Day 25 - Kirtland, OH

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

I was really excited to go to the Kirtland area sites, remembering the testimony building experiences I had as a teenager.  We went to the Kirtland Visitor's Center to start our day.  We watched a short video about Kirtland, with quotes mostly from Ann Whitney's journal from that time. We then went to the Newel K. Whitney store.

We were able to see the store area and the upstairs, where Joseph & Emma lived for a time and where the School of the Prophets was held.  Testimonies of some of the men who attended the School of the Prophets were read and were very powerful.  This table belonged to the prophet.

We also visited the Whitney's house and learned about the bishop's work and the great charitable work the family did.  We also went into the Johnson Inn, which is more like a Visitor's Center, and saw some of the manuscripts from the time of the Bible translations.  Across the way, there was a saw mill replica, so we could see how the wood was prepared for the building of the temple and we also saw an ashery. The ashery was used to turn ash into lye rocks, that can be used to make things like soap. This was a very profitable business for the Saints and helped finance the building of the temple.  This is my scientist Seth in front of the lab.

We went to the Kirtland Temple, which is now owned by The Church of Christ.  We watched a video and then toured the temple. The guide was a girl named Dora from somewhere like Sweden.  She gave good information about the building of the temple and it's dedication.  She had a member of the tour group play "The Spirit of God" and we all sang along. 

We also visited the Isaac Morely Farm, where Sidney Rigdon's group was based when the missionaries came.  A schoolhouse built by the Morely's was used for many meetings, including a General Conference, where there were many visitations. The schoolhouse has not been rebuilt, so we sat in a little clearing on these log chairs.

We took a lunch break and then traveled down to Hiram, OH to the John Johnson Home. The Smith's lived here for about a year and many important revelations were received here. We took the tour with Brother Robison, from St George.  We had taken the other tours that day with him also and visited with him throughout the day.

This room, the prophet's office, was a highlight for me.  This is where many revelations were received (including Section 76) and the plan of salvation laid out.  The Spirit is so strong there. I appreciate all the sister and senior missionaries that serve at these sites and give great information and bear testimony of the importance of the events that happened in these places.