Other Church sites

Other Church Sites...

Carthage Jail. That window at the top is the one that Joseph Smith fell out of when he was shot by the mob.

On our last day in Nauvoo, we took a short trip over to Carthage, IL to see where the Prophet Joseph was martyred. Carthage is just a short 35 miles or so away. We watched a short movie and then took a tour of the jail, which was also living quarters for a husband and wife and their 6 kids. I could not imagine living in the jail especially with my kids!!

You can still see the bullet holes in the door and windowsill, where the mob came in and attacked. I walked away with kind of a bluesy feeling.

After we left Nauvoo we drove to Adam-ondi-Ahman. This is a beautiful location in Northwest Missouri. A lot of it is farm fields. It is green and lush there. This was one of my favorite parts of our trip because of the history of that place (that is where the Garden of Eden was located) and the future of that place. That is where Adam will meet with the leaders of each dispensation and get an accounting. That is also where the Saints will gather in the last days.

Adam-ondi-Ahman

Tower Hill is located there, and it is called Tower Hill because Joseph Smith and some others found an old Nephite Altar/Tower there made of rocks. The tower is no longer there, but that is where it gets it's name.

There is a great valley there, that Laren said he had heard has some of the best acoustics of anywhere - there is no echo. He told me this as we hiked down a trail part way towards the Valley. So of course upon his telling me that I had to holler, "Hel-lo-o-o!" just to try it out! There was no echo, but I don't know if it was a very scientific test! :)




While we were there, at Adam-ondi-Ahman, there were 3 busloads of Youth there from Kansas City, Missouri for a Youth Conference. They were wearing matching blue shirts, so they were easy to spot.

Far West Monument.

Our next stop was Far West, Missouri. The cornerstones for the Temple are still there and there is a memorial/monument there. The Saints were driven out and were not able to build their temple there afterall, but it was neat to see anyhow.






Then we went to the Liberty Jail Visitors Center in Liberty, MO. The tour guide gave us a little talk about the History of the Prophet Joseph Smith's time in Liberty Jail and then we got to see the Jail. This was a basement jail.

Liberty Jail.

The original foundation was there and they built a replica right over the top of it. This jail had a ceiling of only 6 ft. high, so some of the prisoners were not even able to stand upright in it. The jail was very dark. This is where Joseph wrote sections 121, 122, and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Though it was time spent in jail, it was a time when the Prophet Joseph was especially close to the Lord and able to receive much revelation.

After that we ended our Church History Tour in Independence, Missouri - just E. of Kansas City. We toured the LDS Visitor's Center there which just 2 years ago was made into a Temple Visitors Center. There is no LDS Temple there and there are 2 other Churches that own the other part of the land that the Prophet Joseph Smith dedicated for the Temple so long ago. We don't know what may happen, but the belief is that someday the Church will have that land back.

LDS Visitor's Center in Independence, MO

At the Visitor's Center they gave me a sheet entailing what that Temple is to look like, that it will be different than all of the other temples built to that point. That it will have more than one building and that it will be very large with arches, etc... I thought that was pretty neat to read.



Laren made the executive decision to drive straight home after Independence. Our original plan was to spend the night there. But the kids were getting on each other's nerves (and on our nerves - just keeping it real) and so we drove on. Just after crossing into nowhere, somewhere in Eastern Kansas, we stopped to gas up and Kyle was complaining of something on his back.

Tick.

Laren took a peek while I was in Flying J with the rest of the brood taking a bathroom break. He showed me his back and identified the source of discomfort as being a wood tick. Great! So I was going to buy some petroleum jelly and we were going to try to smother the darned thing. But as I went to check out the clerk suggested burning it out and then tweezing it.



So a hillbilly truck driver did the burning part with his ever ready pack of matches. For some reason the tick was stubborn and would not back out! Eventually it quit moving it's legs and we determined it was dead. So another clerk came over with a first aid kit and removed the tick. I was holding my breath the tick's head would come out with the body - and it did!



After almost an hour long stop, we were on our way and had a pleasant, non-bickering ride home with Laren laughing away as he listened to Laugh USA on our XM Radio! He did have to take a little no-doze and eat a bunch of junk food too. But we made it home before 5am!