Last Day of our Journey

Day 5: We drove down to Adam-Ondi-Ahman in Missouri. This is where we believe we will all meet when Christ comes again. 

Parker was so happy to be out of the car!

There isn't much to see, but it was sure beautiful country!

I love that he wanted to ride on McKay's shoulders with his hands in the air and you can't tell in the picture, but he bounced up and down the whole time!

Our next stop was to Liberty Jail where the prophet Joseph was for months before being sent to Carthage  Jail before he was martyred. The original jail was torn down, the inside this building, the church made an exact replica of what the jail was like.

My heart ached for the men that had to be confined to such awful circumstances. One of the men (and I cannot remember his name) was 6' 7" and could not stand for seven months while in Liberty Jail. When he was released and later made it to the Salt Lake Valley, he was never able to stand up straight for the rest of his life due to back problems from Liberty Jail. They talked about how Joseph, even in the  terrible conditions of being in jail, never ceased to pray and receive revelation. He prayed for the Saints and for their hardships in crossing the plains. Much that was written in the Doctrine and Covenants was written while he was in Liberty Jail. I wanted to share this quote from Joseph Smith while in Liberty Jail. This was taken from a talk given by President Henry B. Eyring:“O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?

“How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?”2

The Lord’s reply has helped me and can encourage us all in times of darkness. Here it is:

“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

“Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

“Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.”

They said the walls in the jail were 4' thick so that there was no way that anyone could escape. The summers were terribly hot and the winters were miserably cold. Going on this trip has completely changed my life and my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that the Gospel has been restored to the earth and that Christ is the head of our Church. I know that he is our older brother and our Savior. I know that Joseph Smith did in fact see God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. I cannot deny the feelings that I have that this is true. The Spirit is the ONLY one that can let us each know this for ourselves. I feel so blessed that I have the Gospel in my life. God lives and He knows us each individually. I am so grateful for my pioneer ancestors and for the the sacrifices that they made to bring the Gospel into our lives and for the legacy they left behind. I am grateful for the freedoms that I have to be able to share my feelings about God and my testimony that He lives.

To end our journey, I had to post pictures of Parker just before we headed for the airport. He was able to play and get his energy out before our four hour flight home.

He was our little trooper!

Hope you enjoyed our amazing journey!