Temple Lot

From LDS.org:

At a certain place in Independence, Missouri, a rectangle of land is surrounded by an amphitheater, a visitor's center, a peace plaza, a mission office, hundreds of parking spaces, three meetinghouses for congregational worship, and the headquarters for an international church. 

It is 300 feet by 200 feet, and has nothing on it but grass, a few trees, six small stone markers, and a sign.

The buildings are operated by three churches: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Church of Christ, and Community of Christ.  Members of all three churches feel a special attachment to that little rectangle of land.  We believe it was once dedicated for the construction of a temple in the center place of Zion, in preparation for the Savior's millennial reign.

We do not know exactly how, when, or where the words in D&C 57:2-3 will be fulfilled, but we do know that that rectangle of land is sacred.  It has been dedicated to the Lord.  The Lord's revelations about that land - and the principles of gospel living that are woven into those revelations - are part of His people's past, present, and future.

Independence Visitor's Center

The Independence Visitor's Center is built on a portion of the land that the Church purchased to establish the center place of Zion.

I finished lunch earlier (you can read about that over at 1000Places) than expected and decided to visit here sooner than expected.  I was able to watch a couple of videos about the translation of the BoM and then had my own personal sister missionary to show me around the exhibits. 

The Church has done some amazing things with the experience here.  There is a little outside of a cabin with benches (and some sad looking mannequins) where we chatted about what I knew about that period of history (and where I confirmed that I was a member, just not a very good one).  I like these individualized tours where we can just informally chat and I don't feel like I'm being proselytized. 

Once the cabin cleared we went inside this awesome little interactive cabin.  I loved this exhibit.  First of all, the cabin is decorated in a way that totally reminded me of the cabin at Palmyra.  Second, they play a little audio clip, but the cabin windows are really screens that change to reflect the different seasons, times of day, etc.  So when they are talking about winter in Independence there are snow covered trees in the windows, while they talk about a era of city building - a barn appears in the window. 

The missionary told me that they were trying to focus on the positive aspects of the Saints time in Missouri and not only dwell on the horror that was coming.  I think it is powerful to think about how much good happened there, how many people were committed to the gospel, how they really felt this was their place and how much work and cooperation went on before things got terrible.

We also discussed about how this scenario still plays out today.  Of course, the natives were upset about a whole bunch of outsiders were moving into their community.  I see this sentiment over and over in Texas.  Don't move in and take away our status quo.  We don't want you voting together, or doing things that change our way of life, etc.  And for the early Saints in those established communities it was the same.  People are afraid of change, and when you have a lot of privilege or authority people are so afraid of losing any of that power.

After the cabin exhibit, you step out into a replica of the printing office where the first BoMs were printed.  We talked about how these things were real and how at that time the level of effort required to produce one book was so enormous that losing a printing press was devastating.  We also talked a little bit about one of my favorite quotes from Ender's Shadow which, paraphrased, it:

God takes all our actions and uses them for good.  So even the evil or unjust actions, are eventually turned and used for His purposes.  This can be incredibly uncomfortable in the meantime.

I like to re-frame Emma Smith's place in history with this in mind.  I was always taught that she turned against the Church and was to be reviled, but in actuality her staying in Nauvoo, allowed for the preservation of so many church sites and other artifacts.  We have many of these places today because Emma Smith chose to stay and her sons chose to run their own church.  Her decisions may not have been righteous, but that doesn't mean they weren't used for the Lord's purposes.

Also, I'd had fragment of a hymn stuck in my head for about a week, and could only remember one line. "And Jesus will say to all Israel, "Come home."" I figured it was stuck in my head because I constantly joke that I need to move to Independence so I don't have to walk very far in the coming apocalypse;  I'll already be at ground zero for the Saints.

Well, while we were listening to the printing press presentation the background music was this song .  THE PRINTING PRESS GUY WROTE THAT HYMN!  (W.W. Phelps, Now Let us Rejoice)

The last presentation was a quick clip of (honestly, I don't remember, but it made me all teary-eyed).  And my missionary and I started walking back upstairs.  She told me that this had been the first tour she'd done on her own, and I have to say.  A+

2018 Week by Week

2018 hasn't exactly started with a bang, it has started with 2 months of craziness and disruption that will hopefully settle itself down for a relatively quiet year.  But this is how my 2018 has gone so far....week by week:

Week 1: Jan 1 - 6
I was still on holiday vacation, having a great time, but not really putting in a lot of adulting.  Also, I left Reno with a major cold and 1 sinus pill that I bummed off T3. Transferring at the Las Vegas airport, we landed at a terminal or concourse that I wasn't familiar with and the connecting gate was literally a mile away.  So I trudged the whole way over there only to find out that the connecting gate had been reassigned to the gate next to the one we flew in to.  /sigh.  I've never wanted a ride on those airport carts so badly before.  I thought my sinus cavities would explode.

Week 2: Jan 7 - 13
I love my nubbins, but I do not love when they share their cold with me.  I came back from vacation so sick, and spent this week "working" from the comfort of my bed.

Week 3: Jan 14 - 20
MLK, Jr. Day was this week, and I was still getting over that cold/flu combo so another slow paced and not a real work week.

Week 4: Jan 21 - 27
I was all better so this was a full week of work.  I'd also received a jury summons that started the next Monday, and I was convinced I would have to appear.  So between 3 previous weeks of not really accomplishing much and my gut telling me I'd miss at least 1 day of work the next week I really packed a lot in.  This also meant that this was a super stressful, no good, very bad, terrible week.

Week 5: Jan 28 - Feb 3
Yep, that jury duty, turned into jury selection, turned into a day spent as Juror #15, which was officially changed to Juror #7 once we were officially seated. A week of undercover operations, unreliable witnesses, forgetful federal agents (who, by the way, are not professional counters), a smirking defendant, one "particular" sharply dressed attorney, one grandstanding DOJ lawyer with a flair for the theatrical, one really gluttonous jurror, and a judge with a chess clock were the backdrop of this week.

Week 6: Feb 4 - 10
Oh, you really thought the trial was only going to last a few days.  LOL, still here!  On our second Friday, we officially reported that we couldn't reach a unanimous decision and a mistrial was declared.  They retry the case in March, and I'm curious to see how it turns out then.

Week 7: Feb 11 - 17:
On the heels of an exhausting 2 weeks of jury duty, I developed a severe toothache over the weekend. So on Monday, I was frantically calling my dentist to see if she could see me immediately.  Answer yes, another half day gone from work, only to be told I needed to have fillings in my 2 back teeth removed so she could figure out what was really going on.  (One was leaking, and the other was blocking the view of the "something" showing up on the x-ray.)

So I went back on Tuesday and spent approximately one million hours having an emergency root canal.  (Ok, really it was only like 4-5 hours.)  It was again exhausting and I was in so much pain.  I will say she was really quick with additional anesthesia which makes her a hero among dentists.

Quick side note, on Monday she prescribed an antibiotic that I needed to be on for 24 hours before coming back, and something for the pain.  She started writing me an Rx for Norco and I just laughed because:

1. Opioids don't work well for me.  Hydrocodone and its friends do absolutely nothing for the pain, but have the added bonus of making me feel like my skin is literally on fire - or maybe that a million ants that are on fire are crawling all over me.  I freaking do not understand how people get addicted to them.  They are the worst.  (Also, I do understand that most people have a very different reaction to taking them, but seriously, they are the worst....for me.)
2. That jury I just spent 2 exhausting weeks on?  It was for an alleged hydrocodone/carisoprodol pill mill.

Week 8: Feb 18-24

Hopefully I can make it through a full week of actual adult productivity.  But also coming up, we have the Texas primary election, my car registration is due (so I have to find some time for an inspection), I need to have a permanent crown put on that tooth, Hamilton tickets in Houston go on sale on Friday, I'm planning trips to Kansas City and NYC, and I might be moving in a couple of months.

Oh yeah, and the Winter Olympics are happening which means I am very invested in things like curling and biathlon.  

5 Things - Chicago

1.  I can't believe I didn't get a chance to mention this in any specific post, but the Chicago city flag is everywhere.

• The three white stripes represents the 3 sides of the city (north, west, and south)
• The top blue stripe represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River
• The bottom blue stripe represents the South Branch of the river and the canal
• The four six-pointed stars represent major historical events in Chicago history: Establishment of Fort Dearborn, Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and 2 World Fairs/Expos (1893 & 1933-34

2. While Hamilton was the reason for this trip at this time, there were also several things on The List to see in Chicago. Those will be appearing on 1000 Places over the next couple of weeks.

3. The food in Chicago is really top-notch. And we didn't even get to half the places to eat, and now they've opened a Nutella cafe, which means I definitely need to go back and try that.

4. Lower Wacker Drive will haunt me forever.

5. Chicago was safer than I thought it would be, it was friendlier than I thought it would be. I really, really had a great time there.

Cloud Gate

Ya'll know the Cloud Gate; it's the giant reflective bean near the Art Institute.  It was one of those things that we had to see, just because you kind of have to see it.

First Glimpse


I think it was On/Off bus, but don't remember for sure, but somewhere we got a certificate for a free backpack at this little shop by the bean.











Cort and I played a game of "Where's Waldo?" with our reflections.  I am somewhere in these photos.

Adler Planetarium

I love a good planetarium, and this sign totally made me want to visit.


I mean, if it's the least I could then, I better go touch it:



You guys, I can now say that I've been inside a meteorite!



Our pass let us choose 2 shows to attend, and we decided on Planet Nine and Skywatch Live.

I though Planet Nine was super fascinating.  It was nominally about Pluto, but it talked about how Pluto's orbit actually suggests another true planet is out there in our solar system.  The theater for this one was a bit dinky with plastic chairs set up like we were attending a lecture, although the were leaned back so we could see the dome.

Skywatch Live was in a proper theater with plush chairs.  This means that I don't know what happened in this show because I took a nap instead.  (I didn't sleep very well on this vacation.)  You'll probably have to read Cort's blog to find out about the show.  :)

Adler also has an old school planetarium as well.  In the olden days you used to ride this little car up inside a sphere with little holes in it.  The sphere then spins around and it looks like your in outer space.  I had no idea this was how it was done.






We used the Hop On/Hop Off bus for transport basically this whole day, which meant we also got to see entirety of the tour, although without much hopping off.

We'd talked about also visiting the Shedd Aquarium, but didn't have enough time.  I still like to visit, next time I'm in Chicago, for sure.

Battle of the Observation Decks Part Two: Sears Tower/Willis Tower and The Ledge

After visiting Chicago 360, Cort and I decided that we should really wait until after dark to visit Sears Tower so we could see the city all lit up.  Again, Chicago-Go Pass for the win, we were able to skip the main line and fast track it to the elevator line.



Fun facts about Sears/Willis Tower:

• 110 Stories
• 104 Elevators
• Elevators travel 1200 feet per minute

Observation Deck Facts:

• 1354 feet to the Skydeck
• 412 meters
• 103 floor up

So I was really, really sunburned after 2 days of boat excursions. You can definitely tell in this photo.  In fact, it turned out to be second degree burns, and made for the week after the trip quite an adventure.

The Ledge are basically glass boxes that jut out from the side of the building.  It was really poorly managed the night we were there.  There were no clear lines, and people were not especially considerate of other people, and the staff were basically non-existent.  

There was an extended family of, like, 20 people who were taking pictures of every possible combination of their group.  Some of their group would leave the ledge and then push their way back in to take more pictures, and overall it was just really frustrating and rude.  And, as mentioned, the staff were around, but not actually facilitating viewing at all.  Kind of a mess. 

We did spend a lot of time waiting our tour chatting with a couple of ladies behind us.  One was from Chicago and was there with her visiting friend.  We ended up taking a stand, and basically telling the rude family their time was up, not letting those who left back in, and pushing our way out on the ledge whenever they left an opening.  They took the pics of Cort and I, and we took photos for them.  

This is what happens when you are taking a picture and someone jumps up and down inside the Ledge.

Overall, I would say the winner of the Observation Deck Battle is John Hancock/360 Chicago. by a hair, though.  There isn't really much of a difference in experience unless you really want to do do TILT.  The Ledge was definitely a disappointment and not worth a special trip to see. The city, however, is beautiful regardless of which deck from which you observe it.