Friday was another rainy and stormy day, but that didn’t keep us down! We finished our drive to Independence that morning and it was interesting to pull into the city. This city is primarily NOT owned by the Church, but rather by the Community of Christ church and another break-off group called the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), so it was interesting to be there and see each group’s different take on the events that occurred (and potentially will occur) there.
The LDS Independence visitors center was neat and is all self-contained. They have a little village within the building that they walk you through and show videos and explain the history of the saints there. The sister missionary who gave us the tour was really sweet, and at the end of the tour we sat in front of a large Christus statue and listened to an audio recording. After the recording, she gave us each a pass-along card and challenged us to give them away to someone. It’s cool how missionary work and spreading the gospel is such an important part of these historical sites!
When we left the visitors center, we walked across the street to see the temple plot, and it’s owned by a church called the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). This organization has entirely based their history off believing this is the site where the Savior would come, and their organizers stayed in Missouri after the saints left. We watched a little video at their visitors center there on the land and visited with the sweet man who was running the center.
We then walked over to the Community of Christ’s temple, which was incredibly interesting. It’s got a huge, swirling spire that is very odd and I’m not sure what it means! We took a few pictures there, and overall it was really interesting to be in this city that is only partially owned by the Church and has so many different beliefs by different groups about its significance.
Our next stop on Friday was Liberty Jail, and we arrived there about 11:00 in the morning. It wasn’t what we were expecting as the jail has been rebuilt within the visitors center! We walked up and when we got inside, we were told a tour would be beginning in a few minutes. It’s interesting because we had been fortunate enough to have private tours at pretty much all the other sites, so this was the first tour where there were others with us. As we waited for the tour, we began by reading the original extermination order put out by Governor Boggs, and it was very harrowing. It was sad to read how he wrote about the Mormons needing to be “treated as enemies and exterminated.” What’s interesting is other governors of Missouri have since issued apologies and rescinded the extermination order… It’s sad to think this needed to be done and that the Mormons were so mistreated that apologies at a government level had to be issued.
As we continued to wait for the tour to begin, we went into the room where we would start the tour and there is a shadow box with the original key to the jail. As I stepped back to take a picture, I had a cool experience as I realized in the picture, the key pointed directly to a picture of the Savior on the opposite wall and which was seen on the reflection of the shadow box glass. It was really neat and a tender mercy reminder to me that the Savior is our key and everything we do, as well as everything we learned about on our tours, points to Him.
We then sat through the tour, where we were told about this history of the jail, what happened here, and how the saints were treated while they were in Missouri. The sister missionary then took us into the room where the jail has been rebuilt, and it was so powerful. They’ve rebuilt the jail to scale, leaving one side open so you can see what the inside would have looked like. It’s a very tiny building, but it’s crazy how stark and harrowing it is. It was built with reinforced walls – wood logs created the structure and a two feet stone wall was built around the logs, but with a space between the wood and the stone where they filled it in with jagged loose rocks. There were three levels – a main level with a table and chairs, a small attic covered with jagged rocks to prevent escape, and a “dungeon” which is where the prisoners were mostly kept for those four months. The ceiling in the dungeon was around six feet, so it’s likely that most of the men wouldn’t have been able to stand up straight during their stay. It’s so sad! They have mannequins in there to show what it would have been like, and it’s pretty humbling.
Visiting the jail was so incredibly powerful and there is so much to be learned there. From learning to trust the Lord, to feeling the strength of the Prophet Joseph’s testimony and perseverance, to being reminded that the Savior is the key to all we do, it was a wonderful experience and we’re so glad we included this stop on our journey!
Our final stop on our cross-country Church history tour was Winter Quarters in Omaha, Nebraska. There’s a large statue of a pioneer family pulling a handcart out front, and it was a great introduction to the visitors center. We walked inside and were met by a senior sister missionary, who gave us a tour around the center. The Winter Quarters visitors center actually covers the entire trek of the saints journey west and early days of the Church, beginning with the First Vision and ending in Salt Lake. This was probably the longest time we spent in a visitors center, but it was really neat. We learned about the early stages of the trek (which we’d already learned much about on our other stops) and then about the saints time at Winter Quarters. It’s pretty harrowing to think about their experiences traveling through the winter, and much of the tour focused on their strength and their faith, especially when having to bury family members (mostly children). There was one point on the tour where the room overlooks the Winter Quarters cemetery, and on one wall is a picture of some pioneers burying their child, while on the other side of the room is a picture of the Savior meeting Mary Magdalene at the tomb after His resurrection. This was a really powerful moment as we looked at the two pictures and realized that at every stop we’d been, and in every visitors center that we’d visited, everything always comes back to the Savior and the saints faith in Him.
The end of the tour talked about the saints making it to Salt Lake and then the immigration of many saints from overseas. It was cool to have seen the entire trek from start to finish, and it was a great way to end our tour! After we left the visitors center, we walked over to the cemetery and this was a really powerful experience. They have a plaque with names of those who they believe were buried there, and so many of them were children. It’s cool because they also have quotes along the way and scriptures about how it was almost noble to die as a saint, with much emphasis on the line from Come, Come Ye Saints: “And should we die, before our journey’s through, happy day, all is well…” It’s amazing to think of the sacrifices that were made by the saints at every step along the way. There was no site where we stopped where their sacrifices weren’t poignant and so incredibly powerful. It made us think a lot about how we need to be willing to make sacrifices of our own, in modern-day ways, in order to honor the heritage we have. This final stop was yet another reminder of that and we’re so grateful for the renewed resolve we have to be better and try harder each day!
After the cemetery, we walked to the temple (it was right next to it) and it was really pretty! It has beautiful stained glass all along the outside, and we were able to get some neat pictures. It was sad when we got in the car at the end of our visit here, because we knew it meant our trip was coming to an end. It had been such a special experience, even more so because we were able to do it together, and we’re so grateful for each stop we’ve made and all the wonderful times we’ve had!
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