Visiting the Kirtland Temple!

 Recently we had the chance to go visit LDS church historical sites in Kirtland, Ohio. We visited the Kirtland Temple first which the LDS church has recently acquired from the Community of Christ. We had toured it before with the Community of Christ so we were curious to see how it changed. It turned out to be substantially different! The Community of Christ has changed their doctrine to a more Protestant point of view while our church still strongly believes in the revelations that Joseph Smith received in the Kirtland Temple, so our tour guides talked about those revelations in the different rooms where they were received and it had a lot more meaning. We started in the former Community of Christ visitors' center which has a large window looking out on the temple.

The flower gardens were beautiful. The following picture is the front entryway.

The missionaries took us up two flights of stairs to the top floor which had a few large rooms which were used for instruction. In the above room, the missionaries told us that they learned Hebrew in the School of the Prophets. They did anointings in this room after washing themselves in a different building. Joseph Smith Sr. received his anointing first. They said whatever came into their heart. Joseph Smith had a vision of his parents and Alvin Smith in the Celestial kingdom in this room. He received this vision after receiving his anointing (D&C 137). He also had a vision that small children are also saved. The Seventy received their anointing a week later. Zebedee Coltrin had a vision of Christ on the cross. Joseph saw the Father and the Son here in this room.

Another room on this floor had chairs for instruction. School classes were held in this room.

Next we went to the second floor which looks quite similar to the first floor but is not quite as fancy.

Joseph Smith would sometimes let his father sit above him. Some of the benches were modeled after churches of the time. The center would have had tables and chairs. The seating in this room has been changed from the original. These corner seats are original.

This second floor was used often for instruction with curtains pulled to make smaller areas. The pillars had ropes and pulleys for the curtains.

Next we went down to the first floor which held the main meeting area. This room had more decorative elements and has much of the original seating. The dedication happened here on March 27, 1836. There were 1000 people inside and 1000 outside. A young mother brought her infant before she realized the baby wasn't allowed. She spoke to Joseph Smith Sr. about it and he told her the baby wouldn't make noise. The meeting was 8 hours long! Sidney Rigdon spoke first for 2.5 hours. In fact, the baby did not make any noise except during the Hosanna shout when it joined in.

They sang Now Let Us Rejoice. At the end Joseph Smith gave the dedicatory prayer. He pleaded that God would arm his servants with power. Afterwards they sang The Spirit of God. We did too. 

A Solemn Assembly happened 3 days later with 300 men. It was a time of rejoicing. The First Presidency washed the feet of every man there, then they had the sacrament. It was a preparation for going forth into the world and preaching the gospel. Some of the men who stayed all night saw the Savior. Even members of the community saw unexpected lights. They had an outpouring of the Spirit that week. 

The following Sunday they administered the sacrament, then a curtain was drawn over this area and Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received heavenly visitors, D&C 109. Moses, Elias, Elijah restored priesthood keys. Christ appeared here. The promises of that revelation are now being fulfilled. Temples are being built everywhere so we can draw closer to him. 

Close to the Kirtland Temple is the Joseph and Emma Smith home which was built for them after they had lived in Kirtland for a couple of years. We had not seen this home before so that was a fun tour.

The Church bought this home in 2012 (as shown in picture), studied it for ten years, then restored it in a year. They wanted it to adhere to historical standards and they won an award.

The yokes in the corner were for carrying water.

Joseph and Emma moved in in November 1833 with two small children. Had four years and two months here, longest of their married lives. They frequently had boarders including Joseph's parents. 

Emma could look out the window while washing the dishes and see the temple being built. Joseph was busy with his farm on the other side of the temple.

Lucy Mack Smith helped Emma make rugs like this. Lucy fell down the stairs and went blind. She received a blessing and. before the blessing, she asked not to need spectacles any more. Her vision was restored and didn't have to use glasses any more.

While 1836 was an amazing year with the temple being completed and a great outpouring of spiritual gifts, the next year was the most difficult. 1837 was the worst year in US history to start a bank. Inflation was really bad. They formed the Kirtland Safety Society because the state would not give him a charter for a bank  Joseph Smith lost more money than anyone else but friends turned against him and joined enemies of the church. He eventually had to leave for Missouri where things were not better.

This is a replica of the first hymnbook which Emma put together. It's quite small in size. The original Spirit of God was probably sung to the tune of Now Let Us Rejoice.

This was a multi1-purpose room. It was frequently filled with workers from the temple during a rainstorm. D&C Section 102 was received here. They weren't exactly sure where the back wall was. They had to guess. The next owner had made a lot of improvements. Eliza R. Snow taught school in this room.

Between the temple and Joseph and Emma Smith home is a cemetery. We saw the grave markers for the first wife of Parley P. Pratt. It's a very sweet tribute to her: "My grief and sorrow and loneliness I shall not attempt to describe. Farewell, my dear Thankful, thou wife of my youth, and mother of my firstborn, the beginning of my strength, Farewell. Yet a few more lingering years and I shall be with thee." I told Scott he needed to be ready for my grave marker with some similar loving words.

This is the grave marker for the grandmother of Joseph Smith who happens to be my fourth great-grandmother.