Yesterday we had the opportunity of returning to Fayette, NY to take a formal tour of the Whitmer cabin, the visitors center, and the Chapel. We had been there several times, but had not had the time for a formal, uninterrupted, tour. The McVeas went with us. They are now into their last month serving here and we wanted to have a little trip together. We were blessed to have Sisters Tirrell and Fetuli conduct our tour. Sister Tirrell is a very accomplished ice skater from Idaho Falls. She will be returning home the first part of February. She is just one example of the excellent missionaries that we have here. Her companion, Sister Fetuli, is from Tonga. They sang some songs for us in Tongan.
It was wonderful to sit in the beautiful chapel again. It was built in 1980 and is a colonial design. It was built and then dedicated on April 6th, 1980 by then President Spencer W. Kimball. The Whitmer cabin was rebuilt, after much research, on the same spot where it had stood in 1830. Like the Smith log cabin in Palmyra, "It was built in the same air space as the original." These projects were completed so that the prophet could conduct the Sunday morning session of General Conference, while sitting in the very room where the restored church was first organized 150 years earlier. We remember well that event and thought how marvelous it was that, via satellite transmission, he could conduct conference from that faraway location.
The last portions (from 1st Nephi to the Words of Mormon) of the Book of Mormon were translated in the upper room of the cabin (home). It was another case of the last shall be first, since the book of Lehi, with its lost 116 pages, was not re-translated. The cabin is fairly small, but when Joseph lived there to complete the work, there were 11 people staying in the home.
It is go great to be here in the midst of these great sites. We look forward to sharing them with more family and friends this year. It is our hope that the Lord will bless each of you to better appreciate our LDS heritage.
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