President and Sister Christianson took Sister McVea and I, and the rest of the office staff, Sister Ryals and Brinkerhoff on a "behind the scenes" tour of the Hill Cumorah. We saw things we had never seen, and heard things we had never heard. It was indeed a sacred time for us all as we were reminded of the sacred things that have occurred here. I am even more convinced that this is not only the place where Moroni burred the plates, but that this is the place of the great and last battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites as depicted in the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith described the hiding place of the gold plates to be a "stone box" covered by a stone that was "thick and rounded in the middle on the upper side" and flat on the bottom. This is one example of many stones on the hill that fit that description. Of course we do not know the exact location of the original hiding place of the gold plates.
This is one of the trees that is old enough to have been on the hill when Joseph Smith meet with the Angle Moroni. If this and other trees of this age could talk, it could probably tell us exactly what happened when Joseph Smith was taught by Moroni and eventually able to take the plates from the hill for translation. These trees are called "witness trees".
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