May the Lord be with you, Elder Hendershot

Oaks Hendershot, 2nd son and 4th child of Steele and Sarah Hendershot, graduated from Dixie High School on May 27 and entered the Missionary Training Center two short months later on August 29, 2022 to fulfill a calling to serve in the Missouri St. Louis Mission.  He doesn’t consider his to be a “super exotic” mission field, but he feels certain it is where the Lord needs him; and, he’s been there before. “When I attended 'Especially for Youth' last summer, we toured many of the Church history sites, including those in Ohio, New York, Philadelphia … and Missouri,” notes the young missionary.

The early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Missouri is well documented, including a prophesy in 1831 when then Church President Joseph Smith declared Independence, Missouri, as the gathering spot for the Church. The subsequent influx of “Mormons” to Jackson County raised concern among residents and mobs drove 1200 from the area. In 1834, Joseph Smith and 150-200 armed men (known as Zion's Camp) arrived to protect the members still in and around Independence, but a storm prevented the confrontation.

Latter-day Saints then found refuge in Clay, Caldwell, and Daviess Counties. By 1838, Far West had become Church headquarters with homes, hotels, a printing house, and school but violence again erupted in Gallatin, when members were denied the right to vote.

The exaggerated rumors about Church members ultimately led to a literal extermination order from Governor Lilburn W. Boggs in 1838. Eighteen men and boys died at Haun's Mill and on 31 October, Joseph Smith was arrested, and the next day sentenced to death.  Brig. Gen. A.W. Doniphan was ordered to carry out the order … but refused.  

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 left for Utah to gather with the Saints, but it was not until June 1976 – 138 years later - when the extermination order was rescinded by then-Governor Christopher S. Bond.

Today, Missouri has a Church membership of more than 75,375 in 18 stakes.  Elder Hendershot will serve in one of two missions in the state (the other is Missouri Independence).  Though public sentiment has prevented the construction of a temple in Independence, there are two temples in Missouri … the first built in Kansas City and the second in the community known as Town and Country, a suburb of St. Louis.

May the Lord be with you, Elder Hendershot.  We look forward to hearing about your missionary experiences.