By CRAIG HIGGINS
The Progress
Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley residents seeking a spiritual and historical connection are offered a chance to do so thanks to a new tour of significant sites in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These journeys to LDS historical locations in the midwest and upstate New York are being offered by Cumorah Tours, a touring company owned by Overton couple Shanan and Becky Kelly.
Cumorah Tours is named for the New York site where in the year 1820 the Church founder, Joseph Smith, claimed to have had a vision of the divine. The Kelly’s work together with Leavitt Tours, a more than 40-year old company geared toward providing Church history tours to high-school seniors in Moapa Valley.
“We also have a youth tour in June for youth outside of Moapa Valley,” Shanan Kelly said. “And we are also offering an upcoming Autumn Colors October tour for adults.”
Each tour lasts 10 days and 9 nights. The tour begins in Missouri. Stops include Liberty Jail, where Smith and others faced a long winter of incarceration; Adam-ondi-Ahman; and the early Mormon settlement at Far West. The Illinois part of the junket covers the frontier city of Nauvoo and the Carthage jail, the place where Smith was killed by a mob. Other notable sites visited include Kirtland, Ohio, and Hill Cumorah near Palmyra, New York.
For those wishing to go, the tour leader also mentioned that, “each tour maxes out at 54 people. That’s how many seats are on the comfortable buses we charter for our travel.”
Kelly recalled the uplifting feelings he and his wife have experienced while visiting Church history sites. “We have had many wonderful spiritual experiences on these tours that are sacred and personal,” he said. “Some we love to share in more personal conversations, and some we hold dear to our hearts and don’t share.”
When asked about the spiritual importance of the tours, Kelly offered some personal insights. “Anytime someone has an opportunity to learn about and experience the challenges and sacrifices of those who have gone before, they should take it!” Kelly said. “We can gain so much by immersing ourselves into a subject and traveling somewhere historic to see what someone else saw.”
While many will sign up for the spiritual experience, these sites cover a long-overlooked swath of American history – the birthplace and early trials of a truly indigenous American faith. LDS pioneers began their journey in these small, mostly-Midwestern towns that in just a few years would be at the epicenter of a struggle that split the young country asunder: the Civil War. In that sense, these tours also hold real historical significance.
Those wishing to learn more can visit https://www.cumorahtours.org/. Cumorah Tours is also on Facebook and Instagram. Contact the tour leaders at 702-397-8883 or email cumorahtours@gmail.com.
