Kansas City Temple--#8 and etc. etc. etc.

Today was a full and marvelous day!  We started it by attending the Kansas City Temple.  This is a pretty large temple and quite beautiful.  I thought it interesting, however, that the endowment room only seated 50.  The endowment room in Sacramento, a much smaller temple, seats 48.

Great picture, Eileen!

Many temples have beautiful fountains. 

I believe this is the newest operating temple.  It was dedicated in May 2012.

It was a wonderful start to the day.  After the temple, we went back to the motel and changed into traveling clothes and packed a picnic lunch.  We headed out with Jane and GPS coordinates for several church history sites in the surrounding area.  It was an adventure.

Our first stop was Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  This is a beautiful valley where the saints had a settlement for a time.  It is significant because Joseph Smith received a revelation that this was the site of the Garden of Eden and that Adam held a grand council here with all the priesthood leaders of his day prior to his death.  The peace is palpable in this area.  There are not grand monuments and displays, it is simple and beautiful.  It is a place to go and ponder and pray.  It was a perfect place for us to eat our lunch and share some feelings. 

Eileen brought her iTouch, so we were able to sing a hymn together--Adam-Ondi-Ahman, complete with accompaniment.  Really cool.



On the road, we saw a pond with cows hanging out in the water.  California cows may be happy, but Illinois cows are smart enough to get out of the heat.  :o)

Our next stop was a park in Breckenridge where a millstone from Haun's Mill is located.  Haun's Mill is where 17 men and boys were murdered by an angry mob.  Unfortunately, Jacob Haun had been warned by Joseph Smith to have the citizens of Haun's Mill leave and come to Far West.  He chose not to share that information with them. We tried to drive out to the Haun's Mill site but the road was too bad.  We made it over grass and weeds but then we got to a patch that was uphill with large rocks.  This was really remote area and we just didn't want to get stuck out there with a punctured gas tank or oil line.  So, we turned back.  Unfortunately, we didn't think of getting a picture of the road until we had already turned back. 

Our next stop was Far West.  This was the area, along with Adam-Ondi-Ahman, that Missouri designated for the Saints to settle.  Unfortunately, they were not able to stay here long, either, and the extermination order forced them to move out of the state.  In Far West, Joseph Smith directed 4 cornerstones to be laid for a temple.  The saints were never able to build that temple but the cornerstones remain.  Joseph Smith also called the 12 Apostles to leave on a mission from Far West in April 1839.  Unfortunately, the Saints were driven from Far West in the winter of 1838-1839.  However, the 12 Apostles did come back to Far West on the appointed day in April.  They held a meeting and officially departed for their missions.  They did not encounter any mobs during their arrival, meeting or departure.  While we were in Far West, I struck up a short conversation with a senior sister missionary who was traveling with her family in the area.  It just so happens that her son is my brother's Bishop.  Small world!!  We also talked to one of the groundskeepers there about the drought in the area.  It is really bad.  I asked him the crop planted there and he told us it was soy beans.  They were about 8-12 inches high.  He said by this time of year, the soy beans should be 3 feel tall.  It is looking pretty grim for corn and soy beans.

The next stop was Richmond.  There are several things to see in Richmond.  This is the monument to the testimony of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon.  It is at the site of the Oliver Cowdery's grave. 





The pioneer cemetary was fascinating.  Several headstones were unearthed and preserved in concrete.  Peter Whitmer's, one of the 8 witnesses of the gold plates, was engraved with a depiction of the plates on top of a Book of Mormon.  So many children died very young. 

Also in Richmond is this statue of Alexander Doniphan.  He was a friend to the Mormons in Missouri.  He was a Brigadier General in Missiouri and when Joseph Smith had been arrested, along with others, and held in the Richmond Jail, he was ordered to execute them.  He flatly refused that order and declared them innocent of all charges.  He went on to tell General Samuel Lucas that if they were executed, he would hold him personally responsible.  General Lucas sent the men to Liberty Jail instead.  General Doniphan was a great military hero in the Mexican-American War. 

Our final stop for the day was at the monument to the testimony of the 8 witnesses to the gold plates.  It is also out in the middle of nowhere. 

The whole road trip for the day took about 6 hours.  Most of it was on small country roads and some were even dirt roads.  We had a lot of time to chat and share memories.  One of the coolest things we saw today was a hawk swoop down and fly away with a snake in its talons.  You can see the snake--it is the dark line under the tail.  Really awesome!!