Kirtland

Sunday, July 15:

Kirtland, Ohio

 

After leaving the state of New York late on Saturday night, we rolled into a little town called Mentor, Ohio, around 2am and got a few hours of sleep in a WalMart parking lot. Thankfully, it was our last night to sleep in the fifth-wheel without electricity and, therefore, without air conditioning. From here on out, we found RV-friendly campgrounds to stay at.

 

We got up early on Sunday morning and drove the short distance from Mentor to the nearby town of Kirtland, Ohio. There, we attended church at the Kirtland Ward and met several friendly locals who gave us their input on which sights to see, since we were only staying in Kirtland for about 10 hours or so.

 

The Kirtland Temple

 

Kirtland is another important place in LDS (Mormon) history.  For a time, early members of the Church gathered here to build a city, as well as the first temple ever build by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (in 1836).

 

A creek flows over the old temple stone quarry.

After church, we drove to Chapin Forest Reservation, a park in Kirtland, and ate lunch in a picnic area near the old quarry where stone for the Kirtland Temple was cut out of the ground and hauled to the temple a few miles away.

A creek flows over the old temple stone quarry.

 

After lunch we took a short hike around a portion of the quarry, maybe less than a quarter of a mile.  There was also a large green pond filled with frogs and turtles.

 

From the quarry, we went to see the Kirtland Temple itself, which is owned by the Community of Christ (which until a few years ago was known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). We saw a film in the Visitors' Center, walked through the small museum, and then took a tour of the temple itself. No photos were allowed inside any buildings on the grounds, so the only pictures I have are of the outside of the temple.

 

Two huge, green doors open into the temple.

Through the arched windows you can see the spiral staircases on either side. 

 

The inside of this temple is unlike the interiors of any temples built since the Kirtland Temple's completion.  It was utilized for worship on the first floor, education on the second, and the School of the Prophets on the top floor. Members received a partial endowment (temple ordinances) in this temple, but did not receive a full endowment until the Nauvoo Temple was built in Illinois several years later.

 

I was so interested to see the Kirtland Temple and get a feel for its history.  It's a remarkable testament to the hard work and faith of the early saints.  Yet it was strange to see a temple, which we believe is a holy house of the Lord, being treated as nothing more than a curiosity any paying tourist can traipse through. 

 

It was also disappointing to see the stucco on the temple walls cracking and crumbling.  Of course, the original stucco is long gone, but when the Kirtland temple was initially erected, the women of the Church donated their long hair to strengthen the mortar and they added ground-up glass and china to make the walls glitter in the sunlight.  Much sacrifice went into building this temple.

 

A creek meanders through the restored historical portion of Kirtland.

 

Finally, we went to the Visitors' Center owned by the LDS Church and toured the historical part of Kirtland that's been restored.  Our guide took us through a sawmill and an ashery, as well as a couple of early homes and the Newel K. Whitney store.  It was easy to imagine what life was like for the saints here in the 1830s.

 

Newel K. Whitney's store.

Newel K. Whitney was a bishop of the Church while in Kirtland, and his store became the setting for the first Bishop's Storehouse, in which were kept the supplies paid as tithes by members of the Church.  These stores were then given out to the members according to their needs, as well as those who were truly in need.  Since many new converts gave up everything they owned to join the Church, they often arrived in Kirtland penniless and starting over.

The actual, original front doors of the Whitney Store,

which were opened by the hands of such men as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.

 

Dylan stands by the wood stove in the center of the Newel K. Whitney store.

Newel K. Whitney's restored store

Newel K. Whitney's restored store

 

The kitchen in the back of the store used by Joseph and Emma.

 

Rooms in the back of the store and on the upper floor were also used by the Prophet Joseph Smith and his wife Emma during these years in Kirtland.  Newel and his wife Elizabeth had their own house not far from the store.

 

The home owned by Newel and Elizabeth Whitney

 

Kirtland wasn't quite what I'd expected, but the restored area of historic Kirtland is beautiful and provides a glimpse into the lives of those who once dwelt there and struggled to live their faith and lead their lives.

 

Newel and Elizabeth's living room

 

We completed our tour around 6pm and then left Kirtland for our next destination: Nauvoo, Illinois.