Week #47, 3 - 5 November 2017

Thursday, we woke up to overcast skies and rain with cold temps.  We loaded up and headed to John Johnson's farm in Hiram, OH.

The roads took us through the trees decked out in fall attire and brilliant in color.

The rain gave a fresh look to the countryside.  It seemed as though the sun wanted to peak out but couldn't quite make up its mind.

One side of the road is evergreen and the other has the changing colors.

When we arrived at the farm, the landscape was no different in color.

It was here in this home the prophet Joseph Smith and his family lived for about a year.  The house has been restored about 80% of the original structure.  It may look like double garage doors when they are actually the original doors on the carriage house.  Brother Johnson was a man of means and his house showed that.  He and his wife had eight children when they moved here and had more while living here.

This upper room was given to the prophet to have a place to study and conduct church business.  For that reason it was actually the headquarters of the church for that period of time.

Other men met here regularly with Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon.  They studied a lot, conducted church business, and the prophet received revelation here.  An important revelation is D&C 76.  He not only received it, but Sidney saw it as well.  The other brothers in the room did not see a vision but they felt the power of what the other two were experiencing.

This was also the house the prophet was drug from when he was tarred and feathered.  Sidney Rigdon lived across the street with his family.  He was drug out the same night and tarred and feathered as well.  He sustained severe head injuries as he was drug feet first down the stairs with his head bouncing on them and was unconscious for a period of time and took time to recover from the injuries.

Brother Johnson had a herd of cows and from the milk he made cheese which he sold.  It was a good business and one that provided income each month.  His home was nicely furnished and had a summer kitchen.  He was able to provide room for Joseph and Emma and the Murdock twins, even with his large family.

In 1831 and 1832, the members of the church gathered often to hold meetings.  Some of them were conducted right here on the lawn of Father Johnson's home.  The prophet stood on these steps to deliver his message of the gospel, of revelation, and of the organization of the church.

After the tour, we headed to Columbus, OH, where we met Bradon's family at The Thurman Cafe for lunch.  The cafe is known for their extremely large burgers.  Take a look at the one sitting in front of Bradon.  We split ours in half.  The food was delicious and we had a great time visiting with them and their sweet children.

Dayna, Leighton, McKenna, Bradon, Berkley, Bob, Barbara.

Dayna wanted a picture of the girls with us.  They are so sweet and were a great reminder of our grandchildren we are not close to at present.  It appears Leighton and Bob feel the same about the picture.

We parted ways and headed to the Columbus Ohio temple. The sun had come out and it was glorious to see.

The floor plan was identical to the Detroit Michigan temple.

Saturday we continued our travels, heading to Tennessee.  The sky was overcast and cool temps.  We took off gong to Cincinnati, where we dipped right down into Kentucky.  It wasn't long before the sun was shining and the temps were in the mid to high 70's.  It felt wonderful as we shed coats and put on sun glasses.  

We stopped at some point and had Chick-fil-A, the first since leaving Yuma, last December.  It was very tasty and we enjoyed being in the restaurant as it was teeming with families and kids and children.  Two little girls were beckoned out of the play area by their moms to say it was time to go.  One wanted to go to the other's house and parents tried their best to convince them why that would not work.  It was fun to watch as they happily went their separate ways.

Traveling down the freeway, we were entertained as the trees modeled their different colors.  We thought they were looking great, and then, . . . . . . .

bam, we saw this!  The scenery followed us the rest of our trip.  There seemed to be a haze that lingered throughout the day.

We arrived in Dandridge, TN, and found a hotel, checked in, went to the grocery store for food, and then had dinner.  It was fun being out without coats and all the cold gear on.  We settled in for the night, ready for Sunday and the week to follow.

We attended church in the Lakeway Ward in Morristown, TN.  Members were friendly and we enjoyed the opportunity to attend meetings.

Later in the afternoon we went for a drive to check out Rutledge, TN, the place we will go to do research come Monday.  I was able to get another picture of the beautiful fall colors.

As we drove through Grainger County, I was taken with the landscape.  We rounded the end of the lake where Cherokee Dam sits.  As we got into Grainger, it became more hilly with twisty, turny roads.  Bob was wishing for his Z!  Homes dotted the land in all styles:  Old, new, modern, worn, large, small, in construction, boarded up, stick build, brick built, mobile, etc.  The interesting part was that none of them had fences.  In fact the only fences we did see were along the road to keep the cows, horses, and donkeys in, I suppose.  Churches were at almost every corner or signs leading off on a side road declared their existence.  Rolling hill overlapped rolling hill covered with a sheen of green grass. Some hills hosted huge rolled bales of hay and some herds of cows lazily feeding on the grass without a care in the world.  Stands of trees broke up the hills here and there and in some areas you could see past them to another ridge.  Trees dropped their brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow gently on the ground below creating a blanket of puffy mounds scattered here and there.

It has been amazing to think this is where my ancestors lived.  Here is where they worked, tried to provide for their families, raised children, were sick, were injured, were married, were born, were happy, and where they died.  What will I discover this week as I go into the archives and visit home sites?

As we participate in family history we gain a great understanding of what it means to be part of an eternal family.  Our hearts turn to our ancestors, their hearts turn to us, and the hearts of parents and children turn to one another.