Week 69: I Kinda Gave a Jail Tour
Dear Loved Ones,
A couple days ago, my companion and I were coming back from a walk when a car pulled into the Liberty Jail parking lot. I saw two men wearing masks inside and assumes they must be elders because those are the only people we ever see. But they flagged us down,so we pulled on our masks, ran over to inspect, and found that they were visitors.
One of them had felt in October that he needed to make a pilgrimage out to Missouri to visit church history sites. He recruited his friend to go along with him. Way way back in October, he prayed about the date he should come and received the answer that he should come from April 22nd to April 29th. To make the trip, he figured he needed two things: that week off work and $1200 to fund their travel.
And then coronavirus shut down his work, and the government gave him $1200.
But it shut down the jail, too. Recently we've been told we can't even go inside. Which is illogical, really. If we're the only ones inside the jail, who could we possibly infect? I feel like everyone's tightening their grip on their tiny domains because the feel they have to do their bit and that's all they're in control of. We couldn't bring them inside, so we walked them around the jail property and down the street to some historical markers, telling them stories from history.
They listened so raptly. I didn't get that much attention when I did normal indoor tours at the visitors' center. I was impressed by their dedication, coming all the way out here from California when they couldn't do much more than walk around outside places. I got a phone number from one of them to text him some pictures of historic sites. He texted back later, asking for sisters in Independence who could tell him about the Jackson County history.
All the while, I assumed they were members since that's 97 percent of what we get at the visitors' center. And then, last night, I got this text:
"Good evening Sisters, this is (name redacted). I'm the bigger non-member guy we've met along with my friend (name) at Liberty Jail. Thank you for sharing your testimonies and knowledge with us. I really appreciated the opportunity to learn. We visit many sites and have been reading so much from the scriptures, pamphlets and Maps. Today we hung out at the Independence Visitor Center for a few hours. It was beautiful and serene. The Visitor Center played soft Church music in the background which allowed us to read the scriptures together as friends. It kinda felt like a private Church service for me. I felt peace. We saw people praying together as a family and young families learning about the Temple site. I tried to keep my mind clear and it help that we read stuff from d&c 4 & 57 and Ether 13 & 14."
He went on to say that he wanted to learn more about the history in other areas of Missouri, so my companion and I might be cobbling together a tour of an area of the state we know nothing about later today.
All the sisters who serve at the jail talk about how wonderful it is. When my time in Independence ended and I was transferred to Grain Valley instead of Liberty, like I'd been prepared for, I was sad once I realized that I'd never be able to have that experience. And now the jail is closed and I don't know that it will reopen before I leave. I'm so grateful I got to have at least one jail tour experience.
Transfers are this Thursday. I could, possibly, stay in Liberty, but I want to go back to Grain Valley and teach my people in person again just one more time before I go. I pray the restrictions will let up. Joseph Smith's anguish in Liberty Jail wasn't just for himself, but for the people outside he couldn't help while he was confined. I'm getting an authentic jail experience, all right, and it's not all that great. i want to be out helping people.
I read once that the point of tutoring is to get people out of tutoring. If someone tells you their kid has been with a tutor for years, that's not a good sign. Members of the church sugarcoat the jail revelations a lot and make it sound as if bad things are actually good. The good in Liberty Jail, the actual good, is that Joseph got out of it. The point of trials, the actual point, is to overcome them.Don't be so hard on yourself if you can't see the "good" in coronavirus.
This is going to end, too. I'm holding out hope that somewhere in the 45 days I have left as a missionary, I'll be able to see my people face to face again and two pending baptisms will come to pass.
There's work here I'm left to do before I go.
Sincerely,
Sister Smith
A couple days ago, my companion and I were coming back from a walk when a car pulled into the Liberty Jail parking lot. I saw two men wearing masks inside and assumes they must be elders because those are the only people we ever see. But they flagged us down,so we pulled on our masks, ran over to inspect, and found that they were visitors.
One of them had felt in October that he needed to make a pilgrimage out to Missouri to visit church history sites. He recruited his friend to go along with him. Way way back in October, he prayed about the date he should come and received the answer that he should come from April 22nd to April 29th. To make the trip, he figured he needed two things: that week off work and $1200 to fund their travel.
And then coronavirus shut down his work, and the government gave him $1200.
But it shut down the jail, too. Recently we've been told we can't even go inside. Which is illogical, really. If we're the only ones inside the jail, who could we possibly infect? I feel like everyone's tightening their grip on their tiny domains because the feel they have to do their bit and that's all they're in control of. We couldn't bring them inside, so we walked them around the jail property and down the street to some historical markers, telling them stories from history.
They listened so raptly. I didn't get that much attention when I did normal indoor tours at the visitors' center. I was impressed by their dedication, coming all the way out here from California when they couldn't do much more than walk around outside places. I got a phone number from one of them to text him some pictures of historic sites. He texted back later, asking for sisters in Independence who could tell him about the Jackson County history.
All the while, I assumed they were members since that's 97 percent of what we get at the visitors' center. And then, last night, I got this text:
"Good evening Sisters, this is (name redacted). I'm the bigger non-member guy we've met along with my friend (name) at Liberty Jail. Thank you for sharing your testimonies and knowledge with us. I really appreciated the opportunity to learn. We visit many sites and have been reading so much from the scriptures, pamphlets and Maps. Today we hung out at the Independence Visitor Center for a few hours. It was beautiful and serene. The Visitor Center played soft Church music in the background which allowed us to read the scriptures together as friends. It kinda felt like a private Church service for me. I felt peace. We saw people praying together as a family and young families learning about the Temple site. I tried to keep my mind clear and it help that we read stuff from d&c 4 & 57 and Ether 13 & 14."
He went on to say that he wanted to learn more about the history in other areas of Missouri, so my companion and I might be cobbling together a tour of an area of the state we know nothing about later today.
All the sisters who serve at the jail talk about how wonderful it is. When my time in Independence ended and I was transferred to Grain Valley instead of Liberty, like I'd been prepared for, I was sad once I realized that I'd never be able to have that experience. And now the jail is closed and I don't know that it will reopen before I leave. I'm so grateful I got to have at least one jail tour experience.
Transfers are this Thursday. I could, possibly, stay in Liberty, but I want to go back to Grain Valley and teach my people in person again just one more time before I go. I pray the restrictions will let up. Joseph Smith's anguish in Liberty Jail wasn't just for himself, but for the people outside he couldn't help while he was confined. I'm getting an authentic jail experience, all right, and it's not all that great. i want to be out helping people.
I read once that the point of tutoring is to get people out of tutoring. If someone tells you their kid has been with a tutor for years, that's not a good sign. Members of the church sugarcoat the jail revelations a lot and make it sound as if bad things are actually good. The good in Liberty Jail, the actual good, is that Joseph got out of it. The point of trials, the actual point, is to overcome them.Don't be so hard on yourself if you can't see the "good" in coronavirus.
This is going to end, too. I'm holding out hope that somewhere in the 45 days I have left as a missionary, I'll be able to see my people face to face again and two pending baptisms will come to pass.
There's work here I'm left to do before I go.
Sincerely,
Sister Smith
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