Event Marks 183rd Anniversary of Book of Mormon Printing
Contributed By By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News assistant editor
Sister Janette and Elder David Hansen, missionaries wearing vintage clothing and serving in the New York Rochester Mission, celebrate the 183rd anniversary of when the Book of Mormon became available in 1830.
Article Highlights
- A recent open house at the Grandin Building in Palmyra, New York, marked the 183rd anniversary of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
- The Book of Mormon first became available for purchase in the store owned and operated by Egbert B. Grandin in 1830.
- The annual open house is the first time many people from the community visit the Grandin Building.
“They are curious. … [The open house] is great for people to be aware they are always welcome.” —Sister Melanie Christianson
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PALMYRA, NEW YORK
Missionaries from the New York Rochester Mission celebrated the coming forth of the Book of Mormon at the Grandin Building in Palmyra, New York, on March 26. The event marked the 183rd anniversary of the date in 1830 when the Book of Mormon first became available for purchase in the store owned and operated by Egbert B. Grandin.
Located in the business district of historic Palmyra, New York, the Grandin Building is the site where the Book of Mormon was printed.
The annual open house at the site is a time for missionaries and Church members to share the history of the Book of Mormon with friends, investigators, and community members, said President Jack R. Christianson of the New York Rochester Mission.
He said the open house is the first time many people from the community visit the Grandin Building.
Sister Melanie Christianson, President Christianson’s wife, said a lot of people say they walk past the site where the Book of Mormon was printed on their way to work but don’t know they can come in. “A lot of people don’t understand they are welcome at our historical sites,” she said. “They are curious. … [The open house] is great for people to be aware they are always welcome.”
Members of the Church from the Buffalo, Rochester, and Palmyra, New York, stakes were invited to attend this year’s event and were encouraged to bring friends and neighbors. Full-time missionaries brought their investigators. Some 150 guests participated in tours of the restored Grandin Building conducted by sister missionary companionships. On each of the three floors of the building, senior missionary couples, dressed in time-period clothing, explained or reenacted events surrounding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
During tours of the building, President Christianson said missionaries carried copies of the Book of Mormon with them. “They are teaching out of it,” he said. “They are talking about it.”
Overall, President Christianson said, the event was “a marvelous way” to commemorate an important day in history.
“It has become a nice event for all the members of the Church and the community,” he said.
E. B. Grandin Building, where the Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra, New York. Photo by Laurie Williams Sowby.
