We celebrated Dottie’s birthday today and were glad to mark the event with a tour of the Grandin print shop, a place we’ve both looked forward to visiting since arriving in Palmyra. It’s the site where the Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830. Much of the original building, its print shop components, and many time period artifacts have been preserved and restored here; and visitors are provided with a detailed description and some hands-on experiences with the tedious and labor intensive process of printing a hard cover book in the early 1800s. From start to finish, It took almost two years to print, bind, and cover the complete order of 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon.  

     When first planning our visit, we arranged with another missionary couple to take the tour under their direction. They were experienced hosts and were well known in the mission for their knowledge and insights regarding the events that took place in this building. With great anticipation and high expectations, I looked forward to our visit. Sadly, as is often the case with high expectations, the bar is sometimes set so high that any deviation results in a let down that tarnishes the ensuing experience. That came pretty close to happening today.

     When we walked into the building, we were warmly greeted by a senior missionary couple, but not the couple we were expecting. A last minute change in assignments had been made, and our original tour hosts had been transferred to another site. Immediately, I fell victim to the “high expectations trap” and with a fair measure of disappointment presumed that the quality of our tour would be lessened by this change. In retrospect, just the opposite occurred.

     At the midpoint of our tour, our guide made the following statement: “Five months before the Book of Mormon was contracted to be printed, E.B. Grandin, the print shop owner, installed a new high capacity printing press. Without that press, it would not have been possible to print the large number of copies of the Book of Mormon that would soon be requested by Joseph Smith." Our guide then posed this question: "Do you think the installation of this press was just a coincidence?”

     As soon as I heard that question, I knew why our hosts had been changed. I don’t know if the original couple we arranged the tour with would have made that statement or asked that question, but I do know this: the couple that replaced them did. As children of God we believe that our Heavenly Father is intently involved in the details of our lives. He gives us freedom of choice to make the decisions we do, but as we reach out to him and draw closer, he provides ways for us to accomplish and learn things that we might not think are possible or reasonable. The question posed to us by our tour guide today was precisely what I needed to hear to take another small step forward in understanding God’s great plan for His children. He, indeed, is involved in the details of our lives.