Nebraska
The sunrise over Santa Fe Lake outside Wichita, Kansas was beautiful. We wanted to stay for a bit to enjoy the Lake and it’s beautiful lily pads but we had adventures in Missouri to get to. We headed north up through Topeka and into Nebraska. We found a local diner in Nebraska City called Johnny’s Cafe to eat lunch. It was quite as charming as the dinner we found in Boise City, Kansas but it still filled us up. I ordered a burger topped with pulled pork and Alyssa had a chicken fried steak sandwich.
Northwest Missouri
After our brief stop in Nebraska, we drove through Iowa but did not stop since we had so much we wanted to see in Missouri. We decided instead that we would experience Iowa tomorrow when we were next to the Mississippi River near Nauvoo, Illinois.
Far West, Missouri
The Northwestern area of Missouri is the location for many sacred LDS church history sites, and we enjoyed visiting several of them. In Far West, MO there is a temple site where it was revealed to the saints that they should build a temple in 1838. They laid the cornerstones, however were driven out of Missouri before it could be built because of Governor Bogg’s Extermination Order (every Mormon was declared an enemy to the state and could be shot and killed on spot). Shockingly, this extermination order wasn’t legally repealed until 1976!!
Liberty Jail
In historic Liberty, MO. the church has preserved and restored the foundations and walls of the Liberty Jail where our prophet Joseph Smith and 5 other church leaders were imprisoned during the bitter winter of 1838-1839. They were forced into a cold uncomfortable room with only a 6-ft tall ceiling. Despite their wrongful imprisonment and persecution, Joseph Smith still relied and called upon the Lord and received comfort and revelation while here. I’m so grateful for the faith of the saints at this time.
We returned to the Liberty Jail a few hours later because we were determined to “run into” our cousin Sister Kennadi Prior who is serving in the Missouri Independence mission and currently serves at the Liberty Jail Visitor’s Center. Fortunately, she was there waiting for an appointment with an investigator, despite it being her P-day (preparation day). It was wonderful to visit briefly with her. She only has 7 more weeks on her mission, but she has clearly left a positive impact on the mission as all the other sisters at every church history site had wonderful things to say about her when we asked if they knew her. She looked happy and is doing well.
Independence, MO
We next visited the church visitor’s center in Independence, which is where a future temple will one day be built before the millennium. The visitor’s center honors the past and the present with exhibits depicting experiences of Mormon settlers in Missouri from 1831 to 1839. It is hard to imagine the trials that the early saints had to bear, and yet they were unwavering in their faith. Their lives and stories serve as a strong testimony to me of the plan of happiness and purpose of our time here on earth.
Kansas City Royals
There was a big baseball game in Kansas City: KC Royals vs St Louis Cardinals. This was game 2 of the Show-Me Series (both teams reside in Missouri, the Show-Me state). I couldn’t miss the opportunity to visit Kauffman Stadium and see the reigning 2015 World Champions play at home! The stadium was packed (similar to when the Dodgers play against the Angels). Because of our previous adventures we arrived about half-way through the game, which meant parking was free and lots of people had already left, emptying up some better seats :). We bought the “cheap” standing room only tickets and enjoyed wandering around the stadium and cheering on the Royals (they lost…) We have yet to attend a game this season where the home team wins (0 for 5) We will see if our luck changes when we attend Thursday’s game in this series in St Louis.
