Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Kansas City, MO

On Monday morning, we left the house just after a beautiful, much needed inch of rain for Normal, IL.  Andrew, his cousin Tim and Emma Lau were all going to EFY there.  After we got them registered and settled into their rooms, we headed for Kansas City.  I've never been here before and had no idea there was so much to do and see. 

This morning we headed to Richmond where there are a few historic chuch sites.  All of them are self-guided.  This plaque is in front of a vacant lot where a log home used to sit.  The story of Joseph rebuking the prison guards is one of my favorites. 
This is the empty site where the "prison" used to be.
 There's also a church owned/maintained Pioneer Cemetery.  Here is the grave marker of Jacob Whitmer.  It was interesting that most of the markers included the exact life-span of the deceased right down to the days. 
 The cemetery is also the place where the Three Witnesses Monument is located.  The testimony of the witnesses is inscribed on the sides of this monument along with their names.
Next we went to Liberty where we visited the rebuilt Liberty jail.  The jail has a cut away side so you can see how it was constructed.  It is surrounded by the visitor's center so you are inside while you tour.  
The outside walls are four feet thick.  The timbers are the inside walls and between the two is a foot of loose stones.  It would be impossible to escape through a wall.  The floor was some kind of concrete as well.
This is the place where Joseph and his brethren spent four very cold winter months.  It's also the place where sections 121, 122 and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants were received.
 The ceiling wasn't very high and if you were a tall person, you wouldn't have been able to stand up to your full stature.  The only way out was a hole in the ceiling where food was let down in a bucket.  In fact, if you did escape to the upper floor, there were guards there and even they were locked in as there was no door handle.  The only way out was when a new shift of guards came in.
 Next stop, Independence visitor's center.  This beautiful Christus welcomed you into the building.
 We had another tour, but that will wait for a different post.
Our last stop of the day was the new Kansas City temple.  Of course it was beautiful and it was the perfect way to end our day of touring.

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