My inspiration for this record of my days:

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” -Anna Quindlen

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Kirtland

The original plan got thrown off by our delayed flights, so we ended up with Kirtland being our first church history sight.  As we drove into that valley, I instantly fell in love with it.  The luscious green everywhere, the rolling hills.  There was just such a peaceful feeling there.  What a beautiful gathering place for the saints!


Our first stop was the Newel K. Whitney store.  Much of the building is still original, and gave us a great idea what life was like in the early days of the church.  We even found the name of one of our Webb ancestors in the log of sales!

We went upstairs and heard stories of some of the important things that happened in that building.   It was so neat to be in the very place where the Prophet Joseph Smith had received some of his revelations!  The missionaries also gave us a guided tour of several other buildings in the restored "town."  We loved it, but by the end the kids were getting antsy.  We found out that we have a limit when it comes to guided tours!


We took a picture in front of the house where our good friend Nettie had lived as a missionary.




Then it was on to the Kirkland temple, hurrying to make it in time for the last tour. (A guided tour was our only option, much to our dismay.)  The temple is no longer owned by the LDS church, and I actually loved having a tour guide that wasn't a Mormon.  She told stories that were familiar to me, but in a slightly different way.  She didn't use the standard "Mormon terminology" that I am so used to, and it helped me see things in a slightly different light.

The highlight of our temple tour was at the end.  She asked for volunteers to play the piano and lead the group in singing The Spirit of God.  Naturally, I volunteered to lead.  I wished my "choir" could use the great, split choir lofts, but it was still amazing.  At the original dedication, that song was led by someone with the last name of Davis, so it was even more special!  


On our way out of town we stopped and saw the quarry where the stone was cut for the building of the temple.  We waded in the creek and made all the noise we wanted.

I felt like I could have used several more hours in Kirtland, but the kids were done.  That was kind of a recurring theme.  But if we took as much time as I needed in each place... we would still be traveling!















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1 comment:

  1. NettieJuly 28, 2015 at 11:10 PM

    I'm so glad you loved this place. It's special. Thank you for making that picture happen, even though you didn't want to.

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