RB Tours Travel (2024)

10/04/2023

Nauvoo Temple

This temple was rebuilt after it burned to look like the original structure, but on the inside, it has all the conveniences of a modern LDS temple! This photo was taken on a cool, clear night in September last year.

28/03/2023

Independence Temple Site

There is no temple at this site, but visitors can walk around the empty field and locate the cornerstones, even though they have been replaced. In a nearby visitor center, original stones are on display.

John Whitmer wrote that on August 3, 1831, eight elders “assembled together where the temple [was] to be erected.” Those eight elders were the Prophet Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, Peter Whitmer Jr., Frederick G. Williams, William W. Phelps, Martin Harris, and Joseph Coe. John Whitmer recorded: “Sidney Rigdon dedicated the ground where the city is to stand, and Joseph Smith Jr. laid a stone at the northeast corner of the contemplated temple in the name of the Lord Jesus of Nazareth. After all present had rendered thanks to the great ruler of the universe, Sidney Rigdon pronounced this spot of ground wholly dedicated unto the Lord forever.”
See Doctrine and Covenants 57:1-3

22/03/2023

Kirtland, OH

Kirtland served as headquarters for the church through most of 1830’s, while Joseph Smith lived there. The Kirtland temple, the first temple built, was started in 1833 and completed 1836. Joseph Smith organized the offices and quorums of church and received many revelations while living in Kirtland.

Today, the LDS Church offers tours of the Newel K. Whitney and Company store, Newel Whitney's home, the Johnson Inn, a schoolhouse, an ashery and a sawmill.

The Kirtland Temple is owned by the Community of Christ, and is open for tours.

20/03/2023

John Johnson Farm in Hiram, OH.

The home of John and Elsa Johnson. Joseph Smith and his family lived here from September 1831 to March 1832. While they were there, Joseph Smith received 16 revelations, including Section 76. He also worked on the inspired version of the Bible.

Joseph Smith was tarred and feathered in a meadow some distance from the house after being dragged out of his bed, very early in the morning on March 25, 1832. They tore off his clothes and beat and scratched his skin before pouring a bucket of hot tar all over his body. The mob attempted to poison him at this time, but he kept his jaw clenched and fought back—he didn’t swallow any, but they knocked out one of his teeth and spilled the acid on him, leaving severe burns. His friends spent all night peeling and scraping the tar from his body.

The next day, Sunday, he preached a sermon and baptized three people. A week later, he left on a mission to Missouri.

15/03/2023

Priesthood Restoration Site

Joseph Smith translated a large section of the Book of Mormon while living in what was then Harmony, Pennsylvania. In a nearby forested area, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and restored the Aaronic Priesthood. Later, Joseph and Oliver baptized each other in the Susquehanna River.

In this area, RB Tours facilitates tour participants to see the visitors’ center, a reconstruction of the home of Emma’s parents, Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, a reconstruction of the home of Joseph Smith and Emma, the gravesites of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, and Joseph Smith’s firstborn son, the forested area where the Aaronic Priesthood was restored, and the Susquehanna River where Joseph and Oliver were baptized.

10/03/2023

Peter Whitmer Farm

Peter Whitmer invited Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to live in his home in June 1829 so the two men could complete the translation of the Book of Mormon. Here, Joseph Smith received about twenty revelations. This is also where Moroni showed the Three Witnesses (Olvier Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer) the golden plates. The church was organized here in 1830.

08/03/2023

Grandin Building

This is a print shop that was owned and operated by Egbert B. Grandin. Grandin agreed to print 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon in June 1829 for $3,000—this number of books in one order was exceedingly large in those days. Even though he wasn’t a follower of Joseph Smith, Grandin and his staff worked to typeset, print and bind the first 5,000 Books of Mormon. Today, the reconstructed building is owned by the LDS church. Missionaries offer tours through the building and show visitors how they made books back then, and what the original Book of Mormon looked like. It read like a novel, not in the verses we have today!

Just around the corner from the print shop is the cemetery where Alvin Smith, the brother of Joseph Smith, was buried. RB Tours participants tour the Grandin building and take a moment at the gravesite.

07/03/2023

Sacred Grove in Palmyra, NY

The Sacred Grove is part of the farmland originally owned by the Smith family. This is the place where Joseph Smith received the First Vision at 14 years old in the spring of 1820.

When RB Tours participants visit this place, they go through the visitors' center, tour a replication of the cabin where Joseph Smith's family lived at the time Moroni visited him, look inside the barn where Joseph hid the golden plates, and take a walk through the Sacred Grove.

06/03/2023

Hill Cumorah

Located approximately 3 miles from the Smith farm in Palmyra, the Hill Cumorah is the place where Joseph Smith met annually with the angel Moroni from 1823 to 1827. On September 22, 1827, Joseph Smith obtained the golden plates. In the 1820’s, the hill did not have a name. It later became known as the Hill Cumorah because Mormon wrote that he hid the plates in a hill called Cumorah. (See Mormon 6:6)

27/02/2023

Haun's Mill Massacre

On October 30 at approximately 4 p.m., the militia (consisting of 240 men) rode into the community. David Evans, a leader in the community, ran towards the militia, waving his hat and calling for peace. Alerted to the militia's approach, most of the Latter-day Saint women and children fled into the woods to the south, while most of the men headed to the blacksmith shop. The building was a particularly vulnerable structure as the widely-spaced logs enabled the attackers to fire inside. The shop became a deathtrap, since the militia gave no quarter, discharging about 100 rifles into the building. Grand River Township Justice of the Peace Thomas McBride, wounded while escaping the blacksmith shop, surrendered his gun to Jacob S Rogers Jr. who shot him, then hacked his body with a corn knife (scythe blade). According to their own account, they fired seven rounds making upwards of 1,600 shots during the attack of Hawn's Mill. The attack lasted 30 to 60 minutes.
After the initial attack, several of those who had been wounded or had surrendered were shot dead. Members of the militia entered the shop and found 10-year-old Sardius Smith, 7-year-old Alma Smith (sons of Amanda Barnes Smith), and 9-year-old Charles Merrick hiding under the blacksmith's bellows. Alma and Charles were shot (Charles later died), and a militia man known as "Glaze, of Carroll county", killed Sardius when he "put his musket against Sardius's skull and blew off the top of his head." Later, a William Reynolds would justify the killing by saying, "Nits will make lice, and if he had lived he would have become a Mormon." William Champlin who was "playing possum" heard the conversations, was discovered, held captive a few days, then released.
Several other bodies were mutilated, while many women were assaulted. Houses were robbed, wagons, tents, and clothing were stolen, and horses and livestock were driven off, leaving the surviving women and children destitute.
As a result of the massacre 17 Mormons died: Hiram Abbott (25), Elias Benner (43), John Byers, Alexander Campbell, Simon Cox, Josiah Fuller (35), Austin Hammer (34), John Lee, Benjamin Lewis (35), Thomas McBride (62), Charles Merrick (9), Levi Merrick (30), William Napier (43), George S. Richards (15), Sardius Smith (10), Warren Smith (44), and John York (62). Fifteen more had been injured: Jacob Foutz (38), Jacob Hawn (34), Charles Jameson (35), Nathan K. Knight (36), Isaac Leany (24), Tarlton Lewis (33), Gilmon Merrill (30), George Myers (29), Jacob Myers Jr.(23), Jacob Potts (25), Hiram Rathbun, Alma Smith (7), Mary Stedwell, John Walker (44), and William Yokum (33).
There were a few uninjured men, including William Champlin (44), Ellis Eames (48), Rial Eames (25), David Lewis (24), and David Evans (34).

24/02/2023

On December 1, 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith and five other men were falsely accused of treason and imprisoned in the original Liberty Jail (only a reconstruction remains). One of those men, Sidney Rigdon, was released from the jail in early February 1839. The others—Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, and Alexander McRae—remained there until early April 1839. For Joseph Smith and his imprisoned companions, Liberty Jail was a place of intense suffering and glorious revelation. In Liberty Jail, Joseph Smith and his companions endured many trials, not the least of which was the knowledge that their family members and friends were enduring intense persecution throughout western Missouri. Toward the end of their confinement, Joseph prayed to God for understanding and deliverance. He received a revelation that he sent in a letter to the Saints. Portions of that letter are now recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 121, 122, and 123.

24/02/2023

Carthage jail in Carthage, IL

On June 25, 1844, Joseph Smith came to this jail to face charges relating to his ordering the destruction of facilities producing the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper whose only edition had been critical of the Mormons. He was joined by Hyrum Smith, John Taylor and Willard Richards. On June 27, a mob stormed the upper room of the prison and killed both Joseph and Hyrum. Taylor was badly wounded and Richards was scathed, but not seriously injured.

22/02/2023

Three Witnesses Monument in Richmond, MO.

On June 28, 1829, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris went into the woods near the home of Peter Whitmer, Sr in New York. An angel appeared to them and showed them the golden plates. They also heard the Lord’s voice informing them that the Book of Mormon was translated by divine power. Not one of the witnesses ever recounted their testimony.

20/02/2023

Although the Far West Temple Site does not house a temple, it exhibits the original four cornerstones. In August 1836, Latter-day Saints began to establish a stake of Zion at Far West. By 1838, Far West was home to 4,900 Saints. They were forced to abandon the place about two years later. After they left, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a few others returned and dedicated a temple site there, in obedience to a commandment from the Lord (see Doctrine and Covenants 115:11; 118:5).

RB Tours Travel

10/04/2023

28/03/2023

22/03/2023

20/03/2023

15/03/2023

10/03/2023

08/03/2023

07/03/2023

06/03/2023

27/02/2023

24/02/2023

24/02/2023

22/02/2023

20/02/2023

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share