Day 5: Far West and Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Here's how my morning started:

• I took a shower, did my best to straighten my hair, despite the Missouri humidity, and dressed in a navy blue shirt and a pair of white pants.
• Mom was still getting herself together, so I offered to get breakfast from the breakfast bar and bring it back to her. She was appreciative.
• I dropped off my suitcase in front of the hotel, where it was loaded on our tour bus.
• I went to the breakfast bar and brought back the following items: two bagels, a Belgian waffle, an omlette, two pieces of bacon, and two cups of orange juice.
• I offered Mom first choice of breakfast foods, and watched her set a cup of juice on the ironing board.
• Mom pulled her suitcase out to take it to the bus.
• The suitcase wheel caught on the ironing board.
• I lunged for the orange juice to keep it from tipping over and spilling on the floor.
• The orange juice spilled all down the front of my white pants.
• I thought of my dad.
• I walked, bow-legged, out to the bus where people were beginning to board, retrieved another pair of pants, and returned to the room, where Mom offered me half a Belgian waffle. I remarked that, in addition to being cold, wet, and sticky, orange juice resembles urine.
• Mom offered to wash out my white pants by hand.

Mornings on this tour start out with "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" from Oklahoma. As a group, we are getting pretty good at it already.

Our first stop was the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a church that split off from ours after the death of Joseph Smith. Since that time, the line of prophets have been direct descendants of Joseph Smith. However, other than a common history, it does not share many resemblances with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today. The place we went in is called a temple.

It promotes peace, and, as far as I can tell, diversity. I snapped this picture because I found it amusing, and mildly offensive:

They are really into Japanese stuff there, as evidenced by the Japanese couple, the Japanese rock garden, and the Japanese architect who designed the temple.

Here is a shot of the inside of the temple:

It is modeled after a nautilus shell.

I never got a clear answer on what this room is used for in terms of meetings, but this man came in as we were leaving and began a rousing organ solo.

When we got back on the bus, we did a drive by of the Harry S. Truman home.

Our next stop was the Far West temple site.

Here is one of the cornerstones that was laid by the Twelve Apostles before members of the church were driven out of Missouri by angry mobs and an extermination order. There is no temple there. Yet.

Look at how green everything there is!

Our next stop was Adam-Ondi-Ahman, which means "the place of God where Adam dwelt." It is believed to be the place where Adam and Eve went when they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

The valley below is the future site of a gathering of 144,000 priesthood holders where Christ will appear.

Our last stop of the day was to Jamesport, Missouri, which is a community that has Amish, Mennonites, and others living in it. We ate at an Amish restaurant, shopped at a candle store, and, I am ashamed to say, bought five pieces of pie, four cinnamon rolls, and two cookies.

Here is a shot of an Amish man we passed on our way out of town. It reminded me of my mission, which had many Mennonite communities in it. It was always kind of a bummer to tract up and down streets where horses had just been. Look closely at this picture and you can probably guess why.

That's all for today. I have a pair of pants I need to wash out tonight.

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.

Day 2: Las Vegas

I was awakened about 6 a.m. Saturday morning by the tiny voice of my tiny niece Brooklyn, who wanted to go outside and play with the garden hose. For about an hour, Brooklyn, her mom, my dad, and I all sat outside while she watered the concrete, the bushes, and our feet.

Later, we went bowling. Brooklyn, with the aid of one of those ramps and some bumpers, beat both Maria and I.

After napping, we all headed over to this amazing sale at the Banana Republic outlet store in downtown Las Vegas.

Brooklyn and I sat in the back and danced. Like her cousin, Sammie, Brooklyn loves to dance.

At night, we lit some fireworks. Apparently, even something as simple as sparklers are illegal in southern California, so we bought a few for Brooklyn to try out.

However, it seemed to me like her dad and grandpa were the ones who really enjoyed them.

Here is a shot of my dad.

The device in his hand is primarily used to pick up dog waste. However, he discovered it was also the perfect way to handle used fireworks. Maybe this picture is only funny if you know my dad. Maybe it's really only funny to me.

Day 1: The Albuquerque Airport

With my dissertation successfully defended, I will embark on a two-week tour of LDS Church history and U.S. History sites across the country, beginning on Monday.

Today, however, I am in Albuquerque, laid over on my way to Las Vegas to spend a couple of days with my family before the tour starts. As I did when I went to Japan, I will do my best to document this trip as it happens, so that those of you who follow this sort of thing can experience it as it happens.

So, right now, I am in the airport. And, thus far, here are the things I have noticed:

• A man on the other side of the aisle from me reading Hold Me Tight, by Sue Johnson. Middle-aged, married. Some kind of businessman.
• An older woman wearing a blue duster, giant rhinestone earrings, and a huge bun on the top of her head, who was on my flight from Lubbock. I don't believe in taking pictures of strangers for the purpose of mocking them, but I was tempted.
• The Albuquerque airport itself provides many clues as to why Texans have a general disregard for the state of New Mexico. That's all I will say.
• While, in general, I think we as a society have found all kinds of ways to distance ourselves from one another, occasionally, I still hear people who don't know one another talking on airplanes and in airports, and it gives me hope that we might make it as a society after all. As I type this on my laptop with my headphones shoved in my ears.

The Beginning of the End

Today, I defended my dissertation. I am now officially Megan Oka, Ph.D.

Here is a small snippet of what my day was like:

One of my committee members, Dr. Alan Reifman, writes songs to help his students remember statistical concepts. When I had him as a professor, he began working on "Oka-Notion." Before my defense started this afternoon, he put this on the projector and we all sang along.

Every dissertation defense should start and end with karaoke and have cupcakes in between. Many more people would be getting Ph.D.s.

Almost done

Today, I submitted my dissertation to my committee. If all goes according to plan, I will be a doctor a week from Wednesday.

P.S. Still baking cupcakes. I just haven't had time to blog about them.

So Weird...

Last night, I pulled the BYU undergraduate class schedule up on the Internet. My name is listed as an instructor.

As a child, I never dreamed of going to BYU. When I did go to BYU, there would be times when I would find myself walking east across campus, toward Y Mountain and wonder to myself, "How did I get here?"

Last night, I found myself asking that question again.

Life is funny.