Temple Blessings/ Family History

One year ago I sat in Stake Conference and listened to a lady give a talk on family history...the usual thoughts went through my mind..."not this topic, AGAIN!" "my family history work is done," "I don't know my way around familysearch.org," "I took a family history class in college and it was hard!" Okay, you get the idea. Not the most positive thoughts. But as I listened to this lady speak, I had other thoughts too: "Your husbands grandpa is a convert-there is work to do!" "technology has made it easy" and "you CAN do this." When we (my husband and I)got home that evening and talked about the speakers and topics, I shared with him my impression that we needed to get involved in family history. He stared at me a second and told me that he had the same strong impression. So guess what we have done??? Yes, we have jumped into family history and guess what??? It is EASY! Technology has made it so you can do 99% of it at home! And there IS a lot of work to do!

A couple weeks ago we had the privilege of attending the Manti temple with my husband's family to start the work for many, many ancestors. It was a sweet experience for everyone. I know that the blessings of the temple are real.

I also know that the people waiting to receive these blessings are real. It is amazing how the process of researching a family through census, marriage, death, and other records brings them to life. I feel the love they have for each other as I see names echoed through the generations (daughter named after grandmother, son named after brother). I feel their heartache as I see a child's name on one census record and then, just years later, that child's name is missing from their list of children...only to find a cemetery record and read of a cholera epidemic that swept the area. I feel the connection of generations when I see a family with young children as well as an elderly grandfather in his 80's living with them. I can only imagine the care given, the lessons passed on, and the tender moments shared. While I only see names, dates, ages, occupations, and locations--- I feel mothers, fathers, children, and the bonds of family. I love family history work!!

It is fun! Sometimes it is hard work, but it's the kind of work that is so rewarding! To search and search and search some more....and then to finally find the record....sometimes my kids laugh at me when I start screaming, "I found them!! I found them!" and start doing a little dance by the computer. They are getting used to it! And I love doing the victory dance!!