Kirtland

My parents live about 20 minutes from the Kirtland temple. We went so often growing up that I'm pretty sure we could each give the tour on our own. I love Kirtland and feel like the things that happened their in early church history are part of me, since I spent all my childhood building the kingdom they gave so much to develop.

Every time Doug has come to Ohio (quite a few times now) sometime has come up so that he couldn't get into the temple tour. This time, it was unexpectedly closed when we drove up for the tour the morning before we flew out of Ohio. Instead we went down to the stone quarry, which is my favorite Kirtland site.

It's just a little park two miles ahead of the Kirtland temple, where the Saints spent hours upon hours chiseling out the rock for the temple. No tour guides, not even signs to tell you how to get there or which path to take to see where they worked to get stone to build the temple. The Kirtland temple was such a blessing and so wonderful that we often forget to think of anything other than the finished product.

I love the stone quarry because it is forgotten and yet it still stands there clearly marked with the work the Saints put into it. It is a constant reminder that two miles down the road from each blessing there must first be a stone quarry.