Church History in Missouri

After our funfilled and packed few days in Nauvoo we headed south for Missouri to tour some of the church sites there. First on our list was Adam-ondi-Ahman. I heard it was off the beaten path and it was. Our route took us along some nice country roads and through some really small country towns. We were surrounded by pretty nature filled with lots of rolling hills, lots of trees, and lush green corn fields. This was all nice and "magical" in a way until we started to hear "I'm hungry." We realized that the nice view of rolling hills, groves of trees, and the nice corn fields was not going to satisfy three hungry kids' tummies. We also began to notice that as we went through each town all we would see were a couple of run down gas station with a maw and pa store attached; well that wasn't going to work either. We saw on the map that if we continued on the road that we were on that it would take us to what looked like a decent size town, a town that would have at least a few fast food joints that would appeal to our kids' tummies. However, this would take us away from our route but we saw that if we took a side road that it connected the road we needed to be on and the road we were currently on. So with a good plan in place off we went and after a few minutes we arrived at our destination and found a few good places that our kids were excited about and that Mommy and Daddy could stomach. You know it is a decent town when you see a Wal-Mart across the street.

We continued our journey through the nice country side driving up hills and down hills enjoying the view out our windows. As we were driving through some rough roads we were wondering if we missed a turn, but alas there was the sign pointing to our destination Adam-ondi-Ahman. We got out stretched our legs walked over to the look out space told the kids the purpose of Adam-ondi-Ahman took our pictures of the corn fields that will one day serve a glorious purpose and back in the car we went; but not before we were eaten alive by hungry bugs-I guess they like the smell of burger king that resonated from our bodies. Next on our stop was Far West to see the cornerstones that Joseph Smith placed for the temple that was supposed to be built there. So a quick journey up the road and off a beaten path we arrived at Far West. It was another good place to walk around and stretch our legs. We were able to see the four original cornerstones right where they were placed by the Prophet Joseph Smith as well as a nice monument that the Church has put there. We took our pictures read the plaques and off we went. At this time we decided to head for our hotel and see Liberty Jail and Independence the next day. Our kids were done with Church History for the day and were ready to splash in a nice pool.