Day 4 - Menden- A Book, a Brigham, and Battle in the Sky

A short drive from Palmyra we arrived at the location of the first contact any of our ancestors had with the restored Gospel. It all began in Menden, New York which remains to this day a small collection of farms and homesteads surrounded by rich farmland as far as sight reaches. In the late 1820's the social and  cultural hub of the region was the Thomlinsen Inn where often gathered three neighbor families, the Greene's(our ancestors), the Young's(yup, those ones), and the Kimballs(yup, those ones). 

There are two stories about how these three families first got their hands on a Book of Mormon but I'll tell the one related by our ancestor Rhoda Young. (If you want the other story you can check it out here...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFY1Edg9yhM)

One of Joseph Smith's younger brothers, Samuel Smith, was called as one of the first missionaries of the church soon after it was organized in 1830 at the Whitmer farm in Fayette. 

  On the second day of his journey and just 25 miles southeast of Palmyra, Samuel stopped at the house of John P Greene, then a Methodist preacher. John wasn't interested, calling the Book of Mormon a "nonsensical fable" but he agreed to take the book on his preaching circuit to see if anyone was interested.  Returning a month later Greene hadn't found any interest but his wife Rhoda had read the book and liked it. Samuel said that the spirit constrained him from taking the book back and gifted it to her. Rhoda burst into tears and asked Samuel to pray with her, which he did. Afterward, he instructed her on how to gain a testimony of the book through prayer, asking God if it was true and she would, "receive the spirit of God which would enable her to discern the things of God."

At the urging of his wife, John Greene eventually read and prayed about the Book of Mormon as she had. Soon after, both were baptized. The book was next given to Rhoda's brother Phineas Young(quickly gained a testimony and was baptized) who gave it to Brigham Young who gave it to another sister who was the mother of the wife of Heber C. Kimball. All of whom gained testimonies and were baptized.

I'll end with a story that happened three years before any of these families had any contact with the church pieced together from their journals. On the night of September 22 1827 "John P. Greene, a Reformed Methodist preacher, and his neighbors, witnessed a miraculous scene in the starlit skies over Mendon, New York.  On the eastern horizon they saw smoke rise and form into the shape of a bow. " According to John’s neighbor, Heber C. Kimball:

            In this bow an army moved, commencing from the east and marching to the west; they continued marching until they reached the western horizon.  They moved in platoons, and walked so close that the rear ranks trod in the steps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally crowded with soldiers.  We . . . could discover the forms and features of the men.  The most profound order existed throughout the entire army; when the foremost man stepped, every man stepped at the same time; I could hear the steps.  When the front rank reached the western horizon a battle ensued, as we could distinctly hear the report of arms and the rush.

The Greenes, Youngs, and Kimballs sat on a hill together and watched this astonishing display for two or more hours and puzzled over its meaning.

            In the predawn hours of that same day, twenty-five miles to the northeast on a hillside near Palmyra, a heavenly messenger delivered a compilation of ancient records to twenty-one-year-old Joseph Smith. 

And that's how it all began folks. One book and one invitation has led to who knows how many other testimonies, books, invitations and more testimonies. The lord works in mysterious ways.  

Palmyra- Days 3-4

We don't have  any ancestors from Palmyra so today's post will be short and just about Joseph's experience here.  Tomorrow, however, we'll go over a couple towns to Menden where the Greene's first encountered the church and were baptized.

We started the day at the Hill Cumorah, where Joseph was first shown then entrusted with the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. From there we went to the Book of Mormon translation site and finally to the Smith Family farm and the sacred grove.

Like I imagine most members of the church do when visiting the sacred grove I was hoping for some profound experience, a testimony of the spirit or some impression that I could then re-count for years to come as I bore witness of the restoration.  But as I walked toward the grove itself I felt my mood shift. I was no longer eagerly anticipating something miraculous or afraid that I wouldn't receive it, Instead my attitude became, "I am willing to receive  with gratitude whatever the lord is willing to give". This calm thought permeated my experience there. I felt no powerful impressions, just enjoyed a peaceful stroll through a beautiful grove receiving what was being given.  Sometimes the spirit is that simple and that's just fine.

This is maybe a little too short so I'll include that the next day(I'm currently one day behind on this blog) we returned to Palmyra and the sacred grove for a short time and then did some family baptisms in the Palmyra temple just across the street. The Palmyra temple is on the original Smith Family farm and was the one hundreth temple built of the church. It has the only clear glass pained window of any temple that overlooks the sacred grove from it's entrance.

Looking out that window gives one a sense of how far the church has come. What began as one boy kneeling in the woods has culminated in these beautiful temples, the ordinances of salvation and exaltation, and the sealing  together of the human family by priesthood power. And it's not over yet.

Day 2- The Great Earth Nation Scare of September 2013

Today we visited Kirtland, Ohio which marks the place where our family begins to come into the picture(on our tour anyways). To familysearch.org!

Here are my mother's direct ancestors. See that entire outer rim? Every single one of them was a plains crossing pioneer. 16 total lines to explore! Many joined the church in England after the saints had already headed west but the earliest to join the church were the Greenes(sometimes spelled Green).  By the time John P. Greene, Rhoda Young Greene, and their children including their son Evan M Greene(another direct ancestor) arrived in Kirtland in 1832 they had already played a significant role in church history but I'll tell those stories when we get to Palmyra.

John P Greene was a close friend of Joseph Smith the Prophet and married to Rhoda, the sister of Brigham Young. He and his son worked hard on the construction of the Kirtland Temple earning themselves spots on the short list of those who received blessings by the laying on of hands for having consecrated their efforts to the building of the Temple.





 After a mission to western New York and Canada, he served on the High Council of the Church which to my understanding means he would have sat somewhere on the stand at the Temple.

After a quick stop at the Temple visitor's center

We found both his and Evan's names in a purchase registry at the N. K. Whitney store.

After asking around at the Church's visiting center they gave us a city records map that seemed to indicate that the Greene's had lived just two lot's down from the Newel K Whitney Store in a building that was still standing!

Earth Nation!!!

As Sarah and I celebrated our new-found earth nation heritage an inkling of doubt crept in. We had always thought of ourselves as Water Tribe people, easy going, water-faring, and looking fantastic in blues. Luckily, our doubts were later confirmed when we ran into the prominent Kirtland scholar Karl Ricks Anderson at the Morely Farm (where the first High Priests were ordained.). He told us that in order to avoid law-suits Joseph and others had deeded over lots of property to people before leaving and that is probably why that house had our families name on it in the city records. He was also able to point us to the actual land where they lived.

Evan M Greene(son of John P) deserves his own story in Kirtland to be told.

Evan helped build the Kirtland Temple, taught grammar at the school of the prophets,  clerked at the Newel K Whitney store, was a clerk of the Kirtland Elder's quorum and was a personal secretary to the Prophet. Presumably during the fulfilling of his duties in the last of these roles and already an experienced missionary(Maine) at the young age of 18 Evan found himself meeting with the Prophet and five other Elders to report on his mission on September 22, 1832. Overwhelmed with Joy at the reports Joseph "enquired of the Lord" and received the sacred revelation found in Doctrine and Covenants 84 known as "The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood".

"While together in these seasons of Joy," Joseph's history says, "I enquired of the Lord and received the following" revelation.  Evan rarely spoke of the sacred experience.  When he did he emphasized the solemnity of uniting in prayer with Joseph and witnessing "the glory which shown upon his countenance" and hearing "the exquisite cadence of the voice in which he spoke.  It was as if they beheld the face of the Lord Jesus.  And they did hear his voice as He declared those sacred truths.“

As I pondered on my ancestor's experience I've been reminded of the enormous blessing the priesthood has been in my life, and the feelings of "hearing His voice" through priesthood blessings. I've always been astounded at the specific and direct nature of many of my blessings and faithfully reassured as I've seen their promises come to pass in my life. As I ponder, I feel an affinity to Evan. Walking out of that meeting and heading home for the night he must have looked up at the stars filled with awe and wonder at the things he heard that night, re-committing himself to the Gospel and his faith. I testify of the power of the restored priesthood. It is real, it is the power of God on earth delegated to man, and through it all the earth will one day be blessed.  I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of all the glorious things that happened in Kirtland, Ohio but it's already time to move on to Palmyra tomorrow.

Day 1- Johnson Family Farm

Thanks to my mothers near miraculous deal finding gifts($5 per flight. Seriously) my Mom, Dad, Sister Sarah and I find ourselves on a last minute family/church history trip to the significant church history sites on the east coast. Since we only really started planning the trip less than two weeks ago we're learning as we go about not only church history but how our family history intersects with it. Because of the way plane tickets worked out we won't be going chronologically so after a stop-over in Chicago we set down in Cleveland Ohio and booked it out to the Johnson Family farm not far from Kirtland.

We didn't have any significant family ties to the Farm so I'll just go over a little history.

The Johnson Farm was the site of one of the few appearances of both the Father and the Son during the Restoration as recorded in D&C 76(the incredible revelation on the plan of salvation and the three kingdoms of glory) as well as the place of the first recorded healing miracle by the Prophet. One of the sons of the Johnson family, after reading the Book of Mormon, eagerly recounted his conversion to his skeptical family. Perhaps impressed by his earnestness, they felt enough interest to ask a local pastor what he thought of it. Pastor Ezra Booth obtained a copy of the Book of Mormon and with his wife brought it over to the Johnson Farm to see what truth it contained. The two families read through the night but despite feeling that it was true weren't certain. Upon hearing that the Prophet Joseph was preaching nearby they paid him a visit. 

Mother Johnson had rheumatic pain in her arm that acted up constantly with all the house work required of an early 1800's house-keeper. Upon meeting the Prophet she asked him if it could be healed. He responded by asking her if she had the faith to be healed by him acting as the Lord's instrument and she said yes. He gave her a special blessing and she was healed. I can imagine the excitement these early church members must have felt. A prophet was among them and miracles had returned to the earth. A great work was coming and they had been invited to push it forward. I hope to capture that feeling of newness, of grandeur and of eager anticipation as I go about those church activities that so often seem day to day.

 As we walked through that small farm house I felt a similar anticipation for the rest of this trip. Countless saints lived countless stories of faith in the places we will be visiting and left behind a legacy that can inspire all of us to do the same.