Trip to Nauvoo Day 1

 We returned to the airport and flew to Omaha, Nebraska for our week of church history traveling. It was easy to rent a car there and head to Independence, Missouri, where we had a hotel. On the drive, I searched for quilt shops in the area and was shocked to see Angela Walter's shop Quilting is My Therapy was right next to the Liberty Jail. Well, let's go!

Our first stop was the Independence Visitors' Center. Its location is central to all the churches in Independence. I was shocked at how many denominations are in the little town in the middle of nowhere. The Center was full of beautiful and handsome missionaries beaming with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were all amazed that Jackson had been in Peru just the day before on his mission.

Jackson is standing on the temple lot in front of the Community of Christ Temple. He was so thrilled to feel the grass after two years of gritty Trujillo, Peru. 

We wandered around Independence a little, then drove to Liberty Jail. I was surprised to see the Governor's extermination order hanging in a frame upstairs. The Liberty Jail visitors’ center includes the partial reconstruction of Liberty Jail. Here missionaries recount the events surrounding the imprisonment of Joseph Smith and five others from December 1838 to April 1839.

After learning a lot, we drove to the quilt shop.

In November 1838, Joseph Smith and several other Church leaders were held here before appearing before a court of inquiry. Alexander Doniphan defended the accused men. After the hearing, the prisoners were moved to Liberty Jail. Today a plaque marks where the prisoners were held in Richmond, and a large statue of Doniphan stands in front of the courthouse.

David Whitmer and his family lived in Richmond for many years, and Oliver Cowdery died at David’s home in 1850. In 1911 Junius F. Wells had a monument built over Oliver Cowdery’s grave. It commemorates the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. Near the monument are graves of Peter and Mary Whitmer and other members of the Whitmer family. David Whitmer is buried in a separate cemetery in town, which we found.

It took us a while to find David Whitmer's tombstone, so we found lots of great names.

We continued north to Far West to the temple site. It was incredible. Although it had no walls, it felt like I was inside a temple. Caldwell County was established in 1836 as a place where Latter-day Saints could settle in peace. Far West was the county’s largest settlement, with about 5,000 inhabitants by 1838. On July 4, 1838, the Saints laid the cornerstones of a temple.

We were racing the light as we drove to Adam-ondi-Ahman.

We found Preacher's Rock and asked Jackson to preach a little in Spanish while Paul walked down into the valley. It was a bit of a volume test. Could one be heard at a distance?

What a long day. We made it back to eat at Culver's. New to us, but apparently they are popular in the Mid-West.