Whitmer Farm, Knight's House (Colesville Branch), Priesthood Restoration Site, Philadelphia Temple

 The Whitmer Farm is my favorite site to visit in this region.  It is so easy to imagine the events that happened there taking place. My favorite part is actually a short 4 minute film they show at the end of the tour that shows the growth of the church.  In it you see a shot of the meeting the day the church was organized and then a current picture of General Conference in the Conference Center.  It is amazing to think about the church being organized there at that farm and for it to be where it is now. It's a great visual. I felt a little rushed there which was a bummer as I love visiting there but we had a lot to see that day.  

Mark really wanted to visit the Knights house which neither of us had been to before.  It is owned by a private family and they give tours and really love the story of the Colesville branch.  It was a nice stop to make.  That branch was so united and I love that it is a place where Hyrum Smith is the main spiritual leader along with the Knights. 

We made it to the Priesthood Restoration Site but unfortunately our arrival came with bad news and a carsick Jared.  We were running about 10 minute late due to our previous stop but then as we got there Jared threw up from being carsick and we got a text from our property manager saying that the tenants movers had broken the stairs leading from our top deck to the bottom deck.  It was really bad timing.  So it was a lot harder to enjoy this tour.  Plus by then we had toured a lot of farms/homes/sites so we were a little burnt out.  It was really nice to have a chance to take Jared there since he just got the Priesthood this January.  

Last time we visited the water was clear and beautiful but this time it had been really rainy the last few weeks so it was very full and muddy. 

We still had to drive to Philadelphia after this site which was 3 hours away and we were getting pretty tired from being in the car all day.  Mark had made an appointment for baptism for 8:15 at the Philadelphia Temple which was really exciting.  We are so glad Jared could have a chance to go into the temple.  We were not sure if it would happen before we moved and it worked out great.  He enjoyed it and said he felt like he was doing a good thing and was happy to be useful which was really nice.  I am so happy it happened. I wish I could have gone but had a nice evening with Lydia.  We went on a walk by the river (we stayed in New Jersey) which has been nicely developed but was not crowded at all.  We walked to a restaurant for dinner and picked up food for Jared and Mark too as they did not have time to eat before the temple.  It was a long day with a lot of driving but also good things. 

Elijah, Sophie, David, Luke and Cecily

The view across to Philadelphia was really nice.