Week 78- Palmyra & A Pool Party

I've come full circle--I got to go back to where I began.

It has been quite the week! It started with a giant service project--the first one we have been able to have since quarantine! We are painting the structures around a community pool in this cute little town called East Aurora, and we are doing it with some other Sisters in Buffalo (which is super rare for our mission) so it's been so fun. We have done 3 days worth so far! And will be doing more starting tomorrow. 

All dressed up in our painting gear!

Then Yesterday we had our first in-person zone conference since quarantine!  In Palmyra!  So we got to spend some time in the grove and at the Hill Cumorah. I got to sit on "my bench" in the grove where I sat my very first day and think about everything that has happened over the last 18 months. That first day I remember being soooo scared about what was about to come. And now it scares me to think where I'd be without it. Coming on a mission is the best decision I've ever made. It has changed my life! And it's going to be sad for it to end. But I have gained such a testimony that the Lord's ways are better than mine. My mission was nothing like I thought it would be. But it has also been so much better!

Love, Sister Potts 

My bench!

FUN FACTS:

1. In honor of my recent trip to Cumorah, I thought I'd talk a little bit about the Hill!

2. It wasn't a large curiosity or attraction until in 1907 a man named George Anderson photographed it on his way to a mission in Britain. The photograph was published and helped people connect to the history of the hill.

3. George Albert Smith and his wife went on a trip to Palmyra with $20,000 in cash sewn into her skirt on a mission to buy the Hill Cumorah and the Smith family farm. 

4. It took years of convincing to get the owner of the hill, Pliny Sexton, to agree to sell. But after his death the church was able to purchase it in 1928!

5. In 1935 a monument was erected on the top of the Hill and the dedication included a musical presentation that has evolved into what is now known as the Hill Cumorah Pageant!

The Hill Cumorah monument.

View from the top of Hill Cumorah looking out at the beautiful fall day.  Goodbye for now!