Liberty

"Every one of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking. We will face things we do not want to face for reasons that may not have been our fault. Indeed, we may face difficult circumstances for reasons that were absolutely right and proper, reasons that came because we were trying to keep the commandments of the Lord. We may face persecution; we may endure heartache and separation from loved ones; we may be hungry and cold and forlorn. Yes, before our lives are over we may all be given a little taste of what the prophets faced often in their lives. But the lessons of the winter of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through that difficulty. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace." -Jeffrey R Holland If this statement by Jeffrey R. Holland is true, then I have been spending a lot more time in a "prison temple" then I previously realized! I first visited Liberty jail when I was in third grade and my dad decided to take our family and the Smith's from Oregon on a 21 state tour in a school bus converted into a motor home. With thirteen souls in it's belly, the "Gross Dragon", as my dad had named his personalized RV with an accompanying dragon etched on its side, transported us to many historical sites. I recall feeling sad and even a little claustrophic when I first vistited Liberty Jail. In the Prophet Joseph’s letters, he spoke of the jail being a “hell, surrounded with demons . . . where we are compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths, and witness a scene of blasphemy, and drunkenness and hypocrisy, and debaucheries of every description.We have . . . not blankets sufficient to keep us warm,and when we have a fire, we are obliged to have almost a constant smoke.Our souls have been bowed down,my nerve trembles from long confinement. Pen, or tongue, or angels,” Joseph wrote, could not adequately describe “the malice of hell” that he suffered there. And all of this occurred during what, by some accounts, was considered then the coldest winter on record in the state of Missouri. It wasn't until years later, the summer of 2017 to be exact, when I revisited Liberty jail after years of heartache and extreme difficulties in my own life, that the walls of the Liberty jail seemed to not be claustrophobic, but perhaps transformative. The Holy Gost even whispered to my heart. "One of the reasons the prophet was exposed to such a long and seemingly unfair stay in this hell hole was to give him insight into God's hand in persons lives who experience extreme and lengthy trials". My mind reflected on the difficulties my husband and best friend since childhood had encountered raising five daughter, four with neurological differences. The stories and experiences seemed incredulous even in the recounting to our own minds and hearts of the extreme conditions our family had endured. I had never thought to view our trials as transformative and even subconciously felt some of the things we had been through should not even be "thought of" within the walls of the temple- such a beautiful and sacred place.