To kick off Brett's long awaited Spring Break Momma Max (my mom, for those of you not familiar) came out for a long weekend! I think she needed a break as much as Brett did!
Some of you might think i'm really white, but that's not the case...she's just abnormally tan for winter! We got in a day of shopping at Easton (the Columbus version of SLC's Gateway, but 10 times bigger) and Brett was very nice to come along! We finished the day off with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory!The highlight of my weekend was our trip up to Kirtland, Ohio.
(**Several of the following journal entries are taken from the church website because I wasn't very good about taking notes while we were there**)
While still in New York, the Prophet Joseph received a revelation from the Lord that the Saints were to gather in Ohio. The Lord told the Prophet, “There I will give unto you the law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high” (D&C 38:32).
A short time later the Lord revealed the exact architecture, design, and measurements of the Kirtland Temple. Construction on this, the first latter-day temple, started in 1833 and was finished after much work and sacrifice three years later.
One of the greatest occurrences in the Kirtland Temple was when the Savior, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to restore important priesthood keys (see D&C 110). We took a tour through the Kirtland Temple. It was really neat to walk through and see how talented the early members of the church were. Many who could not donate monetarily, sacrificed many hours of their time to complete this house of worship.
We were there on St.Patrick's Day...the front doors weren't green just for the day, they have actualy been restored to their original color! I loved the green! 
Cute mom on the doorstep! Inside the temple is pretty much all the original stuff...lighting, flooring, seating, etc. Several of the walls, inside and out, were cracked. Luckily our tour group was small, so we were able to see the classrooms on the 3rd floor. Usually if there are more than 20 people in the group they won't take you up because it's too much weight on the old floors.
Just around the corner from the temple are some historic sites with significance to the church.
This is the Chagrin River which runs through Kirtland, several of the early church members were baptized here...looks chilly!
Joseph and Emma Smith lived in several places in and around Kirtland between 1831-1838. The Prophet Joseph Smith and his wife Emma lived in the Whitney store for about 18 months. And it was there that Joseph worked on translating the Bible. 
The Prophet also received numerous revelations in what is known as the Revelation Room above the store.
Next to the Revelation Room is the room where the School of the Prophets was held. D&C Sections 84-98, and 101 were revealed here. This is the actual room where the Word of Wisdom was revealed.
Another revelation given to the Prophet Joseph above the Whitney store was Doctrine and Covenants 88 [D&C 88]. In verse 118 the Lord made clear the importance of education, saying, “Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”
Along with the School of the Prophets, there were other schools established in Kirtland in response to this and other revelations from the Lord. There were a school of the elders, a grammar school, and various private schools where adults and youth studied not only the gospel but also subjects like math, grammar, philosophy, government, literature, history, geography, and languages.This is the Whitney home, just next door to his store. Joseph and Emma lived here for 6 weeks when they first arrived in Kirtland.
I just thought this was a pretty view from behind the sawmill... the white building is the visitor's center.
Besides seeing the temple, my favorite part of the day was visiting the John Johnson Home in Hiram, Ohio.
The sawmill (below) was built to cut lumber for the temple’s construction. During construction of the Kirtland Temple, the workers would meet at the sawmill for a prayer to begin the day. Those working on the temple then walked up the hill to the temple site, while the carpentry workers went to work at the sawmill.
I just thought this was a pretty view from behind the sawmill... the white building is the visitor's center.
Besides seeing the temple, my favorite part of the day was visiting the John Johnson Home in Hiram, Ohio. 
In all, 17 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were received in Hiram. Among them was one of the greatest doctrinal revelations given in this dispensation—section 76, a vision of the three degrees of glory
Sister Johnson had unique taste, especially for this era...Above is the elaborately painted fireplace mantle (there were 5 fireplaces in the home). I took pictures in several rooms to show the paint colors. Obviously it's all been restored, but while they were doing this workers scraped away layers of paint to get to the original colors which were all very different than what I thought they'd be. Turquoise, peachy-orange, yellow. One of the floors (that i didn't get a pic of) was red and green checker-board design!
This (below)was my favorite part of the house. The Revelation Room. The elderly missionary who guided us through the home bore his testimony about Joseph Smith and all the trials he went through. The spirit was there and bore witness to me that these things were true.
The story he shared....On March 24, 1832, a mob of over forty men seized Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon from their homes that night and tarred and feathered them. By the time they had dragged him outside, the only clothing he had left on was the collar of his night shirt. They tried, unsuccessfully, to pour a vial full of nitric acid down Joseph's throat. The mob told Joseph he would never preach again and basically left him for dead. Joseph's friends spent the night scraping and removing tar from him, so he could be clothed the next morning which was Sunday...He preached a sermon that morning and baptized three new converts. In the struggle, a tooth was broken and Joseph talked with a slight lisp the rest of his life.
During the mobbing, eleven month old Joseph, one of the Smith's adopted twins who was suffering with the measles, contracted a cold and died 5 days later. I can't imagine all the persecution they suffered in the early days of the church.
I was so glad to be able to visit these sites. This was the first time I'd ever been to a church history site. Being there made me appreciate what our past leaders went through even more than i already did and it helped to strengthen my knowledge and testimony of the true gospel. We had a great weekend! Thanks for the visit mom, we hope you enjoyed your stay!
***VISITORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!***
