A walk in the sacred woods

The Sacred Grove has been well-cared for over the years. There are many spots where trees have been trimmed or cut down to allow light to filter through to the forest floor. Although we cannot be sure of their exact location, we know that several of the Witness Trees (i.e., those that were standing guard when Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph Smith).



The Sacred Grove is a very special area in the personal history of Joseph Smith, and hence the grand narrative of the Mormon church. It is here that the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ first appeared to adolescent Joseph and told him that he would find the record of the one true religion. Then Moroni took him to the place where the golden tablets were buried on the Hill Cumorah, but it would be several years before Joseph was permitted (by word of Moroni) to uncover the tablets.



The story of these plates -- the revelation, losing, finding, then translating them -- constitutes an essential place in the history of the LDS Church. During the tour, the plates are referred to exclusively as "the record" or "the plates." Only once Joseph Smith translates the plates do we know them as The Book of Mormon.

It is a "tender mercy," according to our missionary guides, that the Sacred Grove has been preserved because it remains an exceptional place to hear God's voice.