Monday, November 8
Heavenly Father is already blessing me and my family! Yesterday was a very good day. The extra hour of sleep as Daylight Savings ended was an added bonus. Fast and Testimony meeting at church was a great experience made sweeter for having Gil with me. Bro. Earl taught Sunday School and he is someone I consider a master teacher.
During Sunday School discussion of Come Follow Me Sections 125-128, I was able to share some of the insight I have gained from studying about Family History based on verse 18 in section 128.
18 I might have rendered a plainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time.
I haven’t spoken much to Gil about Family History journey but I think he was very touched by the discussion and some videos that Bro. Earl shared from the Come Follow Me lesson. I know that having him by my side yesterday during Sunday School was a direct blessing from the Lord.
Gil and I visited his parents later in the afternoon. We were able to take his mother, Brenda, on a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was nice to visit with her and be outside. We saw a cloud coming up the canyon and it engulfed us, lowering the temperature a good 10 degrees before we got to the van.
After we got back to Brenda’s house, I was able to show her on her phone how to make an appointment to go to the Draper Temple. We made two appointments for December. Using the Ordinance Ready app in Family Search, we found 6 names to take to the temple for those visits. We also looked at some of her ancestors in Family Search and found a great, great, great, great, great grandfather who lived in Ireland. She hadn’t know she had any family from Ireland. We used the Discovery Search on the Family Search site, so easy to navigate.
I have had a goal for several years to help Gil’s parents write their life histories and to record their stories. I have typed up some of the stories Gil has told me and a couple from Brenda but for some reason, I really struggling use the app to record his memories. I am going to contact the Riverton Family History library today and see if their recording studios are open and available so I can take Gil, senior, and Brenda and start recording their stories.
My parents have been doing Storyworth and I am learning so much from their writing. My sister, Anna, has been spearheading the Storyworth experience and I need to help her by writing a letter to my aunts and uncles asking them to contribute to my parent’s story. That is my goal for tomorrow.
This article from the Family Search Blog talks about the Benefits of Journaling and how journaling is an integral part of doing Family History. I am also learning so much about how to upload and download pictures, link resources to my entries and how a blog works. I certainly have a lot to learn but it is a truly exciting journey.