Abby's Baptism

We are so behind on this blog it's embarrassing!

Abby had a wonderful baptism on Dec. 6. Both sets of grandparents were able to come.



We are so thankful to have Abigail in our family. She is so cheerful and loving. She has a tender heart and is easily moved to act on those feelings to help others around her.

Palmyra, NY

Days Three and Four were spent in Palmyra. Day Three We first drove to Fayette to tour the Whitmer farm. It was really rainy so I didn't take my camera out. Then we drove up to Palmyra. We came through on the same highway that the Hill Cumorah is on. We drove to the top to see the monument and walk on the paths surrounding the hill. We decided to go in to the visitor's center because I remembered they had a Dead Sea Scroll exhibit on display through the end of March. The couple that was there was extremely knowledgeable. You see Joseph is somewhat of a history buff. He really knows his stuff and also has read up on many stories most people don't ever hear. By this time he was kind of tired of all the guided tours and just wanted to ask questions that he was interested in finding the answers too. This couple, particularly the wife, was the same way and she really had studied up on all the things that occurred leading up to the church being able to obtain the Hill Cumorah, etc. She recommended several books to read. It was great. The couple we met in Kirtland took the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit tour with us. We then went on into the town of Palmyra. We visited the little cemetery where Joseph Smith's older brother Alvin is buried. We then went to the Grandin Building where the printing of the Book of Mormon took place.The building is original but has been restored throughout for safety's sake. The Grandin building is actually the one on the left. The church purchased the building to the right for a visitor's center. That's where the tour starts. It was amazing to hear how Mr. Grandin was only in the printing business for about 5 years. Just long enough to obtain enough funds to buy the latest printing press which was only used once - for printing the Book of Mormon. The other press he had was for printing the town paper, leaflets, smaller periodicals, etc. By the time this tour was over the other visitor's center for the Smith Farm was closed so went and found a hotel and decided to walk through the Sacred Grove.

Just a word about our stay in Palmyra. We stayed at the Palmyra Inn which is located right around the corner from the stake center and temple. We thought it would be very expensive because it is so nice. It was the cheapest place we stayed throughout our whole trip! It was really a wonderful place to stay.

We were the only ones in the Sacred Grove both times we went. It was quiet, beautiful, and calming. One thing we were struck by was the trees are all still bare. Buds were just barely starting to develop on the trees. In all the paintings you see of the First Vision, the Sacred Grove is in full summer foliage. But that is not when the vision occurred! Joseph Smith describes the day "was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring" (JSH 1:14) The trees would most certainly only have buds on them in early spring. I guess trees with leaves make for better paintings than bare ones. :D We were glad to have been there at this time of year.

When the Smith Family cleared land for farming they removed big rocks and used them to build fence lines. There are still several original rock fence lines on the property. One also extends up to the edge of the temple grounds.

This is just outside of the Sacred Grove heading towards the Smith home. The Sacred Grove is on the right.

The path from the Sacred Grove to the Smith Home goes over Crooked Creek. It would be a really fun place for kids to play in the summertime!

We started Day Four with a session in the Palmyra Temple. The British tour group we met in Kirtland was there also. It was so fun to hear their accents. The Palmyra Temple is the same design as all smaller temples except the entry way by the baptismal font extends all the way to a window overlooking the Sacred Grove. In most temples that area is the offices.
This is the view you see from the window (below). No I didn't take my camera in to the temple! There is a balcony on the outside where visitors can walk around and tour the grounds.

After our session the Temple President, President Seibach, took us into his office and spent a good 15 minutes telling us the history of how the rest of the Smith Farm was purchased paving the way for the temple to be built. As you'll see in a picture further down the main road went right between the Smith frame home and the Sacred Grove. In 1995, the church wanted to move the road so visitors would be safer. Before they could do that they needed to purchase property right behind the Smith frame home and right across from the Smith log home. A gentleman by the name of Ted Bellafontain owned one acre right there and would not sell. Then in 1996 he heard a voice telling him it was time to sell so he sold it to the church driving a hard bargain all the way. He wanted $175,000 for his one acre and house but wanted the church to build him a new 2,000 sq. foot home further up on the hill (where the temple parking lot is now) where he would live for the rest of his life, rent free, and then it would be the church's to do what they wanted with it. The church agreed and began building Mr. Bellafontain's new home. The time came where the new home was almost completed but the old one needed to be knocked down for the road construction to begin. Mr. Bellafontain, in his late fifties, decided to take a vacation for several weeks to snowmobile in Canada. While there he struck a tree and was killed. The house was moved still further down the street and is where the temple president lives. The temple and parking lot are now where the new house was being built.

All the windows in the Palmyra Temple are stained glass depicting the Sacred Grove. They were beautiful! After our time at the temple we took the tour of the Smith Log Home and the Smith Frame home. Because the weather was cold and snowy we were the only ones!

This is a replica of the log home. Quite small for Lucy and Joseph Smith and their nine children!
Upstairs were two rooms. The larger one were for the six boys, the smaller for the three girls. It was in the log home that Moroni appeared to Joseph three times in one night instructing him concerning the gold plates and the work God had for him to do.

Here is where Stafford road originally went. The log house is just out of frame to the right. The church paid to have the road diverted to the east (left) behind the frame home. This is looking south to the frame home that Alvin was building for the family. He died before it was completed.

The house is the original. You can see where some boards have been replaced because of rotting. They really loved the color red! The doors inside have some of the original paint on them.

This is the hearth that Joseph had to hide the plates under when a mob came looking for them.

This is a view of the frame home, cooper shop (left), and threshing barn (right) from the Sacred Grove.

I just love the color of this wagon! After touring the Smith homes, Sacred Grove, and visiting the bookstore in town again we drove along the edge of Lake Ontario to Niagara Falls and then Buffalo.

This was the first patch of blue sky we'd seen all week! Niagara Falls was gorgeous but too darn cold! The wind was blowing hard so the mists would freeze before they got to you. It was not fun being pelted with frozen mist! And my camera got wet. Thank goodness we were able to dry it off and no damage was done. I think we were the only ones there who actually spoke English. There were several tourists from Denmark and Sweden and a big group from Japan.

Kirtland, Ohio

Day One of our (just Joseph and me) trip was spent flying. We flew from Reno to Salt Lake to Cincinnati to Cleveland. It was a long day but not to bad. From Cleveland we rented a car and drove to Mentor, Ohio to spend the night.

Day Two - Kirtland, Ohio

The weather during our trip was cold, overcast, and rainy, but we didn't mind too much. That just meant there really weren't very many other sightseers. There was a tour group from England here. We also met an older couple who were driving out to their mission in Gloversville, NY. We later saw them all in Palmyra.

We first stopped to walk through the Kirtland cemetery. We found several different graves of early church members including Mary Duty Smith, Joseph Smith Sr.'s mother.

The view of the Kirtland Temple from the cemetery.




The Kirtland Temple.



We then took the tour of the heart of old Kirtland. Newel K. Whitney owned the ashery (on the left). He'd buy ashes from farmers who had burned their fields or cleared timber for land. Then he'd make potash and pearl ash, most of which was sent to England. The sawmill is on the right. The saints used this to make the boards needed for building the temple.
I totally forgot about getting a picture of the front of Newel K. Whitney's store, house, and the other buildings that were all on the block. Oops! The store has much of the original floors, walls, etc. This is one side of the Whitney store. Newel K. was standing to the right of the display case on the counter when Joseph Smith entered the store, grabbed Newel K's hand and stated, "Newel K. Whitney thou art the man!" Newel K was shocked. He confessed to not knowing the stranger. Joseph responded, "I am Joseph the Prophet. You've prayed me here now what do you want of me?" The Whitneys and Smiths became very close friends.


I want to make one of these some day.

A replica of the post office that was also located in the Whitney store.

Upstairs are the following rooms. This was the administrative headquarters of the church for a time. It also served as Joseph's translating room when he worked on his translation of the Bible. He also received many revelations here such as Doctrine and Covenants 84 (on priesthood), 85, 86, 87 (on war), 88, 89 (the Word of Wisdom), 90-98, and 101.


This is one view of the School of the Prophets room. This was a missionary training room of sorts. Here the brethren learned the doctrines of the kingdom and experienced many spiritual events.


Another view of the School of the Prophets room.

We also took a tour of the Kirtland Temple which is now owned my the Community of Christ Church, formerly the RLDS Church. They didn't allow pictures of the inside but it was amazing! The saints were truly led in how to build with what was available to them.

From Kirtland we drove south to Hiram, Ohio to visit the John Johnson Farm. This is where Joseph and Emma stayed after their twins died three hours after they were born. Joseph and Emma then adopted twins from John Murdock whose wife had died in childbirth.

They were here in this bedroom when a mob came in the middle of the night, dragging Joseph out into the cold, across the street and into a field where they tarred and feathered him, taunting him saying he would not preach again. Joseph preached a sermon the very next day. One of the twins later died from the exposure to the cold that occurred because of the mob.

This room was set a side for Joseph to continue working on his translation of the Bible. Because Joseph and Emma stayed here for about a year many significant historical events occurred here, including 16 revelations that became sections 1, 65, 67, 68, 69, 71, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 99, 133 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

I just had to show you the gravestone of Symonds Ryder. He left the church because Joseph misspelled his name in a revelation. He was one of the leaders of the mob that tarred and feathered Joseph. Do you notice any misspellings on his headstone?


I wonder what he thinks now that disciple is spelled wrong on his headstone. We just thought it was rather ironic. The cemetery where this is located is off the beaten path. Most people don't even know that it's there. We found it thanks to a wonderful book my parents sent out for us to use in our travels. Sacred Places is a series of travel books published by Deseret Book. The books are filled with wonderful little sites you normally wouldn't think of going to see.

Stayed tuned for day three later on this week.

"Faith" by Eve

Eve has New Beginnings tonight. She was asked to speak about faith. All the parents were invited but because Laura is sick we didn't feel right asking someone to watch the kids for us. Joseph elected to go because 1) I was in town for 5 hours already today, 2) the Young Women leaders complained that the dad's never show up for these things, 3) he really wanted to go and listen to her present her talk. So without further ado her is Eve's talk on faith. (We didn't help one single bit!)

"I am a daughter of Heavenly Father who loves me. I have faith in His eternal plan which centers on Jesus Christ, my Savior.

"In Alma 32:21, there is a description of what faith is. It says, “And now as I said concerning faith—^afaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye ^bhope for things which are ^cnot seen, which are true.”

"In heaven we rejoiced at the Lord’s plan for us to come to earth and receive mortal bodies. We were excited that we could progress and become more like our Father. We knew there would be risks. We knew not all of us would make it. We knew that we would go through the veil and not remember our pre-earth life. We would have to live by faith – faith in the gospel, faith in God, and faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without faith there is no way we can return to our Heavenly home, to heavenly parents who love us. Because the Spirit whispers that the gospel is true, we know that it is. How? Through faith.

"Every aspect of the gospel is somehow connected with faith: prayer, scripture study, fasting, church attendance, following the prophet, and keeping the commandments.

"There are so many examples of faith in the scriptures. Daniel had faith when he was thrown in the lion’s den. Ammon had faith when he cut off the thieves arms. Nephi had faith that the Lord would help him get the plates. My favorite is the Stripling Warriors who had so much faith that through a long and gruesome battle, though nearly all had been injured, none had died."

Don't Eat the Prophet!

Next week for our Family Home Evening Enrichment activity we are going to exchange game ideas. Everyone is supposed to bring a game that is fun for families to play together. We are to provide all the pieces (if there are any) or a copy of the game instructions (if there aren't pieces) for each person that signs up. So if there are 15 people coming then we should all go home with 15 different games to add to our Family Home Evening Box (scroll down to see the picture of the box). Here is the game I am bringing. It is my own spin off of "Don't Eat Pete!" You can click on each picture to enlarge it and print it off for your own families to play. I made two different boards, one with modern-day prophets, one with scripture prophets from the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I used graphics from the Friend Magazine and Jenny Smith's site. Don't forget to print off the rules! My children love to play this game because of the element of surprise, the candy, and all players are on a level playing field - no skill involved, just luck.

FHE Enrichment Group - Flannel Board Stories

Tonight I have another Family Home Evening enrichment activity at the church. We will be making five flannel board stories and everyone will also be getting a computer disc that has over fifty flannel board stories ready to print. All of the stories came from The Friend magazines published in the late 1990's. They are available free over the internet but are in black and white. I downloaded them all and colored them with my Adobe Photoshop and burned them onto discs. Instead of having to search through each issue of The Friend, The Activity Closet has put all the links for the flannel board stories together on one page here. Here's a sample of one of the stories (just in time for Easter!):

FHE Enrichment Activity - Paddle Boards

Thursday evening I had another Family Home Evening Enrichment activity. We put together three lessons on the Holy Ghost, swearing, and music. We also laminated stories to be used with the paddle board you can see in the picture. The music lesson has fun signs to be used when singing songs (loudly, softly, hum, whistle, fast, slow, etc) and we also laminated an Old MacDonald flip chart to use with the paddle board.
Laura is holding the board to show how it is used. My SIL showed me how to use the jigsaw and bandsaw to cut them out. They are a great teaching tool for Primary and Family Home Evening when you want to share a story with pictures. There was a good turn out but it took way too long to laminate everything even with two laminators set up. I didn't leave the church until after 9:30pm and we started at 6:30.