July 15th- Back to the Cradle of the Restoration

Friday, July 15th was a walk and not be weary day.  We awoke at 5 am at Christie's and headed to the airport.  All went smoothly with the flights and we arrived in Rochester (NY) to be picked up by the Merrills.  We had supper with them at a local sub place and stopped to visit with the mission president at his home for about a half hour.  He emphasized the sacredness of the area and quoted Elder Oaks that after the sites in Jerusalem, these sites of the restoration are the most sacred places on earth.

Then we got our car and drove to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  It was much more spectacular than I anticipated and as expected was very well organized.  I wish we had seen it years ago.

Here are pictures of the cast mingling with the audience prior to the show.  There were over 600 in the cast and 200 in support.

After the pageant, we drove to a spare apartment in Batavia since the Merrill were not leaving until Monday.  We got in after midnight, so it was a long day.  Saturday, we rested and did some shopping. Toward evening time we drove about 40 miles north to a state park on Lake Ontario and did a short hike along the shore.  It was not as clear and clean as Lake Superior, but nice.

Sunday we attended church in Batavia which is the branch we are assigned to attend.  We got acquainted.  It seemed a lot like Logansport.  We were invited to lunch with the Haggerties.  He is blind and a school acquaintance of our Marquette friend, Bob Dickey.  He is the ward organist.

We drove to the Mission Office Monday morning for Day 1 on the job.