LDS Church History Tour

This past week my 2 sisters, parents, and I were able to go on a Church History Tour. It started last wednesday on the 15th and we came home this wednesday on the 22nd. We flew into Rochester, New York to begin our tour. We met our tour guides there who just happened to be my old seminary teacher and his wife. Completely random! The next day we were off to Palmyra, New York. Our first stop was the Whitmer Farm, then we went and saw the Grandin Press Building where the Book of Mormon was published. I have such new respect for that book because of the process it went through to be published so it could be available to us and in all the different languages today. After this we headed out to the Smith Family Farm Village, here we were able to see the Smith Family Farm, the Sacred Grove and the Palmyra Temple. That night we visited the Hill Cumorah, went to the visitors center and watched the Pageant. It was a very good pageant but I like the Easter Pageant here in Mesa so much better, I always feel so much when I see that Pageant and I just didn't at the Hill Cumorah. The next day we were able to drive to see Niagara Falls which has nothing to do with Church History but it was a special treat for us! It is so amazing to see one of the natural wonders of the world! It is so beautiful! We were able to go on the Maid of the Mist and get up close to the Horseshoe falls, which goes from the United States to Canada in, well, a horseshoe shape. After we were done with Niagara Falls, we had to drive for about 3 hours to get to Ohio, where we stopped in an Amish town called MiddleField and ate dinner at an Amish restaurant. It was so weird to see horses and buggies on the same streets as car. I thought they were in their own secluded area away from modern technologies but they are in the middle of regular neighborhoods, that shows how naive I am. The next morning we went out to the Morley Farm, then off to Historic Kirtland. The church has done such a great job of restoring things that we had in the past for us to view and learn from now. We were able to go through the Kirtland Temple because the Community of Christ owns it now so they give tours. That night we headed back to the Morley Farm for a delicious bbq! Sunday came the next day and was another travel day, we flew from Cleveland, Ohio to Kansas City, Missouri. We than drove to Independence to see the temple lot and the visitor's center, also the Community of Christ church owns land here as well and they have a museum with some original artifacts from the 1800's in their temple. After this visit we made our way to Liberty Jail where we could go through the visitor's center. Monday we made our way to Far West and Adam-Ondi-Ahman and were met by Dr. Wayne Brickey who educated us more on these two amazing places! We had to travel another 4 hours to make it to Nauvoo, stopping along the way for lunch and bathroom breaks. We ate dinner in Nauvoo and were able to look at some shops. Our hotel that night was actually in Iowa and we had to drive across the Mississippis River to get to it. The next day was our last full day on the tour and was a free day of Nauvoo, our wonderful bus driver drove people back and forth from place to place all day! He was truly amazing! There is so much to do in Nauvoo and we loved it. We saw a few videos in the Visitor's Center, went on a wagon ride that takes you all over Historic Nauvoo. We went on a tour by the Community of Christ, they own the Joseph Smith Mansion House, the Homestead, and the Red Brick Store House. Our tour guide was fabulous! Lunch was at a cute cafe in new Nauvoo and then we headed back down to Historic Nauvoo to do some tours of some of the buildings. Brigham Young House, Heber C. Kimball House, The Bakery, and The Gunsmith Shop to name a few. We ate dinner up in New Nauvoo at the Hotel Nauvoo and had a delicious buffet! We then made it back down once again to Historic Nauvoo and saw Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo which was put on by the senior missionary couples, and after this was the Nauvoo Pageant. Me and my dad didn't see this because we stayed on the bus and rested, I was not feeling good and I think my dad was tired from all the walking he had been doing for past week. My 2 sisters and mother saw it and said it was very good. Our very last day of the tour we headed off to Carthage Jail, where Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were murdered. It was a very interesting and moving to see this place where our first prophet was killed after he had done so much for our church and was always persecuted for it. Me and my family had to rent a car to get to the airport because our flight left way earlier than the rest of the people on the tour and they were stopping in Hannibal, MO to see the Mark Twain Historic Sight. We made it home safely and I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity I had. I have a new found appreciation for our church and for the leaders of it. It has helped me believe in this church even more than I did before.

Here are some photos from our trip: In my parentals hotel room, it was literally in the middle of the room.
Whitmer Farm
Whitmer Farm
Eerie Canal

Walking back to the bus from the canal, haha

Smith Family Farm

Sacred Grove

Palmyra Temple

Hill Cumorah Stage

Niagara Falls

Maid of the Mist

American Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Amish people

In front of an Amish restaurant Historic Kirtland, Newel K. Whitney Store

Family photo in Kirtland

Kirtland Temple

Independence, Missouri

Reflections of Christ, this was my favorite picture

Liberty Jail

Far West

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Hotel Nauvoo

Wagon ride

Nauvoo Temple

Wagon

Joseph Smith Mansion

Heber C. Kimball House

I liked this quote. "Patience is heavenly, obedience is noble, forgiveness is merciful, and exaltation is godly, and he that holds out faithful in the end shall in no wise lose his reward. A good man will endure all things to honor christ, and even dispose of the whole world. and all in it to save his soul."-Joseph Smith

Door at Carthage Jail with the bullet holes in them

Family in front of Carthage Jail