Yes, Missouri--the Kansas City part--is a place of pilgrimage for Mormons. Our history in Missouri goes way back (way, waaaaay back--but I'll get to that in a minute). Here is a map (thank you, Wikipedia) that nicely sums up the pre-Utah history of the Church. You can see that Missouri is featured prominently.
If we're talking about Mormons and Missouri, we might as well get the weird stuff out of the way and out in the open. Thanks to Missouri, I can pretty much win any "My Religion is Weirder Than Yours" showdown. Ready?
The Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri. When Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden , they went to Caldwell County, Missouri. (If you look at the map, Independence is in Jackson County, just east of Kansas City. Far West is in Caldwell County.) In case you're wondering, I think most members would agree this is a pretty strange thing to believe. Fortunately, it doesn't come up much because we're too busy raising lots of small children without the aid of coffee or wine. And I think we all prefer, for good reason, to discuss Jesus Christ, faith, hope, charity and the like over geographically pinpointing the Garden of Eden.
(On a more personal note, I have to admit the whole Missouri/Garden of Eden thing is a bit unsettling, mostly because I really, really don't like Missouri. I'm not sure if it's the chiggers, ticks, scabies, humidity, lack of good Mexican food, or the whole Branson thing. What I do know is that if I were Eve and stuck in Missouri, I would have been all over that forbidden fruit if I thought it might get me out of there. How depressing it would have been to leave the Garden of Eden and still be in Missouri.)
Now that we've established the Mormon connection to Missouri, let's get down to the important part--pictures of my kids.
We got to Independence in the late afternoon. We went straight to the LDS visitor's center, where there was a presentation about the history of the early Latter-day Saints, who had come to the area hoping to build Zion. There was also a little play area for the kids. (So nice after eight hours in the car.)
There is also a sculpture of Jesus Christ. Apparently, this is how you pose with Jesus:
Across the street from the LDS Visitor's Center is the headquarters of the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and their temple.
The Community of Christ temple is open to the public, but we didn't have time to tour the inside. But David and Mary were very impressed with how shiny and twirly it is.
This temple lies where the early Latter-day Saints laid the cornerstones to build a temple in Independence, but they were driven out of the county before they could build it. (That's when they went to Far West, where, again, they laid the cornerstones for another temple. But that's when things got really bad and the governor ordered all Mormons exterminated. So they fled to Illinois and established Nauvoo.) We did our best to explain some of the differences between this temple and the temples that Mommy and Daddy go to.
Next on our stop was the Liberty Jail. But on our way we drove by the site of the new Kansas City temple. I love, love, love that a temple is being built in this area!
Mary was especially taken with the Kansas City temple. In fact, she formed a plan: "My plan is that when they finish the temple we can come back and see the inside." Good plan! If Mary has her way, we'll be back next spring for the open house. (We were able to take our kids to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was lovely. I would love to take them to another temple open house, especially since they are a little older now.)
After stopping for some dinner, we finally arrived at the Liberty Jail Historic Site. Joseph Smith and several companions were imprisoned here for four and a half months during a bitterly cold winter. The conditions were cruel and harsh. It was a trying time. After nearly five months, the prisoners were to be transferred to another location, where they were to be indicted and executed. A brave sheriff, knowing they were innocent, allowed them to escape, and they fled to Illinois.
Here is what Liberty Jail looked like back in the day:
Here is what it looks like these days:
Inside is a partially rebuilt replica of the jail built on the exact original site.
It is a special place. You can feel that right away. A place made holy because of the suffering (and refining) of a prophet of God.
The tour was very, very good. It was historically detailed and interesting, as well as sincere and heartfelt, but never preachy. (Best LDS tour ever, in my opinion.) The missionary who served as our guide shared that when Joseph Fielding Smith (direct descendant of Joseph Smith's brother, Hyrum, who was imprisoned in Libery Jail too) dedicated the historic site in 1963, he explained that Joseph Smith needed to experience the hardships of Liberty Jail so that he could be made stronger. And he explained that the early Latter-day Saints needed to endure the trials they faced in Missouri so that they could gain strength and experience for the even more difficult challenges they yet had to face.
I think that may be something that makes Liberty Jail special--it's a place where we humbly acknowledge and embrace and even celebrate that the crappy things in our lives can be for our good. That through Christ we are much stronger than we think possible.
It was in Liberty Jail that Joseph Smith received these words from the Lord, which basically say that when really, really crappy things happen to you, "know thou...that these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" (D&C 122:7-8)
It all reminded me very much of the Apostle Paul: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (2 Cor. 4:17) Let's remember that Paul's "light affliction" was, among other things, spending years imprisoned. (When we were in Rome, Greg insisted that I crawl down into the dungeon where Paul was imprisoned. It was a dank little hole--a hole I couldn't get out of my mind when I was thinking of Joseph Smith trapped in the dungeon of Liberty Jail.) Paul was thankful for (even glorying in!) his trials because he recognized that "tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:3-5). This is a lesson I am learning ever so slowly. Liberty Jail is the perfect place to reflect on how, through the Lord, our sufferings can make us stronger--you can feel it in your bones there.
Speaking of sufferings, it was just after the tour that the David and Mary chorus of whining and bickering began. They had been so good--until that moment. So we went to the hotel and put them to bed.
The next morning we tried to get an early start (and we were moderately successful) so we could stop at a few spots on our way out of Missouri.
We first drove to Far West, which served as the headquarters of the Church in between Kirtland and Nauvoo. It was a lovely drive through winding country roads. Despite my grouchiness about Missouri in general, I had to admit that it was beautiful countryside. We visited the temple site. The Mormon settlers laid four cornerstones for their temple--but they were forced to abandon their homes and flee for their lives before they could begin work on it.
This is where the temple would have been:
The cornerstones are still there, in the ground:
It's a peaceful place.
This is what Far West looks like nowadays:
The Community of Christ has a small site with a chapel. There is also a sign with this interesting map.
Far West was quite the happening place, with more than 5,000 Mormons there and thousands more living in the surrounding areas. It's kind of weird that there's nothing there now. (There is so much nothing, in fact, that David declared it "the super boringest place ever.")
We then drove (again on lovely country roads) to the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, where there had been another Latter-day Saint settlement. (It's also going to be the site of a big ol' meeting at the beginning of the Millenium. Yes, the weirdness in Missouri never ends.) Adam-ondi-Ahman is beautiful! (I had no idea such loveliness could exist in Missouri!) It was big and peaceful and quiet and scenic. AND our kids suffered their own trials and tribulations by being forced to walk several hundred yards. I am happy to report that they survived--though I'm not sure they learned patience or hope.
Here are a few pictures from our visit.
I am so glad we make the effort to visit those church history sites. I used to hate thinking about the early Latter-day Saints in Missouri. I would close my eyes and cover my ears whenever the topic came up. All of the suffering seemed so cruel, unfair, and pointless. But now that I'm getting older, I think I've gained a tiny drop or two of wisdom. Their afflictions were cruel and unfair--but not pointless. Their trials strengthened them and sanctified them. And our struggles can do the same for us.
So with those thoughts in mind, we braved a backseat full of whining and crying...and drove home, stopping for Happy Meals along the way.
Oh, it was so good to be home again. It's been in the 70s ever since we got back to Wisconsin, prompting me to wonder, "Wait, why did we go to Texas again?!!" Oh yes, grandparents and swimming pools. I will say, though, that after more than two weeks of 110-degrees, I will be slow to complain the next time it reaches a mere 90 here. (See? I've been toughened up by my trials!)
You want to know what 70-degrees put me in the mood for? Norway! The detour is over and the tour continues.
