At four o’clock in the morning of the 16th, the Stake Presidency, their wives, and approximately two dozen youth clambered into a charter bus, either excited or wondering why they ever got out of bed or both. To pass the time, we played games, chatted, or slept (or tried to). Things were going relatively according to plan, until eight hours later we realized our bus driver was following the coordinates to Elmira, New York, 81-miles south of our destination. Once we were redirected, we ate a lunch of sandwiches, cookies, and chips on the bus.
Finally, around 1:30 P.M., we reached the Palmyra Visitor’s Center. We were tired and stiff but behind schedule, so we promptly joined a tour of the Smith Farm. We toured the Smith Log Home, the Smith Frame Home, the Smith Threshing Barn and Cooper’s Barn. It’s always amazing to know you’re walking where the Prophets have walked—in this case the Prophet Joseph Smith.
We proceeded into the Sacred Grove, a place that never ceases to amaze and change me. President Shumard challenged us as individuals to go off on our own and open our hearts to the promptings of the Holy Spirit that is so prevalent there.
At a quarter to six, we met again at the Visitor’s Center and walked to the shuttle bus that was to take us to the Hill Cumorah for the Palmyra Pageant. There, we met up with Leilani Gehrig, who showed us to the seats her family had graciously reserved for us. Kelda, Aunt Karen and Uncle Bruce all found me and it was nice to catch up.
We ate dinner and socialized for a couple hours before the pageant started. Members of the cast, clad in Book of Mormon-period clothes, meandered through the audience greeting us and thanking us for coming.
When the sky grew dark, the pageant began. It told the Book of Mormon story, from Lehi and his family fleeing Jerusalem to Moroni burying the plates in the Hill Cumorah, and also of Joseph Smith finding the plates and restoring the Church in the latter days. The costumes were colorful and beautiful, the set was grand and awe-inspiring, and the special effects were mind-blowing; a gorgeous representation of an incredible story.
As soon as the pageant ended, we pushed our way through the crowd and clambered back onto our bus for another long and mostly sleepless (I speak for myself at least) ride. Eight o’clock the next morning we arrived at the Stake Center where our parents met us to take us home.
Without a doubt, that trip was the craziest 28 hours of my life—but so spiritually uplifting and enjoyable that I’d do all again in a heartbeat.
