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Welcome Home Sister Faulkner (aka Grandma Connie)

Palmira, New York

Peter Witmer Home - On April 6th, 1830 in Peter Whitmer's small log home in Fayette, New York, Joseph Smith and 5 others formally organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


The Palyra Temple


This is us standing on the street Joseph Smith's family lived on, with the fabulous view of the Temple.

Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site - It is here that E.B. Grandin directed the printing of 5,000 copies of the first edition of the Book of Mormon.


This is a picture of one of the first-edition, leather-bound copy of the Book of Mormon and a Bible from the time period.

Inside the Printing office. The floor is original, but the bookshelves, books and furniture are replicas.



Joseph Smith's family's log home (actually a replica, but on the original foundation). His parent's had their room on the main floor, then all the children shared the 2 rooms upstairs, a boy's room and a girl's room.

This picture is the 4 of us upstairs where the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith.


Sacred Grove - At age 14, Joseph Smith felt a great desire to know which church to join. While reading the Bible, he came across James 1:5 - "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God." On a beautiful spring morning in 1820 he went to a nearby grove of trees to pray. In response to his prayer, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph and directed him to join no church that was then established.

I've heard and read these accounts of Joseph my entire life and felt the truth of them. But to be there where it actually took place was amazing. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to see these places to strengthen my testimony of Joseph Smith and the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is Joseph's home at the time and a view of the Sacred Grove behind


Joseph Smith's family lived here for about 3 years, it's just down the street from the log home. 80% of this home is original.

This is the fireplace where Joseph Smith hid the plates under the bricks when a mob was coming to steal them.



The Hill Cumorah - In A.D. 421 Moroni buried in this Hill a set of golden plates on which was recorded the history of his people. In 1827 Moroni returned to this
hill as an angel and delivered the plates to Joseph Smith, who translated and published them as the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

This is the 4 of us standing in front of the Christus in the visitor's center.

This is the monument on the top of the hill

The Visitor's center

The Hill Cumorah, see the monument at the top, on the left?


I took a lot of the narration from a pamphlet we picked up called Hill Cumorah and Other Historic New York Sites by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For more info, visit www.mormon.org

Niagra Falls

Monday morning we woke up and to a sunny day! This was the first time we'd seen the sun since we'd left Phoenix! We were so happy to see the sun! Toronto wasn't so cold without the rain and wind!
We said good-bye to our new friends, the Burn's, and my Mom said good-bye to Toronto for good. It was a 2 hour drive to Niagra Falls from Toronto. We didn't cross over into the United States, but we could see the US and were so grateful to be so close to home. None of us realized how different Canada is from the States, but my Mom kept reminding us that it is a foreign country.




Niagra Falls is amazing. Beautiful and amazing. 1/5 of the world's fresh water goes through the Falls. We were so taken with the sight, we'd take 10 steps and stop to take more pictures. I'd promised the boys t-shirts from Niagra Falls, so we stopped at the gift shop and bought those, as well as a Christmas Tree ornament and some post-cards for my in-laws.

Sunday

For Sunday, we got up early and drove 3 hours to a little town North of Toronto, the town of Bancroft. My Mom served her last 9 months of her mission here and says this is where her heart is.
They have a tiny branch in Bancroft with wonderful, faithful members who were so gracious and happy to have us there. They all had wonderful things to say about my Mom and she will be missed. My brother and I were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting. My brother talked about following the Prophet and I spoke about Service. It went well. Speaking in front of 20 people is not as scary as speaking in front of 250, which is about how many people attend my ward.
After the 3 hour block, the branch provided a potluck lunch for us. So sweet. We really enjoyed visiting with the branch members.
The building they meet in is an old bank. Downstairs, there is the main room where they meet, a kitchen, then the other half of the building is a real estate office. There is an apartment upstairs where the missionaries live. My Mom lived there while she was here. Also upstairs there is the branch President's office, a Primary room and a small room that they call their library, with a copy machine and a few manuals.
The balcony on the top right is my Mom's apartment.

The bank is no longer there, but they still have an atm through the front door. There is a glass door from the atm room to the "chapel" or where the branch meets. They put this sign up, I thought it was cute.

Too bad my Mom isn't rich, she'd love to have a summer home here in Bancroft.



After a brief tour of Bancroft, we drove back to Toronto. My Mom had arranged for us to have dinner with the Bishop of one of the wards she served in. Dinner was great! And the company was even better. Bishop Latchner has a very sarcastic sense of humor and his wife is the exact opposite, just as sweet as can be. We had so much fun visiting with them, lots of laughs.

Thank you Kris and Chris for a great time and great food!