Tour Guides to the Waters of Brigham

We had a busy week with three groups visiting the site of Brigham Young's baptism, which I have started referring to as "The Waters of Brigham"  harkening to Mosiah 18:30 - And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

Monday was P (preparation) Day for the Palmyra North Zone Leaders and their companions.  Sister Jones and Sister Spencer had the Sisters from the Palmyra North Zone out to the Smith Farm for a picnic and visit to the WoB about six weeks ago, so Elder Spencer thought it fair to bring the Elders out for the tour as well as burgers and brats.

Here are Elder Peterson, me, Elders Walther, Moon and Case, and the neighbor's dog at the WoB.

Elder Walther wanted the full experience so he tasted the water.  According to the neighbor, Mr. Williams, the creek is totally spring fed from nearby sources.  So far, no ill effects reported. 

We drove to the Tomlinson Inn and Tomlinson Corners cemetery to view the Miriam Young and Solomon Kimball gravesites. 

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Friday morning, Elder LeGrand Curtis, Jr. and his wife, Jane, came with President Evans to tour the sites.  We were honored to be with a General Authority and impressed to learn that Brigham Young was his 4th great grandfather.  He had been to the area before with his family and had visited the Tomlinson Cemetery, but was not aware of the WoB or the history of the farm houses.  He was very pleased to be here and mentioned the visit in his conference talks. 

They toured the Spencers house including the attic and basement. 

Here are the Curtis's at the gravesite of Miriam Young, Elder Curtis's 4th Great Grandmother.  His grandparent had donated the modern marker in 1948. 

I neglected to get pictures at the Tomlinson Inn, but Elder Curtis was elated to be at the place where the Book of Mormon came into his family.  He posed for a picture taken by his wife in front of the Inn.  He had spoken at General Conference the previous Saturday on the Book of Mormon. 

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This was stake conference weekend.  We invited the Elders from Batavia to spend Saturday night at the farm to save them some miles and time. We were very pleased that they accepted the invitation and that President Evans approved it.  Here are Elders Gwilliams, Wilson, Bell, and Dorsey at the WoB. 

A couple at the left took up the Walther Challenge and drank from the spring fed waters.   At right they are at the cemetery.

We did provide some food Saturday evening for which they were appreciative and we served a sausage and hash brown based breakfast casserole for breakfast.