Kirtland

We stopped at a random truck stop last night.  I got up early and started driving.  We made it to Fairport Harbor when we were originally scheduled.  I'm glad we stayed longer yesterday at Niagara Falls.  That was a lot of fun.  Fairport Harbor is where a lot of the Saints came into or left Kirtland.  A lot of missionaries went through here. When Lucy Mack Smith came to Kirtland, she was stuck in Buffalo with a frozen lake.  She had been warned not to let anyone know she was a Mormon.  She would have none of that.  She prayed that they could get across.  The ice broke open for her.  They were allowed to sail through. The ice froze up behind her, they were the only ship that made it through then.

Preston

 Jorja & Maysen

 Jorja, Maysen, Dad, Mike, Preston

 Jorja & Preston

 Mike

 Stockton, Stephanie, Mike, Jorja, Maysen, Preston

 Jorja

 Preston

 Jorja & Preston

As we were walking through the town and looking at where Sidney Rigdon preached before he knew anything about the Book of Mormon we saw this hotel.  Made me smile.  I know a beautiful Skye that I love so much.

We were able to spend a lot of time in Kirtland.  We started at the Newel K. Whitney store.

Preston, Mike, Maysen, Jorja, Stephanie, Stockton, Dad

Newel K. Whitney took really good records.  That is how the church is able to recreate it so well.  They also have a ledger book that you can look through to see what people bought in a three week period of time. I thought that was fascinating.

 The original key to the store

We went upstairs to the Translation Room.  This is where Joseph Smith received many revelations, including the Word of Wisdom.  He also worked on the translation of the Bible.

Stockton, Preston, Maysen, Jorja

 Original table.....pretty cool

 tiny skinny bed someone slept in

 Original floors

 Joseph & Emma lived here for about a year and a half

Another room upstairs was the School of the Prophets.  The Word of Wisdom was officially read in this room.  As soon as the prophet read it, many of the people in the room threw their pipes into the fireplace.

Maysen, Jorja, Stockton

 Weird looking Jorja face, Maysen, Stockton

 Preston & Mike

Downstairs there was a really nice kitchen.  Top of the line for the time period.  Preston liked looking at the bread oven.  At first I thought he was going to climb in.

Preston

 John Johnson Inn

There is a pretty cool sawmill out back.  That was fun to look around. Also a place that made soap and something else out of ashes.  I don't know how they figured out how to do all this.  I can barely figure out how to cook on all my fancy appliances.  I would not be a good pioneer.

Dad, Jorja, Stockton, Preston, Maysen

 Jorja & Preston

 Preston & Jorja

 Preston & Maysen

 Maysen & Preston exploring

 Maysen

 Preston

We stopped at the Isaac Morley farm.  The Sacred Grove of Kirtland. In a conference that was held here, many saw Heavenly Father and Jesus.  That would be a cool conference!

Preston

 Stockton, Dad, Maysen, Stephanie, Mike, Jorja, Preston

Our next stop was the Kirtland Temple.  This is owned and operated by the Community of Christ church.  I told myself that I should learn how to play The Spirit of God before we came on this trip, just in case they asked like they did last time.  I never got around to it.  They did ask and no one spoke up for awhile.  Finally someone came up.  Too bad I never had time to learn it, that would have been a cool experience.

Stephanie, Jorja, Maysen, Mike, Stockton, Preston

 Preston, Stephanie, Jorja, Mike, Maysen, Stockton

 Kirtland Temple

 Before they realized they needed 'Jesus Christ' in the name

 Joseph & Emma lived here for about 4 years

 Stephanie, Preston, Maysen, Mike, Jorja, Stockton

 Joseph Smith's store

 Graveyard across the street

 Stockton & Jorja

The two upper windows were Joseph Smith's office.  This is where he saw a vision of the Celestial Kingdom and Alvin was there.  He was confused because Alvin died before he was able to be baptized.  The minister at his funeral told his mom that Alvin would go to hell because he never was baptized.  Joseph was told here that anyone who never had the chance to hear the gospel in their life, but would have accepted it had they had the chance would be welcomed in the Celestial Kingdom.

The last stop of the day was the John Johnson farm.  This is one of my favorite spots I visited when I went with my dad.  I thought it was just as cool this time.  Joseph and Emma lived here for a year.  The Johnson family gave this property to the church, then they were given the stewardship of the Inn up in Kirtland.  A lot of faith in that family.

Maysen

 Preston

 Stockton & Jorja

 I still find it fascinating the way this house was painted

Also Preston just hit me with a penny that got stuck in my hair.

Technically he catapulted the penny and is laughing hysterically.

 Preston opening the door

exactly like the prophet would have done years ago

 Dad

 Stockton

 Mike with this cool pouring pot.  Too bad it's hard to see.

 Mike & Preston

As we were walking up to here, Stockton whispered to Mike, "It's time for the traditional old man to come out of the house to give us a tour." Stockton knows the drill.  This guy was great.  He has only been on his mission for three weeks and did a wonderful job.  He teaches teaching at BYU.

 Preston in the room Joseph Smith was dragged

out of when he was tarred and feathered.

This is the Revelation Room.  Joseph Smith received many revelations here, one of them was the three degrees of glory.  That really made people mad.  They didn't like people teaching about more than just heaven and hell.  Weird what makes people so upset.

Dad, Jorja, Stephanie, Preston, Mike, Maysen, Stockton

 Stockton & Dad

We ate at Olive Garden and then drove until we were too tired to drive anymore.  We stopped at a random truck stop to sleep.