Day 7, 8, who lays them straight?

"I testify that the work of the Prophet Joseph Smith is the Savior’s work. In the Lord’s service the path is not always easy. It often requires sacrifices, and we will likely experience adversity. But in serving Him, we discover that His hand is truly over us. So it was for the Prophet Joseph Smith and all who helped usher in the restored gospel. So it is and will be for us."  -Robert D. Hales

Sunday, July 11 was a wonderful, spiritual, tremendously great day all around.  We started off our day at the Palmyra ward.  There were so many visitors for the pageant that some of the young men from our group helped with the Sacrament.  As I sat there in the chapel/overflow, I watched our young men pass the Sacrament.  It was so powerful to know that these men were worthy enough to do this work, one of the most simple, yet important functions of our church.  After church we then drove over to the entrance to the Sacred Grove.  Evan, Josie, Jaron, and myself had been putting together a song to sing this day in the Sacred Grove.  With the vast amount of people that were visiting the Grove that day, we decided to sing the song in the bus for everyone.  The song we sang was "In Quiet Grove" and we hoped that we could set the mood with a song that spoke of what once occurred at this very sacred place.  And how sacred it truly was!  I walked among those trees in peaceful silence, just soaking in the beauty of that place.  The Father and the Son truly visited that place and you can feel such a sweet spirit in there.  Bro. Pello, one of the men in charge, talked beforehand about how birds reside in sacred places and I find that to be true, especially as I sat and listened to the chirping of the birds.  There is such a wonderful peace and spirit that resides in the Sacred Grove that can just not be duplicated.  I would love to live in the countryside of New York or Illinois and be closer to all of these significant church sites.  I feel like I would be able to appreciate the true beauty of the Earth better.
I didn't have any huge outpourings of the spirit as I sat in the grove and walked about its paths, but I still had such a sweet experience there just marinating in the peace of that place.  I've never usually been the kind who has profound experiences and big outpourings of the spirit but I'm okay with that.  As long as I have the Spirit with me continually, I'm never missing out on anything.  I love this church and gospel and hope that myself and  my future generations will hold fast to the rod and stay strong and endure to the end so we can live eternally together in the Celestial Kingdom with our Father in Heaven.
Each individual was invited to fast that morning for the experience that they would have in the Sacred Grove; along with that fast, I fasted for a few other specific things, one including being able to share the Gospel.  That afternoon, we ended our fast at a buffet in Rochester, NY.  I wasn't in a very good mood entering the building, for a few different reasons.  One being that I had to pee extremely bad but I had to wait like 30 minutes in line to be seated first before I could use the restroom, another was I had a huge zit on my face that I wanted to check and cover up so I could interact with a boy I was interested in, and three because I hadn't eaten all day.  I know, I was obviously being dramatic, but sometimes that happens.  After I had gone to the restroom and gotten some food in me, I went back to the restroom to wash my hands.  I was feeling guilty about my attitude earlier and said a prayer in my heart for forgiveness and help to be happier.  As I was in the bathroom, I came across a pregnant lady with a baby.  She was changing her young baby's diaper and I complimented her on her baby's beauty.  She thanked me as she set her baby back into her seat.  She struggled trying to carry that seat with her big belly and getting the door open to exit; I recognized the situation as an opportunity to serve.  I offered to carry her baby for her and lugged that baby and seat over to their table.  That tiny act of service then transformed my whole mood.  Helping somebody else, helped myself, and made me bubbly and happy.  I then bounced around passing out mints to everybody in Heritage Tours, because who doesn't love a good mint after a meal.  And as I made my way back to my table, found my seat stolen by an extremely tall man. ;)  But I find that that friend of mine, may have been inspired to steal my seat, or at least I am tremendously grateful he did.  I sat in his old seat and started conversing with some others on our tour.  As we were talking, a lady in the booth next to us, sitting with her husband and young son, said she had a question for us.  We asked what it was and she questioned, "Is everybody from Utah really tall?"  We all just laughed and giggled as we replied, "Not exactly."  We continued to laugh as we peeked over at the young friend who stole my seat.  I asked how she knew we were from Utah and she explained that she had asked somebody as we entered the building where we were all from.  I then explained why we were here, telling her and her husband we were with the LDS church.  After saying that, I asked them if they knew much about our faith, which they replied they did.  I asked what they had heard, knowing well that there are many rumors that go on about our religion that may or may not be true.  At that point they pointed out polygamy.  I explained to them that polygamy was not a part of our religion, but a part of a religion that we tend to get mixed up with.  I told them that that was a practice that was used in our religion in the past, but only for a small amount of time and then was commanded to be discontinued.  At that point, they then asked what we do believe in.  I showed them a picture of the Book of Mormon on a pass-a-long card I had on hand and explained that we do believe in Christ and I talked about the Book of Mormon.  As I was asking those in my booth if they had a Book of Mormon for me to give to them, a prepared young man from our tour in the booth on the other side of the family pulled one out and handed it to them.  The conversation was then continued as I bore my testimony about the book and the truthfulness of it and by just reading it your life will be blessed.  I told them about the scripture in Moroni and about praying to know if the things wherein were true.  They continued to ask me questions which I answered to the best of my knowledge.  I know that the spirit was there with us during that conversation and the family, especially the mother, were really interested in knowing more.  They were Christians so they already believed in Christ and the Bible and I invited them to speak with the missionaries.  They loved the idea and gave me their names and address for me to give to the missionaries so they could come visit them.  It was such a remarkable experience, speaking with them for so long about the gospel and being able to feel of the spirit in this old country buffet, in this small little town in New York.  I am so grateful for that experience and being able to share the gospel with them.  There was so much that played into that, and I know that the Lord's hand took part in making the whole thing happen.
The following day, was another one of my most favorite days because we visited Sharon, Vermont that day.  In Sharon, VT we visited the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Not only was that one of my favorite places, but the man in charge of our tour, Bro. Eliason, said that was his favorite place.  The site in Sharon, up in the mountains, is one of the most gorgeous and peaceful places you could ever visit.  It's the kind of spirit and peace that I can't even begin to describe.  I can't describe any of my experiences there in words, all I can say is that I did have some huge outpourings of the spirit there as we partook of a special fireside that Bro. Eliason put together for us in the missionarie's home there by the visitor's center.  It was such an amazing experience and I know that the spirit of Joseph was also there with us during that wonderful fireside.  After the fireside, we sang our commitment song.  And after all the crying that already took place for me, I didn't find myself crying at all during that song; the entire time as we sang, I just found myself immersed in so much joy and happiness.  I couldn't hold myself  back from smiling, and I smiled so huge that it was almost embarrassing.  But I will never forget the experience I had there in Sharon, Vermont and only dream of one day, with my husband, being the older missionary couple that lives in that home and serves the Lord in such a spiritual, sacred place.