Griffith Family: Fayette and Harmony

We followed up a day of faith promoting experiences in Palmyra with more of the same in Fayette and Harmony. (Not the modern names, but I can't remember what those are) We got up in our sketchy hotel, didn't shower because Robert took one and said it was not worth it with the state of the bathroom, and had an adequate-ish breakfast. We were not sorry to leave that hotel like we were in Canada.

This is the sign in front of the large property in Fayette

We first drove to Fayette, which was less than a half hour away to see the place where the church was organized. We came in the back way, so there weren't any signs. We were starting to wonder if we had gone the wrong way when we came upon a large, unmistakably religious building. The sign out front let us know we were at the right place. We walked into the visitors center just as a tour bus was pulling in. It was full of institute and seminary teachers. (Little did I know I would soon be one of them) We were glad we got in ahead of them to be able to do a tour. We watched an incredible movie about the events that led up to Joseph and Oliver moving into the Whitmer home to finish the translation. I had never really understood how important David Whitmer was to the early work of the church before visiting the Whitmer farm.

Church building and visitors center in Fayette

The farm house was small and we were amazed to hear how many people made it their home. It was not easy for them to host the Smiths and Oliver Cowdery, but the Lord sustained them in doing it. I had heard the story of how and why Mary Whitmer saw the plates and understood it much better after hearing about what a burden she carried in taking care of the household so the work of translation could be completed. We hadn't originally planned to come to the Whitmer farm, but I'm so glad we did.

Whitmer farmhouse where the church was organized

After spending some time enjoying the visitors center (which was not long enough according to some people - the interactive video screens were very engaging), we drove on the Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. It was a pretty drive that took us to the middle of nowhere. You drive down the road towards the Priesthood Restoration site and there is nothing there. It's just trees and more trees until you come upon these random buildings on either side of the road.

The parking lot is on the north side of the road with the visitors center. We started there with the first half of the video that we saw in Fayette. It was as great as the second half. After seeing the video, we learned that the angelic visitations likely happened in the "sugar bush" to the north of the visitors center. They call it a sugar bush because it had maple trees in it where the Hales could have harvested sap for sugar and syrup. When I first walked into the sugar bush, I felt a similar powerful spirit like I had felt in the Sacred Grove. Unfortunately, it didn't last long because there were kids running around and yelling to each other and their mom, like they were on any other hike in the woods. I was so sad to have the sacred spirit in that place interrupted by such a lack of reverence.

Statue depicting the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood

In front of the "sugar bush" where the priesthood restoration took place

Statue depicting the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood

The visitors center was lovely and presented so many great things to learn. We spent a while there and had to drag a few people out so we could go see the other places we had come to Harmony to see. To get to the Smith and Hale homes and to reach the river, you have to walk under the road. They made a big fuss about it in the visitors center because the locals don't want people walking across the road and the church wants to be good neighbors.

By the time we went under the road, it was raining a bit and Sarah was a bit cranky. She didn't want to walk anywhere else, so she stayed with the sister missionaries under a canopy for a little while. The rest of us walked toward the Smith home. Normally people go to the Hale home first, but there was a huge group of people, probably from one of the tour buses, at the Hale home, so we went out of order. The Smith home was small, but pleasant. We learned about some of the trials they faced while living in that home, including the loss of their first baby. It wasn't easy to deal with persecutions and the pressures of daily living, but they made the best of it.

Afterwards, we took a tour of the Hale home. It was, by the standards of the day, quite a mansion. There were several rooms with wallpaper and fancy furniture. You could easily see the difference between their style of living and the more simple homes that we had visited previously on our trip. It's not too surprising that the Hales didn't want Emma to marry Joseph. It was quite a step down socially and financially. Luckily, they eventually warmed up to him. One funny thing we found in the house was the forks at the dining room table. They only had 2 prongs. We found that quite amusing because Rachel had recently had a whole long conversation with some of her friends about what to call forks with different number of prongs. They decided on 'two'k for a two pronged one.

Joseph and Emma's home in Harmony

The Hale family home in Harmony

The back of the Hale home

After visiting both the homes, we walked through the cemetery where Joseph and Emma's first baby was buried and where Emma's parents were buried. It was a very somber place and made the story about them losing their baby seem more real and heartbreaking. We thought we could get from the cemetery to the river, but it turned out that didn't work. We just walked through a lot of muddy ground. Instead, we walked back under the road to the van and drove down the road to a little parking area next to a path that led down to the river. Some of us walked down to the river. It was peaceful and beautiful. This was the last of our church history sites to visit. We loved them all and were so glad we had the chance to learn about and feel the truth of these early events in the restoration of the church.