Spring Break- A Whole Day!!

(Tyler here.) Thanks to the bountiful generosity of the University of Pittsburgh, School of Dental Medicine, I was given a single day off for Spring Break. (I guess that is a lot more generous that we ever got at BYU...I digress.) We decided that we should make a little jaunt down to Kirtland, OH, and see the Church history sites there. (After traveling across the country, a 2.5 hour drive really doesn't seem like that much anymore.)

Glad to be walking the streets of the early pioneers.

Two nights before, our institute director had invited us down to a special meeting that he was going to attend on the Johnson farm, and told us that if we got there by 10 in the morning, it would be well worth the trip. So waking up at 6 on our special day off, we found ourselves in Kirtland at 9:30 only to find out the meeting had been canceled. We were okay with it however, because we had planned to go to Kirtland anyways, and this would give us a full day to be there on a very sunny and blue-sky day.

This is the original N.K. Whitney store.

One of the benefits that we had of being there so early was that we basically got a tour all to ourselves, everywhere we went! So our humble recommendation to everyone if they are ever planning on going, is to go not in the summer, but when it is a little bit cold outside. Well worth it. We learned all about the Whitney's: how they came to join the Church, meet the prophet, and their contributions to the early Church. What generous people they were to all they met. We learned about the early Church in Kirtland; the sacrifices and wonderful blessings that were theirs. We got to sit in the School of the Prophets.

And one of the cooler things about being in Kirtland at this particular time was the really neat bronze statue collection that is housed there currently. (One day an opera singer decided that she wanted to try her hand at sculpting. So she went down to the local art store, bought some clay, and two hours later, she had a child's face sculpted. She had never had any training of that kind. One year later, she prays to know how she can use her talents to benefit God's children. The inspiration came to her to create a series of Christ throughout New Testament events. The quality is as good as The David. Having seen both up close, I have no qualms saying that. Anyways, amazing amazing sculptures.)

This is the School of the Prophets. Small eh? All the more intimate for a sermon I say.

We then went to the Kirtland Temple, which is in the hands of the Community of Christ. It was wonderful to take a tour and see the magnificent workmanship that was put into it at such an early point in our history. It was also special to walk through it as it was the first Temple of this dispensation in our Church.

The beautiful Kirtland Temple as seen from its visitor center. Bits of china and jewelery were mixed in with the plaster to make it sparkle and stand out in the sun.

After about a 45 minute drive, we arrived at the Johnson farm where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his family lived for quite some time with the Johnson family. It was here that Section 76, the revelation about the Resurrection of the Earth's inhabitants was received, along with many other sections in the Doctrine and Covenants. The Johnson farm was also the place where the Prophet was taken from his bed, tarred and feathered, and left for dead, only to get cleaned off, and deliver one of his most powerful sermons the very next day.

Nicole and I in Church Headquarters on the Johnson farm. (No joke. Church headquarters is wherever the Prophet has his office. Now you know...)

All in all, we had an amazing trip. The weather was beautiful, it was warm (in the sun), and we got to spend a whole day together, which was nice. Also, we really thought Ohio was beautiful. I never knew I would be saying that, but it was easy to see why so many people live there, not that we ever will. But who knows...