It used to seem as though the site along the banks of the Susquehanna River where Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were ordained by John the Baptist to the Aaronic Priesthood was a well-kept secret. Only a few seemed to know anything existed at the spot to mark the momentous event in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on May 15, 1829, and the area near what used to be the town of Harmony, Pennsylvania, had few visitors.
With the LDS Church’s development project of the Priesthood Restoration Site now complete, the site is literally on the map, with a visitors center, monuments and two replicated homes, so it will be easy for many more people to make the area a destination.
Having spent my own early years in northeastern Pennsylvania, I’ve always considered it a privilege to have been able to visit the site of the restoration of the priesthood. My earliest memory of a visit there was when my father pulled off the highway on our way to New York to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. He showed me first the monument that depicts John the Baptist ordaining the Prophet and Oliver Cowdery. Then we walked up a slight hill through a small cemetery, where he showed me a tiny and simple marker. I felt sympathy for the Prophet and his wife at the loss of their first baby, Alvin.
Years later, I was able to make another stop on that highway on the way to Palmyra, this time with my husband and our first two daughters. My husband, raised in California, had never been able to see the area, so I was pleased to share it with him as well as our girls. Then, as my father had done with me, my husband and I stood at the monument, teaching our little ones briefly about the priesthood restoration.
We went again later when we had another daughter in tow, making that short stop on the way to the pageant yet again. It was a pilgrimage of sorts, a reminder of events that have shaped our lives. Without the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, my husband would not have baptized our girls. Without the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood at the hands of Peter, James and John weeks later, my husband would not have blessed our daughters at birth, just to name a few blessings.
Nine years went by until I was able to go back to Pennsylvania. The green of trees and grass covering softly rolling hills beckoned last year, and my husband and I flew cross-country to spend a few nights on an anniversary getaway in the Poconos. We ended up having a free afternoon, and we decided to make another trip to the site just days before the dedication services.
This time was different. On this quiet, cool and rainy Sunday afternoon, there still weren’t many visitors, but we found a brand-new visitors center combined with a chapel and two rebuilt homes in the exact spots where Emma and Joseph Smith lived and where Emma’s parents lived. Sister missionaries greeted us and showed us a new film and took us around to the homes. We were reminded that Joseph did translation work on the Book of Mormon in those spots and received a number of revelations that are now in the Doctrine and Covenants.
While I still have my own special memories of what seemed like a place few people knew about, I am so happy to know that many more will now be drawn to the sacred location. Members of the LDS Church will find their testimonies strengthened, and it's a way for all, regardless of their faith, to learn and understand more about the truths of the restoration.
Cathy Carmode Lim is the founder of RatedReads.com, a website that reviews books and gives them ratings according to content. She is also a copy editor and blogs at LifeandLims.com.