Missouri

Here is what Missouri looks like:

A lot more trees than Kansas

As you can see, the weather was beautiful, but windy.

There is a lot of history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Missouri.  We were not able to see all of it.

We first went to Liberty Jail.  Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?  The jail is in Liberty, Missouri.

There is a visitor's center built on the exact spot of the original jail.

Joseph Smith and five other men were imprisoned here for about 6 months.  The members of the church were experiencing much hardship at the hands of the Missouri people, being driven from their homes by mobs.  The most difficult part for Joseph was not knowing what was happening or how to help his people.

This is a model of what the circumstances would have been like for them.

He received many revelations here in the jail.  These two verses are my favorite:

"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be case into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good.  The Son of Man hath descended below them all.  Art thou greater than he?

After leaving Liberty, we visited Independence, Missouri.

The Prophet Joseph Smith dedicated a plot of land here for a temple to be built.  The church has not built that temple yet, but everyone is looking forward to the day it will be done.  

There is a visitor's center there with several tableaus depicting what life was like for the early members of the church that settled there.  

This is the printing press of W.W. Phelps.  He was a convert from England.  The press was used to print many of the revelations that Joseph Smith had received.

In addition there is this beautiful statue of the Christ.

After leaving the greater Kansas City, Missouri area, we headed for St. Louis.  We got to the St. Louis temple about 6:00.  We found out that the temple was closed for cleaning.  So..... we went in and cleaned!!!  Every temple closes 2 - 3 weeks twice a year for cleaning.  We cleaned woodwork, bathrooms, chairs, lockers, and even vacuumed.  In the celestial room, I learned that the chandelier is lowered and every crystal taken off and polished.  There are 60,000 crystals.  It takes two days with a crew of about 20 people to get it done.  It was a privilege to work in the house of the Lord, to keep it clean and unspotted from the world.

Entrance 

Side View

Like many temples it is right off the freeway and stands out at night.  Beautiful.