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Within the course of eternity, there may be moments wherein God's plan finds its execution in a most palpable way in the lives of men. He is prone to condescend in ways which evidence His power and maintain order within His creation. Such moments are always before us, I believe, but the specific touch of His graceful hand occasionally transforms, and perhaps preserves, the places where the Eternal moves upon the mortal in extraordinary ways. These places are never again the same, at least for those who are sensitive to His touch. Perhaps they never were ordinary to begin with. I believe that there are places upon this earth which have been made special by His presence and remain to be governed by His heavenly courts and the mandates of His Majesty. Mankind is truly God's finest creation, and the glory of such a creature becomes more reflective of its Creator when he seeks the image whereby he is made, and is introduced into such a setting as can provide for this discovery. The Sacred Grove where God appeared with His Only Begotten Son, the banks of the Susquahanna River where John the Baptist and the Apostles Peter, James, and John returned the keys of the priesthood to the earth, and the Hill Cumorah where a sacred record was hid for ages: these are places not only of historical significance, but of eternal spiritual consequence. These are places wherein the gates of eternity were transcended and the souls of men were transformed. Because of the eternal nature of the events occurring in these holy venues, they cannot be hid from the eyes of the discerning in the pages of history. They are alive today, just as they were in the moment of their service, and they continue to call upon those who seek the truth. The Peter Whitmer farm where the church was formally organized on April 6, 1830; the Martin Harris farm which was mortgaged to provide the means for the spread of the fullness of the gospel; and the E.B. Grandin building where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were published: these are sites to be respected, whose principal occupants once changed the world through their obedience to God, and His will to restore the truth to the souls of men. It was with these understandings, to some degree or another, that eighteen souls from the Restored Church of Christ, Salem Restoration Branch gathered often in prayer and study before traveling to New York on August 25, 2007 to visit these sites, worship on these grounds, and learn for ourselves of the Spirit which abides therein. We were blessed in ways innumerable, and by means eluding photography. Nevertheless, I present these few pictures with the hopes that they may inspire some reflection of the singularity of God's church, His people, and His call to us today. What cannot be documented on film is the Spirit which flowed upon us as we prayed together and sang hymns in the Sacred Grove, spent quiet time on Hill Cumorah, and worshiped on the banks of the Susquahanna. We walked where prophets once stood, where solemn Saints once worshiped, where the Book of Mormon sprang forth from the earth with a testimony of Jesus Christ, and where God Himself descended to men of low estate. Let this be my testimony, that these were days never to be forgotten, memories formed in places forever changed by the majesty of our Savior. Your brother and servant in Christ,
Brian Herren
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