Why I Believe!

I am so proud of my pioneer heritage.  Ann Malin was an example of faith and strength  for her posterity.  She was the first to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on my mother's side of the family.  There were others, of course, on both sides of the family,  who sacrificed so much to embrace their new found faith.  I have always wanted to go back and visit the historical church sites and learn more about the sacrifices that were made by our ancestors in order to have the freedom to worship as they chose to.    In September, 2013, I was able to experience some of the sites with my brother, Jerry, his wife, Pam, and my sister, Julie. 





Monument

Pioneer Parents burying and leaving their child
 

Winter Quarters Temple, Omaha, Nebraska





View of the Temple from the cemetery



The first place we visited was the last place the Mormon Saints made their home before leaving for the Salt Lake Valley.  They came from Nauvoo to
Winter Quarters in order to prepare for the journey west.  They needed to get their supplies and wagons ready for the long, arduous trip.  Most remained there for a year prior to leaving to journey west.  It is believed that
over 600 are buried in the cemetery.  There were several original gravestones. 







     President Gordon B. Hinckley, when flying over the Winter Quarters area, said that as he slept he had a dream and saw the pioneers crossing this area (contained in a 2001 talk," Miracle of Faith").  He was walking with them and had the impression they needed a temple there. 

     We also visited Council Bluffs where Brigham Young was given the mantle of the Prophet.  Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, in the brick building on the hill, counseled together and the Lord spoke (He literally did speak and all heard Him) and it was revealed that Brigham Young was to become the Prophet.  This was confirmed by the vote of the  other eleven apostles.   People in the surrounding area came to the building to see if everything was okay because they felt the ground shake and saw light emanating from the building.

    The Kanesville tabernacle was built to make room for the body of the church to meet to sustain the Prophet.  It was constructed in three weeks by 200 men who volunteered to build it.  Almost 1,000 people poured into the building to sustain Brigham Young as the next Prophet, Seer and Revelator. This was three and a half years after the death of Joseph in Carthage.



    Our next stop on our trip was Nauvoo, Illinois.  The Saints built this city  (Nauvoo means "beautiful city") after being forced out of Adam-Ondi-Ahman and Far West, Missouri.  They previously were forced out of Jackson County, Missouri, by Governor Boggs extermination order. 
     Nauvoo was a swampland when the Saints arrived in the area that was called Commerce.  They cleared the land and drained the swamp and through their combined effort and hard work they built their new city and home.  The church today owns and has restored and built about 20 buildings.  Four of them were original and restored to their original plan.  They are the homes of two of the apostles and Sara Kimball's home where the 1st Relief Society was begun.  



 

Sara Kimball's Home

 

 

     One of the original homes that was still standing when the church bought the land was that of Lucy Mack Smith.  She had lived in it for only four months before she was too ill to be by herself and Emma had her come to the Mansion House to live with her and her husband (after Joseph Smith) before she passed away.  Emma was a very kind woman and took care of Joseph's mother after his death. It was located across the street from Smith family home below.

 

Reproduction of the original Smith home that they added onto before building the Mansion House.





  This home belongs to the RLDS, now the Community of Christ, as well as the cemetery located to the left in the picture, where Joseph, Hyrum and Emma Smith are buried.

 

 

Original John Taylor rocking horse that he retrieved for his homesick son when they left Far West.

The Mansion House

    

     We were able to tour most of the restored and partially original buildings in Nauvoo (around 20).  I was so impressed with the plan of the city, and the inclusion of everything that was needed for a city to function.  They utilized the talents of the diverse members of the church at the time.  They all had something to offer to operate independently as a city.  We visited the Post Office, Drug and Mercantile, Blacksmith Shop, the Browning home and Gunshop, and the Print Shop.  James Browning was a brilliant man and gun maker.  Their family ended up residing and continuing with gun making in Ogden, Utah.  The Senior Browning didn't want his guns to be used to kill innocent people.  He had a plaque on each gun that read, "Holiness to the Lord for preservation".  He lost 4 of 10 children while living there.  One little girl was only 3 weeks old and she was buried behind the home in view of the temple.  We visited the Red Brick Store, owned by the Community of Christ.  The upstairs of the general store was where Joseph had his office and much of the work of the church was done out of those rooms and he was able to sleep and work there while they were building the Mansion House.

 

Looking up at the Nauvoo temple at night

 

     The Nauvoo Temple is s wonderful site.  It sits up on the hill overlooking the city of Nauvoo. We were able to go through a session the second afternoon we were there.  The rooms are beautiful and the furnishings are in the period of the times.  We were able to tour the temple with President Spencer J. Condie and were able to see all five floors and climb the stairs to the bell tower (95 steps)  The view from the top was extraordinary .  We could see how the city was laid out on the banks of the Mississippi River and the streets and blocks of the town.  Each block is an acre and each person or family would have a quarter of that acre.  There were groves of trees in the middle of the town where they would hold meetings and gather to listen to the Prophet.  The city grew to about 20,000 people in a matter of the six years they were there.  There were many hastily built log cabins.

     From the fifth floor we could look down the staircases.  In the original temple there were two spiral staircases from top to bottom on each side of the temple.  Now one is rectangular to allow room for an elevator.  The assembly room where solemn assemblies are held was patterned after the one in the Kirtland temple.  On the wall by this room was a framed case with the original keys that a janitor had carried to Utah.  There were also original temple clothing framed on the wall, one belonging to Hyrum Smith's wife.  When President Hinckley dedicated the temple, he concluded it with a symbolic tribute.  He had all the people in attendance at the last session exit the temple and follow him down the hill and then down Parley's street (with him in his white suit leading the way).  Parley's street is the street the Saints lined up their wagons in the days before and left Nauvoo early on the morning of February 4, 1846.  The day before that exodus the temperature had been above freezing.  That night the temperature dropped to 13 degrees below 0 and the mighty Mississippi froze solid enabling the Saints to cross the river walking across the ice with their wagons and animals.  President Hinckley told the Saints that day the dust they had on the shoes from their march was sacred and would be the same dust that the pioneers had on their shoes when they left.  We stood at the banks one night at sundown watching the sun drop looking across the river.  We were in awe of the sight and the reminder of that emotional exit of the saints.  The Nauvoo wasn't completed before the Prophet and Hyrum were Martyred.  Brigham Young said to make the blocks bigger (from limestone from a nearby quarry) to hasten the work and finish.  We could see the line (called the martyrdom line) where the bigger blocks were begun.  The present temple is a reproduction of the original plan with few changes.
    

     On the second morning that were in the Nauvoo area, we visited Carthage Jail.  It's about 17 miles from Nauvoo

                                          Monument of Joseph and Hyrum at Carthage Jail

Below left is the original door of the room that Joseph, Hyrum, Willard Richards, and John Taylor were in when the mob attacked.  A bullet hole from the shot that hit and killed Hyrum is still visible and there are blood stains that remain on the wooden floor.  The lower right is of the window (top) that Joseph fell out of after being shot, exclaiming, "Oh, Lord, my God. "  He fell next to the cistern below.  He received four bullets from the mob.

  

 Carthage Jail is not only a jail, but it has living quarters for the jailor and his family.  Downstairs is the kitchen area along with a living area for the family that lived there.  Also, on the bottom floor was a type of holding cell for a prisoner.  Upstairs there is a room that was called the dungeon.  It was a large very dark room with a jail inside of the room.  There were two windows about six inches tall and a foot wide.  The jailor was sympathetic to Joseph and those with him.  He didn't believe they were violent men and was worried about their safety.  He knew the mob was after them and didn't feel they would be safe in the dungeon.  There would be nothing protecting them when they were locked inside the jail area.  That's why they were in the bedroom (jailor's) behind a heavy door.  After Joseph and Hyrum were killed, Willard Richards dragged John Taylor, who had been shot, into the dungeon area and hid him under some mattresses.  As the mob was coming up the stairs to get them, a voice was heard yelling, "The Mormons are coming!"  They turned around and ran away from the jail leaving them alone. Today there are only 17 members of the church in the town of Carthage.  In Nauvoo, the church is growing rapidly. 

     There was such a somber feeling while standing in the room where they were martyred.  I pondered how they must have felt,  knowing that they may die.  As Joseph was arrested and taken to Carthage, he exclaimed, "I go like a lamb to the slaughter."  He knew he was innocent of any wrong doing and would go with a free conscience.  I do not feel that an ordinary man could do what Joseph did during his lifetime.  There are those that argue that he was ordinary and tried to profit from writing a false book; but I know that Joseph Smith could not have done what he did and sacrifice his life for his beliefs without knowing that what he saw in the grove on that sacred day in 1830 was truly Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  He never would deny it and there were witnesses who saw the golden plates and would never deny what they saw.  He wasn't an ordinary man, he was truly a Prophet of God as was Moses of old. I know this in my heart. The church that was begun by one man seeing a vision has grown to over 15,000,000 members throughout the world, as was prophesied.

 

      Our last stop was in Independence, Missouri. and Kansas City.  The above picture is the Kansas City Temple which has been open for about a year.   An interesting fact that we learned was each temple has a flower in the decorations and furnishings that are repeated throughout the temple.  It may be a flower common to the area.  The flower in the Kansas City temple is the olive branch.  No bad feelings are held and the church is growing in large numbers in the Independence Area. 

      We were privileged to be able to stay in the Mission Home for three days.   Jerry was President Keyes Executive Secretary when he was active in the Quorum of the Seventies.  It was an eye-opening experience seeing what they do as mother and father to up to 300 missionaries.  The mission got so large that it had to be divided and now they have from 180 to 200 to oversee.  The President's phone is never silent for long.  The night before we left he got a call from a missionary wanting to go home, and then later from two Zone Leaders who could not get in touch of one of their companionships.  The were about to go looking for them about one in the morning when the zone leaders called back telling the President the missionaries had forgotten to turn their phone on and therefore no one could get ahold of them.  He said that had happened before.  Jerry shared with us something that Elder Bednar said in a recent Stake Conference.  He said that two of the most revelatory experiences he has are when he assigns missionaries, which is done three times a week now instead of one a week, and when they choose a stake president.  Elder Bednar said that a missionary is picked to go with a mission president, not necessarily a place like we all assume.  The letter says you are called to serve as a missionary for the church and will serve in a certain area.  Each one of the twelve know each of the mission presidents intimately and the call comes for a missionary to serve under a certain president more than where they are called to serve. 

     President Keyes was full of knowledge and information about the Independence area.  He served a mission as a youth in the area and has become very knowledgeable on the history of the area and surrounding places.  He arranged his schedule so he could spend most of Saturday and a good share of Sunday with us.  Our first destination was Far West.  At this site was fenced area on a hill where the Saints started to build a temple before they were driven out.  The church owns several acres around this area.  This temple site is sacred and has been dedicated.  The corner stones were laid and have since been covered for protection.  The right one facing east is the First Presidency cornerstone, one is the Melchizedek, one for Aaronic, and also one for the Twelve.  All temples are the same.  The plaque nearby has scriptures from the D&C and information about the first great missionary call across the waters.  "And next spring let them depart and go over the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel, the fullness thereof, and bear record of my name.  Let them take leave of my Saints in the city of Far West, on the twenty-sixth day of April, next, on the building spot of my house saith the Lord."  The mob found out about the day the twelve were supposed to leave and had planned the thwart their departure, but Joseph got them up in the early hours of the morning; they prayed and did what they needed to do on that sacred ground and left before the mob got there.  President Keyes said they needed to leave "endowed with power".  This is why it is so important now and has been for our missionaries to go through the temple before they leave on their missions.  They leave "endowed with power".    These missionaries were the most successful missionaries ever!           

                     

                                                                            
     After leaving Far West, we drove to Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  It was about two hours away.  It's was a beautiful and inspiring view as we drove near this sacred site.  The weather was perfect- about 75 degrees and sunny. At the top of the hill you are able to see a very large valley with two hills at one end.  The acoustics are perfect there.  One is able to hear whoever is speaking from just about anywhere in the valley.  There are two Seventy-emeritus couples who live there and their sole job is to take care of the area.  The church owns 3,000 acres of land around the valley and leases some out to farmers.  The church grooms about 1,000 or those acres.  The church doesn't do tours in the area.  They don't want it to be a destination place like other church sites,  but they want church members to come and enjoy the spirit there.  People also have a tendency to say more than they know and it is set aside for a very sacred purpose.  There was a settlement of Mormons there for a period of time and it is said that Joseph had found the remains of a Nephite altar there, but those remains cannot be found today.  The church has acquired property here by buying land and telling the family they can live on it until they die or move.  The Church gives the farmers that lease a wonderful "price".  There only stipulations are no farming without a shirt and no farming on Sundays.  The farmers love the area because the soil is so rich and there are natural occurring streams and ponds.  At the time there was a soybean crop growing.  This area is a mission in itself with the two missionary couples serving under the direction of their president--the Prophet.  There is a white post fence all around it.  The posts are kept bright white; when they need to be replaced the are cut off at ground level and the new one is pounded down on top of the old one until it is secure.  It was told that this is the area where Adam and Eve came to when they left the garden (Independence) and raised their family.  This is also where Adam had his final meeting with a few years before he died with his posterity there.  This is spoken of in Moses and will also be the place where he will hold that final meeting with one million church members, prophets and apostles of the ages where the Savior will come and accept the keys passed back to him.   President Keyes said that on the day his missionaries are to go home, he takes them to Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  They share some time, go into a little building there, sing, "If you Could Hie to Kolob", do a temple session in the Kansas City Temple, and then he takes them to the airport--a very special send-off! He also gives them a copy of 10 pages out of Bruce R. McConkie's Millenial Messiah which talks about Adam-Ondi-Ahman and Adam's role at present. (pp578-588).  I would like to have lingered here for a time to take in this beautiful view and enjoy the spiritual feeling I felt there.

The view here is from near the bottom of the hill overlooking the area.  The two hills, talked about are in top center and right behind the trees.  The white fence goes all around this area.

     On Sunday we were able to attend church near the mission home.  The spirit of missionary work is strongly felt there.  They confirmed a newly baptized single mom and her two daughters.  One of the speakers was a former RLDS church member.  Another recent baptism was of an RLDS woman who was the first "ordained" woman bishop in that church.  Many former members are joining the LDS church.  There were a lot of Islanders in the congregation.  Pres. Keyes said in the late 60's  there was a Tongan tribal leader who had a dream that he needed to bring his tribe of 500 members over to the States and settle in Independence. They did and are now in the third generation.  Many have stayed active, but some have not and they are continually baptizing or activating this third generation.
     We were also able to tour the Visitor's Center.  President Keyes served his mission there and told of the experience he had while attending the dedication by President Joseph Fielding Smith.  He said that hundreds of chairs were set up outside in front of the building.  Just across the street is the RLDS temple with the spiral snail shell on top and off to the right is their dome-topped tabernacle.  On the day of the dedication, President Joseph Fielding Smith came out of the building to begin.  It immediately started raining.  He looked up into the sky and said, "Heavenly Father, I do not want to deal with Satan today!"  He said it then stopped raining.  This rainstorm, he said, was not a light rain, but a good ole Missouri rainstorm which comes down in torrents.  When the rain stopped above them, they could see over to the domed building and still see the rain pouring down over the building and could see behind them the rain pouring down the street.  It was raining all around them.  Pres. Smith spoke, and dedicated the building with the audience staying dry.  When he was done, he turned to walk back into the building and Pres. Keyes said it was just like the sheet of Plexiglas that had been slid over them was now slid back and the rain that had collected came down in bucket loads!  Everyone just looked at each other and smiled because they knew they had just witnessed a miracle.  Today he runs into people on the mission who were there and they just exclaim, "So you were there for the Miracle of the Rain!"
     The Independence temple site, which is the highest spot in the area (Independence is very hilly),
is near the Visitor's Center.  There is a plaque that says that the land was dedicated by Joseph Smith in 1831 for a temple to be built where the Lord will come when He comes again.  The site is owned by one of the RLDS offshoots called The Church of Christ Temple Lot.  There is a small white building on the corner of the lot where they hold their meetings.
      Our last tour was of Liberty Jail.  The church has built a visitor's center over the site where the jail was formerly.  Inside they have a replica of about half of the jail so the audience can look on the inside and see what kind of conditions the Prophet and four of his companions were held in for 5 months.  The revelations in Sections 121 and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants were received there.  They have since taken on new meaning for me.  I could imagine what they went through while being imprisoned there.  How difficult it must have been to be separated from their families and the church.
We were able to attend a fireside that is held monthly in the visitor's center at the jail.  Three newly baptized members bore their testimonies to a room-filled group.  There are always (we were told) many visitors and President and Sister Keyes also spoke and bore their testimonies.  It was a wonderful meeting and sacred experience in this dedicated church site. 

          I hope that as you, my family, read this "travelogue", you will feel my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and what he went through to organize Christ's church.  I felt the spirit of sacrifice that he, his family, and church members experienced to join together to organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and, above all, be able to worship the way they chose to.  I am grateful to be a member and to have ancestors that have been examples of this same sacrifice and faith.