If you’re someone who loves all things Church history, don’t forget to check out our Treasures of the Restoration jigsaw puzzle.

A few openings just came available for the Proctor’s July Ultimate Church History tour. This never happens. Usually, we are booked out with waiting lists, far in advance. So, if you are feeling cooped up and ready to travel, this may be your opportunity for the chance of a lifetime this summer.

The travel industry is calling this time period the tsunami because so many people are signing up to head out to wonderful destinations after the long COVID isolation. So, act fast, if you are interested.

We know you have always wanted to see ALL the significant early Church History sites and now is the time! Many of you have been to Nauvoo or just to Palmyra, or perhaps to Kirtland—but now you will have the opportunity to see all these sacred sites in one sweeping, panoramic view.

We have been leading this ultimate Church History tour for the past twenty-nine years! We know these places and the stories that bring them alive. and we love to teach and share this amazing part of our sacred heritage. If you have ever thought about going on a Church History tour, this may very well be your year and we would love to take you with us! One tour participant recently exclaimed: “This is not the ULTIMATE Church History Tour…It is the ONLY Church History Tour!”

During your time on this trip, you’ll not only learn and build your faith at these church history sites so dear to the faith, you’ll have a lot of fun with the American history sites.  We’ll explore historical Boston, stay in the center of the Amish country (longer this year), and enjoy a paddle boat cruise on the Mississippi just to name a few.   While these site are the reason for the tour, what surprises and blesses our guest the most is how we bond as a family and have the best time together.

We will be leading this year’s tour from July 5-19.. It’s the perfect time of year for this incredible tour. It will begin the day after General Conference.

Please be aware: This is a life-changing experience!

Below is a thorough look at what we do. Read through the daily itinerary and then consider joining us. Available spaces will sell fast so please decide right away. Pricing and contact information are located at the end of the article or you can call right now for information by calling Morris Murdock at 801-483-6363 or check out the website here where you can also Book Now.

Day 1- Monday, July 5, 2021

We all fly in from our various homes to Boston today and gather at the Embassy Suites, Boston Logan Airport. (Evening snacks included at the hotel).

Day 2 – Tuesday, July 6, 2021

After breakfast, we’ll enjoy Boston, walk part of the Freedom Trail, and see “Old Ironsides” and the Old North Church. You’ll love our visit to Old Ironsides. You may even want to buy an American Flag that you get to fly over this historic ship! We have one in our family!

A memorable lecture given at Harvard Square in Cambridge will ring in your ears throughout the trip. We’ll get a feeling for the American Revolution and then let you have an enjoyable hour at Quincy Market for dinner where you’ll see the famous Faneuil Hall. Tonight we stay at the Colonial Inn in Concord, one of the oldest Inn’s in American (dates to 1716) and once owned by Henry David Thoreau.

Day 3 – Wednesday, July 7, 2021

You’ll feel the spirit of the Revolution as you gaze upon the Minute Man statue here in Lexington on the Green.

This morning we will relive the first moments of the Revolutionary War and see the place where the shot was fired that was “heard around the world”. We will travel along Battle Road, stopping at various points, and even see where Paul Revere was captured by the British. You will come to know Lexington and Concord, and understand those events which brought about the Independence of this great nation and set the stage for the birthplace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days. In the afternoon we hope to visit Louisa May Alcott’s home and see the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery where Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and the Alcott’s are buried. Tonight we will have a meal together at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury—the oldest Inn in America. Here we will see one of New England’s most picturesque sites and perhaps her most famous mill. We will stay again tonight at the Colonial Inn.

Day 4 – Thursday, July 8, 2021

This 38 1/2 foot monument commemorates the birthplace of Joseph Smith, the Prophet.

Very early this morning we leave for Sharon, Vermont and up Dairy Hill where we will experience strong feelings of the Spirit at the birthplace of the prophet Joseph. We will visit the towns of Sharon, Turnbridge, and drive past the Smith stomping grounds of Norwich and West Lebanon. Here we will get a feel for the first twenty years of marriage of Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, Sr. This evening we will have dinner and stay in the quaint and charming Best Western Inn & Suites in Rutland, VT. (Meals B, D)

Day 5 – Friday, July 9, 2021

Here we walk on sacred ground at the grave of Alvin Smith.

Leaving New England the scenery changes as we wind our way south and west to fertile fields and lovely lands of Western New York. We will enjoy stories of early church leaders of the church, where they came from and how they came to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Tonight we will stay in the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa in Fairport (near Rochester), New York (right near the old Erie Canal and not too far from Palmyra) and ready ourselves for a spiritual feast tomorrow. Dinner will be at your discretion with a cash stipend at the amazing Wegmans Food Store & Deli (you will love Wegmans).

Day 6 – Saturday, July 10, 2021

You’ll feel the Spirit here at the farm of Joseph and Lucy Smith.

We will arise early and be at the Sacred Grove by 8:00 AM. For many this experience is the highlight of the whole trip. We will have our own, individual quiet time in the Grove. Afterwards, we will enjoy the Smith farm, tour the Smith frame House and the Smith Log Cabin (where the Angel Moroni visited the prophet). We will also visit the Hill Cumorah, Martin Harris Farm, the E.B. Grandin Printing Complex and the downtown village of Palmyra. Our little walk up the hill to the Smith Cemetery will touch you as we gather at the grave of Alvin Smith. This afternoon we will have the opportunity of attending a session at the Palmyra Temple (be sure you bring your own temple clothes). Dinner will be at a local restaurant before we stay again at the Woodcliff Hotel tonight.

Day 7 – Sunday, July 11, 2021

Today is a VERY BIG day! This morning we head to Fayette where the Whitmers lived and the Church was legally organized on Tuesday, April 6, 1830. Twenty revelations for the Doctrine and Covenants were received here or near here. This is also the place where Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer received their special witnesses of the plates. We will attend sacrament meeting at the beautiful Fayette Ward then head south to Harmony, Pennsylvania to visit the beautiful Priesthood Restoration site. Here we will see the reconstructed homes of Joseph and Emma Smith, Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, and the section of woods where John the Baptist restored the priesthood. A good part of the Book of Mormon was translated here in Joseph and Emma’s Cabin. We will walk along the banks of the Susquehanna River where the first baptisms were performed in this dispensation. Later this evening we check into the Double Tree Inn in Binghamton for dinner and our overnight stay.

Day 8 – Monday, July 12, 2021

Seventeen revelations were given in this upper room of the Newel K. Whitney Store here in Kirtland. This table and chairs were owned by Joseph and Emma Smith.

Today we travel through some of the western regions of New York and review the missionary labors of Samuel Smith and Parley P. Pratt. The latter headed for Ohio where their labors would change the history of the Church because of the conversion of his very good friend, Sidney Rigdon. About midmorning we will make a stop in Corning, New York at the glass factory en route to Kirkland, Ohio. We reach Kirtland in the late afternoon and tour the Newell K. Whitney home and Store as well as see some of the other Kirkland sites. Be prepared for a spiritual feast at the Whitney Store. Dinner will be at the “Olive Garden” before checking into the very charming and lovely Best Western Lawnfield Inn & Suites in Mentor, Ohio.

Day 9 – Tuesday, July 13, 2020

The Kirtland Temple stands as a monument to those early saints and is a sacred and holy place to this day.

This morning breakfast is provided at the hotel before we visit the Morley Farm and then talk about the Kirkland Temple where The Lord Himself appeared as did Moses, Elias, Elijah, and numerous other angels. After lunch we will travel on to the Johnson farm in Hiram, Ohio where the vision of the three degrees of glory was received. Here the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon were mobbed, beaten and the Prophet tarred and feathered. This afternoon we travel to the heart of the Ohio Amish Country for an old-fashioned home style meal at the Dutch Valley Restaurant. We stay tonight at the charming Carlisle Inn in Sugar Creek.

Day 10 – Wednesday, July 14, 2020

You will enjoy a buggy ride with the Amish. Holmes County Ohio boasts the largest population of Amish in the country.

This morning we will have the rare opportunity to spend more time with the Amish, touring their charming villages, seeing some of their local markets and talking to the people. You will love this experience and even have a chance to do some shopping! Later this afternoon we will depart for the Cleveland airport for our flight to Kansas City. Our hotel for the next two nights is the Embassy Suites in Kansas City, Missouri. (Meals: B, D)

Day 11 – Thursday, July 15, 2021

The Liberty Jail became a temple-prison for the Prophet Joseph.

This morning we will visit Independence, Missouri. Here we will see the original temple lot, enjoy the LDS visitor’s center and see the Jackson County Courthouse. We then head north to the Liberty Jail where the Prophet and his companions were imprisoned through the cold winter months of 1838/1839. Here we will feel the Spirit as we read the revelations and hear the voices of the past. Time permitting we will make a brief photo stop at the Kansas City Missouri Temple. This evening we will have a wonderful meal at the Cracker Barrel.

Day 12 – Friday, July 16, 2021

For many our visit to Adam-ondi-Ahman is the highlight of our tour.

We head for our morning teaching time and meditational time at a very, very special place: Adam-ondi-Ahman! We then visit the Temple site at Far West before heading east along the approximate path the Saints were driven out of Missouri. We will be staying at the Nauvoo Family Inn and Suites for the remaining nights of our journey.

Day 13 – Saturday, July 17, 2021

How can we ever forget that breathtaking announcement on April 4, 1999 that the Nauvoo Temple would be rebuilt?

This morning we step back in time and spend a glorious day touring the sites of Old Nauvoo—beginning with our own special early-morning session in the stunning Nauvoo Temple. We’ll hear stories of the past and get a feel for “the City of Joseph”. We will see the moving Relief Society Gardens where thirteen monuments to women will touch your soul. We will tour Brigham Young’s home, the Printing Complex, the Blacksmith Shop, the Seventies Hall, the Browning Gunsmith Shop and Home and as many other places as we can squeeze in. You may receive a Nauvoo brick and a special prairie diamond as authentic souvenirs. Tonight we will dine at the old Nauvoo Hotel with their wonderful all-you-can eat dinner buffet. Don’t miss their amazing cinnamon buns!

Day 14 – Sunday, July 18, 2021

By the end of two weeks you will feel a deep love for Joseph and Hyrum.

We will attend the early Sacrament Meeting in the Nauvoo Ward, and then tour more of Nauvoo. This afternoon we travel south and east to our final stop, the Carthage Jail. Here you will have one of the highlight experiences of the trip as we review the events of the Carthage Jail, and talk about our feelings for Joseph and Hyrum. We end the tour with a testimony meeting in Nauvoo. (Meals: B, L)

Day 15 – Monday, July 19, 2021

We will have a wonderful Mississippi River paddleboat lunch cruise at Hannibal, Missouri.

As we say our farewells to Nauvoo this morning, we continue on to Mark Twain’s Hannibal on the Mississippi River where we’ll take a special luncheon cruise on a riverboat. You’ll delight in hearing the stories and folklore of the River. Following lunch, we’ll immediately drive to St. Louis for our evening flights home. (B, L)

Tour Cost Per Person includes hotels, deluxe motor coach, flight from Cleveland, Ohio to Kansas City, Missouri, entrance fees, taxes & gratuities, luggage handling, daily breakfast and dinner, and a Mississippi Riverboat cruise.

Price from: $3199

Round trip airfare from home cities is not included, but may be booked with the group or secured on an individual basis (you are welcome to use frequent flyer miles). Please call Morris Murdock Travel direct at: 801-483-6363.