Saturday, August 20, 2016 - Bed & Breakfast, Adam-Ondi- Ahman, Far West, Liberty Jail

Yesterday evening we arrived at The Marydale Inn Bed & breakfast, in Jameson, MO. What a great place to spend the night! The home was built as a private residence but with the intention of it doubling as a bed and breakfast at the same time. So it wasn’t a typical residential home, each bedroom had its own bath. The construction of the house spared no expense in the fine woodwork used throughout. For breakfast we were served a meal like a five star hotel. The property is over 700 acres and includes its own private lake.

Our day of church history sites started with the beautiful Adam-Ondi-Ahman. It lies on the Grand River in northern Missouri, about 70 miles north of Kansas City. On the highest elevation of Spring Hill, 124 feet above Grand River, a temple block was dedicated in 1839. No cornerstones were laid or temple constructed, however, as just days later, the Saints were ordered to leave the settlement. The Church has since acquired the site and much of the surrounding area, which is leased to local farmers.

The name Adam-Ondi-Ahman is an English rendition of a phrase from the pure Adamic language, which means "Adam in the presence of God." The valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman was revealed to Joseph Smith to be the place where Adam blessed his posterity after being driven from the Garden of Eden.

Elder and Sis. Van Horn served here a couple of years ago so they are very familiar with everything there is to see and do here. It was great having them as a tour guides. They are very knowledgeable about everything; they even took us to the back of the property where the public is not allowed to see some of the hidden treasures of this precious and sacred part of church history.

I don't have time or space to tell you everything there is to know about this place. You will have to research Adam-Ondi-Ahman on your own to learn all of the rich church history that is here.

Our next stop was at the "Far West" temple site. Sis. Johnson and I have never been here before so this was a real treat for us. This site is another of the sites dedicated for the construction of a temple that never took place. But here, in Far West there were cornerstones laid and they are still here today.

Our last stop was at the very sacred and hallowed Liberty Jail in Liberty, Missouri where Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum and other church leaders were wrongfully imprisoned for about 5 months (from December 1, 1838 to April 6, 1839) during the 1838 Mormon War. While in the jail, he received three very significant revelations that are included in the Doctrine and Covenants today. A person cannot be in this hallowed and historic site and not feel the power of the Holy Spirit testify of the sacred significance of this place.