Sharon Vermont~A Very Special Place

I know you have seen this photo before but I haven't really told you about the place where we found it. This is the Visitors' Center in Sharon, Vermont marking and commemorating the birthplace and contributions of Joseph Smith, Jr. in the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is another shot of this lane taken by another visitor and listed in Google Images. I just wanted you to see the beauty that lies on the other side of the split rail fence. I am sure the immense beauty of this spot was a great consolation to the young Smith family, living here in the early 1800s, with a continual struggle to just feed their family.

Our church has beautiful visitors' centers all over the world, but I think this one may be my favorite that we have visited so far. This is hallowed ground and one cannot help but feel the spirit in great abundance here. It is not a large place but a quiet sanctuary where one can ponder and feel a great appreciation for the Savior of the world and his servant, the prophet Joseph.

The full time missionaries that work here did a wonderful job of explaining so many of the historical and spiritual events of the early church. I felt a very strong impression that I would love to have us serve a mission here someday. Of course we don't get to choose where we go, but if we could...

They had beautiful hymns being sung by
the Mormon Tabernacle Choir playing out here
in the woods. It was so inspiring.

This obelisk was raised at great hardship and sacrifice to the artist/builder and those who helped erect this monument of 37.5 feet and immense weight. It was carried by wagon and a team of oxen and the short distance from the main road took several weeks. When they finally got it in position to hoist it up it was discovered that something with the base was not quite right and it had to be taken back and redone. The 37.5 feet represent the years of Joseph's short life lived in complete dedication to the Gospel.

We didn't get a photo of the the beautiful building as it was raining and so no one wanted to go out and stand in the wet grass but it was so lovely. Here are a couple of shots I took of the pretty flowers they had along the walkways.

Here are some of the inscriptions on the obelisk.

His testimony lives as a witness to the
world that God lives and loves us.
The church has now grown to over 14 million members.

We sure did not want to leave this gorgeous,
thought provoking place.

I love that this is all a part of our
heritage as Latter-day Saints.

The Prophet of the Latter-days
who sealed his testimony with his blood.
Some think we worship Joseph Smith.
this could not be further from the truth.
We revere him, we love him,
we thank him for his key role as
a Prophet, Seer and Revelator,
but worship only one...Jesus, the Christ.

A peaceful place to sit an contemplate the
wonder of God's Plan for his children.
We did not join the church until we were 30,
it was the best decision for our family
we have ever made.
Never once have we regretted it.

This was one of our most favorite places we visited.