From Independence to Nauvoo!

We started our day early, and headed to the Visitors Center in Independence, Missouri.  We took a short tour giving a brief history of the time that the saints were here.  It seemed like a sad, terrible time, yet those great men and women had such positive happy attitudes through it all.  It was a great faith booster for me.  We learned that there are at least 3, if not 4, break-offs from our church that have built buildings/temples all around just a few acres of land.  They are all bunched together, trying to be close to the temple spot that was dedicated so long ago.

Here is the marker of the actual spot.  The land is owned by the 'Hedrikites', and they have a very small building.  We went inside, heard an older man talk about the plot of land, and give a small history of what happened within their church.  His question for us was "Which branch of the church are you from?"  Our answer was "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."  And he replied, "Oh, so the Salt Lake branch".  It was interesting to see his take on things.

Across the street was the Community of Christ church building (formally RLDS).  Some serious changes in their beliefs have happened lately.  How convenient of them to conform to the world. 

 And this shiny, gawdy building is the Community of Christs' temple and Visitor Center.  We were interested to go inside their museum, because they had a lot of Joseph and Emmas' original things.  Unfortunately the building was closed (it was Labor Day). 

Next stop was the Liberty Jail.  The jail was a cold, dark, awful time for our prophet and his companions, yet my favorite part of this history, are the revelations that he received full of comfort, peace, and a promise of safety and freedom again.  It was such a spiritual experience, and was wonderful.  And the people that were going through the tour with us happened to be great-great-great- grandchildren of Hyrum Smith.  Pretty neat.

After our time at Liberty Jail we went to the Far West temple site.  It was a bit of a drive, but it turned out nice.  It is just SO pretty in the midwest!  I just couldn't get enough of the green lush scenery.

The original cornerstones are still in place.  It looks like it will be a very small temple, but David disagreed.  I think I will trust him, because he knows more about building and dimensions than me. 

It will be wonderful when we can build a temple there.  When the growth and population allows for it.  The spirit was strong and the feeling of peace was very real on that ground.  David said later that Far West was his favorite stop in Missouri.

We spent a while at Far West and then journeyed on.  After another leg of the trip we got to Adam-ondi-Ahmen.  Even being on that sacred ground was overwhelming.  I just kept saying how blessed and lucky and thankful we were to be there, at Adam-ondi-Ahmen. 

And just a few more shots of the beauty of the area, and us on Preachers Rock, where Joseph Smith was said to have preached quite a few times.  No one was there with us, which was nice for the quiet, but the downfall was, there was no one to take our picture together! 

The day was closing fast, and we planned on getting to Nauvoo before dark, so we headed on toward Illinois. 

We spent just a few minutes in Iowa, just to say that we went to Iowa, and then headed across the HUGE Mississippi.  I had never seen a river much bigger then the Silver Creek, or a lake bigger then Lake Powell, so the Mississippi River was a sight!!  It was huge, and spectacular!

Driving right along the banks of the Mississippi was awesome.  SO big, and beautiful, and at sunset too!  We pulled into my parents apartment right as the sun went down, and unloaded the truck.  They were away at a performance when we got there so I made myself at home and started a quick load of laundry, nosed around and waiting impatiently for them to get home!

....And for next time; seeing my parents =), our time at Carthage Jail, and maybe a bit more about our first day in Nauvoo!