Independence, MO

Sunday, January 13

and 

Monday, January 14

and 

Wednesday, January 16

 

Independence is a place full of history. It was a place where the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lived for a time. And what a time it was! It is the headquarters of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was where many people officially left "civilized" country when they headed out on the Santa Fe and Oregan Trails. Former United States President Harry Truman called this place home. The Civil War was fought here. Wow, wow, wow! So much history!

And not only history, but important history. History that has changed the course of so many lives across the world. History that helped abolish slavery. History that settled the land and made it possible to become the United States. History that set in motion God's Church again on the earth, with revelation, prophets and priesthood. Wow, wow, wow!

I have gone to many history spots. I have been to my fair share of tourist traps. Places that you feel have tried to eek out a little bit of something to make a few coins. But this place was different. The very air felt different to me. On Wednesday as I was driving out of Independence for what I figure will be the last time ever, I was a little sad. I think I may have driven a little bit slower. I didn't want to leave so much importance, so much history, behind.









In the LDS visitor's center driving a LDS Pioneer wagon

Sitting on the Independence Temple site













 Sitting on a field with wagon swills (where many wagons took off on their journey west)

 

 


 


                     Truman's house

On the right: A plaque honoring the start of the Oregon Trail

In the middle: A statue dedicated to Harry Truman

Building on the far left: The site of the former W.W. Phelps print shop where the pages of the D&C were saved

 

Sacred

Something that is set apart, declared holy, worthy of respect.

On our trip we also went to sacred places. We went to the Far West Temple site. Posted on a plaque was Doctrine and Covenants 115:7. It reads: 

"Let the city, Far West, be a holy and consecrated land unto me; and it shall be called most holy, for the ground upon which thou standest is holy."

 

When I read that I got little shivers and and kind of wanted to step off the grounds. There are only cornerstones right now, but I was a little intimidated. I wonder why God had consecrated that ground. Not that it matters. Just wondering.

 

 

We were able to take a tour of the reconstruction of Liberty Jail. This place is known as a "Prison Temple". Many revelations Joseph (especially a famous one of comfort) were given here and therefore it is a sacred place.

We also went to Adam-ondi-Ahman which is what is now referred to as Spring Hill.

  

 

This shot is overlooking the valley.

 

Here is an interesting map of the area. We took the above picture on Tower Hill.

Jenna and I went to another sacred spot, the Kansas City, MO temple. Of course I had a little bear so I couldn't go inside, but the outside was beautiful. And sacred.

I am grateful that God has given us sacred spaces and has given us the Holy Ghost so our homes can be sacred too.

Richmond, MO

Saturday, January 19

Steve and I had a late flight out of KCI so we decided to take a side trip to Richmond, MO. Of course Jenna came with us. It is a small town about an hour or so outside of Kansas City which has a few church sites. We went in search of the graves of Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer Sr. and David Whitmer. Oliver and Peter were buried in the Pioneer Cemetery and David was in the main Richmond Cemetery.

We went to the Pioneer Cemetery first. When we go there, we walked up to a monument and read that the Pioneer Cemetary came into existence due to flooding in another area. It was later abandoned and some graves were moved to the Richmond Cemetery. Since it had been abandoned for so long many of the headstones were destroyed. After 70 years of abandonment, the Church bought the land and tried to fix it up as much as they could. Try as I might, I couldn't find the head stones of Peter Whitmer or Oliver Cowdery. The monument we had seen earlier honored this spot as Oliver's burial place and his role as one of the Three Witnesses.

So I got to thinking about the permanence of a burial spot. It had never occurred to me that once your spot was honored with a headstone, that it could be forgotten. I had always assumed that once it was marked it would be known as your spot forever. But I was mistaken. Whether due to natural disaster (flood, earthquake etc) or just the passage of time, that spot will not always be known by the living world as your spot. That was a little disconcerting to me.

Of course. it doesn't really matter where Oliver Cowdery was buried. His memory, his legacy, lives on because of the mark that he made on history. Because of the import he had as a person on his fellow beings. That is what matters to the world. What he did with his dash and that it was written down and remembered.

I just want to find all of the lost, forgotten souls and give them a big hug and hear their stories about their lives and what they were able to accomplish. Then I would write them down for the world to remember. So the world would remember who they were, that they were important and that their lives had meaning.

 

Obviously the a soul will be remembered in the eternities, everyone will be remembered and accounted for, but right here and right now I think it would only be fair for them to realize that with the living on the earth right now, they are important. 

Wooden Bears!

Bears, bears every where! Steve and I celebrated our 5th anniversary by staying overnight alone (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Hamm for watching our little Bear), in Oakhurst, CA. Oakhurst is the wooden bear capital of the world (according to some).

We saw bears at McDonalds holding fried food.

 

We saw bears at Carl's Jr.

 

We saw bears at Burger King.

 

Bears sleeping.

 

Bears eating.

 

 

Bears by the dozens! 

Today

Today I went up to Kansas City to see the Arabia Steamboat Museum. It was closed for renovations! Bum deal. So instead Jenna and I went the Kansas City Public Library. It comprised 5 stories in a beautiful building with deep, warm colors. It even had Mezzanines!

Upon entering, we found a group of  elementary kids coming to see a puppet show. I thought: "Should we go see the puppet show? Why not!"

We sat down on the second row and all kinds of people came to say 'hi' to us and comment on Jenna's outfit. The room slowly filled up with school kids and families. Especially interesting to me was a group of fashionable moms with little kids (a little older and younger than Jenna). They looked like they were having so much fun!

Jenna was mesmerized by the 30 minute show. Every now and then she would point things out to me but for the most part remained perfectly still and erect on my lap. (To be honest there was one incident when she really wanted some food a toddler was eating behind us...) I was very proud of my little girl.

Afterwards, we went to the fourth floor kid's section and played with some of the kids we had seen earlier. I had a nice chat with some of the moms playing on the floor with their kids. They were so kind and fun (and good moms too). I need to find this in Fresno! I need to find a gaggle of library friends with kids!

Later on I kept running into a dad with 2 little boys. In the parking garage we ended up parking next to eachother. We got to talking. I spoke about traveling and he mentioned that he stays home with the kids while his wife works and he once did what I am doing (I didn't mention that we have gone on at least 6 work trips). I am not sure I have ever met a stay at home dad before! A nice guy too. I wonder what his wife does.

Just a nice morning. Very comfortable.

Year one - check!

I for one am thankful that I made it through the first year of motherhood.

To celebrate this momentus occasion, we invited family to come over. A light dinner followed by dessert. Jenna got her own cake and really got into it. She got a lot of very nice gifts and is quite the spoiled little girl. And she didn't try to take off her hat. Hurrah!

At one year Jenna can:

• Clap
• Wave
• Share
• Drink from a sippy cup
• Stand on her own
• Cruise along things but doesn't walk on her own yet
• Dance to music
• Bring us books to read to her
• Be really vocal but no real words. She has said "mama" and "dada", but they were babbling and hasn't attached a person to them yet
• Can take off her socks really well!
• She likes to hand or show us things
• She has 6 teeth.

My little pumpkin

Last summer we went to the fair and Jenna looked like this:

A year later she looks like this:

 

I love that Jenna is holding up her sock. She likes to hold things up for us to see.