Church History Tour Part 2

This month our family had the opportunity to go on Part 2 of the Westra Family Church History Trip! Those who participated were Rick, Wendy, Jared, Josh, Jenna, Derek, Ani, and Cayson! Part 1 of this tour was last summer. You can find that post HERE! We had each of the kids do a "write-up" of what we did each day. Jenna wrote about the first day...

Saturday, June 29 (written by Jenna):  Mom, Dad, Josh, and I stayed at a hotel last night in Las Vegas. We woke up at 3:30 am to fly out of Vegas into Salt Lake. There we met up with the Westras and Jared. Then me and Ani bought snacks and then we boarded the plane to Kansas City, Missouri. After landing we got our rental cars and got lunch at a place called Hiboys (which wasn’t the best food).

Afterwards we went to the visitor's center in Independence Missouri. All of the other historic sites (such as the Community of Christ Temple) were closed, but we still walked around them and had gospel discussions and then went to Liberty Jail. We learned about what took place in the jail and all of the hardships that lasted for four months. Liberty Jail was a horrible place and big trial for Joseph Smith and the other prisoners. After seeing the jail we sat in the lobby and talked about what had happened and asked questions.

Next we went to Corner Cafe for dinner, and it was great! They had to move our seats because of a leak and felt bad so they gave us free desserts! Then we also went through the McDonald’s drive through, and Derek got a chocolate shake. When we got back to the hotel Rella, Cayson, Ani, and Derek went and caught fireflies, which was super fun!

Lastly we all went to Walmart and got candy, and me and Ani got matching Bluey shirts. When we got back to the hotel we all went to sleep.

Sunday, June 30 (written by Rella): Today we woke up and went to the local ward in Cameron, Missouri! After sacrament meeting, we went back to our hotel, Red Roof Inn, packed up our stuff, and drove to the Far West Temple Site! There we talked about the history and wrote in our journals. After that we headed to Adam-Ondi-Ahman, which kinda just looked like a big field but it was so cool to learn about it during Jared’s lesson! 

For a late lunch we went to Murray’s Buffet and Grill in Chillicothe, and then we finished driving to Nauvoo. Our new inn, the Willard Richards Bed and Breakfast, is so cute and is full of historical stuff which is fun! A bunch of us went to Dollar General and a gas station to find some dinner options, where we got microwave dinners. These would have been great but we realized once we got back that we don’t have a microwave here. 

Finally, we went to a pageant about eternal families which was good, and they sang some classic songs which was cool! Overall it’s been a fun and spiritual day!

Far West, Missouri

Despite threats of violence to stop them, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor and other apostles and church leaders gathered in Far West, Missouri to lay the cornerstone of a temple and depart for their mission to England.

“And next spring let them depart to go over the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel, the fulness 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.” Doctrine and Covenants 118:4-5 

(Wendy): Rick taught all of us about this experience and explained how the apostles and church leaders risked their lives in order to follow the prophet and fulfill this prophesy. After his lesson he asked us to what lengths we would go to in order to follow the prophet of God. He then had us go to a spot alone and write in our journals on the subject. I read through some President Nelson's recent messages and wrote down some things that I need to do in order to better follow the prophet. 

The saints sacrificed their safety and sometimes even their own life in order to follow the prophet. We have been asked to sacrifice our time. This can seem difficult in our busy lives, but it is so minute compared to what the saints went through! Surely we can give up our time in order to attend the temple, do family history work, study the scriptures, and minister to others. This was a great reminder for me! 

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

The kids had loads of deep questions as we discussed the Savior's Second Coming to this location! What an amazing time that will be! 

We all agreed that Murray's Grill and all-you-can-eat Buffet hit the spot! And they had lots of gluten-free options, which was a big plus! 

We ran into someone who reminded us of Grandpa Westra and so Derek snuck a picture! 🤣

The historical Willard Richards Inn was SO cute!! It was also really close to everything. It was the perfect place to stay! (The only downside is that we didn't have access to a kitchen and so we had to go out every meal). They did keep it stocked with snacks and drinks though, which was nice. The young couple managing the place for the summer just happened to be one of the guys that Jared mentored at FSY! Small world! 

We realized that the big Nauvoo Pageant isn't playing until next week, so that was a little disappointing that we would miss that. But the upside of that is that Nauvoo was not crowded at all while we were there. From what I have heard, it is VERY crowded during the couple of weeks the pageant is running. There were still other shows that we were able to see. Tonight's show was called, "Our Story Goes On." They had a variety of songs, such as Broadway tunes, Disney, Popular music etc. and tied them all together through a loose story of a couple getting married and having a baby and then the baby grows up (with ups and downs) and then the story goes full circle when the child also gets married and has a baby. The show was pretty good, but we liked the young performing missionaries better and went  to their shows throughout the week. 

Monday, July 1 (written by Cayson): Hey everybody! Cayson here doing the daily report, and today was the best day! We did a cool wagon ride this morning with Ray and Richie (the horses), which allowed us to see the main sites at Nauvoo. After that, we visited the smith family homestead and Joseph and Emma's mansion house, which had a hotel attached to it when they lived there, but that part is no longer there. However, you can still see the original foundations of the hotel section and other buildings in Nauvoo. 

After lunch, we went to the Blacksmith and saw how they made horseshoes, attached to the blacksmith was the Wainwright (the person who makes wagon wheels, like how a cobbler makes shoes). We then visited the home of a gunsmith, which I really liked because they had lots of guns on display, but one little girl there repeatedly expressed how boring she thought it was. The last thing we did today was a live show called Sunset on the Mississippi, which showcased performing missionaries who danced, sang, and played instruments. That was super cool! That concludes our day.

Tuesday, August 2 (written by Ani): 

Today we got to sleep in a bit and we all went down for breakfast. my dad gave a lesson about our ancestor elam cheney. we learned about how he was alive during the time of the restoration. joseph smith probably knew him by his name which is really cool. then we went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. it was a really amazing experience, they talked about how these ancestors are very excited and grateful. the temple president and his wife told a cool story about one of their senior missionaries. i guess he was doing family history, and one night he was woken up by words. as he started to write them down, he realized they rhymed and had a melody. it was a song from beyond the veil, and the person was saying “i’ve accepted the gospel, and i need you to come find me.” it was cool.  then we went home and relaxed for a while. we went out to lunch.

we drove for a bit to carthage jail. they told us many stories like how the family who lived there realized how the latter-day saints were good and moved them to a better room, but then had to move them back to the prison for their safety. it sounds like joseph and hyrum smith knew they were going to die. they sent some of their friends to go do things for them, probably for their safety. in the jail it was dark and it would’ve been very uncomfortable. when we walked in the room where joseph and hyrum smith died, it was like my heart dropped and i'm pretty sure everyone else felt the same. it was very interesting to learn about it, but it was also very gloomy and sorrowful. we got out of the building and talked for a minute about the events that happened, then we wrote in our journals.

we stopped at dairy queen and talked for a bit. dad was telling us all about how he met mom, it was super cute. then both cars left and our car went to a thrift store. we were there for a while and then we started driving back. when we were driving back my dad pulled over and we looked for frogs. they found one, and a snake, and even found an otter! 

tonight there was a huge thunderstorm and lots of lightning. we were going to go to the trail of hope, but it was raining so hard that we just stayed home. the jensen kids all went and ran in the rain. i guess they don’t get a lot of rain in st. george. tomorrow the jensen’s will go to chicago and we’ll go to st. louis.

This picture is of Rick and Wendy with Derek Furch. Elder and Sister Furch are currently serving a mission as the directors for the young performing missionaries in Nauvoo. They are certainly doing an amazing job! Derek was also Rick’s director of the Sunburst Singers in college. Sunburst Singers was big part of Rick's college experience, and so it was fun to meet with them and his wife even invited our family over for lunch before we left Nauvoo on the last day we were here.

 

Wednesday August 3 (by Josh): This morning we checked out of the Willard Richards Inn and then started the day by visiting a statue of Joseph and Hyrum riding horses, right outside the Nauvoo temple. There we talked about all the saints who were endowed in the old Nauvoo temple before the trek west, and the importance of endowments. 

After that we went to the 70's hall and the young performing missionaries performed a short play about the first mission voyage to England. Some of the elders who went were Brigham young, John Taylor, Heber C. Kimball, and Wilford Woodruff. 

After that we walked along the trail of hope and read some experiences from the early saints when they were forced to leave Nauvoo and begin the trek west. It was a really cool experience and I'm really glad that we were able to visit all those places! Overall, this has been a great trip and testimony builder. Thanks Grandma!!! 

After the Trail of Hope we all said goodbye to the Westras before they headed to the airport for home. The Jensens had lunch with the Furches and then drove to Chicago for a couple days of fun before heading home! The Church History Tour was very rewarding! We are grateful for Rick for putting if all together, and for everyone who helped teach, and for Grandma and Grandpa for funding it so that we could all go!