On our way back to Boston from Kentucky we decided to make it fun and go through Kirtland and Palmyra. I have been to both places several times before since I am from the East Coast, but Todd and the boys had never been. I am always up for a good summer road trip, and we had such a great time! Along the way we sang songs, played the "animal game" and "20 questions", watched Scooby Doo episodes, stayed at hotels, ate Denny's breakfasts, drove through summer thunderstorms and beautiful scenery, and most of all had so much fun just being together.
We went to Kirtland first and toured the Kirtland Temple and Newel K. Whitney store, house, ect. It was really neat and the cute sister missionaries there did such a good job catering the tour to the boys. One of the highlights was sitting upstairs of the Whitney store as a family in the "School of the Prophets" and feeling the sweet spirit that still resides in that room.
After visiting Kirtland we drove on to Rochester and stayed the night there and visited Palmyra the next day. It was a special family experience to take the boys to the Hill Cumorah, Smith Home, and Sacred Grove. Every time I visit Palmyra my testimony is strengthened as the spirit bears witness to what happened there almost 200 years ago. In a remote town in the middle of upstate New York the gospel of Jesus Christ was once again restored to the earth. To a common farm boy who was only 14 years old a sincere prayer was answered and the world was forever changed. As we sat in the Sacred Grove my thoughts couldn't help but turn to numberless times I told the very story of young Joseph kneeling in that very thicket of trees to the Italians and the Maltese, each time the spirit witnessing to me again of the validity of that event. It was wonderful to be there as a family and reflect back on what was started there, and the legacy of faith that our family has been given.
