the major on ramps to the Lincoln Tunnel, stood a lone hotdog vender, right on the road. Of course I couldn’t miss this opportunity as none of us had had breakfast. I puled up along side, rolled down the window and bought 6 authentic New York hotdogs from an Indian hotdog vender. We then drove though the Lincoln Tunnel; out through New Jersey and the famous New Jersey turn pike to Harmony Pennsylvania. It was a pleasant drive and one of the great things about this hire car is that it has an in-built DVD player, so the kids watched movies. Jodie slept until we arrived at Oakland Township in Pennsylvania, which was formerly known as Harmony, Pennsylvania.
The church has purchased a parcel of land that includes the foundations of the Hale home, Emma Smith’s parents, and a local cemetery were Emma’s parent’s graves are and where the grave site is of their first born baby. I’m endeavoring to put together a movie of these and other sacred places for my children and for the Young Men in my Aaronic priesthood group back in my home ward, Kenmore. AS I was filming in the cemetery and filming the grave of Joseph and Emma’s first baby, I found myself overcome with deep appreciation and understanding for the hardships this young couple must of endured. I’ve always had a soft spot for Emma Smith and all that she did to support her husband and the hardships she endured. It’s incredible to think the persecution this young man, and indeed young couple suffered simply as a result of a humble prayer.
The church has erected a monument and a number of epitaphs instructing people and tourists of the significance of this sacred place. But what was even more enjoyable was that the local community/government/council has erected a signpost at the front of the property, which is part of their history marker program. It would appear that the local community is quite proud that this is a place where the early church had a lot of significant moments. Unfortunately the monument is separated from the banks of the river by a train line.so you have to drive around and over the train line to get to the parcel of land that the church owns on the very banks of the Susquehanna River. There is a lovely trail that leads down from the small parking area with apple large broad leave trees that Jodie might think are sycamores, providing shade sand greenery.
On the way to the rivers edge, you pass through a small depression with lush green flooring and large trees up ahead. In my minds eye I envisioned this to be the place where John the Baptist ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey and gave them the keys necessary to do the work. Coming up out of this depression with the large willow tree providing shade over a still water pool that was kind of set of from the flowing river. I could easily see that it was a pool like this, if not this one, where Joseph and Oliver baptized each other for the very first time. We lingered in this lovely place for nearly half an hour and I gathered some leaves to bring home to Australia to make some nice memorabilia for my son, who’s an Aaronic priesthood holder, and my Young Men back in my ward.
We left Harmony, stopping briefly for lunch, and driving another 3hours to Fayette County in New York State, to visit the Whitmer Farm. We knew we were going to be cutting it fine on time, so we pushed it a little in a hope that we could do the tour today, rather then tomorrow. We came off the main highway and drove through some of the nicest country that I have seen in America. This is the Finger Lakes district with lush, rolling hillside farmland and a series of small, deep beautiful lakes. We managed to get to the Whitmer Farm at around about 7:30pm. The volunteers that work and serve missions there were lovely and most accommodating. We got there after closing time, which was 7pm, but on the tail end of a large tour bus. They graciously stayed behind to give us a tour.
The site is a large farm with a number of buildings on the site. One is a chapel and fully functioning Stake Centre. The main chapel area is built as a replica of the Kirtland Temple and serves as the chapel for the ward and stakes that meet here. Adjacent to the Chapel is a Visitor’s Center that explains and tells the story of the organization o the Church and the need for modern day Prophets. We lingered long after everybody had left and this turned into being quite a lovely spiritual experience for the family and a great teaching moment as all of my children stood around Jodie and I asking some of the best questions and providing us a great opportunity to teach what we knew about the Gospel, Restoration and the Plan of Salvation.
We then jumped in the car to drive the remaining 30ins to a quant, quite spacious little motel in the Town of Manchester, just 4miles from the Palmyra Temple, Hill Cumorah and the Sacred Grove. We too the opportunity to drive down to the local store and do a bit of grocery shopping, again another fun family experience as we had fun getting some of the necessities that would see us through the next couple of days. We returned to the hotel for another late dinner and for some much needed sleep. Today really was the official start of our Church history tour and my desire to make the scriptures come alive for my children.
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