Day 1 Part 2

Far West

Far West is where the Pioneers went after they were kicked out of Independence. There, the four corner stones were laid for a Temple that hasn't been built yet.

Far West is out in the middle of no where surrounded by farm land. We took a bunch of back roads to get there. My cousins GPS was loosing signal but he managed to get us there.

Adam -Ondi -Ahman

When we finally arrived it was getting dark. The sunset was beautiful. There was a double sided rainbow over the valley. (it didn't show up in my picture) I have only seen fire flies once so it was really neat seeing them all around us.

This site closes at dusk and one of the missionaries, who is a care taker of the grounds, came to close up the gates while we were still there. He stayed and talked with us about the history and significance of the grounds. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from what he had to say. I had such a wonderful experience here.

This was a very eventful day. We were so lucky to have Ryan and Mariah come with us. I don't think we would have made it everywhere without them. Thanks guys!

Up next- Kansas City and Nauvoo

Day 1 Part 1

On June 27Th we headed to meet my Mom, Alice, and Rookie in Independence, MO. We left our house at 5:00 a.m. I was a little concerned how our car ride would be because we have never driven Addy in the car for more than 2 hours at a time. She did great! She was extra sleepy and stayed bundled up in her blanket for the first hour and stared out the window. She slept for the next 2 hours while Christian and I jammed out to our music. My parents bought Addy a portable DVD player special for this trip. She watched Wonder Pets and her two favorite Baby Einstein shows. She loved holding her own t.v. on her lap! This was our first time ever seeing and crossing the Mississippi River. We arrived in Independence 8.5 hours later.

The 3 of us met up with the girls, my cousin Ryan and his daughter Mariah for lunch. Lucky for us Ryan had our agenda all mapped out and ready to go. We definitely wouldn't have made it to everything with out him!

Our first place we visited was the Temple Lot and Visitors Center in Independence. In the Visitors center they have the original photographs on display of Reflections Of Christ. They are beautiful! They also had a presentation about the saints traveling to Missouri.

Christian read some scriptures in Japanese for us at the Visitors Center. He did a great job! I kept teasing him saying he wasn't really reading and speaking the language. For all we knew he could be making it up. When he finished I asked him what he had just read and he said " your hair looks really nice!" He cracks me up.

Across the street diagonally from the Visitors Center is the Temple lot. The land is owned by the Community of Christ Church. The sign there says, " Aug. 3, 1831, Joseph Smith Jr., Prophet and founder of the Church of Christ, with seven other Church leaders, dedicated this site for the Temple in the city of Zion, where this church believes the Lord will come to His people in the last days."

The Community of Christ Church is the one with the spiral steeple. Across the street from this church on a diagonal is their assembly hall which has a domed roof.

Next we ventured to Liberty Jail. There they have the original key to Joseph Smith's cell door.
The sister missionary there gave a great presentation about Joseph and the other men incarcerated with him. What amazing men they were. The floor in the cell is the original flooring from when they were there. It definitely put things in a better perspective for me to see and hear what they went through.

Here are just a couple cute pictures from the day.

Up next- Far West and Adam Ondi Amen