Geneva & Buffalo by Will

Geneva, NY – On our first partial day in Geneva, we ate dinner with Liz, her children, Emily, Wade, and Colin. We went to a hot dog place that had decent food; I got a chicken club. After dinner, we took Colin to the temple to do baptisms, and then we went to a lighthouse that Mom remembered from her mission. The temple is the only temple in the world to have a clear view outside, and it overlooks the sacred grove. We had a relaxing (and hot) end to our day. On Wednesday, we saw all of the major church history sites in the area other than the Hill Cumorah. We saw the Whitmer and Smith farms, the Grandin print shop, as well as the sacred grove. It must’ve taken a lot of kindness and generosity from the Whitmers to help Joseph finish the translation. We learned in the print shop that Joseph had to beg E.B Grandin to use his printing press in order to print the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon. At the farms, there was a noticeable spiritual aura that helped me to focus on the spirit. I would highly recommend going to both if you happen to be in the area. After we finished off the Smith farm, we went back home and chilled for the rest of the day. On Thursday (today) we did the Hill Cumorah in the rain. Colin, Myra, and I hiked to the top with umbrellas. We took a picture, and then started the trek back down the hill. Unfortunately, on the way down, we got chased by a multitude of mosquitoes and now each have several million bites in various places. After reconnecting with Mom, we went back, hooked up the trailer, and went to our next location. Overall Rating: 8.5/10. Next: Buffalo, NY

Buffalo, NY – The campground in Buffalo was incredible. It featured a very nice pool, a baseball field, a basketball hoop, and a high-quality playground. Once we arrived from Geneva, we set up camp as fast as possible in order to go swimming. After we swam, we went out to Anderson’s Beef & Custard for dinner. They made one of the juiciest sandwiches that I have ever tasted. After we finished eating, we each picked a flavor of custard for dessert. I don’t really see the appeal of custard over ice cream, but it was pretty good regardless. We then said goodbye to Liz, James (3yrs) and Liam (7mo), and went home to bed. Friday was our day for Niagara Falls. We left the trailer at around 10 and went to Seth and Liz’s residence. After playing with James and Liam for a little bit, we hopped back in the truck to go to the falls. After we made it over the border, we found some parking near the falls, and got out. The falls were MAJESTIC. We got some good pictures, and then ate lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch, we learned about how Niagara was used to generate power, and we took a tour of the waterway under the huge turbine that the water spun. It ended with another great view of the falls. We then went back to Liz’s place and ate stir fry for dinner. After dinner, we made an infinitely large batch of cookies that wasn’t supposed to yield 4-5 pans, but it did, and we feasted upon them. After we finished up with the cookies, we went back home and went to bed. On Saturday, we went swimming, this time with Seth, and had a very nice morning. After swimming, we went on a wild goose chase to pick up wings and pizza for dinner. The wings were delicious, and so was the pizza. My personal favorite was the Honey BBQ, but the original medium was also very good. After we finished eating, we walked to an ice cream shop called Rosie’s. I had a flavor of ice cream called Oreo milk. It is made by soaking Oreos in milk, straining the mixture, making ice cream out of the strained Oreo milk, and then topping finally with dry Oreos. It was the second best ice cream that I have ever had. (Behind Ferdinand’s Tin Lizzy, of course) We went outside to eat our ice cream, and then walked back to the house. We said goodbye to all of our friends, and then went home and got a good night of sleep. On Sunday, we set out for church at 9:20 to go to Mom’s old ward. At church, we listened to quite possibly the longest sacrament meeting talk that I have ever heard. It was a very good and detailed talk, and it had good examples of applying guidance from God into daily decisions. After the sacrament meeting, the 5th Sunday lesson was about preparing for FSY, and although Myra and I won’t be going, the basic principles that we talked about and made examples of were good to discuss. After church, we went to Mom’s old house, and then to Liz’s house. While dinner was being prepared, I played with baby Liam. He is the cutest little thing that I have ever seen. Once dinner was ready, we ate and talked about various topics ranging from sports to food. After dinner, we served the peach cobbler, ate the peach cobbler, and went home. That was all that we did in Buffalo. Thank you for reading. Next: Kirtland, OH. Overall Rating: 9.1/10.