Shortly
after arriving in New Jersey we
were informed that President Jeppson allowed senior missionaries to attend the
Hill Cumorah Pageant. We promptly received permission and made our
plans. We would drive to Canandaigua,
New York, on Monday, July 14, 2014.
On the way we would stop at the Peter Whitmer Sr. farm where the Church
was formally organized on April 6, 1830. On Tuesday, July 15, we would attend the
pageant, and on Wednesday we would return to New Jersey.
Everything
went pretty much according to plan, with a few surprises along the way. Just after checking into our hotel in
Canandaigua we went to a nearby store to buy batteries for our camera. The skies had been threatening rain for much
of our trip and had provided a few sprinkles, but now it was looking very black
toward the west. As we were walking in
the store parking lot our cell phones started making unusual sounds. We looked at them and the message was,
"Extreme Alerts: Tornado Warning in
this area . . . Take shelter
now." At the same time we could
hear cell phones all over the parking lot sounding off. I figured that a Wal-Mart was as good a place
as any to take shelter but Sister Shaw wasn't so sure. As we walked up to the door she asked a
local, who was standing there, what we should do. The answer was about what I expected but was
not at all reassuring for Sister Shaw.
The exact answer was, "I don't know."
The
store was abuzz with tornado talk. We
bought batteries. If there was going to
be a tornado I wanted pictures. Back
outside I looked up and could see that the blackness was now directly overhead
and appeared to be rotating. Time to get
in the car and make a run for it. The
only problem was our front brakes were making a terrible noise. It sounded like the old warning when the
brake pads wore thin, only it was worse.
That was back in the day when I did my own brake work. Do they still work that way?
Anyway
we drove the block or two back to our hotel with our brakes screeching all the
way. This was beginning to remind me of
the old nightmare I had repeatedly as a kid where the monster is chasing you
but you cannot run fast enough because your feet are like lead or stuck in tar
or something.
We
sat there in the hotel parking lot while Sister Shaw looked up a brake shop on
her smart phone and I looked up at the sky.
There was a brake shop close by but going there would take us in exactly
the wrong direction if our object was to flee.
So much for fleeing. We headed
for the brake shop. The pictures would
be amazing!
After
driving a short distance toward the storm we made a right turn, as directed by
our GPS, and suddenly the screeching brakes stopped screeching. We did not spend a lot of time analyzing this
miracle right then, but instead reversed the direction of our travel via a
nearby parking lot. We then turned east
for a short distance on highway 20 and then turned north on a country road with
the name of Smith. It was time to put
some distance between us and the storm.
So much for my amazing pictures.
As
we sped northward we could see that the sky ahead was not nearly as threatening
as what we were leaving behind. Just as
we were beginning to feel a little more secure the rain came. This was not a pleasant little California
shower. It came down so hard and with
such volume that the most extreme wiper action had no chance of clearing the
windshield. We had to slow down to a
crawl in order to maybe stay on the road. I began to wonder at what point the paint
would start to peel off the car. I had
no doubt that there would be significant damage if the rain changed to
hail. I glanced quickly at the outside temperature
displayed on the dash. Can it hail when
it is in the mid 70s? I suspect that it
can. Fortunately it did not happen this
time and a few minutes later we drove into Palmyra
on dry pavement
Our
first stop was the Grandin print shop on Main Street
where the first edition of the Book of Mormon was printed. The job was to produce 5000 copies of a hard
bound book in the neighborhood of 400 pages.
This was a monumental job for a frontier print shop. Actually, this was a monumental job for any
print shop of its day. The equipment was
so primitive. There was so much hand work
to be done. In spite of all of this the
job was completed in March of 1830, after less than eight month's work.
Just
a few months earlier it could not have been done at all. The building that Grandin's print shop
occupied was not even completed until 1828.
The new printing press had just arrived via the just completed Erie
Canal. These are only a few
of the things that had to come together in order for the Book of Mormon to be
published.
As
we stood there in this special place and considered what was done and how it
was done we could clearly see the hand of God all over this project. We can also see the hand of God all over what
happened next as the Book of Mormon has gone forth from its humble beginning in
this place to fill the whole earth, just as was prophesied by Joseph Smith.
All
things considered, it is far easier to believe that the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon and the Church was an act of God than it is to believe that
Joseph Smith made it all up. Other than
the fact, of course, that if it was an act of God, then you may feel compelled
to keep the commandments. And, keeping
the commandments is just too big a price for many people. So they desperately grasp hold of this or
that outrageous explanation of how Joseph Smith performed this miracle, with
about the same odds of being right as a lottery player has of winning the
jackpot.
But,
none of this kind of thinking means much to me anymore. My testimony long ago crossed over from being
based on careful logic and discussions of probability to being based on
personal revelation from my Father in Heaven via the power of the Holy
Ghost. I have read the Book of Mormon
many times. I have prayed many times to
have that personal witness. Over and
over again my prayers have been answered as I have felt the Holy Ghost testify
to my spirit that these things are true.
As I stood in Grandin's print shop I once again felt that powerful
witness.
Now
all I need to do is keep the commandments.
The
next day (Tuesday) we visited the Smith farm, the Sacred Grove, the Hill
Cumorah, the Palmyra Temple,
and then watched the Hill Cumorah Pageant.
Somewhere in between we went back to Palmyra
and visited an LDS bookstore and gift shop where we bought a book titled
"A lion and a Lamb" which is about Willard and Rebecca Bean. They were called on a five year mission in
1915 and were released 24 years later.
Their mission was to take care of the Smith farm, which the Church had
acquired, and to lead the way as the Church re-established a presence in Palmyra. The story of their amazing adventure is well
told in this book which I read in about three days.
On
our first visit of the day to the Hill Cumorah we bumped into Elder &
Sister Loertscher who were on their way home to Bluebell, Utah. We knew that their return home plans included
a stop in Palmyra so we thought we
might see them. Sure enough, there they
were. It is amazing that you can
establish such great friendships in a very short time while serving the Lord
together.
The
Pageant was amazing as were the protesters.
That's right, there are actually people who think their point of view,
that The Restoration was a hoax, is enhanced by standing in a field nearby and
yelling at us through a bullhorn. The
yelling stopped once the Pageant began but resumed when it was finished. Someone told me that human kindness was not
the motivation for the heckling recess but rather the police had something to do
with it. I really could not make out
what they were saying (hearing loss can be a blessing) but it did not seem to
have a loving tone.
Actually,
I was glad they were there because it is a sign that Satan is still seriously
disturbed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a long established pattern that
whenever the truth is on the earth there will be persecution of its followers. So, I would be worried if we were just left
alone. Jesus referred to this pattern in
His Sermon on the Mount.
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great
is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you." (Matthew 5:11-12)
I
have always found it interesting that the persecutors never spend much energy
trying to expound the wonders of their philosophy of life. Rather they feel compelled to attack
others. And, what a cheap attack it
was. With a bullhorn.
Who knew there is an Auburn, NY?
Type setting room in Grandin print shop.
Sister missionaries and the "Smith Press" which produced the Book of Mormon.
Exterior of Grandin print shop in downtown Palmyra.
Smith log home.
A couple of missionaries who are way outside their mission boundries.
View of Pageant setup from top of Hill Cumorah.
Angel Moroni on top of Hill Cumorah.
Palmyra Temple.
Cast members in front of Pageant stage.
