Three and a half years ago, during the opening session of the LDS Church's October Session of their semi-annual General Conference, the President of the Church, Thomas Spencer Monson, stood at the pulpit and made a historic announcement. Well, historic in my opinion. I will never forget the feeling I got when, as he was reading through the list of new temples, he spoke these words: "And also a new temple in the greater Kansas City area." Following that site, he announced a temple in Rome, Italy, which drew an audible gasp from the congregation, but I was too fixated on those previous five words: in the greater Kansas City area to care about Rome. What a strange way to announce a temple, I thought. And then it hit me--the greater Kansas City area! That could be in Jackson county. Could the prophet have just indiscreetly announced a temple in Jackson County!? My heart started racing in my chest. I immediately picked up the phone to consult my Dad on the matter, and then went to the church's temple site to get more information. By that afternoon, they had posted a message on that web page indicating that it would not be the Jackson County temple, but during those few hours of uncertainty, I feel like I was changed forever. One day, I knew that announcement would in fact come; however, that day wasn't destined to be quite yet. Whenever it comes, though, I think I will still find myself eagerly waiting and watching.
Consequently, some three year later, when I realized that the greater Kansas City area temple--which ended up being a temple in Liberty, Missouri--was having an open house only six hours south of our Rochester, Minnesota home, I felt desperate to make a trip to attend it. How it was going to work out, I had no idea. Nick didn't have two consecutive days off in sight, but finally I determined that I needed to be there badly enough that I would simply take the kids and go on my own. Then, as if heavenly inspiration dawned on me, the idea came into my mind for Nick to switch call with someone and our whole family could make the trip on his post-call day. It would mean departing at 7:00am sharp, a six hour drive down, lunch, our open house walk-through, and then a six hour drive straight back, arriving late into the night, but hey, I really wanted to go. And it was even more than that, I felt like I was supposed to go. Miraculously, the call swap fell into place, and before I knew it, we were on our way.
The drive down was long, but thanks to google's usual over-estimating of time, we had a few minutes to spare before we had to drive to the Liberty Temple. In our free hour we took the lunch we had brought with us, and decided to have a picnic on some pretty sacred ground--the beautiful and wooded Adam-Ondi-Ahman. It had been a long time since Nick and I had been there, and the first time that any of our kids had made the trip--and they were pretty thrilled to come.
While there, we talked about the history of this special ground, strolled down the quiet walkways,
paused to eat lunch and take a few pictures,
and pondered on the meaning of this place. It seems highly possible to me that the next time we will return here will be for a certain top-secret meeting. If we are invited, that is. That, like this place's history, was an equally thrilling thought.
Our time at Adam-Ondi-Ahman was brief, and then we had to get into the car to head over to the temple for the open house. This would be the first temple any of my children had ever been inside, while in their mortal body anyway. And it was a day I will never forget.
The temple was absolutely beautiful, and after watching a short video on temples, the reverent workers helped the kids donn the temple booties and we all entered the into the holy walls.
As we walked through the doors, the first thing that everyone saw was a giant picture of a tree--which I immediately supposed to be the tree of life. After talking with the workers; however, we were told that this in fact was an olive tree, and represented peace. All through the temple there were representations of peace and healing--almost as though it was the Lord's way of saying that he was forgiving and healing this place where so much persecution haunted the early saints. The spirit was so strong as we took the kids through, and it was evident by their hushed tones and awed expressions that they could feel something here as well. In fact, afterwards, Maddi filled out a comment card which Nick swiped after she turned it in. It said:
Overall, it was an amazing experience, and I will never forget the chill that shot through me when, as we talked with one of the workers, I learned that the temple interior was all made from wood from the great white oak trees of Adam-Ondi-Ahman. It was as though that holy land had found it's embodiment within the walls of this special temple. What a cool idea! What an awesome place!
Overall, it was an amazing experience, and I will never forget the chill that shot through me when, as we talked with one of the workers, I learned that the temple interior was all made from wood from the great white oak trees of Adam-Ondi-Ahman. It was as though that holy land had found it's embodiment within the walls of this special temple. What a cool idea! What an awesome place!
Afterwards we snapped a few photos, and then made a brief stop at two other church sites for a quick look.
First, to the site of the Haun's Mill Massacre, all of our first trip to this location.
And then to the temple site at Far West. As we stood and read the inscriptions written on the stones there, we were pleased to find that we were there on the anniversary of Joseph's announcement that a temple would stand here, found in D&C 115--
Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;
Consequently, it was also the anniversary of the laying of the cornerstones and dedication of the site, exactly one year later. A pretty special time to visit, if you ask me.
After these quick stops, we piled back into the car for the long trip home. I never considered this trip to be the crazy adventure that everyone who knew we made the trip thought it was. Instead, it was like a tender mercy to me. I was so grateful to have gotten to see that temple, the second in Missouri history, and the one with the closest proximity to where the sacred Jackson County temple complex will be built. I was also grateful for another chance to visit and stand on such holy and hallowed ground--made so by the early saints and some of my own progenitors. I'm sure we'll be back here sooner or later, but in what context, I guess we won't find out until we come.
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