Kansas City

We spent last night in Kansas City and then decided to take a break for the Sabbath. It was so nice to know we didn't have hundreds of miles to travel today!

We slept in and then got ready for church. I had located wards for us to attend before we left home, but my sweetie decided he wanted to find a closer congregation. He got online and found one, but when I tried to put it into google maps, the address was gone. So he got back on and found a different ward located near the new Kansas Ciy temple.

After plugging the address into the GPS, we hit the road. Ten minutes later, I spotted the temple. We got off on the exit and rather than driving directly to the building, the GPS told us to drive the opposite direction. Common sense suggested that we head directly for the church, so we did.
There was a full parking lot on the side of the building, so we made our way toward the upper parking lot. There was a small road with a crosswalk. As we inched our way along, I spotted a man carrying a small child ready to cross. I couldn't believe it! It was my volleyball friend, Kyle, from Utah!

I had no idea that we were attending his ward. He moved from Utah last fall to attend medical school and I hadn't seen him since. I don't believe in coincidence. There were too many factors here for that to happen. We had discarded two other wards and if we would have followed the GPS, we would have missed him because he would have been inside the building aready. I'm not sure if he prayed us there or we prayed him there, but I believe that Heavenly Father made this meeting happen for us.
We were much more comfortable here than in the two previous wards we had attended on the road mosly because we knew someone. Kyle also gave us some insight into a couple of other places we were already planning to visit, Liberty Jail and Independence.

Both sites had Visitors' Centers and the kids loved them both. Liberty was the site of the jail where Joseph Smith was kept for over four months on false charges. The jail is gone, but they have reconstructed it. It must have been such a difficult time for them.

Independence was amazing!  The kids enjoyed the interactive exhibits and the play area. We spent a couple of hours there. Then we headed back to the hotel. The kids convinced us to get in the pool for an hour and then they were just dying to watch Cupcake Wars.

We ate in our rooms. Sometimes I think we are missing all the fun since we are several doors down the hall from the kids' adjoining rooms.


Tomorrow it's back on the road. My sweetie says we need to head out early... we will be home soon.