New York trip, part IX--Kirtland

Since we don't have our passports and couldn't take the shortcut from New York to Michigan through Canada, we decided to make the best of it and stop at the LDS historical sites in Kirtland, OH. It was a perfect halfway stopping spot.

 The mums were beautiful there as well! After driving by the Kirtland temple, we went to the Visitors Center and watched a movie about the Saints' life in Kirtland. The narration for the movie was taken from Elizabeth Ann Whitney's journal. Elizabeth Ann was the wife of Newel K. Whitney, who was the first bishop for our church in the latter days. I was very inspired by her--she was so willing to support her husband as he gave very generously of their means and their time. She took her time to gain a testimony of the gospel and then fully embraced every aspect of it.

 Here is the Whitney's general store. The building is rebuilt, but there are still some original pieces of it inside--the floor upstairs, for example--and it is beautiful and large. Upstairs we had the privilege of seeing the room where Joseph Smith led the School of the Prophets, where Jesus Christ appeared. It is a very small room and I feel awestruck as I think of those men sitting so close to our Savior.

 Here is the view of the Whitney's store and their yellow home across the street. When Joseph and Emma Smith first came to Kirtland from New York, they stayed with the Whitneys in their home. Eventually they moved across the street to live above the store, and Emma had a small kitchen in the back. As we walked, I pictured Emma and Elizabeth Ann becoming friends, running back and forth, their children playing together.

 This is the former Johnson Inn--now it houses displays about life in Kirtland, the priesthood, etc. It sits across the street from the Whitney's home and diagonally from the store.

 It was SO rainy while we were there. Jed loved the big umbrellas we took from building to building.

 I loved the Whitney's home--it was so practical. The small room on the side is Elizabeth's summer kitchen; you can see the fireplace on the outside, so it wouldn't heat up the rest of the house during those muggy days. The house is full of small practicalities, like the cupboards above the fireplaces to keep blankets and pajamas warm, so the little ones could put on warm jammies and have a warm blanket to snuggle in before bed. Seeing the house, I felt like Elizabeth Ann was a person who loved her family very much and did her very best to take good care of them.

 After we visited the Johnson Inn and took a little bathroom break, we walked to the sawmill and the ashery. Since there was so much building going on in the early days of Kirtland, the Saints opened a sawmill to provide themselves and others with lumber.  The couple missionaries who took us on our tour told us the cutest thing--when this sawmill was reconstructed and President Hinckley came to see it, he said "well, does it work?" He was assured by the builders that it did, so he said "let's fire it up!" I love that story of President Hinckley--if something should work, he wanted to see it!

Dave and Jed had a great time checking everything out.

 The sawmill runs because of this waterwheel, which is a replica of the one the early Saints built on the same spot. Both wheels were especially designed to run on a very small amount of water so that the mill could be open for much longer. It can run on as little as 2 inches of water!

This is the little creek that runs the waterwheel and runs behind the ashery next door. Many early saints in Kirtland were baptized here or in the river that it feeds into.

 Here is the ashery. Ashes were taken and converted into lye, potash, and several other things that were then used in various parts of daily pioneer life. The ashery was also a place where newly immigrated Saints could work and then go to the store with their "pay stub" and receive the groceries they needed.

Kirtland was such a beautiful place. I felt a lot of peace as we walked around. I love to think of the early Saints, gathering, working, and learning in Kirtland, feeling the joy of the gospel and fellowshipping with each other. I think that in some ways, Kirtland was the "calm before the storm" for the early Saints and I loved feeling that calm. It was a great way to end our lovely vacation!