“Kirtland and the First Temple,” Friend, May 2013, 14–15
On the Trail
Kirtland and the First Temple
Kirtland, Ohio, was a busy place. In 1832 the Lord had told Joseph Smith to build the first temple in modern times, and now everyone had a job to do. Men dug trenches and built walls. Children helped their mothers at home and carried lunch to the workers. A 10-year-old boy named Asa drove a team of oxen that pulled a wagon filled with big stones from the quarry to the temple site.
Luke J., age 10, and his sister Isabella, age 8, visited historic Kirtland to learn more about what happened there 180 years ago.
Photographs by Brent Walton; illustrations by Dan Burr
When the temple was finally finished, 1,000 people came to hear the Prophet Joseph Smith dedicate it. Some people saw angels and heard them singing. The first temple in the latter days was complete!
Bonnets, shoes, brooms, and baskets were on sale at the Whitney store. The store was also a post office.
In this room of the store, people could trade fur pelts and other things for store goods such as ropes, nails, and seeds.
Church leaders studied the gospel in this room. When the Prophet told them about the Word of Wisdom, some of them immediately broke the pipes they had been smoking and threw them into the fireplace. When the counselors in the First Presidency were being set apart in this room, some of those present saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Cut out and paste to the “On the Trail” map in the January Friend.