In a strange turn of events, I found myself in Kansas City, Missouri.
I started my blog back in May 2023, and since then, I’ve published 381 posts—quite an impressive number! It shows I’ve been consistent with my posting. However, I’ve never shared it with anyone, so I’m uncertain if anyone is actually reading what I write. On average, I get between 1 to 20 visitors a day, totaling a few hundred each month. I’ve always believed that if it’s meant to reach people, God will make it happen. I’ve done my part by sharing my thoughts with the world.
Recently, I’ve felt a strong urge to create more video content, which has been on my mind a lot. Although I make videos for work, this feels different, and I’m not quite sure how to approach it. It’s hard to put into words.
My quest is to become worthy of Zion. And what has happened since I started that quest? A year and a half after feeling this was my path, my daughter was called to serve in the Independence Missouri Mission, the very place where Zion will be built. Shortly after that, I found myself traveling to Kansas City, Missouri. Again, the same area where Zion will be built. It felt rather remarkable.
I flew into Kansas City on Sunday evening for a training session the following day. After that, I needed to be in Louisville, Kentucky, by Tuesday evening to prepare for a trade show that starts on Wednesday. I wanted to explore some of the church’s historical sites, but I only had Sunday evening to do so.
My plane landed around 5 PM, and the first place I headed to was Liberty Jail, arriving around 6 PM. Unfortunately, it was closed. I took a moment to walk around the small building, which sat on an inconspicuous street in an unassuming location. If you weren’t specifically looking for it, you might never know it was there. After that, I drove to Independence, and by then, it was dark, as it is mid-October. I located the Community of Christ temple. It wasn’t lit up like LDS temples and also found the Temple Site.
What I was most curious about was the temple site. While the Community of Christ temple is impressive, I felt a bit underwhelmed after watching a video tour by one of their apostles. It looks nice, but ultimately, it resembles a cathedral or tabernacle without any evident sacred rites being performed there. I found it puzzling, considering they were present during Joseph Smith’s time when the temple rites were being established. Did they simply abandon those practices?
They also had something called a faith walk, which seemed to explain the purpose of life. I mean no disrespect, but I had only a 0.1% interest in seeing their temple and a 99.9% desire to see the plot of land covered with grass across the street marked with a gravestone-like marker.
I did it. I stood on the very spot where the temple of the City of Zion, the New Jerusalem, will be built. It’s a beautiful area with rolling hills, and everything there feels vibrant and full of life—almost healthy. Coming from Utah, where the landscape often feels dry and lifeless, this was refreshing. In Utah, everything turns green in the spring, but by summer, it’s dying, and by fall it’s dead. It takes a lot of water just to keep the grass alive, and nothing seems to thrive without constant watering. But this place felt naturally alive.
Nothing profound happened. In fact, the next morning, as I drove to the training I had come for, I realized I hadn’t taken a moment to pray about the experience. I kicked myself in the butt for that. There was no spiritual awakening or sudden revelation, but I felt a deep gratitude in my heart for a loving God who had guided me to this place I’ve been blogging about.
While standing there beneath the plaque, I found myself asking, “Will I return here one day?” A thought crossed my mind: will I someday walk to the City of Zion, and will this area feel familiar? I’m still uncertain if that’s my path in life. However, I do know that it’s my choice to live in a way that makes me worthy to return.