Week 34: I'm Not in Kansas Anymore
Dear Loved Ones,
I have been transferred out of Kansas and into Independence!
It feels weird now, being in the state my call letter named. I'm thrilled to be serving in the center of Zion! I've long wanted to be in a visitors' center and prayed to come here. Back in 2016, when I was traveling through here as part of a church history stud abroad, I had an experience that seems in hindsight like a clue that I would eventually come here. I was reminded of this experience when I brought someone I was teaching to the Independence for a tour a few weeks ago. I fully expected to end up here. I won't mention that experience here, but I'll talk about another one I had.
One of my favorite parts of the tour I'm learning to give is a video at the end about the growth of the church. It shows this black and white picture of the Salt Lake Temple under construction with scaffolding all around the towers. I tear up a lot when I see it. After I was barred from serving, I went on my Nauvoo Summer Study program because it was the closest thing I could do to a mission. One of our first stops was the Sacred Grove. I figured that if there was any place on Earth where I could get an answer about serving a mission, it was there.
I stayed kneeling in the dirt for over an hour, never mind the lecture I was supposed to come out of the forest for. I didn't get my answer. But the next day, we went to the Whitmer Farm. They showed us a video that is identical or at least similar to the one I show now. As that picture of the temple construction came on screen, the words came to my mind, "You are called to build up the kingdom."
If I had given that answer to myself as words of comfort, I would have thought, "You are going on a mission." Not "build up the kingdom." That's how I knew it was a true answer.
My other favorite part of the tour is being able to share the story of the Rollins sisters rescuing the pages of the Book of Commandments. Our resources for historical presentation are the book Saints and a skimpy little typo-ridden site guide. Saints and my background knowledge have the girls' ages as 15 and 13, but the site guide has them as 14 and 12. We have our phones disabled, but senior missionaries are allowed to have google. I could go on a huge rant about double standards, age discrimination, and the mission-centricness inherent in our technology restrictions, but I will save that for another day.
Anyway, I borrowed an iPad off one to look up her birth date and found her entire autobiography online. I learned some cool stuff from it. She prayed for, and received, the gift of interpretation of tongues, taught painting lessons to Joseph Smith's daughter Julia, and she once helped sew a suit for Governor Boggs. He tried to convince her to leave the church, but she held her ground. I told this excitedly to one of the other sisters, who shot me down. He said I shouldn't mention anything in the tour unless it comes from "one of our good sources," meaning Saints and the skimpy guide. This site guide is definitely NOT a good source. I'd trust Wikipedia or a random blog more than it. I miss college, where openmindedness is a virtue and not a vice. I wish I could still remember all I learned from my Nauvoo program. I wish I had been called to this mission first, so I would've had enough advance notice to tear apart my room and hunt down my notes. My quick afternoon home wasn't nearly enough time, though I tried.
I borrowed the iPad back, read more of he autobiography, and guess what? Mary Elizabeth Rollins's biography is the primary source for both the site guide and Saints. The quotes in the site guide are word for word out of it. But I can't use any of it, not because there's any kind of accuracy or validity issue, but because there's a myopic policy in place to stop me. To me, the fact that Mary worked for and said no to Governor Boggs later in life reinforces that anecdote of courage from when she was fifteen.
I'll find some way to learn, to read and research and fall in love with this land. I know what I'm capable of.
Sincerely,
Sister Smith
I have been transferred out of Kansas and into Independence!
It feels weird now, being in the state my call letter named. I'm thrilled to be serving in the center of Zion! I've long wanted to be in a visitors' center and prayed to come here. Back in 2016, when I was traveling through here as part of a church history stud abroad, I had an experience that seems in hindsight like a clue that I would eventually come here. I was reminded of this experience when I brought someone I was teaching to the Independence for a tour a few weeks ago. I fully expected to end up here. I won't mention that experience here, but I'll talk about another one I had.
One of my favorite parts of the tour I'm learning to give is a video at the end about the growth of the church. It shows this black and white picture of the Salt Lake Temple under construction with scaffolding all around the towers. I tear up a lot when I see it. After I was barred from serving, I went on my Nauvoo Summer Study program because it was the closest thing I could do to a mission. One of our first stops was the Sacred Grove. I figured that if there was any place on Earth where I could get an answer about serving a mission, it was there.
I stayed kneeling in the dirt for over an hour, never mind the lecture I was supposed to come out of the forest for. I didn't get my answer. But the next day, we went to the Whitmer Farm. They showed us a video that is identical or at least similar to the one I show now. As that picture of the temple construction came on screen, the words came to my mind, "You are called to build up the kingdom."
If I had given that answer to myself as words of comfort, I would have thought, "You are going on a mission." Not "build up the kingdom." That's how I knew it was a true answer.
My other favorite part of the tour is being able to share the story of the Rollins sisters rescuing the pages of the Book of Commandments. Our resources for historical presentation are the book Saints and a skimpy little typo-ridden site guide. Saints and my background knowledge have the girls' ages as 15 and 13, but the site guide has them as 14 and 12. We have our phones disabled, but senior missionaries are allowed to have google. I could go on a huge rant about double standards, age discrimination, and the mission-centricness inherent in our technology restrictions, but I will save that for another day.
Anyway, I borrowed an iPad off one to look up her birth date and found her entire autobiography online. I learned some cool stuff from it. She prayed for, and received, the gift of interpretation of tongues, taught painting lessons to Joseph Smith's daughter Julia, and she once helped sew a suit for Governor Boggs. He tried to convince her to leave the church, but she held her ground. I told this excitedly to one of the other sisters, who shot me down. He said I shouldn't mention anything in the tour unless it comes from "one of our good sources," meaning Saints and the skimpy guide. This site guide is definitely NOT a good source. I'd trust Wikipedia or a random blog more than it. I miss college, where openmindedness is a virtue and not a vice. I wish I could still remember all I learned from my Nauvoo program. I wish I had been called to this mission first, so I would've had enough advance notice to tear apart my room and hunt down my notes. My quick afternoon home wasn't nearly enough time, though I tried.
I borrowed the iPad back, read more of he autobiography, and guess what? Mary Elizabeth Rollins's biography is the primary source for both the site guide and Saints. The quotes in the site guide are word for word out of it. But I can't use any of it, not because there's any kind of accuracy or validity issue, but because there's a myopic policy in place to stop me. To me, the fact that Mary worked for and said no to Governor Boggs later in life reinforces that anecdote of courage from when she was fifteen.
I'll find some way to learn, to read and research and fall in love with this land. I know what I'm capable of.
Sincerely,
Sister Smith
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