Our Roots

Upon arriving in Boston over three years ago, I began a running list of places to go and things to do.  I hate regrets and so I have, for the most part, run fast and furious exploring this corner of our country in case at some point we move on. Last year a church history trip made it to the top of my list and so I immediately began selling the idea to Steve. I have friends who have flown to Boston and then rented a car to drive back to Utah, stopping at each significant spot along the way. "What are we thinking," I asked Steve? "We are going in that direction anyway so we should not pass up on this great opportunity!" Surprisingly, he bought it. In January we began learning about the different eras of church history for family night and charted out our journey. As things often go, our plans changed, and our trip across country was put on hold. However, this shift in our summer agenda didn't happen until after we had taken our preliminary Saturday trip up to Vermont to see Joseph Smith's birthplace. We have heard about the significant event that occurred in the Vermont hills our entire life, and so at the beginning of July we were excited to see for ourselves Sharon, the little town full of Smith history. Our first stop was the birth place of Joseph Smith. We stopped at the visitor center and learned about the circumstances surrounding the Smith family, traced their heritage, which interestingly includes lines tying into various world leaders, stood on the fire place stone which is one of two remaining pieces of the small house in which our prophet was born, sat under the tree where the cottage stood, and climbed up to the solid granite shaft which is 38 1/2 feet tall, representing each year of his life.

 

We then drove along the old Vermont turnpike, which is nothing more that an overgrown dirt road, to see the Mack home sites where Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith's mother's family lived. Our kids were in awe at the fact that this small road was equivalent at the time to the huge, four lane Mass Turnpike that we take into Boston. We stopped at a stone bridge covering a small stream which was laid before 1804. It was amazing to think that Joseph Smith would have passed over these stones on a regular basis during his childhood. On our way out of the Smith and Mack farms, we passed a small red house that was the school where Joseph Smith Sr. taught to supplement his farming livelihood. 

We then traveled down to Lebanon Vt. to the spot where Joseph Smith lived during his miraculous leg operation. The kids thought it was such fun to be able to eat at the KFC that now stands on the exact plot where his house once stood. They speculated which corner of the restaurant would have been Joseph Smith's room while chomping on fried chicken and corn on the cob!

We then stopped in Turnbridge Vt. to see the village store that Lucy Mack was working at when she met Joseph Smith Sr. 

I felt so fortunate to be able to include this excursion, which many skip over due to its obscure location, in our tour of church sites. We ended the day driving through the Vermont countryside.

We made a quick stop at the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory. We toured their site, sampled cookies and cream ice cream in the tasting room, visited their flavor graveyard which memorializes flavors that have been "put to rest", and then each enjoyed a cone from their on site scoop shop. 

Soon after we went to Sharon, we decided to put off our trip West this summer. However, I was still determined to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, knowing that when we do eventually make our church history journey west, it may not coincide with this legendary event. After our failed attempt at a yard sale, which you can read more about on Emilie's blog, we decided to salvage the weekend by attending the pageant. It was the last show of the season and after a little convincing of certain family members, we made a quick, you-have-twenty-minutes-to-get-your-stuff-and-get-in-the-car decision. We made a B-line along I-90 to Palmyra. When we arrived, we were taken off guard by the group protesting our church. They came in all forms, some bringing their children to join in on the shouting, others decorating their cars and driving up and down the streets and one man even dressed in a Satan outfit.  Annelise hid her head in her sweater when we had to pass the hecklers who lined the streets with their bull horns and costumes. They clearly made our children feel uncomfortable. Ironically we were able to use this as a teaching moment to discuss the feeling of the Spirit, contrasting these feelings with those which bring a sense of happiness and joy. 

We arrived at the amphitheater just in time for a picnic on the lawn and an opportunity to meet various Nephites and Lamanites before the sun sank below the stage and the lights illuminated the Hill Cumorah. 

The pageant, in all it's glory, did not disappoint. It was so exciting for our family to see the stories that we read about each night dramatized on the spot where the ancient records were buried and lay hidden for so many years. For us, it really brought to life the scriptures and history of the Book of Mormon people. 

The next morning we spent time at the Hill Cumorah Visitor Center, climbed up to the statue of Moroni and then walked through the Sacred Grove.

We had spent a weekend in Palmyra a couple of years ago and were planning on driving through again on our trek west so we just did a quick whirlwind tour before jumping back in the car and heading home. For me, these excursions were a highlight of the summer.