Summer Trip Part 4 - Upstate New York

Between Kirtland and Palmyra we spent the night in Buffalo and went to Niagara Falls. It was rainy when we went to see Niagara Falls, so we got a little wet as we walked around. But luckily it was still clear enough to see all of the waterfalls. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we couldn't cross over to the Canadian side. But we still got some pretty good views.

After Palmyra, we drove to Syracuse, NY, where we lived for one year while I finished up my school at SUNY Upstate Medical University. It was just a quick stop there. We walked around the clinic that I worked out, stopped by the hospital where Christian was born, took a picture by our old apartment, and walked through a cemetery that we would often take walks in while we lived there. We also had a Middle Eastern/Israeli restaurant that I got to try a few times while we lived there, that Rebecca always wanted to try. So we tried that as well. We actually got lost while we were trying to find it, but Rebecca remembered where our church building was. So we were able to go there to use the internet and look up that address for the restaurant. Seeing our old church building was a nice bonus! 

Summer Trip Part 3 - Chicago

In between Nauvoo and Kirtland, we spent a couple of days in Chicago. We got in Saturday evening. Our hotel was about 20 minutes outside of the main city. We were all tired, so we decided to just stay in our hotel that evening and pack our sightseeing into the next two days. 

The next day we woke up early and drove to church. We wanted to find a ward right in the downtown area so we could leave our car there while we walked around some. The church building was pretty neat - definitely not a style that we typically see around where we live. The ward that we attended had just started meeting again, so the numbers were kind of small in all of the classes. Ethan ended up attending Elders' Quorum with me since there were no young men in their ward. I guess there are officially 4, but two never come and two were spending time somewhere else while the pandemic is going on. For Elders' Quorum we started with introductions. Most of the Elders in that ward were either students/interns or had just started at an accounting or law firm in Chicago.

After church, we left our car in the parking garage and walked around the down town area. We just did one big loop that I think was about 4 miles long. First, we saw the historic water tower building. This picture was just part of it, but the whole thing looked like a really cool castle.

Then we made our way to the Navy Pier. On our way we walked through a really large old Catholic Church building. It was cool to see, but I don't think they were allowing pictures inside it. When we got to the pier, there was a long walkway out into Lake Michigan where I guess they used to have a naval academy and naval practices and drills. It was a hot day and we were all kind of sweaty by this point. Lake Michigan was pretty cool to see though. It seemed like we were on the edge of an ocean since there was no way to see all the way across. 

Then we walked over to the Chicago Bean. There were tons of people here taking pictures. In walking there we went along a lakeside trail and by a ton of cool parks. Our kids really wanted to play at all of the parks, but with it being Sunday, we just kept walking.

The city itself seemed really big. I think Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the U.S. in terms of population, but not even in the top 20 in terms of size (square miles). It was fun to see all of the skyscrapers. This was the first big city that our children have been to besides Taipei and they had fun noticing some of the similarities and differences.

On Monday, we woke up early and went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. The zoo was amazing. They had so many cool animals and it was easy to navigate. And although there were many people there, because of COVID, it wasn't too crowded at all. And the best part about it was that it was free. A week before our trip we tried to go to the zoo that we have in Pocatello. It was supposed to be a free day, but they cancelled that last minute and were charging full price. We didn't do it because it would have been something like $8 per person, and all they really have there are farm animals like donkeys and cows and ducks. I guess they do also have a bear. But, when you compare it to the amazing animals at the free Chicago zoo, it is kind of sad. We made sure to really take our time in seeing all of the animals.

After the zoo we had a few other sites that we wanted to see in the downtown area. One was a Tiffany glass ceiling that is the largest of its kind in the world. Right after we parked it started pouring rain. We rain around a few block trying to find it and got soaked, but eventually we got there. I think this was the only place in our entire trip where we were required to wear a mask.

After, we still had an hour or so on our parking pass, so we decided to visit one of the downtown parks. It was a really fun one. It was only lightly sprinkling on and off by this point. The best part was the giant slides that the kids would fly down. When they went down the slides, they would shoot out the whole and some of them couldn't stop until falling and rolling on the ground a bit. I think it was partially due to the puddles from the rain and the type of pants some of them were wearing (sports shorts went way faster than jeans).

And then of course we had to try some of the foods that Chicago is famous for - hot dogs and pizza. The hot dogs were special, but it was still just a hot dog. I am not sure it would ever be worth the money again. But the pizza was great. It was fun to try the different style and really yummy. The crust reminded me some of a pizza that we would sometimes make at home growing up (it had some cornmeal in it). I would definitely do the pizza again the next time we are there.

Summer Trip Part 2 - Church History Sites

Being able to visit the Church history sites was my favorite part of the trip. It was really cool to see the locations and think about all of the sacrifices that Joseph Smith and all of the early church members made in order to live the gospel. It was also neat to see and think about in detail the manner in which God chose to restore the gospel on the earth. I felt the Spirit many times as we visited these sites and I loved being able to share that with our children. The Church and the gospel are such big parts of our family's life so it was really neat to see some of the history behind it.

Our first stop was Independence Missouri. The early saints were told that this area would be Zion or the New Jerusalem. However, as they tried to settle here, they experienced extreme hostility and were eventually forced out of the state by mob and orders of the governor at the time. There wasn't too much to see in Independence, just a visitor center and some of the sites that belong to the Community of Christ (formerly known as The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

The temple for the Community of Christ.

The land that was dedicated by Joseph Smith for building a temple in Independence.

Just north of Independence is the Liberty Jail. This is where Joseph Smith and others were imprisoned for five months on made up charges. They had a replica of the jail inside a museum. Although it was not the actual jail that stood there when Joseph Smith was in prison, it is on the same location and built with some of the remnants from the original. Seeing this site helped me think more about Joseph Smith's experience and what he must of thought about while spending so long in jail for doing the work that God had asked him to do. He wasn't harming anyone and doing a lot of good for the people, yet he was still seen by many as a threat that had to be locked away and eventually killed.

After Independence we drove up to Far West Missouri to see another spot that had been dedicated for a temple. In this spot, the cornerstones had been laid and are still there in the exact location. This is also the location where several of the apostles were sent on missions to Europe.

And then just north of that is Adam-ondi-Ahman, the place where the second coming is supposed to begin with Adam returning to visit his posterity. There are no church buildings built here, just open fields and forests. Some have trails for walking around and others have crops growing. It was really beautiful and peaceful here.

It is said that while at Adam-ondi-Ahman Joseph came across some stones that he said were remnants of a Nephite altar. We thought the stones below could have fit that description.

After that we made our way to Nauvoo. This is where the Saints settled after leaving Ohio and some of the other areas they had been living. At the time, they were able to build Nauvoo into a relatively large city. At that time, it was about the same size as Chicago was. The Church and the Community of Christ have restored many of the buildings of the city. And now, the Church has tons of activities and tours that they do there of the different buildings. This is where the saints were living at the time Joseph Smith was murdered and the starting point for the move west to Utah.

We started off with an ox ride.

And then we got to play different pioneer games. Our children really loved these activities.

That evening we also got to take a tour of some of the buildings that were part of the city, including a bakery and Browning's home and gun shop.

We also had time to go see the graves of Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, and his wife Emma. His parents' graves were also in the same cemetery.

We finished the night watching a play depicting some of the pioneer life in Nauvoo. It was really good. All of the actors and actresses were young missionaries who audition to serve in Nauvoo as performing missionaries. I couldn't believe how talented they were.

We started the next day with another play that was more child-focused. 

We also got to do a horse ride through the town and see where the saints lined up to cross the Missouri river to start heading west, and Joseph and Emma's Red Brick store and Mansion house that played important parts in Church history.

We finished our time in Nauvoo by visiting the temple. The original temple that was built here was destroyed by fire and a tornado. But the Church rebuilt it and dedicated it in 2002.

Outside of Nauvoo we also got to visit the Carthage Jail. I think we all felt the Spirit very strongly there. This is the place where Joseph and Hyrum were imprisoned again and martyred at the hand of a mob. It was sad, but also very touching to think about the sacrifices that they made for the restoration of the gospel and to complete the work God had for them to do on this earth.

Driving from Nauvoo to Palmyra, we also got to stop at Chicago, Kirtland, and Niagara Falls. I will talk about Chicago and Niagara Falls in another post, but Kirtland played an important role in the history of the Church. This is where many church members settled after fleeing persecution in New York. They built the first temple of this dispensation here. We couldn't go inside it due to COVID-19 restrictions, but it was neat to see from the outside. It is now owned by the Community of Christ and they didn't have any of their sites open yet.

We did get to see and tour the sites owned by our church in Kirtland. The Newel K. Whitney store was probably the place where I felt the Spirit the second strongest (after Carthage jail) while on our trip. In an upstairs room above the store, Joseph Smith started the School of the Prophets. Its main focus was to help prepare members for missions and other church service callings. In this small room (which is the exact one that was present at the time, not a replica or rebuild) Jesus Christ appeared. It was inspiring to think that we were standing in the exact location where Christ once stood.

They also had a few other shops and buildings that we got to tour. Again, it was touching to think about all of the sacrifices that the early saints made for the Church and in order to follow God's commands.

Our final stop in our Church history tour was Palmyra. This included the Grandin printing press, the Sacred Grove, the hill Cumorah, and the Whitmer farm. Since we previously lived just an hour from here, Rebecca, Julia, Ethan, Christian, and I had been to many of these sites several times in the past. I don't think Julia, Ethan, and Christian really remember those experiences though.

The Grandin printing press was the location where the Book of Mormon was first printed.

The Smith family farm is right next to the Sacred Grove, where Joseph Smith prayed and saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. This is where he first learned of his mission to restore the gospel to the earth.

In the upstairs bedroom, Joseph also saw Moroni appear to him and tell him about the golden plates that he would translate into the Book of Mormon.

A view of the Palmyra temple from the Smith family farm.

On the farm the Smith family first lived in a small log cabin type house. Later, they moved into this larger nicer house that the oldest son had built before he died. There are many stories of locations where Joseph had to hide the plates while he was translating them and the mobs were trying to find them. One was under the stones at the foot of this fireplace.

Another place they were hidden was in the rafters of this shop.

We then walked through the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith had the First Vision. We tried to be pretty reverent in there and focus on Joseph's experience, but the kids got pretty excited when they saw this frog.

We also walked to the top of the hill Cumorah. They used to have a huge Church pageant here that would portray some of the stories from the Book of Mormon. But the Church has decided to discontinue with that pageant and so they were in the process of tearing up all of the buildings and structures associated with that and returning the hill to a more natural looking appearance.

Our very last Church history stop was the Whitmer farm. This is the site where the Church was officially organized. Although they know the site of the farm where that happened, they are not sure exactly where the Whitmer home was located. So this was just a replica building of what it would have looked like.

It was an amazing experience to visit all of these Church history sites. And it fit along perfectly with what we were studying as a family in Come Follow Me this year. It strengthened my testimony by being able to see and learn more about the sacrifices that all of the early church members made. And I am really hoping that our children will remember going to these places and the Spirit that they felt at them throughout the rest of their lives. I feel so blessed to be a member of the Church, to have a knowledge of the restoration of the gospel, and to have this heritage of faith, sacrifice, and dedication by the early saints.