Sites Visited: The John Johnson Home
 |
| Joseph Smith stood on this front door step and spoke to the members the morning after he was tarred and feathered. |
Today was mostly a travel day, as were the first 2 days. As far as I remember we only visited one site today, and then we had a fireside type thing. We visited the John Johnson Farm, which is where a few big events happened; Joseph Smith was tarred and feathered, God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ appeared in the upstairs room (I think this was the house that happened in..? Correct me if i'm wrong.), and the day after Joseph was tarred and feathered, he preached on the front door step.
There was a point on the trip where I couldn't feel the spirit, and I keep forgetting that this happened... It was the strongest i've ever felt Satan in my life... This tour is the most spiritual and amazing experience i've ever had, so naturally, Satan tried to ruin it for me. There were maybe 5 sites on the trip where I could not feel the spirit, so I didn't write anything in my journal about them. The Johnson Farm was one of them, unfortunately... It was so discouraging. We stood where God stood... People came out of the home crying, and I couldn't feel anything. It was hard... But for the most part, I felt the spirit about 90% of the trip.
But anyways, like I said, we stood where Heavenly Father stood. I want to go back there someday and try to feel more than I felt that day...
After we came out of the house, we sat in a group in front of the doorstep and pictured Joseph Smith standing there, speaking to all of us. Brother E. talked to us for a bit, and then we all stood close together and sang the medley, 'We'll Bring the World His Truth'. We kind of sang it to Joseph Smith. It was as if we were talking to him and promising him to bring the world his truth. It was really amazing... The spirit was really strong. It was the only time I had felt it that day, because I was really trying SO hard to feel it. I looked around, and the same kid I saw crying at Winter Quarters was sobbing again here, and I wanted to go over and put my arm around him again, but I didn't because it would have been awkward to walk over in front of everyone in the middle of the song... Plus we're technically not supposed to do that on HT o.O
He was feeling the spirit SO strong that he could hardly stand... I have NEVER in my life seen someone so filled with the spirit before. I have never seen someone so grateful for something that someone else sacrificed for them... I gained SO much respect for this guy in just 2 days. It's really incredible to be with so many kids who are so filled with the spirit. I loved being surrounded by them... I never wanted the tour to end, I just wanted to always be with these kids. It was the first time I had felt like I had more than one TRUE friend in a long time. It was so amazing...
So back to what I was saying about how Satan was trying to ruin my trip...
I did learn something very valuable with the experience of having Satan try to bring me down... Within a few days, I was back up again, feeling the spirit stronger than ever, and having those experiences I wanted to have.
What I learned: NOTHING ON THIS EARTH IS STRONGER THAN THIS GOSPEL. No matter WHAT tries to bring it down or stop it from progressing, it will continue to be stronger and fill the earth. We CANNOT lose if we have the Lord on our side. We CANNOT lose with this Gospel in our lives.
Having the spirit in my life easily pushes away Satan. He may find his way in once in a while like he did on the trip for a few days, but when I invite the spirit into my heart again, he's gone in a heartbeat. Nothing on this earth is stronger than this Gospel, or truer than this Church.
I am so happy to be a part of this church... I love it more than ANYTHING in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment