Early Church History Sites

To take advantage of our breaks in school, Justin and I decided to take a trip out east to visit church history sites. I had been to Palmyra, Justin hadn’t, and he had been to Kirtland, but I hadn’t, so it was a good opportunity to cover all the bases. We didn’t have a large window for the road trip, since I had to still see clients and wasn’t able to take much time off. So, we decided to leave Wednesday evening after my work day in Omaha and drive through the night to Kirtland. Basically, it was exhausting. But we made it safely and were able to stay awake during that first day.

Our first stop was the hill Cumorah. We learned that the pageant done there is the largest outdoor production in the world. Pretty awesome!  And, the hill was steeper than was anticipated. We were also informed that they hill is not an actual “hill.” It was formed by glaciers pushing up dirt (or something like that).

 Next was the Smith home/farm and the sacred grove. We had a new tour guide; it was only her second day in the mission field, and first day giving tours. But, it was still cool. The sacred grove was as peaceful as one would think, and not very many people were there. In fact, we didn’t run into anyone in the grove so there was time for personal reflection.

The Grandin print shop was cool. A lot of the building was original, and it was a good reminder of how many miracles took place to bring about the restoration of the Gospel. The bookstore/souvenir shop next door sells copies of the Book of Mormon done by a man who makes them the same way they did when they were first printed…by hand.

We decided to head up to the Martin Harris farm, but it wasn’t much. It houses missionaries, so there are no tours, just a sign. But, why not go while we’re there, right?

We also took time that first day to go to an endowment session at the Palmyra temple.  When it was built, President Hinckley wanted to make sure you could see the sacred grove from the temple windows. I didn’t see the view, but I’m sure it would be pretty spectacular.  The temple is very much like the Winter Quarters temple, just all on one floor. We felt at home.

After a much needed nights sleep, we started off the next day of our trips by heading down to Fayette, where the church was organized. We learned a few new things there, and it was definitely one of the top things we visited. The chapel there was designed by Joseph Smith, even though it was not constructed during his lifetime. The missionary told us that general conference is scheduled to take place in that chapel in 2030, the 200^th anniversary of the Church being organized. Sweet!

From there we took a break from church history, and we headed up to Niagara Falls. I thought it was pretty spectacular.  There was so much water falling over those falls. They weren’t as high as I had pictured, but still amazing. We didn’t get too good of a look of part of the falls due to all the mist, but we went earlier the next day, and things were a little calmer so we were able to see more.  Some of the view is better from the Canadian side, but we did not go over since Justin did not have a passport.

The falls were cool at night. They shine different colored lights onto the falls, and then they also had a fireworks show. I love fireworks! I mean, it was no 4^th of July, but they put on a good show.

Break over….we continued on to Harmony, PA. This was my favorite part of the drive.  I’m just going to give a shout-out to New York and all their trees. Loved it!

Anyway, Harmony was another top on my list, and Justin’s favorite. Nothing much is there right now, which is one reason why I think it was so peaceful, and we could feel the spirit a little stronger here (in addition to what took place there).  Since there’s only a monument there to talk about the priesthood being restored, I don’t think many people go down there. There’s a small path that leads to the river where Joseph and Oliver were baptized, and it was, again, beautiful and very peaceful.  We learned in Palmyra that the Church just acquired more land in Harmony, and they’re going to rebuild the home Joseph and Emma lived in, and move the road like they did in Palmyra….so the Church can make a more authentic road for the time period. It’ll be interesting to go back in the future and see what’s been done to the property.

From Harmony we drove to Kirtland.  This was our little bump-in-the-road on our trip. Justin and I were watching “The Avengers” while our friend was driving (and yes, Justin was watching a movie….shocking!). Right at the end of the movie, during the most exciting part, a deer darted onto the road and we hit it, causing a couple thousand dollars of damage. Luckily, it was still drivable so we were not stranded in New York, and we could continue our trip.  And we never did finish that movie….

We spent our Sunday in Kirtland, so we went to church and then tried to fit in everything before it all closed. We started off at the temple, which I really enjoyed. Even though our church does not own it, I think a special spirit can still be felt there. Many important things happened there.

I made sure we went to the Morley farm, mainly because he’s an ancestor of mine. There wasn’t a whole lot there, but it was a good experience for me, learning more about him and his family. It made me grateful for their sacrifice and for their remaining steadfast in the Gospel. I’ve definitely been blessed by the decisions they made.

Next was the John Johnson farm. Again, another place with a lot of history. I enjoyed touring this house, mainly because in addition to all of the cool history, there was a lot of interesting decorating. Crazy designs, and lots of bright/interesting colors. And they said they were all the original colors they found when they stripped the paint. Again, crazy.

We rushed back to Kirtland to take tours of “historic Kirtland”….the Whitney store, and other places the Church owns there. I didn’t know much about the Whitneys’ conversion story and how they were prepared to accept the Gospel.

We set out the next morning to head back to Nebraska. It was a quick trip, but well worth it, and we’re both glad we had the experience to take a break from the craziness of life, learn more about our church history, and strengthen our testimonies.