“I’ve always wanted to serve a mission because I have been extremely blessed in my life. I have wonderful parents, amazing friends and an extremely long ‘to do’ list. I know it will probably be the hardest – but most rewarding – thing I will ever do. I am excited and ready to go.”
In 1831, Joseph Smith, first President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told Church members Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, was to be the gathering spot for the Church. The influx of members to the county raised concern among area settlers, who ordered the 1,200 members to leave. Church leaders were unsuccessful in their attempts to seek protection from the courts and mobs drove Church members out of the area. In 1834, Joseph Smith and 150-200 armed men, called Zion's Camp, arrived to protect the members. A storm prevented the confrontation and the camp was later disbanded.
Displaced Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay, Caldwell, and Davies Counties. By 1838, Far West had become Church headquarters with homes, hotels, a printing house, and school. Violence erupted in Gallatin in August 1838, when members were prevented from voting. Mob raids began, and Elder David W. Patten, the next Apostle in line to be Church President, was killed. The exaggerated rumors about Church members ultimately led to the literal extermination order from Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs in 1838. Eighteen men and boys were killed at Haun's Mill by an unauthorized militia. On 31 October, Joseph Smith was arrested and the next day sentenced to death, but Brig. Gen. A.W. Doniphan refused to carry out the order. Between 12,000 - 15,000 Church members fled to western Illinois in 1839 and established the city of Nauvoo on the Mississippi River. Several others moved to the more tolerant St. Louis, where many more members eventually came from Nauvoo. In the late 1850s, many members left for Utah to gather with the Saints. In June 1976, Governor Christopher S. Bond signed an executive order rescinding the extermination order issued 138 years earlier by Governor Boggs.
Sister Sidney will labor among the nearly 72,000 Saints in 153 wards in the "Show Me" state and who serve the Lord's departed children in the Kansas City Temple, the Church's 137th operating temple. There was a previous attempt to build a temple in the area, was after Church President Joseph Smith, Jr. selected and dedicated property for the construction of a temple in Far West. The temple in Far West was the second to be commenced but was never completed by the early Church. Today the property is maintained as a historic site by the Church, featuring attractive landscaping and a large monument. The aged cornerstones, laid for the temple in 1838, are beautifully preserved and displayed under protective glass.
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