Day 4: Independence and Liberty

Well, we made it.

I will admit, it was tense for a few minutes.

But my mom and I successfully got from Las Vegas to Kansas City, Missouri in one piece. Our luggage got there, too, and we managed to find our tour group.

We had a quick lunch at Panera and, to no one's surprise, were the last people on the bus headed to Independence. We hit the ground running on our first day in Missouri. Here is a sampling of what we saw.

In a small area in Independence, there is the Church of Christ Headquarters (Hedrickite Church) the Community of Christ Headquarters (the Reorganized Latter-day Saints) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visitors' center (the Mormons).

Our first stop was at the Church of Christ.

This is where the temple site for the Independence Temple, which was never built, was designated. It is owned by the Hedrikite Church, or the Church of Christ, as they are formally called. This is not to be confused with the Church of Christ that is all over in west Texas. But it is definitely confusing.

The Hedrikite Church split off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when the original church changed its name and added the "Latter-day Saints" part. The man who gave us a tour was an apostle in the church, called the Church of Christ, officially.

This is what the RLDS Temple looks like. They were closed when we went there the first time, so we had to go back the next day. More pictures to follow.

Our last stop was Liberty Jail. It's a pretty great name for a jail. This is where the Prophet Joseph Smith and four other men were imprisoned for 4 1/2 months.

Here is a picture of the rebuilt Liberty Jail. As you can see, there are mannequins representing the five men in the jail. The mannequin standing up is Hyrum Smith. His head touches the ceiling. I'm sure they put the mannequins in there so people get a sense of how small it was, but it made the experience feel a little like Disneyland.

We came home that night and I submitted my dissertation. Thank goodness for hotel rooms with Internet.