Week of March 27, 2016

This was a rather unusual week. We didn’t have a class this week, so we spent much of the time doing research. I spent time getting some administrative things done like printing calendars, emailing our schedule for April to the zone leaders in the mission, preparing handouts for the upcoming classes, and fixing things that needed changing. Our new assistant zone leader was getting his orientation from the old one, so I thought it best not to stick around the office area too long.

I spent some time with one of the Swedish consultants and got some direction for researching Ted’s Swedish family. The records for Sweden are good and should be fairly clear to follow. The go back to the late 1700s in most area and were updated every year by law. When people moved from one parish to the next, they made a note of where they were going and when. The new parish would make a note of when they came and from where. It does not always work out quite as nicely as it should, but it is pretty good at creating a trail for a family. Ted is trying to work more on the Finnish lines so he is working with a Finnish missionary. It was a productive week. We are still pretty green and need lots of help, but it was nice to have the extra time to do the research. The cool thing is that I have been able to find a couple of dates that were incorrect before and I found a missing daughter in one of the families.

After I had gathered several records for three generations of one family, I spent putting the records onto Research Logs so I could see what I had and what I was still missing. At the end of the week I transferred my notes to timelines for the three generations. There are a few missing records that I have not been able to find, but it is a little confusing without the organization. Ted is getting some clarity about the Finnish records—some have three or more generations on one page, all mixed together.

While I was working earlier on cleaning up my grandma’s siblings’ records, I did some entries on the record of one of her younger sisters. A couple of days later I received a message in FamilySearch saying, “I am the youngest daughter of [one of the siblings], who are you?” I told her who I was, that I was Mabel’s granddaughter, serving a mission in Salt Lake, and if she lived in the area I would love to meet her. Wednesday we met her and her husband for lunch and had a delightful visit. I was a little uncertain that we would be able to recognize each other, but when we walked into the restaurant, I knew immediately it was her because she looks so much like her mom. It was really fun to have the opportunity to visit with her and hear some of the stories she told about her mom and the aunts and uncles. We will do it again sometime.

Sister Roeth and new-found cousin

Friday evening we attended a reunion for the Farmington New Mexico Mission. It was good to see the missionaries we knew there. There were so many I did not recognize because the only ones we really got to know were the ones in our small area surrounding Gallup. There were several from our group there and it was good to see them and have a chance to visit.

My favorite part of the reunion was when Pres. Batt bore his testimony. He’d had hip replacement surgery and had read the Book of Mormon twice in three months. He bore a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, telling the missionaries he knew the Lord could see each of them doing their best on their missions to serve the people, seeing them not as a group but individually. He is a great man.

One of the real pleasures we have living and serving here is the opportunity to walk across Temple Square at least a couple of times each week and often more. It has been such a wonderful experience to see the temple in so many different lights and seasons. And it has been a joy to watch the gardens coming to life as the flowers bloom in all the many color combinations. It has really been fun to see the changes from day to day and week to week,even with the unpredictable changes in the weather.

 Another fun thing is the display of the “Helping Hands” sent in by children all over the world in response to Pres. Monson’s admonition to be Christ’s hands in service. There are thousands of hand prints displayed in the Church Office Building with small excerpts of individual acts performed by children. It is very impressive and a real testimony of their desire to serve the Lord and follow the prophet.