Virtual Tour of Historic Kirtland, Ohio, USA - Building a Sawmill to Build a Temple

hello my name is sister miller and i'm sister bennett we are missionaries of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints and we are happy to welcome you to historic kirtland ohio usa this was a place of gathering for early latter day saints through the prophet joseph smith the lord commanded the saints to come here in early 1831. he promised that in ohio he would give them his law endow them with power from on high and send them forth among all nations to share his restored gospel about a year and a half after the lord commanded the saints to gather here they began to understand the principle reason for that command the lord wanted them to build a temple where he could manifest himself to them they were eager to build a temple but they didn't know how and they didn't know how they would get all the money and the materials they would need to do it so joseph smith called a meeting in the summer of 1832 to discuss building the temple several men suggested that the temple should be a log house something they could afford joseph smith rose and reminded them that they were not building a house for themselves or any other person but a house for god he said and shall we brethren build a house for our god of logs no brethren i have a better plan than that i have the plan of the house of the lord given by himself you will see by this the difference between our calculations and his ideas in the next few years the saints would build the kirtland temple according to a vision the lord had given joseph and his two counselors in the first presidency they would make the walls of stone and plaster but they would also need to cut a lot of lumber for the interior framing and they would need tools for the decorative moldings and the doors windows and roof so before they could build a temple they would need to build a sawmill and they did led by my fourth great grandfather a man named joel hills johnson joel and his wife anna were living in a neighboring town when the saints came to kirtland they heard the restored gospel of jesus christ and they were converted they were baptized and joined the church joel was one of the few latter-day saints in ohio with experience in building a sawmill so joseph smith asked him to design the mill joel and his brother david donated their time and talents into overseeing this project bishop noah k whitney donated a piece of land today we are excited to show you a replica sawmill built in 2003 in the location of the original mill joe hills johnson and his crew worked for six months to complete the work on the mill each day they prayed together and then went to work they installed a huge saw to cut logs into lumber let's go check out the woodworking shop they created a woodworking shop with tools like planes and lathes that could transform lumber into pulpits window sashes decorative moldings and stair rails beginning in 1834 this mill supplied the church with finishing lumber for the temple it also supplied boards for homes and other buildings and how do they power these tools they built a water wheel that harnessed the force of stony brook in early 1836 the temple was ready the entire community of latter-day saints had worked together to build it according to the vision the lord gave their prophet eliza r snow a new member of the church in the area described this effort she said with very little except brain bone and sinew combined with unwavering trust in god men women and even children worked with their might their energies were stimulated by the prospect of participating in the blessings of a house built by the direction of the most high and accepted by him on march 27 1836 latter-day saints sat shoulder to shoulder in the kirtland temple excited to join a special meeting there their prophet joseph smith offered a prayer to dedicate the building to the lord as a house of prayer a house of fasting a house of faith a house of learning a house of glory a house of order a house of god eliza r snow recorded her memories of that day she said no mortal language can describe the heavenly manifestations of that memorable day angels appeared to some while a sense of divine presence was realized by all present and each heart was filled with joy inexpressible and full of glory a week after the dedication on easter sunday latter-day saints met in the temple to partake of the sacrament after administering the sacrament joseph smith and oliver cowdery prayed privately away from the site of the congregation at one of the pulpits that have been created in the sawmill joseph told of their experience he said the veil was taken from our minds and the eyes of our understanding were opened we saw the lord standing upon the breaststroke of the pulpit before us and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold in color like amber his eyes were as the flame of fire the hair of his head was white like the pure snow his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters even the voice of jehovah saying i am the first and the last i am he who liveth i am he who is slain i am your advocate with a father behold your sins are forgiven you you are clean before me therefore lift up your heads and rejoice let the hearts of your brethren rejoice and let the hearts of all my people rejoice who have with their might built this house to my name for behold i have accepted this house and my name shall be here and i will manifest myself to my people and mercy in this house after the savior appeared to joseph and oliver three others came moses appeared and committed to them the keys of the gathering of israel elias appeared and re-established the abrahamic covenant elijah committed the keys of the sealing powers to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the childrens to the fathers i'm grateful for faithful latter-day saints who built a sawmill so that they could build a temple and i'm grateful for the unfolding restoration of truth and power that occurred in that temple to me this is a holy place thank you for joining us [Music]

Channel: Called to Share

Views: 7,174

Keywords: latter-day saints, latter-day saint, latter day saint, mormon, jesus, god, jesus christ, joseph smith, prophets, book of mormon, what do mormons believe, called to share, the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, missionary videos, kirtland sawmill, kirtland temple, kirtland temple dedication, historic kirtland

Id: WDgbJMokx4E

Length: 6min 32sec (392 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 11 2021