Beautiful Kirtland

People keep asking what my favorite part of our trip was, and to tell you the truth...all of it. I truly loved every place we visited. Kirtland is definitely a place I would love to go visit again. Especially in the fall. Kirtland is a quiet quaint little town. It is only about 22 miles east of Cleveland. Kirtland is very significant in church history. Most of the sections in the D&C were revealed to Joseph while in Kirtland. We started off our visit watching a video in the LDS visitor's center in historic kirtland. The short video was told by Elizabeth Ann Whitney, wife of Newel K. Whitney who owned the store house in Kirtland. After the video, we were given a tour of a couple of buildings around historic kirtland. We started off with the replica of the Whitney home. It was interesting to see how wealthy they were for that time period. They were a very successful business family. Next we visited the Whitney Storehouse. The Whitney's and their storehouse played an important part in the church's history. Newel was the first Bishop of Kirtland. His storehouse was the very first Bishop's storehouse. He sacrificed a lot for the church. His storehouse was the beginning of the church's welfare system.
Joseph and Emma lived above the storehouse for a while during their time in Kirtland. Their son Joseph III was actually born in the storehouse. Another reason for it's significance is that sections of the D&C were revealed to Joseph while staying in the storehouse. He conducted a lot of church business in the store as well. Including holding classes for the School of the Prophets. Joseph also had a vision of the Savior there. The spirit was very strong there and I knew that it was a very special place.
Next stop on our tour was a Replica of the old Saw Mill. It was interesting to see how they did all their woodworking back then. We also toured the replica of the Whitney's Ashery. When we got there I had no idea what an ashery even was. People would bring their ashes there and they would heat it until it turn into big rocks (they looked exactly like lava rocks). People would then buy the rocks and make gun powder out of them. It was another successful business for the Whitney's.
Next we went to the visitor's center at the Kirtland Temple. The temple is owned by the Community of Christ, which is the church that was know as the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints which was started by Joseph Smith III. We watched a short film on the Kirtland Temple. It was interesting to see the differences in the two videos that we watched. The one that the lds church made was very spiritual, and the video by the Community of Christ was very cold in a way. It's hard to explain. The videos told the same story, but the vibes were very different. After watching the video, we were given a tour of the temple. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside which I was bummed about. It was a very beautiful building. Very different though. It was neat to see that a lot of the building were parts of the orignial structure. It was amazing to me that they made this beautiful building with practically their hands. They didn't have the luxury of technology that we have today. I really admire all the hard work the saints did for the church back then.
Our last stop was at the Isaac Morley Farm. Joseph and Emma also lived with the Morley's while staying in Kirtland. Isaac Morley owned 300 acres. Shortly after Joseph arrived in Kirtland, they built a small house where Joseph worked on a translation of the Bible and where he received many revelations. Emma gave birth to twins on the Morley Farm, which died shortly after birth. The Smith's stayed with the Morley's until 1831, when Joseph asked Isaac to sell his entire farm so he could buy land in Missouri.