We finished seeing Kirtland this day. We started out going to the Kirtland Temple, which is owned by the Community of Christ. Last time Evan and I came it was a kind of weird experience but this time it was much better. We paid a small preservation fee and then watched a movie presentation. It was a much better movie than the previous one and the cool thing was once the movie was completed the screen went up and the shades went up and you were looking out a window straight at the temple. The new visitor center is much better than the old one. It has some of the original plaster (with the pioneer women's plate pieces in it), an original weather vain, and the original top spire, and a couple of other interesting things.
The tour was interesting. The front door is the original 200 pound door in the original color. The top floors were office spaces and where they would have school for the kids and adults. Joseph Smith wanted the men to be able to read Hebrew so the men would come to Hebrew classes in the temple. Joseph Smith's office was upstairs as well and that is where he received the vision of the Celestial Kingdom and saw his brother Alvin. The middle floor was where the priesthood would have meetings. The bottom floor was where church services were held. It is where 1000 people crammed into the pews to attend both dedication ceremonies. It is where Moses, Elias, and Elijah came to restore keys. It is where Christ came to accept the temple. It is also where angles were seen by many. Outside the temple during the dedication many people saw angels walking on the roof and it seemed as if the roof was on fire though it was not. It would be nice if the LDS church could own the temple but I'm glad the Community of Christ came along when they did or the temple might not exist or not be in as good condition. They always end the tour of the temple with the group singing "The Spirit of God". Nobody in our group played the piano well enough and I was the only one who knew how to lead music so I got to lead our group singing the song. It was a neat experience to be at the front by where the prophet and leaders of the church would have sat and know we were singing the same song that was sung when the temple was dedicated.
We drove to the Morley Farm and loved seeing all the fields. It is so green everywhere!
The Morley Farm is where Emma had and lost her twins and where they adopted the Murdock twins. It is another location where Christ appeared. There was a school and kind of a communal group that lived there early on in the church's history. We weren't able to see where any of that was though because the path was very muddy from a recent rainstorm. The couple missionaries were some of my favorite ones though. I loved how enthusiastic they were about the gospel and sharing it. They were pretty good at getting information from my boys (they really were paying attention!). They were a great couple.
Then we left Kirtland and drove up past Lake Erie. Evan insisted we stop off to see a Great Lake. They are pretty big!
It was really foggy as we were getting closer to Niagara Falls. We were nervous we might not be seeing much when we got there. We asked the boys to say prayers in their hearts that the weather would clear and we'd be able to see the views. It worked! We bought our tickets to the Maid of the Mist and went up to the observation deck for the amazing views.
The Maid of the Mist takes you past the American Falls and into the Horseshoe Falls. It was just as wet as Evan and I remembered it. Who needs a shower? Just go on the Maid of the Mist :)
All decked out in our beautiful blue ponchos. It was a really fun ride. We were all laughing so hard at how wet we were getting. I don't think the boys were quite expecting it to be that wet. It was one of their favorite parts of the trip though.
After the boat ride we climbed up these steps to get even closer to the American Falls.
About as close as you can get to the falls.
It was so wet moss was growing everywhere. It was beautiful!
After Niagara Falls we drove to Palmyra where we would start our sightseeing the next morning.
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