Our weekend shenanigans consisted of a road trip up to Palmyra, New York with my brother Alex, his wife Tory, and our friends Colton and Chase to learn about the prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the church. It was truly amazing!
We left early Saturday morning so we could have enough time to visit Niagara Falls and still make it to the Hill Cumorah pageant in Palmyra that night.
Niagara Falls was stunningly beautiful! You have Niagara Falls, Canada on one side and Niagara Falls, NY on the other. Meaning we are standing in NY in this picture, but you can see Canada. How cool is that? :)
In order to see it straight on you had to pay, therefore.... we didn't see it straight on. The lines were horrendous and we didn't have a ton of time, so... we settled for a side view. It was still amazing though! And WET!!! Who knew??
Ps. I know that I look amazing and like I just graduated from 6th grade- sweater tied around my waist and all. And Corny might have a teensie bit of RT...
We found our way to the falls by following the mist. You could seriously see it from a mile away!
It started raining pretty hard as we were leaving and about 20 minutes outside of Niagara Falls we hit THE biggest rainstorm I've ever seen. It was literally coming down in sheets! Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am the most nervous passenger in the car. I hate driving. Every time Cory and I get in a car I'm am a ball of nerves. I hate myself for it. But I blame the several accidents I've been in. I am a magnet for accidents! ANYWAY, as you can imagine, I was nearly in tears. Our windshield wipers just weren't fast enough. We could barely see a thing. Semis were whizzing past us at the speed of light. I was barely biting back sobs and saying a hundred prayers in my head that the rain would stop. And guess what, it did. Hallelujah! I'm a firm believer in the power of prayer. (Later Cory told me that he could feel a cold sore coming on because he was so stressed out driving. Gimme a break dude! I think I have an ulcer!) What I'm trying to say is east coast storms are death scary. The end.
We pulled into our motel made for kings (aka The Budget Inn) that evening and were greeted by the lovely smell of grandmas and curry with a floral bedspread to boot. Luckily, we didn't have to spend much time there. It was NAY-ASTY! I like to refer to it as the "Fuss Budget Inn" because that is what it was.
Our whole reason for going up to Palmyra in the first place was to see the Hill Cumorah pageant on Saturday night. It was the last showing of the summer and it was a blast! There were so many people there and it was so fun to have so many church members around us. We even ran into a friend from our single's ward. Small world! A nice young boy gave us some garbage bags to keep ourselves dry since it was raining and we were super unprepared. He saved us! Thankfully the rain let up just in time for the pageant to begin. I was so grateful!
As a side note, I doubt we'll have brown-eyed babies. Just saying.
Please notice all the fun going on in this picture.
The pageant was the story of the Book of Mormon. It was so wonderful and had the coolest stage and special effects!
This is probably the only normal picture we got of ourselves. Oh... hello Tory.
And Colton. And Chase. :)
Sunday morning, after a glorious night's sleep in the Fuss Budget, we set out to see some more church history sites. First, was the place where the first 5,000 Books of Mormon were printed. It was such a neat experience. I didn't realize how much work went into printing books in the 1800s. It took them 7 months of working 12 hours a day for 6 days a week to finish the first 5,000 copies. They even have one of the original ones there that was donated by a local. He wasn't even a member, but found it in the attic of his mother's home. Crazy!
You might be wondering why we are wearing the exact same outfit. Well, both of us brought it without knowing the other one did and by Sunday morning they were the only clean clothes we had. Great minds think alike, I guess. I think he wore it better.
ANYWAY!
After the publication site we went to the Palmyra temple and it was BEAUTIFUL!
Everything is SO green on the east coast. I am obsessed!
Is this not the most awkward kissing picture you've ever seen in your whole life?? I laugh out loud when I look at it. Cory's hand looks so awkward just floating. The matching shirts. It's just plain precious. I had to crop out my child-bearing hips because I married a pencil man and look like a hippo. #bigbuttdon'tcare
The temple is only like 1/4 mile away from the Sacred Grove. So we drove there next and it was unlike anything I've ever seen. I kept thinking If I were Joseph this is where I would've come to pray too! The feeling is so reverent and peaceful.
It was really cool to see the houses that the Smith's lived in, too. To think that we were walking in the same paths that they did was so amazing!
Have you ever seen anything so beautiful!??
A truly amazing experience. I would recommend it to anyone! It was such a testimony strengthener for me. To know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in this very grove was a powerful experience. I want to go back!
Our last stop was at the Hill Cumorah again. We wanted to go see the statue Moroni at the top. It was about 1,000 degrees so we only stayed for a second, but it was glorious!
I kissed Cory and said, "Now we've kissed on the Hill Cumorah!" (Please nobody take me seriously. Even though I really did say that.)
And after that we turned around and came home. Yes we did about 16 hours of driving in 36 hours, but it was SO worth it!
Do you want to know why?? BECAUSE THE CHURCH IS TRUE PEOPLE!!! If you don't know it yet, then figure it out because it'll change your life.
I know. I live it. I love it.
M
No comments:
Post a Comment