The Church and the Citizens of Palmyra

   We’re often asked how the Palmyra locals feel about the Church. There had been so much persecution and mistreatment of the Smith family in the 1820s, people are curious about how do people feel about us today.

   We find it very pleasant to interact in the community wearing our missionary name tags. Everyone knows what the tags represent. It kind of reminds me of taking our dog Max (we miss Max every day) on walks. As they passed people would see Max, then look at us and smile. They kind of do that with our missionary name tags.

   Often as we are at the store we’re asked why the Hill Cumorah Pageant was discontinued. We explain that the pageant was halted due to many factors: very few members had access to it since it was so the expense could be put to better use; New York, which seems to build layers upon layers of laws, increased the expense year after year; the desire to let the Hill Cumorah return to its natural state as it was when Joseph

Displays at the Historic Palmyra Museum

Smith retrieved the Book of Mormon plates; and missionary work suffered since all missionaries in the Syracuse Mission had to leave the friends they were teaching to spend more than two weeks here in Palmyra to help facilitate the pageant. The town misses the pageant—it made the village distinctive.

   Though the pageant has ended, the tens of thousands of visitors who come here every year to experience the sacred sites of the beginnings of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ boost the economy here.

   Willard Bean, an early missionary here, helped found the local Lions Club. I belong to that club, and he is still known and appreciated.

   Today is our preparation day (we have one day a week we don’t serve at the historic sites) and Kathy and I returned to the Historic Palmyra museums. We enjoyed all of the references to our history that the museums feature. They have a room dedicated to the religions here, and the church’s section is the largest. I know the president of the society due to my involvement with the Lions. One day she loudly let everyone know, “We have Nephi!” Meaning they received the Nephi pageant costume. Everyone knew what she meant and who Nephi is.

   The people in this village are good people.