“On This Sacred Spot,” New Era, Sept. 2009, 45
On This Sacred Spot
One summer I participated in the Hill Cumorah Pageant in upstate New York. What a blessing it was to go to the Hill Cumorah every day and feel the love of the Lord pour over me, testifiying again and again that the Church is true, and that the things Joseph Smith said happened really did occur here on this sacred spot.
One night near the end of my stay, I drove over to the Palmyra temple and parked outside the gates, shut off the engine, and just listened to the still, small voice of the Spirit. A cluster of stars winked in the sky above me, while just down the road lay the Sacred Grove.
A feeling of peace confirmed that I was truly on sacred ground. The Spirit testifed to me that the Lord knew and loved me, just as He knew each individual star in the heavens. He knew me just as years ago He knew a seemingly insignificant 14-year-old boy named Joseph Smith.