YW in Palmyra

Towards the end of August several of my young women and myself took a trip to Palmyra. Most of my girls come from inactive families and had never seen the sites so we decided to take a trip. Being in a car of girls for 3.5 hours each way (with no stereo!) was a bit interesting, but overall we all had a good time and I think it was good for the girls to get to see the sites that we talk about. It also helped cement things in their minds. I hope that it helped increase their testimonies, that was the goal.

We started at the Hill Cumorah visitor's center:

and saw the Angel Moroni monument at the top of the hill:
Inside the frame Smith home:

The Smith farm, taken from the Sacred Grove:

The Smith cabin:

I was so excited to show them the temple. They were excited to see it too. We talked about why temples are so special as we walked around the grounds:


A kind man took our group photo, I also took a portrait of each girl in front of the temple so they can have it as a keepsake:

Tasha (Katie's nonmember cousin), Katie and Laureen:
The girls enjoyed the Grandin Press tour, it's interesting to learn how books are made. We got to keep a copy of the first 16 pages as they would have been printed back in the day, I didn't get one of those when I saw this during Pageant week! I'm going to have to find a large double sided frame to put mine in.

It was a long but great day and I was glad the girls wanted to go. Tasha asked questions all day, it was definitely a missionary experience for them. I had to remind them to be reverent a few times (they are teenage girls!) but overall they were good. Maybe we'll hit Kirtland before it snows?