Jenessa's mission Call -

Dear Sister Soutas: You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the Missouri Independence Mission.  It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months. We are so excited for Jenessa!!!   I have actually thought she might be called to Independence since her papers were submitted.  It crossed my mind several times.   I thought what if she replaces Courtney Baggett?   She will have an amazing experience sharing the gospel.   It's so crazy that currently Ty is only about 2 hours for there, serving in Columbia Missouri.  My brother, Tony lives in Kansas City and we will be moving Jordan, Alex and Baby RubyJane there in July!!!!    We feel like our family is getting an early start on the "Trek" to Missouri for the 2nd coming.   :)      Seriously we just bought a house there for the kids.   haha   Missouri here we come!!! This map has marks to locate all my kids.  Ty is currently in Columbia Jenessa will be in Independence and Jordan/Alex/RubyJane will be living in Gladstone. I'm doing my research on the Church History Sites there.  I am so excited to visit them in July when we move the kids back.    I've heard there is an extra special spirit at Liberty Jail. And Independence is the Site of the New JERUSALEM Temple.     Is this just a coincidence?  Is this meant to be for a reason?  Jenessa and Ty are both of Judah.    My dream is to go to Jerusalem, but for now I guess we are meant to be in NEW JERUSALEM   Independence Temple

AddThis Sharing Buttons Site dedicated but temple not constructed

© 2012, Andy Kelly Nelson. All rights reserved.

Location:  Independence, Missouri, United States.

Announcement:  20 July 1831 
Site Dedication:  3 August 1831 by Joseph Smith, Jr.

Temple Locale

The site of the Independence Temple, or Temple Lot, is located southwest of the intersection of Lexington Street and River Boulevard in Independence, Missouri. On site is the headquarters of the Church of Christ. East and south of the Temple Lot are the Community of Christ (former Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Temple and Auditorium, respectively. And southeast of the Temple Lot on Walnut Street is the visitors' center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also on Walnut are the Missouri Independence Mission office and the Independence Missouri Stake Center.

Temple Facts

The Independence Temple was the first temple commanded to be built in this dispensation.

The Temple Lot is located in Jackson County—revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith to be the location of the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve were driven out, they dwelt in Adam-ondi-Ahman.

Bishop Edward Partridge paid $130 for the original 63.27-acre parcel that constitutes the larger Temple Lot.

In a revelation given on July 20, 1831, the Lord designated the location for the Independence Temple and declared Independence as the center place for the city of Zion.

In obedience to a commandment received the day before, twelve men representing the twelve tribes of Israel laid a symbolic foundation for the city of Zion on August 2, 1831, and consecrated the land for the gathering of the saints.

Joseph Smith presided over the dedication of the Independence Temple site on August 3, 1831, and laid the northeast and southeast cornerstones (or corner markers).

Joseph Smith revealed his plan for the City of Zion in June 1833, which featured a complex of 24 temples in the center of a city with wide streets crossing at right angles.

A mob attacked the settlement of the Saints in Independence on July 20, 1833, destroying their press. Persecution increased in the ensuing months and by November, the Saints were forced to flee and locate temporarily in Clay County and then in Caldwell County where they established Far West.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began purchasing property in Independence in 1904, eventually acquiring nearly 20 of the original 63 acres.

While excavating for the foundation of a temple in 1929, the Church of Christ discovered the northeast and southeast cornerstone markers. The Great Depression set in shortly thereafter, and the temple was never built, but the stones are now on display in the Church of Christ's visitors' room.

In 1971, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated a visitors' center, which offers insight into the significance of the past and future of the area.

Prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, a magnificent edifice—the New Jerusalem Temple—will be erected on the location of the Temple Lot.

This 1900 newspaper was a fun read :)

Vol. ?                         Chicago, Illinois, Sunday,  August 19, 1900.                     No. ? MORMONS  PLAN  TO  RETURN TO  OLD  HOME. ________ Temple Greater than That at Salt Lake City to be Built at Independence to Fulfill Prophecy of Joseph Smith.  Elders of the Mormon Church of Utah are working vigorously in Missouri to fulfill the prophecy of Joseph Smith, made many years ago, that Independence was the Zion of the church, and that from it was to rise the great temple of the Mormons. There are twenty-four of these Mormon elders... Jackson County, Mo., is the spot where man first saw the light of day, according to the Mormon belief. Joseph Smith, after his people had been driven out of Nauvoo, Ill., prophesied that Independence was the city in which the new Jerusalem of the church was to be built. They moved to Missouri, and there is little doubt that Independence would have been today what Salt Lake City now is, had not the Mormons been driven out at the point of the bayonet. And ever since that time the Mormons still have been trying to get back to the little Missouri city. The Mormon Church of Utah has ever been working to get a foothold in Kansas City and Independence. For the last four years the elders have been working in this vicinity for converts. The church is meeting with success, and the elders are enthusiastic.... Utah will not be forsaken when the Mormons come to Independence. "Of course," said an elder, "a great many will come here from Utah, but we will have our churches out there, all of which will be under control of the Independence church. Just when we will come to Independence will be hard to say. But that it will be soon is a certainty. We are in Independence to lay the foundation of the work which will culminate in the building of the temple certainly to come. When we come we expect to buy all the land needed for our city, the new Zion. We will work hard from now on in Kansas City. We do this to prepare the people for the coming." The day is not far away when the Mormons expect to begin building the new Jerusalem at Independence. The pilgrimage to that city, which is the Mecca of the church, is already on foot. Four years ago there were only four Mormon families in Independence -- now there are hundreds.

ZION

Adam Ondi Ahman

The Garden of Eden!   The original Temple 

We are so excited for you Sister Soutas!!

The Pillar of the Cloud

I had NO Idea  that my favorite hymn was a poem written By John Henry, Cardinal Newman  (1801–1890) The Pillar of the Cloud is the Shekinah The light that guided the Children of Israel in the Wilderness The Glory of God in a brilliance of Light remember the poem I wrote here?

The Pillar of the Cloud aka Lead Kindly Light my favorite Hymn Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom; lead thou me on!  The night is dark and I am far from home; lead thou me on!  Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene - one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou shouldst lead me on.  I loved to choose and see my path; but now, lead thou me on!  I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, pride ruled my will.  Remember not past years. So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on over moor and fen, over crag and torrent, till the night is gone.  And with the morn those angel faces smile, which I have loved long since, and lost awhile! Tyler mentioned he had struggled a day or two in the MTC this past week. So I knew today needed to be cookie day!

He will become more

I miss my son Tyler -terribly
but I know it will be for his good
I'm sure our heavenly parents miss us but know that
we must come to earth to grow and progress and learn all that we can by
our own experience.
How thankful I am for their heavenly plan.  My pain is comforted
because I know he will become more.

You can read about his mission here

Morning Of

The morning of a missionary's departure seems to feel the same for our family.
There is always a sweet spirit in our home.  It is extra quiet as everyone goes about the morning wrapped in their own thoughts.
The blessings have been given, the tears have fallen the night before and they will definitely fall again as we approach that MTC driveway.  It's so bitter sweet
Ty is off to teach and preach and work as missionaries do.  I pray with all of my heart for him.  I pray he will learn he is wonderful and that Heavenly Father can use him to humbly teach the people of Missouri.   He will grow in so many ways.
  This mission has been a challenge so far.  He has served for 3 months of it in Eagle Mountain and Lehi.  He has had his patience
tried waiting at home for a month to return to his labor.
He has been called, set apart, released, called and set apart.
How extra sweet that release will be in 21 months.
I love my Ty.   I will miss him with all of my heart.
God be with you Elder Soutas!

my experience and thoughts on 2 transfer missions
Ty's mission blog

two transfer mission

I have a short blog about our experience with Ty's two-transfer mission.      You can find it HERE

Bishop News, ordination, Seminary Graduation and snails

"if you won't even try eating your dinner you will go somewhere on your mission where you eat.......SNAILS"

Date: June 02, 2014 
Area: Faro 
Companion: Elder Simpson

Hey mom, i'm glad your week was good. i can't believe dad will be released, thats way crazy. its too bad he cant wait until after july 8 though, oh well. i hope dad becomes the nursery leader again, that sounds like a good calling for him.

Tell ty good job for graduating from seminary, thats way cool. And especially for getting the Priesthood. He'll be a great priesthood holder for sure. 

This week was good, i spent the first few days in Olhão waiting for the new missionaries to come in, then went up to Lisbon on thursday to pick up my new comp. Like i said, his name is Elder Simpson, he's a way nice kid. He's pretty much fluente in portuguese already, i can't believe it. He's from Houston, but i think not very close to where Jordan served. I haven't told him yet that this is my last transfer ha, i'm trying to avoid it for as long as possible, i told him i have just over a year in the mission..it will be a fun surprise for him. 

One thing we really focused on this week was working with the members and gaining their trust, and i think we did well. we got a lot of member help the past couple days. another cool thing is that Samira, our RC, brought a friend to church and gave him a book of mormon. She is doing really well. Also Danilson came to church and participated a ton. 

We had a good lesson with Iran this week, to help him read and pray more we asked if we could call him every night this week to remind him, and he agreed. so hopefully that will make this difference. he came to church again, so he's going in the right direction. 

Also Geraldo got baptized! so i sent pictures of that. I miss them a ton. Plus i asked Florbela to send me an email with her testimony and she did, so that was way cool to read. I asked her to do it because Iran has the same doubts that she did because of the 7th day adventist church, so i'll probably share it with him. 

also this week in church for some reason we had like 5 people randomly show up that spoke english, so i spent the day translating for an Irish guy. it went well, but it was kind of hard to get something out of the lesson when i was thinking about the language and stuff. 

oh also i ate snail this week. A member asked us what we wanted to eat, and i told them to make snail half jokingly because i had never tried it. and they made it. it was not that great, and i was a baby and only ate like 2. but it was a new experience. they give you a little stick so you can scoop out the body from the shell, and then you can see the eyes and everything and you just put the whole thing in your mouth. probably won't ask for those again...

Love you a ton,

Elder Soutas   

 Dear Benjamin/Elder Soutas

It's June!!!  I can't believe it already.     How did your week go?   I am so happy that Danilson was baptized.  I'm so glad you have good member support for him

How are things going for your new companion, Elder Simpson?  Is he a brand new missionary?Where is he from?

This was an eventful week. 

We had fun on Monday meeting Jordan's girlfriend --  I hope it's OK with Jordan that I tell you that they seem to

really like each other.  She is very pretty and nice.  It was fun to get to know her a little bit.  So we will see how that goes.

We had the funeral that we told you about last week.  Dad did a good job with his talk and I know he told you that President Hinkley's son was there and Dad was able to sit next to him on the stand since he is an emeritus General Authority.  

The reason he was there is because he  was next door neighbor to Sally (the mom) in our ward while she was growing up

It was cool...  Elder Hinkley looks a lot like President Hinkley so It was kind of crazy to see Dad and him sitting together on the stand.

Of course the BIG news happened today, but we found out about it on Tuesday.  

I was actually in Dad's bishop office and he was interviewing me for a temple recommend since mine expired at the end of May

Right in the middle of the interview, the Stake Clerk called asking both of us to meet with President Nielson on Sunday morning at 9:15.  So of course that was emotional and made the rest of the temple recommend interview emotional for us.  

We were both crying as he asked and i answered each question.  But I admit it is something I will always remember because of the strong spirit that was there.

So then the rest of the week we kept wondering and wondering when he would be released.  We had no idea if he would

be released Sunday Morning and then on Sunday during Sacrament meeting and that would be it...we really weren't sure

until we met with President Nielson this morning.  As it turns out President Nielson asked Dad to continue serving until

the end of the month, but he came into our Fast and Testimony Meeting to tell the ward that a new bishop had been called but would not be announced for a few week.

He want's the members to pray to receive new leadership and he challenged everyone not to speculate, because he wants us to learn to keep confidences so that Heavenly Father can trust us.   So no speculation here..

It is still quite overwhelming and a bunch of mixed emotions.  But I feel peace and I felt the spirit tell me that we and he had accomplished what we had been asked to do.  So it's all good now :)

Today was also Tyler's ordination and receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood.  Dad gave him a wonderful blessing.  A lot of it focusing on keeping covenants.  Wish I could remember the words.

Both grandparents and Danny, spencer and Makayla came for dinner after the ordination and then we all went back to the church for seminary graduation

It's been quite a day and It's nice to sit and just relax and contemplate it all now for a little bit.

Dad, Brycen and I are going to go for a Sunday walk now before it gets any later.

Can't wait to hear about your week too.

Love you forever, Mom

Danilson's baptism

I love this picture of Geraldo's baptism.....Ben was able to teach him, but was transferred before he was able to baptize him

Elder Soutas and his new companion Elder Simpson with Presidente and Sister Fluckiger

A very kind Sister emailed me this picture today 

Elder Soutas returns in 1 month!!!!

Fishers of Men

Ben sent some pictures from Faro, Portugal

They had a Sermon on The Mount Activity.  And cooked up some fish.

His Companion - Elder LeBaron from Colorado

Ben's area  Faro (pronounced Faroo)

Ben has been an amazing missionary and a true Fisher of Men!  Love him  and it will
be hard to see his mission end, but also exciting for him to come home 

Happy Birthday Elder Soutas!

Today our missionary son, Elder Benjamin Soutas is 21!!   We love him so much and we miss him as he is serving the people in Portugal.  We are excited that he is coming home this year!! (July)

Here is a small package I sent to him.  We can't send much and this small package cost $58 to send - far more than what the contents are worth - but missionary packages are worth it!

Here are pictures that he sent back of his birthday

 chocolate salame

Christmas Week 2013

Welcome to our Christmas 

A new tradition (and gift to me ;) ) were the pictures of Christ to hang on the tree as we count down to Christmas.  There were 12 and each had a message about Christ to read each night

Our Primary Children's nativity.  Brycen was a shepherd again this year

Christmas Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa's

Grandpa Allen really surprised us with the "snorting game"!!

A Christmas Carol at Hale Center Theatre

Christmas Eve Cookies For Santa

I took the easy way out since I never baked any sugar cookies (sometimes I have to let go)

Christmas Eve Dinner - Snacks, Shrimp and Wings

The Fire Box  click to see the game Jordan taught us

Christmas Morning

Grandma Elaine's money present

I didn't get a picture of anyone else's presents, but this is what I sent to Elder Ben.  Of course
the high light of the morning was Skyping with Him!!

This is Ben's current apartment in Porto Alegre, Portugal

Legos are always a good idea

Traditional Christmas Brunch