Day 4: Sunday in Kirtland

Oh, Kirtland!

I really love Kirtland.  

I feel Emma and Joseph's love for their first real home, their first kitchen, the peace and prosperity that was theirs for a moment.

"There I will give unto you my law, and there you shall be endowed with power from on high."

I know that God led Joseph to people with different gifts and talents.  The Whitney family, Sydney Rigdon and so many more.  

Joseph and Emma were given a home above the Newell K Whitney store.  It's lovely.  It still stands, with original flooring.

I love good men who really consecrated so much of their material goods to the early Church.  Ann Whitney was a sweet, faithful woman that supported her husband as he gave financially to the Smith family and many others.  I think Ann Whitney stands in contrast to Lydia? Harris.  

I think about our worldly goods.  I hope I am always willing to use our money for good.  To feed the hungry, heal the sick, comfort the weary, strengthen the weak.  This is what the Whitney's did.  Why else do we have money?

Members were reminded that "The riches of the world are mine to give, ... to look upon the poor and the needy, and administer to their relief, that they shall not suffer."  

Ellie's favorite part was Emma's oven, at the Whitney Store, that held 12 loaves of bread.  Can't you just feel Emma's desire to feed and care for so many?  

I love the Alma the Younger conversion of Orson Hyde who preached against the Church and was absolutely converted after reading the Book of Mormon.

I love that these original buildings are still standing.  

I have always thought the painted wood work looked neat with the white walls.  

Anna's favorite part was in the Upper Room of the Whitney Store where they had the School of the Prophets.  She said she felt the Spirit as they read an account of a vision where they saw Jesus Christ "as a perfected being".  Anna wondered for a moment what a perfected being would look like.  Then she thought that she couldn't be a perfected being because her hand was scarred.  She felt the Spirit reminding her that Jesus also has scarred hands and that His scars were reminders.  

I love that my children are here, hearing these stories.

We toured the Saw Mill and the Ashery where they cooked ash (worth 25 cents a barrel) into pot ash (worth $100 a barrel) and then baked it longer into pearl ash (worth $200 a barrel).  Each different stage produced a product that had a different purpose.  

Yes, I find great symbolism in this "refiners fire" idea.  Early LDS Saints moved from place to place and faced much tribulation.  They were building a Church, but also refining a people.  

Here we are touching pearl ash.

I think we are humbly a three times refined family! 

Our car is getting messier.  Can you see Ben's foot?

(This is our snack basket.)

We're dancing and singing!

Ben is the most adorable, little monkey.  He is hard and busy on the tours, but he's cute and happy.

Eve is getting better!

We teach them all to freeze when the guide is speaking, to ask questions at the end, and to look at the guide.  I quiz them as we walk from place to place and boy those kids soak in every little detail!

We loved Kirtland.

We love our history.

On to Nauvoo!