Church History Vacation Part 1

I promised that I would post more about our church history vacation. Because it was such an amazing vacation and I took so many pictures I felt that the best way to share our experiences was to make a video. So far I’ve only made one for Missouri, but will post the others soon. The video is at the end of my post.

Anyway, before you watch the video, and I hope you take the time to watch it, here are a few thoughts of mine from our vacation.

1. I’ve never visited any of the church history sites outside of Utah. In fact, like most people, when you think of Mormon’s you think of Utah. But the truth of the matter is, that the North East has more Mormon history than Utah can claim. Even the US atlas notes where “Mormon Sites” are. Ken and I were really looking forward to this trip (not the driving portion), and I worried that the kids might not be as excited as we were to look at old buildings and gravestones. But to my pleasant surprise they LOVED it. I made each of the kids a travel scrapbook journal. Each time we visited a location they put a sticker on that location and wrote what they felt about it.

2. When you visit any historical site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints you will notice something different. Wherever the church is represented it is always beautiful, orderly, and clean. Whether it was an old building, home, or grave stone, the premises were kept as beautiful and peaceful as any of our temple grounds. Some places were in the middle of neighborhoods, some out in the country. No matter what there was always an atmosphere of peace where you could feel the spirit. The whole trip, almost 15 days of it, was truly a spiritual, moving, uplifting experience. One that I will never forget and cannot compare to any other family vacation in its own right.

3. All of the locations are run by Sister or Couple Missionaries. Now that was pretty cool. I enjoyed the opportunity for Daria to see women serving missions.

4. I came away with a greater testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I also came away with an even greater appreciation for those people who came before me, who suffered so much & never lost their faith. I was astounded at their faith. Everywhere they lived they were persecuted, mobbed, some tarred and feathered, some killed, some jailed, and homes and businesses burnt, all because of what they believed. Each time they were pushed out of their homes, often unable to sell them because mobs were forcing them out. Yet they would walk on foot thousands of miles to a new location and BUILD another city, not just live in tents but build a city with homes and businesses. There is a reason that Utah’s symbol is a beehive. Mormon’s are and have always been some of the hardest working industrious people around.

5. I also came away with the feeling that those who are still so against us truly do not know anything about us. It is truly a misunderstood people. We’ve been blamed for worshiping Joseph Smith instead of Christ. We've been blamed for not being Christians. I wish for any non-Mormon, to follow the trail of Mormon sites and find out for themselves that these people worshiped God and Jesus Christ alone, or just read the Book of Mormon and know that it testifies of Jesus Christ. It does not replace the Holy Bible. Everything they did was because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith who preached from the Bible, was just a mouth piece.

Lastly I came away with a greater determination to “endure well”. If these people can have such great faith in Christ and face the trials that they had to endure, then I can face my own trial with greater faith.

So the trip was wonderful. We were thrilled to be able to enjoy the whole thing with our good friends Greg, Celeste, their children and Celeste’s mom. We drove to Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and New York, which I will share more on later.

Enjoy the video. Don't forget to turn your speakers on.