CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP -- Part B

CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP -- Part B

To Kirtland, Ohio

Travel days four and five, we drove to Joliete, Illinois and then on to Kirtland, Ohio. We had a bit of an adventure due to flooding at the Indiana border. There had been a terrible rainstorm the day before, seven inches in one day! Several motels where we tried to get a room were booked solid, because many people had been evacuated from their homes and had sought temporary shelter. The motel clerks just kept telling us to keep going East.

After a while of "going East," Interstate 80 was closed, and we were forced to take a detour that led us, and all the other I-80 traffic, including LOTS of 18-wheelers, on a merry chase through a dozen or more tiny little towns with one lane each way and a stop light on every corner. There were signs telling us to get OFF of I-80, but none teling us when we could get back on. Once the traffic got a little less tedious, we programmed our GPS to find the freeway, and it did!

Once back on I-80, we passed Chicago, Cleveland, and Toledo, but we had no inclination to go into any of the big cities. The countryside became more and more beautiful, with the vast flatlands becoming endless corn fields, and then lush, green countryside. It was a very long day before we found a motel with a vacancy.


Speaking of our GPS, we'd like you to meet "Myrt." Myrt saved our skins on more than one occasion on our trip. About half-way aross the country, we decided to call her "Myrtle" or "Myrt," after the telephone operator in our small home town when we were kids. Myrt had the telephone system in her home, and every call that went through the system, she would answer "Number Please," and then plug in the call. Neither of us ever remember, day or night, weekday or weekend, when Myrt wasn't on duty! She knew everone's number and could answer anyone's questions. That's kind of how we feel about our little GPS. Twenty-Four/Seven, she always knows where we are and how to get us where we need to go!

"Myrt"

Okay, Myrt. Take us to the Canada Montreal Mission Office!

ON TO OHIO

We tried to "time" our trip so that we could spend the weekend in Buffalo, NewYork, with our family. Because we had to push ahead to get around the flooding, we ended up a day ahead of schedule. This gave us a full day in Kirtland, Ohio, which was a great blessing to us.

Elder Wright "hangin' out" in a park overlooking Lake Erie, close to our motel in Mentor, Ohio

HISTORIC KIRTLAND

We visited Historic Kirtland, where the church has restored the whole community of Kirtland, Ohio, where many of the Saints lived from 1830-1838. We saw the Newel K. Whitney Store and home, the library where the Twelve assembled to start their first missions, saw several restored homes that the Saints built and lived in, and learned of the great industry, and the great sacrifice, of the Saints in Kirtland. We even stood in the exact space where the Prophet Joseph Smith taught the School of the Prophets.

These sweet girls were our tour guides. They are full-time missionaries for the church. In the background, you can see several restored homes. Some of the missionaries actually live in restored pioneer homes. These girls live in the Hyrum Smith home, which is located a small distance from Kirtland.

The Newel K. Whitney store. It was amazing how much "stuff" was available in such a small store. It was totally organized. On the counter to the right, but out of the picture, was a ledger showing signatures of customers conducting transactions in a certain time frame. We looked for familiar names, and found Amasa M. Lyman.

Another view of the Whitney Store. When Joseph Smith first arrived in Kirtland, he entered the Whitney Store and was met by Newel K. Whitney. Joseph called him by name, although they had never met, and said "You've prayed me here. Now tell me what you want of me."

The supply, or storage room of the Whitney Store. This room became the "Bishop's Storehouse" and it was easy to imagine our great-great (how many greats?) Grandfather Edward Partridge serving the Saints of Kirtland from this room, as Presiding Bishop of the Church. He was called as "Bishop" in May 1831 (see D&C 51). In Decemer of that same year, Edward Partridge was called to serve as Presiding Bishop in Missouri, and Newel K. Whitney was called as Presiding Bishop in Kirtland.

The Newel Whitney Home

When Joseph and Emma first arrived in Kirtland, they lived with the Whitney's for about six weeks. For a year and a half after that, they lived in homes with the Morley family and the Johnson family.

Parlor in the Whitney Home

Newel Whitney was a superb and prosperous businessman. They had a lovely home, which they willingly shared with Jospeh and Emma and other church members.

From September, 1832 to February, 1834, Joseph and Emma lived in converted rooms in the Whitney Store. After that, for four years, they had their own home near the temple.

Joseph and Emma's bedroom (note trundle bed for baby) in a room above the Whitney Store

Emma's Kitchen, on the main floor in back of the store









The School of the Prophets, also above the store

It was a thrill to stand in this room and contemplate all the revelation and teaching and learning that 0ccurred here. Even though the buildings are "restored," they are in the exact locations, so we were "standing in the space" where they occurred.









The Town Library

This building was a public gathering place and meetings and instructions were held here. It was here that the Twelve met and received instruction before leaving on their first missions.

Sometimes referred to as "The First MTC."

KIRTLAND INDUSTRIES

Paddle wheel that supplied power to the sawmill.

A small creek was dammed up each evening, creating a pool of water that, when opened, ran enough water to keep the paddle wheel turning all day.

The Saw Mill

The Saints milled lumber to build their own homes, and also sold lumber for income.

The Ashery

The only "ashery" on the North American continent, this was a very luctrative business that made and sold pottash and other products. As were many of the businesses in Kirtland, the Ashery was owned by Newel Whitney. He donated it, and most of all his holdings, to the Church. The Saints donated their time working here, and income from the Ashery was a major source of income for building the temple.

It was amazing to see all that occured in Kirtland in only eight years. By 1838, there were 2,000 members of the church living in Kirtland. The church was growing rapidly in Missouri, also. Hisoric Kirtland is beautifully restored, and gave us a great appreciation of what happened there.

When Joseph was told to move the church headquarters to Kirtland, he was told (D&C 38:32): "...go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high." It was a time of key revelations (65 sections of the D&C were recorded), an organizational period (First Presidency formed, Presiding Bishop and Patriarch called, and first Quorum of the Twelve and Seventy called, etc.). It was also a time for teaching the members and the leadership (School of the Prophets). It was also a time to contstruct a temple. When all that was done, things fell apart in Kirtland and they were told to move on to Missouri. Satan had a hand in the sad events at the end of the Kirtland era, but it was most certainly a part of a bigger plan. Joseph, and the church membership, needed that time in Kirtland as a time of peace, revelation, learning, and preparation for what was ahead.

THE KIRTLAND TEMPLE

After we left Historic Kirtland, we went to tour the Kirtland Temple. After going through several ownerships and court battles, the temple is currently owned by the Community of Christ church, which used to be the Reorganized LDS Church. Once they finally obtained legal ownership, they applied to put the building on the National Historic Register. In order to do that, they had to restore it as much as possible to its orginal state.

We took a paid tour of the building and grounds, then went inside the temple. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it looks very much like the Nauvoo Temple.

The Community Church changed the wording on the plaque at the top of the door, because they didn't want to give credit to the Latter-Day Saints (we guess), but the Historic Restoration folks required that the plaque be restored to its exact original wording.

The tour was very intersting, but sad in a way, to hear of all the strange usages and treatments that this sacred place was subjected to. The Community Church currently uses it as a "gathering place" and for paid tours, but it is a blessing that this beautiful building has been restored. It was a thrill to see it, and see what the Saints accomplished. The building itself was a wonder for that day and age, and is still awesome today.

STAY TUNED: Next Stop: NEW YORK