Adam-Ondi-Ahman and more!

While it has been hard adjusting to living in Missouri, it has been great to be so close to so many church history sites. Before Sean started school we had the opportunity to visit some of the sites as a family. The first one we saw was Liberty Jail. It was a good reminder of what the earlier saints and leaders went through to restore the gospel. How grateful I am for the many sacrifices they went through for the church.

We then were able to go to the Community of Christ temple in Independence. The temple there was so different then I expected. There really is no comparison to and LDS Temple and the temple of the Community of Christ Church. I was surprised at how many repairs were needed and worn down the furnishings/flooring/ceiling/etc. were. I guess when I hear the phrase "Temple" I automatically imagine a building so clean and completely taken care of out of respect for the Lord, I was shocked at how much work needed to be done on it. The museum there was pretty amazing though. There are so many belongings of Joseph, Emma, and the early church members that it is remarkable. I loved seeing those, but otherwise I wasn't too impressed with the rest of the temple.

My favorite so far though was when we got to go to Adam-Ondi-Ahman. There aren't any special buildings there..it really is just land, but it is beautiful and the spirit there is so sweet and strong. You really can sense how you are on sacred ground, that something great happened there and will happen there. The best thing about it was the experience with Aben though. Earlier in the week, Grandma and Grandpa Rutschke took Aben for a drive and showed him the Kansas City Temple so he learned what Temples are. We got out of the car and started looking around. Aben then looked at me, pointed out to the open land and said, "Look mama, Temple!". I don't know what he saw, but I know he was feeling the same spirit I felt there. I know children recognize the sweet spirit of the Lord, probably better then we do. I am so grateful to be a mother and to be surrounded by children. I love the innocence of children and the constant reminder to be more like them. I love my boys!