Church History

Day One:

We flew into Philadelphia on a red eye, landing bright and early about 7:30am. 

 Our first stop was Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.  

On the way there we passed the building that Thomas Jefferson 

was living in when he wrote our Declaration of Independence.

Philadelphia was hot, humid and kind of dirty. We went to watch a short movie about the constitutional convention before our tour of Independence Hall started and about 15 minutes into it and everybody over the age of twelve had their eyes closed, and those younger were running around, I decided to was time to move on.  The visitor center left much to be desired.

 

I was looking forward to Independence Hall, where so many great ideas came together to build our  nation.  But our guide was so dull, I was afraid the kids weren't going to make it.

But the Liberty Bell didn't disappoint, and now we can say we've been there and done that.

 

Our next stop was about three hours north and this time Jot really wasn't going to make it.

He needed a pit stop... I was starting to rethink the red-eye at this point.

After a power nap, we pushed onto the Priesthood Restoration Site.

Its not known as Harmony, Pennsylvania, any more, but the Church recently rebuilt a historically accurate reproduction of Emma's childhood home.  This where she and Joseph met and fell in love.

Its easy to see the socio-economic differences between the Smith and Hale families.

A about year after their elopement, Joseph and Emma returned to Harmony and lived 

in her parents first home that was located just across the street and down a bit.

 This is where over 70% of the Book of Mormon was translated.

The kids had so much fun at this visitors center. It was full of hands on exhibits and very well done. Gavin loved searching for the Gold Plates hidden in the dry beans.  We loved all the sister missionaries that took us on tours.  It was such a huge contrast from what we'd experienced in Philadelphia that morning and how historical sites should be presented!

A quick stop at the Susquehanna River and we headed on into Binghamton for the night.

Day Two:

We loved Watkins Glen, it was absolutely gorgeous!  

The perfect little hike, just about three miles round trip

and full of breathtaking falls and beautiful fairy like scenery. 

Mom scared us when we first arrived, we'd gone down a flight of stairs and the scenery was distracting, she hadn't registered the last step and fell, hurting her arm and wrist.  We were lucky, it could have been so much worse.  But she's a trooper and carried on, never complaining. 

In her defense, there were a lot of stairs and a lot of beautiful, distracting scenery.

The pictures just don't do it justice, you just smile the whole time.

The irony of this sign wasn't lost on us.

After enjoying our lunch there at the park, we headed 45 minutes to the Peter Whitmere Farm.

This is where Oliver and Joseph finished translating the Book of Mormon in an upstairs bedroom.

And the Church was first organized here in the kitchen/great room.

 I'd never really given much thought to David and Peter Whitmere and family before.  

I learned that they spoke with a Pennsylvanian Dutch accent.

 At each of the sites the missionaries show a short 20 minute video clip to set the scene and introduce the characters.  Some pretty neat miracles happened here. I loved the story about the field that was miraculously plowed so David was free to leave and get Joseph from Harmony. 

And then there was Mary Whitmere's witness to the plates. 

That night we drove into Palmyra and after dinner we visited the Hill Comorah.

Its just short walk/hike to the top of the hill through some trees from the visitor's center.

We were there at "golden time". 

  This is where they do the Pageant:

Hyrum showed off his running skills by sprinting up this hill.

Day Three:

We were up bright and early to do baptisms at the temple. 

The Palmyra Temple is small, beautiful but small. I've never been in a small temple and was surprised to walk into the baptistery on the main floor. I'd heard about the etched glass window that was clear looking out upon the sacred grove.  I thought it would be in the Celestial room, but its right there in the main foyer and the kids were able to look out upon the Sacred Grove from the temple for the first time.

After the temple the younger kids and Grandma and Grandpa (who wasn't feeling well), 

met up with us at the Visitor Center and we toured the Smith family log home.

A period family Bible laid open on the kitchen table to James 1:5.

The attic bedroom where Angel Moroni would have appeared.

The kitchen with the back door that opened up to a view of the sacred grove.

Up next was the Smith family wood-frame home.  Alvin had started building it, but died before it was finished. This is where the family was living when Joseph received the plates.

Between the two homes you walk down a stretch of road with the temple spire on one side:

and the Sacred Grove on the other. 

The missionaries love that spot and lovingly refered to it as the "Sacred Sandwich"

I loved the kitchen sink in the frame home:

The sister missionaries shared fun stories of all the places Joseph hid the plates in this home. 

In between his sisters who were sleeping just off the kitchen:

In the Alvin's tool box:

under the bricks in the living room:

And in the cooper shop:

After the tours we headed into the Sacred Grove:

It was beautiful, quiet and serene.

We had such a nice time walking, 

and taking pictures, 

and enjoying the beauty of it.

But then the skies opened and the rains came down and we had so run and I mean RUN

 for cover, because it doesn't rain like this out west. It was down pour! 

We were all drenched before we made it back to the car.

 After a quick trip back to the hotel for dry clothes, we tried some lunch. 

Grandpa still wasn't feeling well and got up too quickly and passed out just in front of the restaurant, cracking his head open.  Nothing nearly so sobering as seeing your father laying prone on the sidewalk, his glasses a few feet away, not moving.  So grateful Mom was there, she is such a good nurse.  Mom and Jotham whisked him away for stitches and I stayed with the kids, walking across the street to the Grandin Press, where the Book of Mormon was published, and the small gift shop next door.  Since they still weren't back and the skies had cleared I decided to take the kids and head back to the Sacred Grove, because I'm not sure I could ever get my fill of that place.  

Dad took home a pretty great souvenir:

Then back to the hotel for some pool time.

Day Four:

Niagara Falls

We took a Maid of the Mist Boat Tour. 

What a great way to get up close and see the falls!

This is our Before picture:

and our After:

again we were soaked! My makeup was a mess!

It was a little thrilling to be that close and feel the spray of the falls.

After the boat ride we walked the cat walk to a view point and 

just really enjoyed the power of the water, so fun!

Grateful for the rain poncho they provided from our boat ride.

After this we drove into the Kirtland, Ohio area, it took about four hours with pit stops.  We really enjoyed see the Amish farms along the way with teams of 6 horses plowing the fields, even passed a horse and buggy on the road. 

Day Five:

Kirtland

What Dad thought was food poisoning in Palmyra turned into a nasty flu bug as 

Hyrum was up spewing his guts out two nights later. He was a little queasy through out most of Kirtland.  We started off the day with a trip to the Newel K Whitney store. 

They cleared out the upstairs storeroom to make a temporary apartment for Joseph and Emma, and an office, plus a small room where the school of prophets meet.
Lots of inspiration and revelations transpired here. 

Gavin is showing off the bread oven in the store kitchen that Emma used.

We also visited the Whitney home across the street.  

Apparently yellow was a very expensive and prestigious color back in the day.

We also enjoyed the Ashery and the Saw Mill:

We then headed over to the Morley Farm, there wasn't much that still remained to see but the missionaries shared some inspiring stories and that was nice. 

They also had a nice picnic area where we enjoyed our lunch.

We visited The Kirtland Temple that afternoon. 

Different because it was owned by the Community of Christ (RLDS) and the tour definitely had a different vibe to it, but when you consider all the manifestations that happened there and its significance to restoration of the gospel its hard to not be impressed.  I loved that at the end of the tour we stood and sang the Spirit of God within those sacred walls. 

Up next was the John Johnson home.  Its about 45 minutes away but worth the trip, 

the kids will remember the charismatic missionary that took us on tour. 

Joseph and  Emma were living here when he received the revelation about the Plan of Salvation.

Unhappy about salvation for all the mob came one night when the baby twins they'd adopted where in the mists of the measles and took Joseph out to tar and feather him.  

The interesting woodwork is all still original.  I loved visiting all these old farm house kitchens. 

and the pantry...lovely!

At this point Jotham was starting to feel nauseous, so we headed to the hotel and put him to bed.

I was worried about the whole family coming down with it on the flight home, so we kept dinner light and walked to get shakes after dinner for those feeling up to it and then early to bed.  The next morning we were up before the sun to catch our flight home.