Kirtland, Ohio

Two weekends ago, Abe and I took a weekend trip up to Ohio. We went to see Abe's Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Jay, and went up to Kirtland, OH to see the historical church sites there. We started the day off by going to breakfast with Uncle Jay and Aunt Charlotte, at an Amish Buffet for breakfast. The food was so amazing! Abe and I loaded our plates a couple times, and weren't hungry again until dinner. After breakfast, we then drove two hours up to Kirtland. The drive was so beautiful. All the leaves on the trees were at their most vibrant stage. We chose the perfect weekend for this trip.

When we first arrived to Kirtland, we went to the temple and the visitors' center there. The Kirtland Temple, which was built by the early saints of the Mormon church, now belongs to the RLDS(Reorganized Latter-Day Saints)church. It was a little sad, knowing of all the hard work and sacrifices that were put into building the temple, and to think we don't even own it anymore. Nevertheless, we were so happy we were able to see the first temple that was built for our church.

After going to the temple, we went to the Visitors' Center for the LDS church. As we sat down to watch a short movie about Kirtland and the early saints, the missionaries got up and announced that a very special guest had been there that same day. They said that President Monson came, and made it a point to stop in Kirtland to see the temple and to see The School of the Prophets. Abe and I both looked at each other and couldn't believe we had missed him. While watching the movie we thought in our heads, "Maybe he's still around somewhere. Maybe we should leave the movie and see if we can find him." We didn't leave, but afterward I went over to a sister missionary and asked when he had been there. She said he was there from 2:15-3:00pm. She said that he was on his way with his daughter and granddaughter, taking the granddaughter back to school in Connecticut. Abe and I were so bummed. We had gotten there at 3:15, just fifteen minutes after he had left.

We still enjoyed walking around with our tour group seeing all the neat sites. One of my favorite parts was going to the Newel K. Whitney store. Upstairs, there's a little room they called "The School of the Prophets." In that room Joseph Smith recieved many different revelations for the Doctrine and Covenants. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ also appeared to Joseph Smith in this room. It is so neat to see actual sites and to be in places where very important things happened.

Even though Abe and I didn't get to see President Monson, it was neat just knowing the prophet had been there that same day as us. We had a good time, learned a lot, and gained an even greater appreciation for the early saints who did so much for us.

Here are some pictures Abe took of the sites:






The Newel K. Whitney Store


Actual table from the Newel K. Whitney Store


The original house of Newel K. Whitney