Arrowheads and Armor
August 22, 2017
We had a really nice family, the Kunzlers, come for a tour this morning. They live in Rexburg and the father teaches business at BYU-Idaho. They are doing a United States history/Church history tour, and we were the last place on their list of Church sites to visit. We were so pleased that they took the time to include our two homes in their schedule. After they left us, they were headed for Boston. We were visiting with them throughout the tour about the significant, sacred events that took place on the banks of the Susquehanna or in the river itself. Doctrine and Covenants 128:20 not only talks about Peter, James, and John appearing on the banks of the Susquehanna to restore the Melchizedek priesthood, but just prior to that event it says, "The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light!" This is of course in reference to Michael, the archangel. Brother Kunzler mentioned this and suggested that perhaps Satan appeared just prior to Peter, James, and John appearing because he always tries to thwart the progress of something spiritually significant, that will further the Lord's work, right before it takes place. I thought that was an interesting and plausible insight. I was also reading today in Lucy Mack Smith's history of Joseph Smith and she said the following: "May 15, 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were baptized, and as they were returning from the [Susquehanna] river to the house, they overheard Samuel engaged in secret prayer. Joseph said that he considered that a sufficient testimony of his being a fit subject for baptism; and as they had now received authority to baptize, they spoke to Samuel upon the subject, and he went straightway to the water with them, and was baptized by Oliver Cowdery, he being the third person baptized in the last dispensation." I didn't realize that Samuel Smith was baptized the same day as Joseph and Oliver, and apparently soon after their baptisms, with all three of the first baptisms of this dispensation taking place in the Susquehanna River. We have grown to love this river as we have been in such close proximity to it these last 13 days, and we cross it several times a day as we go back and forth between the Knight and Stowell homes. The river was a beautiful, peaceful, serene setting and backdrop for all of the events that took place in this area relating to the Restoration.
The returned sister missionary that came yesterday with her family, the Fausetts, had taken a tour of the Knight home when she was in the area serving as a missionary. She shared with us some information that added some light on one of the objects in the Knight home. There is an obsidian spear point or arrowhead in a shadowbox on the wall in the historic Knight kitchen. It doesn't have any explanation with it, so we haven't known its significance until Sister Fausett shared what she learned about it when she toured the home as a missionary. She was told that during the restoration of the home, the workers uncovered an obsidian arrowhead mounted in the door frame above the front door. Apparently there was a belief during the 1800's that if an arrowhead was mounted above the entrance of the home, it would bring the home and its occupants good luck. Not wanting to disturb the arrowhead from its centuries-long resting place, they made a replica of it to display so the original could continue to bring good luck to the home. We were happy to learn this story, but we wish we would have learned it two weeks ago so we could have shared it with more people.
This evening we visited Vincent's Italian Restaurant in the Village of Afton. This place caught our eye because of the name. We are missing our grandchildren, including our adorable, little grandson Vincent. The restaurant is located in what used to be the Masonic Hall in the late 1800's which we found to be interesting. We had a great experience at Vincent's. The people there were friendly, the food was delicious, and the atmosphere was unique and eclectic. There were some very unexpected displays, including a knight's suit of armor. We took a picture of it in honor of the Knight family, whose ancestry traces back to England where their forefathers actually were knights.
We had a really nice family, the Kunzlers, come for a tour this morning. They live in Rexburg and the father teaches business at BYU-Idaho. They are doing a United States history/Church history tour, and we were the last place on their list of Church sites to visit. We were so pleased that they took the time to include our two homes in their schedule. After they left us, they were headed for Boston. We were visiting with them throughout the tour about the significant, sacred events that took place on the banks of the Susquehanna or in the river itself. Doctrine and Covenants 128:20 not only talks about Peter, James, and John appearing on the banks of the Susquehanna to restore the Melchizedek priesthood, but just prior to that event it says, "The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light!" This is of course in reference to Michael, the archangel. Brother Kunzler mentioned this and suggested that perhaps Satan appeared just prior to Peter, James, and John appearing because he always tries to thwart the progress of something spiritually significant, that will further the Lord's work, right before it takes place. I thought that was an interesting and plausible insight. I was also reading today in Lucy Mack Smith's history of Joseph Smith and she said the following: "May 15, 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were baptized, and as they were returning from the [Susquehanna] river to the house, they overheard Samuel engaged in secret prayer. Joseph said that he considered that a sufficient testimony of his being a fit subject for baptism; and as they had now received authority to baptize, they spoke to Samuel upon the subject, and he went straightway to the water with them, and was baptized by Oliver Cowdery, he being the third person baptized in the last dispensation." I didn't realize that Samuel Smith was baptized the same day as Joseph and Oliver, and apparently soon after their baptisms, with all three of the first baptisms of this dispensation taking place in the Susquehanna River. We have grown to love this river as we have been in such close proximity to it these last 13 days, and we cross it several times a day as we go back and forth between the Knight and Stowell homes. The river was a beautiful, peaceful, serene setting and backdrop for all of the events that took place in this area relating to the Restoration.
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| The Susquehanna River at the point where we cross it several times a day. |
The returned sister missionary that came yesterday with her family, the Fausetts, had taken a tour of the Knight home when she was in the area serving as a missionary. She shared with us some information that added some light on one of the objects in the Knight home. There is an obsidian spear point or arrowhead in a shadowbox on the wall in the historic Knight kitchen. It doesn't have any explanation with it, so we haven't known its significance until Sister Fausett shared what she learned about it when she toured the home as a missionary. She was told that during the restoration of the home, the workers uncovered an obsidian arrowhead mounted in the door frame above the front door. Apparently there was a belief during the 1800's that if an arrowhead was mounted above the entrance of the home, it would bring the home and its occupants good luck. Not wanting to disturb the arrowhead from its centuries-long resting place, they made a replica of it to display so the original could continue to bring good luck to the home. We were happy to learn this story, but we wish we would have learned it two weeks ago so we could have shared it with more people.
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| The replica of the spear point/arrowhead that is mounted in the door frame of the Knight home front entrance. |
This evening we visited Vincent's Italian Restaurant in the Village of Afton. This place caught our eye because of the name. We are missing our grandchildren, including our adorable, little grandson Vincent. The restaurant is located in what used to be the Masonic Hall in the late 1800's which we found to be interesting. We had a great experience at Vincent's. The people there were friendly, the food was delicious, and the atmosphere was unique and eclectic. There were some very unexpected displays, including a knight's suit of armor. We took a picture of it in honor of the Knight family, whose ancestry traces back to England where their forefathers actually were knights.
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| The entrance to Vincent's Italian Restaurant. |
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| This is on the exterior front wall of what is now Vincent's Italian Restaurant. |
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| A knight's suit of armor on display in Vincent's Italian Restaurant. |
Did Italians own the restaurant and cook the food?
ReplyDeleteI don't think the cook is Italian, but the food is very good there.
ReplyDelete