The Priesthood is Restored - to Joseph's Family!

Last night our study group met at Boyers to hear from Michael & Darcy Kennedy. What an amazing story they told. Both are from Tonapah, Nevada located between "a clump of sagebrush and a Joshua tree." The missionaries would sometimes hold zone conference there because it was mid-way between Las Vegas and Reno. At one such time they determined to tract out the town. They knocked on every door and were only let into two homes: Darcy's family and Michael's family. Both were in high school at the time.
Michael had received an assignment to report on how his progenitor's lives were involved with American history. He went home and asked his dad about this. His Dad pulled out an old box of memorabilia that had been handed down and told him about his ancestor, Joseph Smith, who discovered Utah. That was the first time Michael had ever heard of Joseph Smith.  As they were looking through this box, the doorbell rang.  It was the missionaries.  They let them in . . . .

Things evolved and both Michael and Darcy joined the Church and left Tonapah for college; Darcy to Ricks and Michael to Cedar City. In Cedar City Michael, who had been a member only 60 days, was visited by General Authority Bruce R. Mc Conkie. Why? Because Michael is the first male direct descendant of Joseph Smith to ever join the LDS Church.
Michael wanted to marry Darcy but she insisted that he serve a mission. A blessing and conversation with the first presidency in Salt Lake revealed to Michael that his mission would be in another area. He did however, receive the priesthood and he is the first in Joseph's direct line to hold the restored priesthood. There is no evidence that Joseph's son, Joseph III, the founder of the RLDS faith, was ever set apart to hold either the Aaronic or Melchizedek priesthood. And Michael now knew that Joseph Smith was not exactly the man who discovered Utah.
Michael took a bus from SLC to Ricks and Darcy met him. As she saw him disembark, to her eyes he was surround by light and it came strongly to her that this man would take her to the temple. She said yes, and they were sealed in the Provo temple. I asked her what she thought about marrying the only LDS direct descendant of Joseph Smith. She replied that she was a new convert and it didn't hold any significance for her at the time. They are the proud parents of 6 children.
Now, what about that mission? Michael and Darcy have been fulfilling a lifetime mission spoken of by Joseph Smith in D& C 109: 68-70. At the dedication of the Kirtland Temple Joseph asks God to remember him, his wife and children, their connections -- that their prejudices may be broken up and swept away as with a flood, that they may be converted and redeemed with Israel, and know that thou art God. Fulfilling this scripture is Michael's mission.
Michael told us that he is creating a little leak in preparation for the coming flood - the return of Joseph's family to the church. He said that since the RLDS gave up the use of the Book of Mormon, many descendants have felt bewildered. They still have trouble believing that the Church is where their salvation is but there is a shift in positive feelings towards the Church and they are the contacts and good will ambassadors making this happen.
Until Michael received the priesthood authority, there was no one in the Church to bring these blessings directly though Joseph's line. Michael comes through Joseph & Emma's son, Alexander Hale Smith. Michael and Darcy have spent their lives finding, documenting & reaching out in good will to all of Joseph's family. As a result there are now 17 priesthood holders and 79 church members from Joseph's family.
They executive produced the movie, "Emma Smith, My Story", in an effort to win over the RLDS & others and assure them that the LDS do love and revere Emma - they think we hate her. They were leaving today to take the film with them to Australia where 1/3 of the direct descendants of Joseph now live. God speed to Michael & Darcy.  Great thanks to Rich and Lori for bringing this grand story to all of us.

All Good Things MUST Come to an End - Dang!

 On our last evening together as sojourners we had a special treat.  Karren Hammer contacted her niece, Camille Johnson, who came with her husband, Nate, and sang for us.  The two just happen to have played Emma and Joseph in the new production, "This is Kirtland", which was begun a couple of years ago and plays for 3 weeks during July in the Kirland area.  Both were trained in vocal performance at Boston College where they met.  Nate has even composed some of the music for this production which is wonderful.

Gary said it best I think, when he made the comment that our trip had been like "getting spiritual knowledge through a firehose".  The group presented a statue of Joseph Smith holding the Book of Mormon to Brent and Eddy to thank them for making it all possible.  They truly were our tour guides "supreme".

The next morning with the help of Jeff's Iphone and google maps, were were able to find the charming home of Eliza R. Snow (for which we had no specific address).  Did you know that the "R" stands for "Roxey"?  That seems a little snappy for Eliza to me. 

Lorenzo Snow was born in this home which is quite a ways from Kirtland but close to the John Johnson farm.

I was thrilled to travel through this rural farm area because as we rambled down the narrow roads often there were fields of ripening orange pumpkins on either side of us.  They took my breath away and I felt like I should get out my James Whitcomb Riley book of poetry and read "When the Frost is on the Pumpkin" once again.   

This is Jeff in front of the John Johnson farm.  In keeping with the amazing nature of our trip, we found that the missionary guide who escorted us through the farmhouse just happened to be the great, great, great-granddaughter of John Johnson.  Throughout she bore a sweet, humble and moving testimony of her family heritage in the restoration which I don't think was lost upon our bus driver, Harold, who came in with us at this stop when he usually had simply waited for us in the bus at other places.  I think Harold got a real baptism of the faith of these missionaries and of those in our group as he heard the stories of events that took place here.  This is the colorful former parlor of the Johnson's which they gave to Joseph and Emma to use as a bedroom when they moved here from the Morley Farm.  It was here as they slept with the infant Murdock twins (who were sick with measles at the time) that a mob broke through the front door in the middle of the night and grabbed Joseph, dragged him into the dark and down the road where he was tarred and feathered.  Joseph Murdock Smith, one of the twins, died as a result of this assault.  When Emma saw Joseph after the mob was done with him, she fainted.  The rest of the night those at the home spent trying to remove the tar and feathers.  A battered but brilliant Joseph Smith stood on the front porch of this farm and preach forgiveness to a large group who had assembled there - some of whom had been amongst the mobsters the night before.

But the best of the story was yet to come.  As we went upstairs we entered the translation room.  This was the place that Joseph and Sidney were working on revisions to the New Testament when they inquired of the Lord about the concept of heaven and hell.  The Father and the Son appeared to them and they received the vision on the 3 degrees of glory.  Philo Dibble was present and recorded the experience.  Jon arose and spoke to us of his ancestor's testimony and of revelations received.  I glanced down the row and saw Harold's eyes get wide.  There was a spirit in that room.

In keeping with our policy of not missing any meals, our "last supper" was at the Hong Kong - all you can eat - Buffet.  You must determine if the pain on these faces is from our impending departure or from basic overindulgence.  Rich Black and Jeff read us their fortunes from their fortune cookies - "A fond memory will soon lead to a renewed friendship  &  Investigate new possibilities with friends.  Now is the time!"  Apropos.  We all signed a Book of Mormon and gave it to Harold.

Next year in Nauvoo!

Kirtland - the Scourge Has Been Lifted

Church members stayed longer in Kirtland (7yrs) than in any one place until the exodus to Salt Lake Valley. After events conspired that drove the Lord's prophet to leave, the Lord placed a scourge on Kirtland.  In 1979, President Ezra Taft Benson came to break ground for the first Stake Center here and at that time, he removed the scourge.  Now we see the ongoing fulfillment of D&C 124 where the Lord says, "I will build up Kirtland."  What we've seen here is a testimony to that building up.  I hardly recognize the place we visited in 1999.

When we walked into the new visitor's center we were warmly greeted by the Soderbergs, a missionary couple here.  Brother Soderberg just happened to have served as Rich Black's first counselor when he was a bishop in Parley's Ward.  They guided us through the Newell K. Whitney store where we all sat in the School of the Prophets and heard Sister Soderberg bear her testimony of the appearance of God the Father and Jesus Christ in this room.  Also in this room came the revelation of the Word of Wisdom.  Before the property was obtained by the church, the Newell K. Whitney store was a bar like the two buildings near it; the Johnson hotel and the Whitney home.  Now all are restored as they were in the 1830's and a palpable spirit is here.

Gary read to us the story of how Steve Young was wearing his tee shirt printed with the phrase, "Kirtland City of Faith and Love" on a visit here when he was quarterbacking for the 49ers.  A Sports Illustrated photographer got his picture and it ended up on the cover.  People of Kirtland were thrilled.  Steve visited here and spent some time reaching out to the community.  Subsequently, the next time the Kirtland City Council took a vote on allowing the Church to move a road and renovate all the Visitor Sites it passed!  They had been trying unsuccessfully for years.  

After lunch we took a side trip at the Dibble's request.  We drove through nearby Chardon, Ohio and found the charming old courthouse.  Jon and Colleen shared this story from their Dibble heritage.  In Kirtland, Joseph Smith was being tried and was brought to this courthouse to defend himself.  He did so very well and a jury acquitted him.  As he went to leave the courthouse a mob was gathering outside with the intention of giving Joseph a violent beating.  Philo Dibble watched this situation develop and was quick to take action.  He followed the mob leader into a nearby shop and there went "nose to nose" with him.  After Philo's intervention on the Prophet's behalf, the mob leader went to the doorway, dismissed the mob and the altercation was averted.  Hurray for Philo - I'm glad to know this story and to have seen this place!

Brent and Eddy had a spiritual feast lined up for us after lunch.  We arrived at the Isaac Morley farm and met Karl Anderson.  He is known by the people here as "Mr. Kirtland".  He is the author of the book, Joseph Smith's Kirtland.  He has lived here on & off since 1966 and been instrumental in the re-vitalization of this place as a mecca for LDS people.  He is a large, gentle and jolly man with an engaging laugh.  He was the Stake President when Benson came to lift the scourge and is now the stake patriarch.  He took some time to get to know us and then related a story about a visitor who told him that since they didn't have much time, they thought they would skip visiting the Morley Farm because nothing much happened there.  Our group was assembled in front of Brother Anderson in a covered area on the farm and he told us the history of the ground we sat upon.  Joseph and Emma had a small home here and lived here for 6 months (D&C 41).  Emma's twins were born and died here; the Murdock twins were adopted here.  Thirteen revelations in the D&C (encased between chapters 45 & 64) were received here.  The Law of Consecration was first practiced here (D&C 42:54), and the 4th General Conference of the Church was held here. In a small schoolhouse just uphill, the first high priests were ordained at that conference.  Philo Dibble and Levi Hancock record the event in their journals.  As Joseph begins the ordination, the adversary enters the room.  The bodies of several of those present are possessed with demons.  Leman Copley is levitated and his body floats out the window.  Joseph intervenes and casts the adversary out.  Subsequently he tells those present, "I now see the Father and the Son.  Let them kill me, I could not feel death as I am now."  His vision is confirmed by Harvey Whitlock and Lyman White who also saw diety there AND left a record.  

Brother Andersen then prepared us for our visit to the Kirtland Temple.  He speculated that the purpose of the Kirtland temple is yet to be fulfilled.  The Nauvoo Temple was utterly destroyed first by fire and then by tornado.  But Kirtland remains unscathed. Why? He told of rebels attempting to set fire to the Kirtland temple by tossing burning hay in its windows - only to watch the fire extinguish itself.  Four years ago, Brother Andersen escorted one of the General Authorities through the Kirtland temple.  He said he felt an especially nice spirit there.  After the tour the General Authority told him, "Brother Andersen, there are angels in the Kirtland Temple today."  Within this temple, the Savior appeared six times to Joseph Smith.  The Father and the Son appeared twice.  The prophet of every dispensation has appeared here - Adam (D&C 137:5), Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elias, Peter, James & John all appeared as resurrected beings.  We then went to the temple with a renewed reverence and appreciation  in our hearts for what has been preserved for us here.  

Our pizza party that evening was held inside due to rain.  Karren Hammer arranged a special treat for us.  Her niece, Camille and her husband, Nate Johnson & their children joined us for dinner.  Both are graduates of Boston College where they were in a vocal performing group.  They now live in this area while Nate is finishing his doctorate at Case Western.  In their spare time, they have been instrumental in a new summer production called, "This is Kirtland".  It is presented 3 weeks in July and overlaps the Palmyra pageant.  Cammie and Nate have starred as Joseph and Emma.  They performed some of the songs from the production for us after dinner in the cozy parlor at the hotel.  It was inspirational - just like our whole day!

Along the Susquehanna

Today was our travel day.  We began in Palmyra and finished up in Kirtland.  The highlights were what we saw along the way.  Brent and Eddy made sure that our time was focused and well spent which meant that first we headed down to Harmony, Pennsylvania to see the hometown of Emma Hale Smith.  By no coincidence this is also the place where the Aaronic Priesthood was restored when John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry.  

The site along the river isn't easy to find, but as luck would have it, Brent and Eddy had brought their children here some years ago and knew where to go.  In fact, at the time their son, David, had just been ordained a priest and on that family trip East, David was able to baptize his little sister, Allison.  Allison, who was baptized in the Susquehanna River, is now the beautiful missionary we met yesterday in Palmyra.

There is a nicely groomed area with a monument commemorating the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.  Just across the street was the location of Isaac Hale's home.  He allowed Joseph and Emma to come and live in a small cabin nearby and it was here that their first child, Alvin, was born and died shortly after.  

While searching through the adjacent cemetery for Alvin's grave, we found a headstone for Jonathan Dibble!  Jon assured us the rumors of his demise had been greatly exaggerated.  The old, old headstones in the cemetery of Issac & Elizabeth Hale & infant, Alvin Smith, have been encased in new granite by the church.  

During the long drive many members of our group presented information about Kirtland.  There was reading and story-telling.  The Blacks however, gave us a test on their information - really.  Luckily, there was junk food aplenty being shared all around the bus which perked up our brains.

At one point talk turned to Richard Bushman and his book.  Jeff mentioned that after its publication Bushman went through a period of depression from concern that his book was having a negative effect on church members.  Karren Hammer shared the story of her uncle, John Kelly.  He had lived his life as a non-Mormon.  At age 84, someone gave him a copy of Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling.  He read it and was so moved that he eventually was baptized and became active until his death the next year.

The Old Country Buffet was the scene of yet  more eating when we stopped for dinner in Erie, Pennsylvania.  

The Sacred Grove, Cumorah, & Fayette

Brent & Eddy had us on the bus this morning at 7:45 am (that's 5:45 am Utah time) so that we could arrive at the Sacred Grove well before the missionaries and other visitors.  It was a glorious morning with sunlight weaving its way between the trees.  Once inside the grove, we stopped and sang "Oh How Lovely Was the Morning" and listened as Jon read the account of Joseph's vision.  We then had time to wander.  

We met up again and were escorted to the Smith family's log cabin by two sister missionaries. In the main room one of the sister's bore us her testimony and used the scripture Helaman 5:12 - remember, remember my sons to build your faith on the foundation of Jesus Christ.  It impressed me as that is the central scripture for the gospel doctrine lesson I have to teach next Sunday. Upstairs we saw the room where Moroni appeared to Joseph where he was sleeping with several of his brothers in the same room.  

We walked down to the frame home which was a step up for the Smith's.  We saw the fireplace with the original bricks Joseph dug up to hide the gold plates underneath.  Outside was the Cooper's barn - a cooper is a barrel-maker - something I didn't know until Brent told me.  Cabinetmaker Gary further enlightened us by telling us that barrels are made of white oak which is solid not red oak which can leak because it is riddled with tubes that carry the sap through the tree.  As the story goes, Joseph was impressed at one time to move the gold plates to the loft of the Cooper's barn which he did.  A short time later, a mob came to their home and completely tore up the floor of the Cooper's barn looking for the plates.  Because Joseph had followed the impression given him, the plates remained safe in the loft.

We left the sacred grove and drove up to see the beautiful Palmyra temple.  Although it is closed right now for cleaning, President Jones came and opened the door for us and we had a long visit at the temple entrance.  This temple is all about windows.  It is the only temple in the world that has a clear window.  You can look clear through from its entrance - you look through this window out to see the sacred grove.  Many years ago a young missionary served here who was promised that if he served a mission he would be freed from his stuttering.  This promise was fulfilled.  He was asked to extend his mission, which he did, and during this time he learned the art of making stained glass.  When plans for the Palmyra temple were in the works, this former missionary was contacted and he submitted many wonderful sketches for stained glass windows that reflect the trees in the sacred grove.  They loved his sketches but had no money in the budget for stained glass.  They told him they would love to have these windows if  he could find a way to finance them.  Living in Orem, his wife knew of a wealthy couple.  She called them and was surprised when they not only agreed to help finance the project but said they would pay for the windows entirely.  A week before she called them, they had been impressed that they should invest some of their money in furthering the work of the Church - they had been prepared for her phone call and today the temple is adorned with fabulous stained glass windows depicting trees from the sacred grove.

There was a wonderful visitors center at the E.J. Grandin print shop - three stories high with rooms on each floor depicting how the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon came into being.  

After lunch we drove to the Hill Cumorah and went right to the top to see the monument to Moroni there.  You can look down and see where just weeks ago 900 chairs were set up to view the pageant on this hilltop.  In the visitors center below they have a white statue of the Christus surrounded by a background of trees on one side and a half circle of windows on the other.  The sister missionaries took us from this room in to see a film.  When the lights came back up we were greeted by a real live angel - Sister Ward.  Brent & Eddy's daughter is serving in this mission and they haven't seen her in over a year.  It was thrilling to witness this happy reunion.  As luck would have it, the battery on our bus died and our time at this stop was extended -- I don't think Brent & Eddy minded a bit -- none of the rest of us did.

It was a 40 minute bus ride from Cumorah out to Fayette to see the Whitmer Farm where the church was organized in 1830.  We were greeted at the lovely chapel on the site by an Elder Crump who seated us inside and spoke to us about the site.  As he was speaking, I began to recognize his voice and mannerisms.  When he finished I asked if he had taught history at Skyline High School in the 60's.  Yes, he was my former teacher and I remember so well that I was in his class the day that President Kennedy was assassinated and we listened to the news as it was happening in his classroom.  Small w0rld!

A short ride brought us back to the Palmyra Inn for the night.  En route we saw fields of soybeans, corn and whole fields of dancing yellow sunflowers.

The Titans Assemble

September 2, 2008 – Our dream of a study group trip became a reality as the Cannons, Dibbles, Sandbergs and Bryce met up at the Salt Lake airport early this morning. We arrived at the Detroit airport and walked through their cycadelic tunnel in order to board our Northwest Airlines flight to Rochester. We got a view of Niagara Falls from the air on the way. It was exciting to see Brent waiting for us at baggage claim with Eddy, the Blacks and Doug & Karren Hammer aboard our “Hopkins” specialty bus.

Off we went through beautiful, bucolic upstate New York to the little town of Mendon. Here we saw the home that belonged to Brigham Young’s family now split into two homes by “Cheese Factory Road”. The Titans Assemble refers to three incredible families that somehow ended up in the same place at the same time - the Smith family, the Young family and the Heber C. Kimball family.


One mile down the road is Tomlinson Inn and it was in this spot that things got very interesting. Here it was that Joseph’s younger brother, Samuel sold a copy of the Book of Mormon to Phineas Young, Brigham’s brother. Behind the home is a grove of trees. Here Gary read to us Heber C. Kimball’s account of a night vision he had on September 22, 1827. The vision was seen not only by Heber but also his wife, Vilate, their daughter Rhoda and her husband. In the vision he saw and heard the armies of the Lord marching from the east to the western horizon where a battle ensued that was not only visible but could be heard. … “No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men, as plainly as ever I saw armies of men in the flesh; it seemed as though every hair of my head was alive.” Many years later, Heber discovered that as he was viewing this remarkable vision, Joseph and Emma were retrieving the plates from the Angel Moroni on the slopes of the Hill Cumorah.

It has been my experience that each time I undertake a visit to Church History sites unexpected, amazing things happen. And so it was that after our visit to the little cemetery nearby, Gary announced that if we would like, he could contact the area authority who had owned the Tomlinson Inn and see if he would come and take us through. No brainer, we said YES! About 10 minutes later we were greeted by David Cook and taken into the Inn where he added to the story of Heber’s vision and it’s role in Samuel Smith missionary journey. We saw the room where Samuel walked in and handed a copy of the Book of Mormon to Phineas Young. Why did Phineas stop at the Inn for dinner when his destination was his father’s home only a mile away? Samuel returned from his journey feeling that his mission had been a complete failure. Not so – Phineas and his entire family read the book and converted to Mormonism. Miraculously, Brigham Young had been away from home in Waterloo the night of September 22, 1827 but had also seen the vision. There are many journal entries of residents around Mendon who recorded seeing this vision also. When the vision was finally connected to Joseph’s receiving the plates, and subsequently the Book of Mormon, it was a popular book to read and resulted in the conversion of the Heber C. Kimball family and the entire John Young family who remained ever faithful to the Church.

Highlights:

Gary & Darcy had trouble all day because they were booked with their names backwards as Sandberg Gary and Sandberg Darcy. The airline charged the tour $100 to correct the mistake.

Rich and Kathy Black joined us coming from the US Open Tennis tournament.
Doug & Karren Hammer joined us coming from Michigan where they attended the Utah/Michigan football game where Utah was victorious.
We sang hymns on the bus where Brent and Eddy accompanied us; Eddy playing the violin and Brent on the harmonica (he’s very good – said he learned during a scout trip to Colorado in the 60’s)
Area Authority David Cook is an attorney who works in Rochester some 22 miles from the Tomlinson Inn. When we called him, however, he was just 7 minutes from our location and came right over. He bought the Tomlinson Inn and they brought every area missionary there to be set apart as they began their mission. They had thought of making the Inn into a bed and breakfast at one time. Hopes are that the church will secure the site as they have the Brigham Young family (split) homes.

Summer highlight

Scott and Chris welcomed us into their home August on 8-8-08.  Scott brought to light new research on land records that has recently become available showing that many of the trials in Missouri were inflicted by those wishing to drive the Mormons out and grab their developed land.  It fascinated me to learn that when Joseph went there, the presiding authority appeared to be the bishop and stake president.  Church leadership lines were not clear and problems arose.  David Whitmer was in the stake presidency.  Though that presidency the church had bought a good deal of land in the area.  Then leadership was selling it back to the impoverished saints at a profit.  Joseph stepped in to resolve the situation and David Whitmer ended up leaving the church.  Dicey situations.

Chris treated us to her version of homemade ice cream with wonderful fresh fruits.  By the way, this was also the lucky starting date of the summer olympics in Beijing, China.