Harmony, Pennsylvania

Our visit to this site initiated the LDS church history portion of our journey. Harmony is where Joseph Smith, Jr., met his wife Emma Hale. He translated a sizeable portion of the Book of Mormon here with the help of Martin Harris, his family, and finally Oliver Cowdery.

Modern side of gravestoneOriginal side of graveThere’s really not all that much in Harmony, but I still think it’s worth visiting. You can see the foundation of the little home Joseph and Emma lived in across from her father’s home, and you can also see the original gravestones of her parents and little Alvin. The way they’ve preserved them is pretty nifty. On one side there’s a modern headstone, and the other has the original. It’s a bit of a hike to find them in the cemetery, but worth it. Some of the other graves are quite interesting, like graves of some of the men who served in the Civil War.

The Susquehanna RiverThe Susquehanna is beautiful, and the cool waters looked fairly inviting. It was in the Susquehanna River that Joseph and Oliver were baptized by one another after receiving the authority and keys to do so when John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic priesthood. It wasn’t a particularly hot day, thankfully, but I still wanted to dip my toes in the river. Pity there wasn’t any time.

"Sorry...I just thought with the captain issue in question, I'd throw in my name for consideration."
Pintel