A small village in the middle of the Finger Lakes district of New York, Palmyra was the perfect spot for the restoration fo the gospel. In this episode, you will expeirence the bustle of downtown Palmyra, the fall colors on the Smith family farm and in the adjacent Sacred Grove, and the climb through the woods to the top of the Hill Cumorah. Then you will tarvel to the nearby Peter Whitmer farm and to picturesque Seneca Lake.
In 1831, with almost 300 members scattered throughout the states of New York and Ohio, the infant church needed a gathering place. With increasing membership in Ohio and growing hostility in New York, Kirtland, Ohio, was the idea place. In this episode, you will arrive in Fairport Harbor by boat and visit Historic Kirtland Village, with a special tour of the Kirtland Temple.
Though the majority of the Church's members spent eight years gathering in Kirtland, they understood their stay in Ohio would be only temporary. This episode spans over 300 miles as you travel through a decade of tumult and travail. Beginning at Independence, MIssouri, you will travel to the dedicated temple site at Far West and then tour Liberty Jail. Finally, you will arrive in Nauvoo, Illinois where you will see how the Saints crate their "city beautiful".
In the years between 1841 and 1844, Nauvoo grew quickly and at its height rivaled Chicago in size and stature. Life in the city was bustling, but after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, the Saints knew their time in Nauvoo had ended. In this episode, you will visit significant historical sites such as the Printing Office and the Trail of Hope, before venturing to the Carthage Jail. Then you will follow the Saints across the Mississippi River and the state of Iowa to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, where you will experience the final preparations the Saints made before crossing the plains to Utah.
We start our tour of this region at This is the Place Heritage Park, overlooking the Salt Lake Valley. There we'll experience firsthand what life was like for the early pioneers in Old Deseret Village. Then we head into the valley to Brigham Young's home, the Beehive House. Next we'll retrace the trek of the handcart companies in the untamed region of Martin's Cove, Wyoming. We'll then tour southern Utah, stopping at Cove Fort, a traditional resting place for weary travelers. Once in St. George, we visit the homes of Brigham Young and early settler Jacob Hamblin. We'll finish off at the St. George Temple, an architectural wonder that tested the financial and physical mettle of the Saints.
Follow along as French convert Aline Conti travels across France learning about the rich history of the Church in her home country. She begins her journey in Boulogne-sur-Mer, the site of the dedication of the land for the preaching of the gospel. Next she follows the first missionaries' path from Paris to Jersey Island and several small village in between learning about the lives of the earliest converts and how they survived amidst the politically tumultuous rise of Emperor Napoleon III.
Aline Conte learns about art missionaries sent to Paris to improve their skills in painting in order to return to Utah to paint murals in the Salt Lake City temple. Aline also travels to French speaking Switzerland an Belgium to learn about the early history and development of the Church in those areas.
Aline Conti travels to Normandy, France and learns about the impact of WWII on the growth of the Church in France during the later half of the 20th century. She also learns about members of the Pied Noir community who fled Algeria after its war of independence and later found the gospel in France. Finally Aline meets modern day members and learns what life is like for members of the LDS Church in France today.
On this episode of Road to Zion: Hawaii, Shaunna Thompson starts her journey by first learning about the history of the Hawaiian Islands. Then she picks up the story in 1850 with the arrival of the first group of LDS missionaries at the Honolulu Harbor. She follows the story by traveling to several of the beautiful islands and finally ending this portion of her journey atop the stunning Haleakala volcano on Maui.
On this episode of Road to Zion: Hawaii, Shaunna Thompson continues learning about the history of the Church in Hawaii. She picks back up in the story with the settling of a gathering place at Laie on the island of Oahu in 1865, and follows it through the trials and successes the Saints experienced all the way to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Church in Hawaii in the year 1900.
On this episode of Road to Zion: Hawaii, Shaunna Thompson continues to learn about the history of the Church in the Hawaiian Islands. She'll learn about the world-renowned campus of Brigham Young University on Laie, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and of course, the LDS temple. She'll also learn about the growth of the Church on other islands and will find out about the remarkably beautiful Honolulu Tabernacle.
