Kylie and Garrett: 2014

Friday, May 2, 2014

Elder William R. Walker said during April 2014 General Conference, "Each of us will be greatly blessed if we know the stories of faith and sacrifice that led our forefathers to join the Lord's church." He goes on to say: "The more connected we feel to our righteous forefathers, the more likely we are to make wise and righteous choices." Since I can use all the help I can get to make wise and righteous choices, I made a note in my journal to check familysearch.org to see if any stories had been submitted about my ancestors and their conversion stories. A couple of weeks ago I actually followed through and looked on familysearch.org to see what I could find. And today I would like to write about what I found.

While I was only able to find one such story so far, it was a good one. And I decided it would be nice to post it on my blog. I love stories from family history, and this is now one of my favorites. Elder Walker was right. I am grateful for the faith and sacrifice of my great-great-great grandfather, John Blakey Hillstead. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1850 at the age of 28 in Milby, Yorkshire, England. According to an account written by one of John Blakey Hillstead's sons (Joseph Hillstead), John studied the Bible. He was not satisfied with the teachings of various churches he had attended and wondered why he could not find a church led by Prophets and Apostles as was Christ's church anciently.

One Saturday night, a thought came to him: "Which of all these churches is accepted of the Lord?" Before going to bed that night, he prayed, and asked the Lord if He had a church on the earth that He accepted as His church. John promised the Lord that he would serve Him and obey His commandments if He would make known to him which was His church.

That night, John had a dream. He saw a little church on a street he was not familiar with. Over the front door of the church were written the words "Latter Day Saint Meeting House" in plain letters.

The next day, Sunday, John got up and went looking for the street and the little church he had seen in his dream. He found the very street and went down a little way. To his astonishment he saw the building with the words "Latter Day Saint Meeting House" over the door. He went in and there spoke with two Elders. He soon joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He married Charlotte Gray the following year. He and his family came to the United States in 1871 and settled in Utah.

This simple yet profound experience of my great-great-great grandfather's reminded me of the power of sincere prayer based on our heart's deep desires for truth and understanding. I know such prayers are answered by a loving Father in Heaven by the power of the Holy Ghost. I know for myself that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true, and that it truly is Christ's church on the earth.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Garrett and I spent 6 days in New York on a fabulous and somewhat spontaneous vacation. While Garrett had to work I got to play and relax in a little farmhouse near Ithaca, New York. It was cold outside but toasty warm inside from the wood-burning stove. The house we stayed in was built by a Quaker family in 1817 so it was living history to be there. But my favorite part of our trip was the day we spent touring the historical sites of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in and around Palmyra, New York. It was cold but since it was off-season we got long and personalized tours. Enjoy the photos!

This is the 1817 farmhouse we stayed in near Ithaca, NY

The view from my window in the farmhouse

The Peter Whitmer log home where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized on April 6th, 1830

This is what the inside of the Peter Whitmer home may have looked like. It is decorated with furniture from the time.

A view of the Hill Cumorah from our car.

The Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center is great!

Reconstructed fence on the Joseph Smith Sr. farm in Palmyra

Upstairs room of the reconstructed log home of Joseph Smith Sr. and family where the Angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith Jr

These are the original bricks of one of the fireplaces in the frame home of the Joseph Smith Sr. family. Joseph Smith made a small hole under these bricks to conceal a box containing the gold plates.

Lucy Mack Smith's kitchen in the frame home. Much of the construction of the frame home is original.

This is what the Sacred Grove looks like in the winter. Very peaceful but very cold and this is as close as I got before my little toes froze and we had to head back to the Visitor's Center.

View of the frame home of the Joseph Smith Sr. family.

The Grandin Print Shop where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed

Much of the original print shop has been preserved.

I think this a reconstruction of Isaac Hale's home kitchen (Emma Smith's father) where Emma served as Joseph's first scribe during the translation of the Book of Mormon from the gold plates.