Monday, February 15, 2010

Christmastime remembered



Its St. Valentines day so of course the happy little elves at wally world are busy setting up the Easter candy displays, and right on cue, I'm posting about Christmas! We were very fortunate to be able to take a trip to SLC the weekend after Christmas with my family and my step brothers and their families (we missed you Brian and Val!) and see the Christmas lights at temple square and enjoy the wonderful spirit of the season. An especially fun part of the trip was taking the kids to the Church History Museum. I really love museums of any kind, but this one has some pretty cool exhibits that truly help you appreciate what the founders of my faith went through. I wanted to post some pictures and try and share with you the feelings I had. Hope you enjoy.




A view of the Christus in the north visitors center, He is the reason for the season


Joseph, Mary, and the Christ child


The Assembly Hall (for some reason I really like this building)



Joseph and Oliver receiving the Aaronic Priesthood


Mom and Lynner (thanks guys!)


Almost the whole group (do you think it was cold?)


This is my shot (not the first time this view has been taken but I like it)


Rexy enjoying the comforts of a ship at sea (this was cool because I served in Liverpool, England on my mission were tens of thousands of Saints left Europe for America on these ships)



Katie Grace checking out some dress up clothes


The Two Amigos



TROUBLE unleashed, and of course climbing on things!

My beautiful wife (moments before yelling at me to GET OFF THE FLOOR!)

A portion of a letter from the Prophet Joseph Smith (The Spirit at this and the Book of Mormon section was so strong. It really amazed me to see his actual handwriting)

The pistols Joseph and Hyrum used to defend themselves and John Taylor's watch and staff (The letter was hand written by Willard Richards and the books is the Doctrine and Covenants)



Death mask of Hyrum Smith


Death mask of the Prophet Joseph Smith
Standing there looking at Joseph and Hyrum's face I really felt the Spirit. It was comforting to me to know that finally they were at peace. It was truly an honor to be there. Seeing the death masks again. Seeing Joseph's actual writings. Seeing an actual page from the original translation of the Book of Mormon. These things just made the Gospel feel so much more real. It gave me such a great appreciation of the lives of the early Saints. It was much like our visit to Martin's Cove, where the spirit of sacrifice exhibited by the early Saints to make it possible for me to worship and follow the Gospel without persecution and trial truly humbled me. This trip to SLC at Christmastime was a great blessing. I'm so glad our family was able to go, and I hope that you feel a little of how I felt when you see these pictures. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true.

2 comments:

Eliza said...

It really was a lot of fun, I'm glad that we got to go. I agree, the spirit was very strong in the museum. I had such a great time and felt like the kids really enjoyed it as well. (Except for the Colbster at the the lights!)

Grannie Wright said...

THIS JUST GOES TO SHOW I NEED TO CHECK EVERYONE'S BLOG MORE OFTEN. I LOVE YA KRIS AND REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS. THANK YOU.