Week 9- The Trek

I was very fortunate that I got to travel with the youth from our Ward down to Palmyra, New York and Kirtland, Ohio to tour some special Church History sites.

The "Jennifer"s- Jen, Jenn, and Jenni (we missed you Genny!)

It was a little stormy outside, but nice and peaceful inside the Palmyra Temple where the youth performed baptisms for the dead.

The young women and young men took turns performing baptisms and visiting the Joseph Smith farm.

This is a replica of the log cabin where his family lived when he was a young man.

I'm so thankful for my kitchen full of appliances!

The trees behind the field are referred to as the Sacred Grove. This is where Joseph first saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is the original frame house that Joseph's brother Alvin started to build. Unfortunately, he died before it was finished, but this is where Joseph began translating the gold plates into the Book of Mormon.

I'm also so grateful for my comfy king-size bed!

We had the cutest Sister and Couple Missionaries as our tour guides at all of the sites.

After we left Palmyra we drove through Pennsylvania and Ohio to arrive at our campsite in Punderson State Park. This was the young women's camp, while the young men's camp was a good 5 minute hike away.

We began the next day at the Community of Christ's Visitor's Center. They are the current owners of the Kirtland Temple. This was the first Temple built in this dispensation and many sacred events happened in this building. There is a sign that says believers and unbelievers are both welcome.

The huge group shot! We had 17 young women, 24 young men, 4 female chaperones, 11 male chaperones, and 1 bus driver for a grand total of 57 people!!

Some youth from the Riverside Ward were able to join us. It was really nice getting to know Nina and Anne-Marie too!

We went to the Historical Kirtland Visitor's Center to eat lunch and have a tour. It is a darling little village that has homes, stores, schools, and a hotel. This is the Newel K. Whitney Store where the revelation on the Word of Wisdom was received.

I loved seeing all of the goods on display. My favorites were the punched tin lanterns, the blue bow-tie,

and the blue shoes with the bows on the toes!

We left Kirtland and ventured out to the John Johnson farm which is the tragic site where Joseph was tarred and feathered, which incident caused his baby son to die from the exposure that night. It's also a sacred place where the Three Degrees of Glory were revealed.

The carriage house was attached to the house around back, and I just loved how lush the flower beds all were. We went to the chapel next door to eat dinner and then finished the evening with a very powerful testimony meeting. We weren't in an ornate Cathedral, we were just sitting in the chapel overflow area, but the Spirit was so strong and you could feel love almost tangibly.

We ventured to the young men's camp to make S'mores and while we were there Jenni and Amaru learned they could both fit in Jenni's dad's pajamas- ha ha!

Heather was my awesome tent-mate and a great chaperone! We had to put up with some pesky young men who took the poles out of our tent one night- great memories though!

Our last day of the trip was spent driving back and it was soooo long, but we finally made it. The tents were wet so we had to set them up in the gym to dry before we could go home. I think the trip was a wonderful success! Now the kids are asking when we can go to Nauvoo...