Thursday September 3, 2020. Happy Birthday Scotty!!!! Independence, Far West, Adam-ondi-Ahman, Three Witnesses

                               HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FAVORITE DAD                                                                                                               It was a lovely morning today.  Graham accompanied me on my run on a trail that we found in Blue Springs.  The community there is gorgeous.  I could totally live in one of those homes on the water.  So beautiful.                                                               

                Today the kids worked on their school activities  until 11:30 AM.  Then we had a video call with the sisters who showed us Liberty Jail and told us many stories about it.  These sisters did a phenomenal job.   This week Graham did research on Hawn's Mill and Pepper did research on Liberty Jail.  At the end of the presentation, Pepper and Graham interviewed the sisters asking them pre-thought out questions. They both did a great job.  The sisters gave us  detailed information and we learned facts that we didn't know.  One fact that I learned was that the county used Liberty Jail as a jail for 23 years.  The conditions were so unsuitable for life that they halted the use of it as a jail and proceeded to use it as an ice house.  During the winter, the ice stayed frozen because it was so cold inside the jail. Crazy right?    Pepper put many more details in her paper.  Graham asked them other questions and they were very helpful for his studies.  I really love these sisters.                                                                            

The day finally came that we could go visit the church historical sites that we came here for.  Scotty was excited to see these places so we called it his birthday adventure.  It was a long day and  spiritually draining .  We were in the car for about 5 hours driving to all these places.  They are very spread out.  I knew it would be a heavy day but one that we would never forget.                                                                     Our first stop was in Independence Missouri. Joseph Smith said that Independence Missouri would be the new Jerusalem.  Before the Saints could build it up, they were pushed out.  That must have been so confusing and hard for the Saints.   The first thing we saw was this spirally temple belonging to the Community of Christ, a break off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I thought the building was pretty cool.                               

                                     Pepper loved the flowers at the visitors center.  She took my phone and played photographer.  She did really well.                                                                                         

         Some how we timed it right to arrive at the visitors center in Independence, when the sister were giving virtual tours.   They were so cute.  They also showed us the dedicated temple site that was right across the street.  We were able to walk over and see the two places that cornerstones were found for the temple.   One day The Church of Jesus Christ will buy back the land and build a temple where it was dedicated to have one.                                                                                

                           Our next stop was Far West at the Temple Site.  This was once again land  dedicated for a temple to be built upon, but the temple never was built.  The spirit was beautiful and sweet there.  We were able to walk through the exact space that will one day hold a temple and see the corner stones that were laid by Joseph Smith for the temple. Far West now is out in the middle of no where.  I didn't see many homes or even  signs that people lived there.  Back in the 1800's there were about 5,000 Saints that lived there.  Far West was so peaceful and sacred.                                                                            

          We made friends with another family that was there at the same time we were. Ashley Blackwell and her three kids were with Ashley's parents visiting the temple site.  Ashley is moving to Oregon from Florida.  Her parents live here in Missouri.  They were so easy to talk to and I feel like we all connected.  It was so fun talking to them and getting adult time:).                                                                          

                            The sun was getting ready to set so we had to drive fast to spend  time in Adam-ondi-Ahman.  This place has a sacred history and a sacred future.  This is the valley that Joseph Smith said that Adam and Eve went to, to offer sacrifices to the Lord after they were kicked out of the the Garden of Eden. Tower Hill is where an alter was found that Adam used to pray and offer sacrifices. Also, Adam called his posterity together here before he died.  It also housed the Nephites as they have found an old  Nephite alter there.  This is the place that Christ will have his Grand Council with all the leaders of the church and members, before his Second Coming.  Can there be another place on earth that holds so much of our sacred history besides Jerusalem??  We stayed there until we had to leave due to sun down.  I still can't believe that we walked on that sacred ground.                                                                                      

                               On our way home we stopped to see the grave stones of the three witness of the Book of Mormon.  These three men saw and touched the plates that Joseph Smith translated into the Book of Mormon.  Oliver Cowdery, Martin Haris and David Witmer all had their own side to the beautiful head stone.  There were also other Witmer members buried there as well as other pioneers.  This land once belonged to the Witmer family.  I feel so blessed to have been able to see their burial sites.