Elder Bushman wanted to walk the Erie Canal path in Palmyra and I wanted to go buy some bottled water. I am trying to get used to the tap water here, but it tastes funny to me still...no fizz..ha. Anyway, I drove Elder Bushman to the path by the four churches in Palmyra and then I went and bought water. I then collected him at the Mud Creek Aqueduct Park at the edge of town. See the path next to the Aldrich memorial bridge. It is a beautiful walking path that follows the Erie Canal through most of the town.
This beautiful waterfall is in the entrance to the Mud Creek Aqueduct Park. The Canal also has a lock system in this park to take ships along the canal. We are going to cruise this on June 23rd so I will send pictures of the Canal then.
Last Evening, for our Family Home Evening Bob Parrott, a local ecologist and management person whom the church hired to care for all the forests and grounds in this area, spoke to us.
I found this article in the Harold B. Lee Library site: Author: Enders, Donald L.
A grove of trees on the Joseph Smith, Sr., farm near Palmyra, New York, is revered by Latter-day Saints as the vicinity where Joseph Smith experienced his first vision, the divine manifestation of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ that began the restoration of the gospel in this dispensation. For that reason, Latter-day Saints honor the place as sacred. The grove is part of the forest that once covered the Smiths' 100-acre farm in Manchester Township as well as much of western New York.
The forest was some 400 years old when the family of Joseph Smith, Sr., moved to the site in 1818 or 1819. The large trees of the forest-maple, beech, elm, oak, and hickory-reached heights of up to 125 feet and diameters of 6 feet or more. Beneath this natural canopy grew hop hornbeam, wild cherry, and ash. The woodland floor was carpeted with leaves, ferns, grasses, wildflowers, and clumps of chokecherry and dogwood.
The Smiths cleared the trees from sixty acres of their property. The Sacred Grove was part of a fifteen-acre wooded tract at the farm's west end, reserved as a sugarbush, where trees were tapped for making maple syrup and sugar.
Subsequent owners of the farm maintained the grove, associating it with Joseph Smith's vision, although the exact location of the vision is unknown. In 1907 the Church purchased the farm and grove from William A. Chapman, and these sites formed the nucleus of the Church historical sites program, which at present includes properties from Vermont to Utah.
Through an ongoing professional maintenance program, the Church has retained much of the primeval beauty of the Sacred Grove. Trees that were mature at the time of Joseph Smith's boyhood still grace this forest. People from many lands visit the Sacred Grove each year. In 1989 the number of visitors exceeded 36,000.
This is a Sugar Maple tree:
This is basically is the jist of his talk. Except he told us how groomed the forest was until Pres. Hinckley requested it be returned to its natural state. There are some trees that are over 250 years old that he referred to as "The Witness Trees" because they were on the grounds when the vision occurred. He told us his opinion of Joseph's vision has changed since working on these sacred grounds. He said that one day he was making his way through the forest and was removing large fallen logs off saplings rescuing them from being bent or broken as they grew. He had saved about thirty of them when he got this warm, warm feeling that Joseph was by him thanking him for all the work he has done to preserve this site. He said this feeling stayed with him for several hours and now he knows too how sacred this grove is and considers it a great privilege to be a part of its preservation. He said Joseph was not a member when he had this experience and that he too is not a member, but he knows these grounds have been sacred for thousands of years and were prepared for the experience that happened here with Joseph and his vision of God The Father and His Son. He looks forward to the time when he can greet Joseph and shake his hand!
One of the Elders told me Brother Parrott promised his mother that he would not join this church that she was so anti about. He is a good example of the wonderful people in this area that have chosen to learn the truth of the First Vision. He is a missionary, a rescuer in his own right! I hope he lives in the flesh to be able to have his own vision show him to be true and faithful. Blessings to each of you from The Sacred Grove!
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