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.