Taste of my Church History Tour

Well, I've been back for a week from my trip and I am finally getting around to adding an entry about it! My mom and I left on Tuesday, October 9th and got back late Wednesday, October 17th.

The church history tour took us everywhere! Palmyra, New York area, Niagara Falls, Kirtland, Ohio area, Independence, Missouri and surroundings, Nauvoo, Illinois and then finally Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois.

My favorite part would have to be Nauvoo - we had a chance to attend a temple session at the beautiful Nauvoo Temple and then walk all over historic Nauvoo. And there was so much to see and do! Mom and I got the famous and cute Old Nauvoo bricks and then we also got some prairie diamonds at the blacksmith shop (which are really just horse-shoe nails rounded to fit like a ring). But the close second favorite place was the Joseph Smith, Sr. farm. I loved it. I loved the Sacred Grove. It's crazy to think that I am related to them - through Hyrum Smith!

I think the best part about the whole trip is this: That it strengthened my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The entire tour was a witness to his life, work and calling. He truly was a prophet of God! He endured so much, struggled, and sacrificed so much for the benefit of the church. I know he translated the Book of Mormon only by the gift and power of God. Doctrine & Covenants 135 sums it best:

Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!

Hence my current favorite purchase of the Joseph Smith statuette - to remind me of my testimony of his calling as a Prophet of God. To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints click here.

Here are some pics of the trip - just to wet your appetite.

At the Hill Cumorah, New York

The Sacred Grove, near Palmyra, New York

The Sacred Grove, near Palmyra, New York

Joseph Smith, Sr. Log Home, near Palmyra, New York

Peter Whitmer Farm, near Fayette, New York. Where the church was organized on April 6, 1830.

Niagara Falls

Newell K. Whitney Store, Kirtland, Ohio

John Johnson Farm, Hiram, Ohio

Kirtland Ohio Temple

Liberty Jail, Liberty, Missouri

Far West Missouri Temple Lot

Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Missouri

Nauvoo Illinois Temple

Outside the Brigham Young home, Nauvoo, Illinois

Carthage Jail, Carthage, Illinois. Where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred June 27, 1844.