You can climb the 33 steps — one for each year in Christ's life — to the upper floors, where offices and classrooms were. This was a house of prayer and a house of learning, after all.

You will be moved by the story of construction — it took three full years. And by the story of the dedication. If you go away humming "The Spirit of God," the hymn that was sung on that occasion, well, you probably won't be alone.

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You might still be humming, if you drive on to the Isaac Morley farm. Joseph Smith lived at the farm for six months in 1831, and some 13 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were added when he was there.

The guides at the farm will give you a bit of the history and then take you on a little walk up the hill to where an old schoolhouse once stood. You walk through the woods in silence, hearing the rustle of leaves and the singing of birds. It is not surprising that they call it "The Sacred Grove of the Ohio," both for the atmosphere and the events that occurred there.

The Johnson Farm is a farther drive; it takes about an hour but is well worth it — especially if you happen along when fresh strawberries are being offered at roadside stands.

This farm, too, is in a pretty setting, surrounded by gentle green fields. It is where Joseph Smith lived for about a year — where more revelations came; where he was pulled out of bed in the dark of night by an angry mob and tarred and feathered; where he often preached from the front porch to visitors who came from far and near. It, too, has a special feeling of history and faith.

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was headquartered in Kirtland for only seven years. Persecution and apostasy drove the saints from there in 1838. They moved on to Missouri, then to Nauvoo and then to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake.

Kirtland was never intended to be the permanent home of the church. Zion was always going to be farther West. Kirtland was intended to be the place of beginnings rather than endings.

Still, as you look at this peaceful little village crowned by its beautiful temple, you have a better appreciation of what the Saints left behind. You, too, will want to linger to soak up the history and the atmosphere. That's the thing that strikes you about leaving Kirtland — how hard it is to leave.

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com