Associated Press Guide Trish Langston, fourth from right, informs visitors about the history of the log house replica in Palmyra, N.Y., where church founder Joseph Smith lived when he encountered his first vision that led to the formation of the Mormons. About 90 percent of the visitors to the site are Mormans. Sightseers crowd onto the rear porch as she directs their gaze to a nearby grove.
Some tourists nod, others bow their heads.
The 10 million-member church traces its origins to this drumlin country of apple orchards, farms and woods in western New York. The house was destroyed over a century ago, but its location south of the village was rediscovered in 1969 using infrared aerial photography. The reconstruction, completed in January 1998, was meticulous. Smith translated the plates' hieroglyphics as The Book of Mormon. Along with the Bible, it is one of four books in the church's scriptural canon.