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.
This is amazing. I'm so happy for you.
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