I am so grateful that I got the chance to go back to my
mission. So many people never get the chance to go back, but I am so glad that
my mission wasn't too far away. It was amazing to go back and see the streets
that I used to walk on, and roads that I used to drive on, some people that
were so special to me, and of course the wonderful sites in Palmyra and
Fayette. I wish we could have been there longer, there are so many more people
that I would love to visit with, but hopefully next time we go we will be out
there for much longer and be able to see many more of my friends.
We definitely had to go and see the sites, and Palmyra was our first stop. We took the tour and learned about the history of Joseph Smith, took some pictures, and then went to the Sacred Grove. It is such a wonderful place to visit. I had a great time in there, contemplating back and forth between the history of Joseph Smith’s first vision and the experiences that I had personally there. It was great to be back.
It was also special to be there with Laleinia and Connor. I
enjoyed walking around with them, pointing out some of my favorite trees and
telling them some of my mission stories while we were there.
After spending some alone time in the Grove, and after
getting bitten by many mosquitoes (remember, sacred, not bug-free), we made our
way down to the Hill Cumorah. We didn't spend too long there, but we sat in
front of the Christus for a little while, and then climbed the Hill. It is
always great to be there and think about what the Hill held for so long, until
the time was right for Joseph Smith to retrieve the plates.
Next on our list was the Grandin building, better known as the Book of Mormon Publication Site. It is so cool to consider the processes that were required to make the Book of Mormon, and to try and go back in time and picture what was going on in the early nineteenth century.
Following our tour of the Grandin building, we rushed down
to Fayette to see the Peter Whitmer home, where the church was organized, and
also to see one of my favorite people in the world, Frank Zeck, a man who I met
while serving in the area. Frank joined us on the tour of the Peter Whitmer
home, and afterwards we went out to eat at Friendly’s and walked by Seneca
Lake. It was so nice to be reacquainted with him, and to introduce him to
Laleinia and Connor, both of whom felt of his love and really enjoyed being
with him.
Also, while I am writing about great people, I should also say that we stayed with some wonderful people while we were in New York who I consider almost family to me. We stayed with John and Judy Brankacz from the Palmyra ward, the Graham family from the Sodus ward, and the Jung family from the Fairport ward. It was so good catching up with all of them. Thankfully we also got to visit with a few more people from around the mission, which was amazing. I hope to see them all again, and many more people next time we are out in New York. Unfortunately we didn't have much more time in the Palmyra area after seeing the sites, and were only in Rochester and Buffalo for a few hours, but that is the way it goes when you do a 6,000 mile road trip in two weeks!