Days 3 & 4 - Kirtland

Monday morning we woke up early and headed to Ohio.  We headed to the beautiful Kirtland temple first thing and had a great tour of the grounds and the inside of the temple.  Even though our church no longer owns it, I still felt a special spirit there because it was such an important and huge part of our church's history.  It is amazing to think of the visions and other things that took place in those walls.  We were given a tour of all three floors of the temple.  It was interesting to learn about how to temple was used because it was just a preparatory temple and very different from what temples are used for today.

 After the temple, we went to the Kirtland Village and had a tour of the Newel K. Whitney store and their home and a few other buildings from the Kirtland era.  I love the Newel K. Whitney story and was amazed at what a great couple they were in welcoming the prophet and the church members to Ohio. I loved Kirtland Village.  It was one of my favorite tours on our trip.

 I loved seeing the trundle bed where the prophet and Emma once slept.

 Tuesday morning we woke up and my mom and dad and I went on a walk by Lake Erie.  A lot of the saints traveled to Kirtland through that lake and it was interesting to see where they came to.  After that, we all headed to the John Johnson farm.  Our tour guide was this senior brother from Idaho who spent a lot of time with us telling us interesting facts and great stories about that special home.  It was another one of my favorite tours. 

 This room had a special spirit to it.  It was the room that Joseph Smith was sleeping in when he was woken by the angry mob and tarred and feathered.  The brutality of what took place that night and the aftermath of Joseph and Emma's baby dying from the cold was heart-wrenching.  And then the fact that Joseph preached the following morning on the doorstep of this home is amazing.

 We also were able to be in this room where Joseph and Sidney Rigdon had the vision of heaven and the three degrees of glory.  That room had a special feeling as well.

 Learning so many stories of the early saints of the church and the struggles and triumphs each had were sobering. I am so grateful for their sacrifices and courage to restore the Lord's church on this earth again.

After the John Johnson farm, we headed to Amish county to eat at Mary Yoder's Amish Restaurant and drive through the town looking for buggies and Amish farms.  It is a beautiful part of the country and it was fun to see.  My mom loves the Amish and apparently it has rubbed off on me cause I think they are facsinating too.

We headed back to Palmyra that night (about a four hour drive) and checked into our cute little white cottage right by the Smith farm. We'd be touring more of the Palmyra sites the following two days which I will post about soon...