Our Weekend In Palmyra

How is it possible that life can be so stressful and so rewarding at the same time?  That pretty much sums up the weekend we just had in Palmyra.  But I suppose traveling with a family of six kids (two of them babies) is basically going to be stressful in one way or another no matter what we're doing.

We went to the temple first.  And boy, did I need that.  I haven't been in quite a while, so the moment I stepped on temple grounds I got a little emotional.  I have a lot of good memories from visiting the Palmyra Temple in my young single adult years, so it was a bit like the feeling you get coming home.

I enjoyed my time in the temple, but had to hurry out at the end in order to allow my son and husband to come in and do baptisms.  

One question I had while in the temple was "Why does the Lord want me in the temple today?"  As I was quickly leaving, I caught a glimpse of myself in my temple clothes in the dressing room, and in that moment I caught a glimpse of myself as God sees me, of the person he wants me to remember that I am.  When I am outside of the temple for long periods of time, I start to forget the person Heavenly Father wants me to be and knows that I can become.  So it was good to see that person in the mirror that day, and I think it will give me strength to move more confidently in that direction.

In the Visitor's Center later that day, we stopped to admire this statue of the Savior.  And my five year old, Honor just was enamored with it.  She told me later that she kept creeping in to touch Christ's feet and to pray.  She has such beautiful, unmarred faith.  I admire it.

We visited the church history sites and the Sacred Grove.  I was super weirded out by the fact that the (non-church owned) bookstore was selling patches of the Sacred Grove!  But I was happy to hear that the Church has started renovating the space to the right of the Book of Mormon publication site/The Grandin Building to include a Distribution Center!  Thank goodness! 

Some other fun highlights of our trip included visiting with two dear friends of mine.  One, from where we used to live and another friend of mine from my single ward days in DC.  Coincidentally, they both attend the same ward.

We also swam in Lake Canandaigua and Lake Erie and came home with bright red (totally worth it) sunburns as souvenirs!