NEW YORK

I have A LOT of great things to blog about, but I want to stay in order.

Thanks to my sister for flying me out, and my mom for making the trip happen, we three got to go to upstate NEW YORK in July!

It was such an incredible trip, and one I'll never forget!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We took red-eye flights and got to Albany, NY early in the morning (then somehow made our standby flights to Rochester).

The Hill Cumorah Pageant was probably my favorite part. It is a musical about the stories in the Book of Mormon, and it really brought the scriptures to life for me! I left with a desire to study and understand the scriptures better. I highly recommend the show to anyone- LDS or not. 

The top of the Hill Cumorah, where we believe the Book of Mormon was buried until Joseph Smith was led to find them.

The Smith family's home.

We ran into Sister Harline...

 and Sister Astorga...

They were both such darling, powerful missionaries. It was so fun to run into them!

Another favorite part of the trip was the Sacred Grove, the area where Joseph Smith prayed and saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The spirit was so strong here and what a blessing it was to be able to walk around in the grove for myself. 

We got to go to the Palmyra temple too, one of the few (only?) temples that has clear windows so you can look out into the Sacred Grove and Hill Cumorah. Luckily we were able to get in because it was supposed to be by appointment only. 

We realized that my mom was holding the camera upside down...

Our faces zoomed in- lol

The last day in Palmyra it poured! But it was still so warm!

Grave of Alvin Smith

Luckily, while it rained we planned on going to Grandin's printing press where the first Book of Mormon was published. The church has done a great job at preserving it.  

We got to visit our cousin Amanda who lives in Rochester. Amanda's husband Charlie goes to school at Eastman School of Music and he gave us a tour of the beautiful Kodak Theater. Amanda and Charlie are so cute and happy in New York and I was so happy to see them. 

Our last stop was Niagara Falls.

Idk...

Chelsea and Amanda got to walk over to Canada, but my mom and I forgot our visas...doh. But we had a fun time taking glamour shots instead.

Isn't she cute?

 Thanks for such a memorable trip, Chels and Mom. 

You two are the two most influential women in my life and I'm so lucky to have you two. 

Thank you!!!