Part 3: Liberty Jail

Less than an hour from Haun's Mill we were at Liberty Jail. With how the day had been going, I couldn't wait to get to Liberty Jail! Such hardship occured at this site but SO MUCH good came from it as well. Just read D&C 121-123 and you will realize that good things came from the experience the prophet had here. Such amazing revelation came from Liberty Jail. It truly was a temple prison, the spirit was there with them the whole time. Another reason why I was so excited to go was to see first hand where the prophet, his brother Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, Caleb Baldwin, and most important to our Ancestry...Alexander McRae. He was Marc's 4th great (I think it was 4) grandpa!!!

 Such a neat experience being where the Prophet and Marc's Grandfather were encarcerated, for no reason at all, for more than 4 months. We listened to the Missionaries tell the story and it was so amazing. All the things the men went through in such HORRIBLE conditions but they were so intune with the spirit and knew that all would be ok. After the little presentation in one room we were able to go see an exact replica of the jail. As we walked into the room where the jail was located, it was hallowed ground. It was as if we were walking into the temple! The spirit was overwhelmingly strong.

 The man sitting in the black jacket is Marc's Grandfather. Before we came here I read up on him and his history. He was an amazing man and it's funny that the kind of man he was, Marc and the guys in his family are VERY similar. :) After his experience with the prophet and the other men in Liberty Jail, he wrote some letters to Deseret News describing some of the behind the scenes happenings in the jail..."Mr. Editor:—In reading the History of Joseph Smith as published in the News last winter, and especially that part of it which relates to his imprisonment in Liberty jail, Missouri, I see there are many interesting facts which are omitted; and as I had the honor of being a fellow prisoner with him, I thought I would write some of those incidents for the satisfaction of any of your readers who may feel interested in them. . ." The letter is really long but there are so many things that he describes that aren't talked about much. Kind of cool!

The jail was so small and to think that all five of those men couldn't stand up straight and how bitter cold it must have been is a testament of how dedicated to the gospel they were. They all could have probably could have denied the church and gotten out of there scotch free but they knew the gospel was true and they all had testimonies. They endured so many awful things there and it was all for the building up of the kingdom. So much faith!!

 I kept wanting to ask the Elder giving us a tour if Marc could hop down in there and get a picture with his grandpa but I was chicken. haha So we got this family picture instead with Alexander McRae in the background.

This was part of a display explaining when the men were there and who was all there.

Wow! What a great experience that was. I will be going back before we move! So amazing. After Liberty Jail it was still only 2:30. Next stop...Independence and Kansas City.