Ultimate
Church History Tour Shows Everything
By
Kathryn H. Kidd
If you are
the kind of person who wants to go everywhere and see everything
that is related to the founding of the Church, you will finally
have the opportunity to do so this summer. The Ultimate Church
History Tour, hosted by Scot and Maurine Proctor, will commemorate
the 200th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith
by retracing the steps of the Prophet Joseph – from his birth
in Sharon, Vermont, all the way to his martyrdom in Carthage,
Illinois. This is the panoramic view of the Restoration like
no other.
For full
details of the tour, go to Ultimate Trip
This 15-day
trip will begin in Boston to give you a view of some of the
historical sites of the early days of America.
You will be able to actually smell the musket powder as you
visit Battle Road between Lexington and Concord, and your brief
tour of the Boston area will give you a background of the founding
of the nation that is the birthplace of the restored gospel.
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A
musket demonstration at the Hartwell Tavern on Battle
Road is standard fare on this trip. |
The history
of New England ran through the Prophet Joseph’s veins. He would
have been very familiar with the story of Paul Revere, as well
as the saga of the Boston Tea Party. Visitors to Boston can
get a feel for that history even today, because Boston is a
city that has taken great care to preserve its heritage. Even
the streets of this historic city are laid out over the cow
paths that were etched into the mud in the early days of America.
Your two nights in Concord in a hotel not far from the Old North
Bridge will truly capture your imagination and fire your feelings
of the founding of the nation.
From Concord,
the tour will take you north through New England’s
pastoral countryside, to the birthplace of Joseph Smith in Sharon,
Vermont. Some of the covered bridges in Vermont were standing
when Joseph’s parents, Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack, were
courting in the closing days of the 18th Century.
As you bask in the rolling hills and the groves of trees, you
will be able to experience the warm summer days and cool nights
Joseph’s parents experienced in the early years of their marriage.
Your visit to the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph during this
bicentennial year celebrating his birth will be unforgettable.
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Sunbeams
stream through the Sacred Grove filling it with light. |
The ultimate
tour will take you from Vermont to Palmyra, New York. The journey
of one day in an air-conditioned coach will be a stark contrast
to what the Smiths experienced when they carried their children
and all their worldly positions from one place to another when
Joseph was a young boy. Palmyra and Manchester (the location
of the Smith Farm and the Sacred Grove) are, for many, not only
a highlight of the tour, but one of the most spiritual experiences
of their lives. The tour will take you to the Sacred Grove
at 5:30 a.m., before the daily tour buses drop people off to
the area to visit. Although the morning will begin early, your
time in the Sacred Grove may be the spiritual highlight of the
tour. Comfortable benches strategically placed throughout the
area will allow you a private opportunity for meditation and
prayer.
After being
spiritually invigorated in the Sacred Grove, you will spend
the day seeing the sites that surrounded the Prophet Joseph
when he was a boy in the Palmyra area. You will tour the Smith
Farm House and see the Smith Log Cabin, where the Angel Moroni
visited the young prophet one sleepless night. You will love
a thorough visit to the Grandin Print Shop where the Book of
Mormon was first printed and you will also make a tender stop
at the Swift Cemetery in downtown Palmyra to visit a very special
grave.
If the day
couldn’t already be full enough, that evening you will be able
to see and experience the world-famous Hill Cumorah Pageant,
America’s Witness of Christ. Considered the largest outdoor
pageant in the nation, this pageant will move you and set deep
in your heart the events of the Book of Mormon and the coming
forth of the ancient golden plates to the Prophet Joseph from
this very hill.
Although
most visitors to Palmyra make a stop at the Sacred Grove, few
will have the opportunity that you will have to visit the banks
of the Susquehanna River. After a sacrament meeting in the
Fayette Ward (Fayette was the place where the Church was organized,
and where 20 revelations that are contained in the Doctrine
and Covenants were received), you will go south to see where
the first baptisms were performed in this dispensation.
If you have
never seen the Finger Lakes region of New York, you are in for
a treat. This is a New York you may never have dreamed existed.
Indeed, the Finger Lakes are a secret hidden from most of the
world even in the 21st Century. Once you see the
Finger Lakes, you may never want to go home. Your drive through
the Finger Lakes is an experience for the eyes, but your next
experience will be a balm for the soul.
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The
banks of the Susquehanna River offer solace and feelings
of awe as tour participants contemplate what happened
here.
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The Susquehanna
River is quiet and peaceful. The area is almost unchanged today
from when Joseph and Oliver were baptized in the calm waters
of the river. Here in the township of Harmony, you will see
the site of Joseph and Emma’s home. This is where much of The
Book of Mormon was translated, and even today if you stop and
get a sense of where you are standing, you may feel the immensity
of the history that happened here. This site is soon to be
restored to its original (including the rebuilding of Joseph
and Emma’s cabin).
After tracing
the missionary journeys of Samuel Smith, Parley Pratt and their
companions, your tour will take you to the beautiful town of
Kirtland, Ohio. Kirtland is another place you may never want
to leave once you get there. The center of the old town is
so full of Church history that there is probably a story behind
every nail in the old buildings. When you visit the Newel K.
Whitney store you may still feel the spirit that surrounded
the men who attended the School of the Prophets. You will also
get a graphic understanding of why Emma Smith made a complaint
that resulted in the Word of Wisdom.
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The
Revelation Room in the Newel K. Whitney Store is a place
where 17 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were received. |
While in
the Kirtland area you will learn in detail where each of the
sixty-five revelations was received from that Ohio period of
Church History. You will mark your scriptures in the very rooms
where the Prophet first wrote the revelations.
Following
your experiences in the Kirtland Temple, the Newel K. Whitney
Home and Store and the John Johnson Farm you will spend the
late afternoon in Amish Country (Holmes County, Ohio). Here
is the largest concentration of Amish in the United States and
after a tour among the breathtaking farms and small towns, you
will have an unforgettable dinner prepared by them.
Off you
will go for the long bus ride to St. Louis, Missouri. Even
travel days are not wasted in the Ultimate Church History Tour,
however. Along the way there will be time for a discussion
about Zion’s Camp, and you’ll be able to see a movie or two
as you travel across the country. After a long day on the bus,
tour participants will take a dinner boat ride down the Mississippi
River, which was the nation’s superhighway during the days of
Joseph Smith. Dinner and dancing on the Tom Sawyer or the Becky
Thatcher boats will create an evening of sweet memories.
St. Louis
is only a brief stop, because the next day you will be on your
way to Independence – the area of many significant events in
early Church history, and home to a modern visitors’ center
on the original, sacred temple site. As the Proctors always
say, “Missouri is the place where you see less and feel more
than any other area of Church History.”
In the evening
you will visit The Liberty Jail and there recount Joseph Smith’s
experiences in the dark days of 1838-39. You will see first-hand
why the Prophet Joseph was so discouraged during his imprisonment
that the Lord gave him the revelations that became Sections
121, 122 and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants.
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The
trail to the 'Valley Overlook' at Adam-ondi-Ahman leads
to one of the most surprising and spiritual times of the
tour.
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The next
day of the tour is another spiritual highlight, as you will
visit Adam-ondi-Ahman and learn what the future holds for this
sacred site. This is an area where many of the early Saints
suffered great afflictions, and you will hear many heart-rending
stories as you visit the temple lot at Far West, Missouri.
As you make
your way across northern Missouri, on a similar path as the
early Saints did when they were driven from the state, you will
have a treat like none other you have ever experienced: now
will be the first time (for many) that your eyes will see the
Nauvoo Temple. As you see it for this first time (at night)
it will bring a rush of the Spirit and almost overwhelming feelings
of joy.
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The
Nauvoo Temple once again crowns the hill overlooking the
horseshoe bend of the Mississippi River. |
These next
days will be ones of great joy. You will see the “city beautiful”
– Nauvoo – which has been restored to much of its original splendor.
The Nauvoo Temple is one of the most beautiful temples in the
Church, and you will learn about this temple, and have the great
opportunity to attend a session here. For many this is the
highlight of the two-week tour. You will spend two days in
Nauvoo, experiencing life as it was lived in the days of Joseph,
and learning what happened in Joseph’s life as he lived in this,
his last home save the Carthage Jail.
The tour
will end at the Carthage Jail, the site of the martyrdom of
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. The Carthage Jail is a
place of infamous history and strong emotion. You will end
your tour with a testimony meeting that will strengthen your
feelings about Joseph and Hyrum, and how their lives and their
sacrifices have changed us and our descendants forever.
If you have
long wanted to know more about Joseph Smith, or if you have
studied his life for years but simply want to walk in his footsteps,
the Ultimate Church History Tour is one you won’t want to miss.
