We began our journey eastward on Wednesday, April 23rd stopping in Clearfield, Utah Wednesday night. Thursday we drove down to Provo and had a wonderful lunch with Josh. It was so great to see him and eat some super yummy food I might add! Leaving Provo, we continued on toward Colorado Springs, CO where we were able to rest up a bit staying two nights with Malo and Yvonne! But lo, the sad truth was that we had not completed our journey so on to the Missouri we went taking only those items of utmost importance that could be wedged into our car or carried on our backs. Through mountains and tundra, this way and that way, dodging the tumbling tumble weed to the rolling plains of eastern Kansas and finally...Kansas City, Missouri was in our sights. Our home for the next 4 months. But, what is this? That spring -time has already arrived in the Missouri, our hearts soared, our eyes shone in sheer delight for what did we see? ...yes, trees and flowers in bloom, oh my!
Sunday, our first day at church in this far off land...was great! We are in a ward that just split from another ward so the new ward is small, and warm and very friendly. It reminds me very much of the Mt. Norway and Parker's Landing wards in Washougal. So much so, that attending church here was almost like being home. After church we found out that Liberty, MO is only about 15 minutes from our apartment in Kansas City so we loaded Belen up in the car and embarked on a little family adventure to Liberty Jail, where Joseph Smith was falsely incarcerated for just over four months during the winter of 1838
(November 20, 1838-April 9, 1839).
I know this picture is dark and difficult to see but it gives you an idea of what it was like for Joseph Smith
(seated on the left at a desk with a small candle for light writing a letter),
Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae,
Caleb Baldwin, and Sidney Rigdon were also with him in Liberty Jail.
It was really interesting to learn a few additional facts about the Jail, like the walls were four feet thick and even the guard on the main floor of the jail (over head from where the prisoners were kept) was locked into the jail, he did not hold a key just in case the prisoners were able to lift the 45 lb. slab of wood that covered the entrance to the keep. Also, for several years after the jail was no longer used as a jail it was used as an ice house. Ice was taken from the Missouri River in the winter and stored in the keep (the cellar where Joseph Smith and four others were held). It was so cold in the cellar that the ice was kept through the majority of the summer before it finally melted. Liberty Jail was very much referred to as "Temple Jail" by Joseph Smith, as we learned on our tour, because of the revelations that Joseph Smith received while there namely Doctrine and Covenants Sections 121-123.
