{Salt Lake}

After two VERY long days driving from Nauvoo, we finally made it to the Salt Lake Valley.  I can only imagine how hard that trek was for the Saints!  Ryan and I hadn't been to Salt Lake for probably 12 years.  We checked into our hotel which was just a block from Temple Square and then made our way over to eat dinner at the City Creek Mall.  The next day we met up with my younger brother who is living in Provo.  We spent time on Temple Square and enjoyed touring the Conference Center, a first for all of us.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the Salt Lake Temple for the first time in person.  It was again a much needed break from driving!!

{Nauvoo, IL}

After a long day driving we made it to Nauvoo, IL.  Ryan, I and the older two kids had visited Nauvoo when we lived in Iowa during medical school.  They were little and could only remember things because they had seen pictures of our visit.  So we decided that we should stop again.  It was a nice day and a much needed break from driving.  We visited many of the homes and hands on activities and then we made our way over to Carthage to see the jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed.

The cutest little bird was just sitting on the fence checking us out.  I couldn't help but take a picture!

It was so special to go and visit the Visitors Center at Carthage.  It was one place we hadn't made it to the time we visited before.  I am so glad we made the stop this time.

{Kirtland, OH}

Our next stop was Kirtland, Ohio.  The Saints built their first temple here.  It is now owned by the Community of Christ, and it is still in use today for meetings and concerts.  We loved getting to tour that magnificent building.

After touring the Kirtland Temple we came over to the Visitors Center which is built close to where the Newel K Whitney store and home are.  It was again really neat to see how the saints lived and worked in that community.  We also got to see the lumber mill and the ashery.  Those both were used to make money for the Saints and to help build the temple that was not far off.

{Operation Move-to-Washington has begun}

Our time in Maryland has finally come to end.  We loved every minute we spent living on the East coast and everything we were able to see and do.  It was an adventure and we loved it!  It was sad to leave the many dear friends we made, but we were looking forward to being much closer to family.  

The packing and loading of our household goods went somewhat smoothly.  The packers showed up late and didn't get it all done so they had to come back the morning that they were loading the truck.  It was a bit stressful, hoping they got it all done.  I had planned to do the walk thru with our landlord loading day in the evening so as far as I was concerned it all had to done by 7:00 pm.  Thankfully it was.  We got a hotel for the night and we basically crawled into bed that night and crashed.  Bright and early the next morning we took off to start the trek back to the West!

For the drive back to the West coast we planned a little sight seeing to make the trip interesting.  One of the things on our bucket list that we hadn't gotten to do while living in Maryland was seeing the church history sites up in New York and Ohio.  So that is how we planned our trip.  We hit Palmyra, New York first and then basically followed the trek the Latter-Day Saints took all the way to the Salt Lake Valley. 

We got to Palmyra just after 1pm and stopped at the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center.  They told us that we would want to go see the Smith Farm and the Sacred Grove first and then the Printing office where the first Book of Mormon was printed and then come back to the Hill Cumorah.  So that is what we did.

We got over to the Smith Farm and toured first the little cabin that they Smith family lived in before and while they built their larger home.  It was in that cabin that Joseph prayed in the grove and had the first vision.  It was also where the Angel Moroni visited Joseph and taught him about the work the Lord had for him.  After walking through the homes and the barn we were able to walk to the Sacred Grove.  It wasn't that far of a walk and if you didn't know what had happened there you might suspect it was just your average run of the mill forest.  But it wasn't average and we did know what happened there.  Our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ appeared to a young boy who prayed sincerely.  I am so glad that we were able to see it for ourselves.  The feelings I had there only strengthened my testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet of God.  

After seeing the Sacred Grove we made our way into town and saw the printing press where the first edition of the Book of Mormon was printed.  It was quite the job to print 5000 copies of any book at that time but especially for a small printer.  We learned how they did all the printing and the people involved.  I loved seeing that!!

After the printing house we headed back to the Hill Cumorah and we hiked up to the top.  They were setting up for the Hill Curmorah Pagent so there was a lot of equipment there that isn't normally there but it was still neat to see the hill and know that that was where Joseph Smith received the plates from the Angel Moroni.  

How thankful I am for the sacrifices of the early Saints and for their testimonies!!

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