Moving Right Along

We are making progress and are finally able to help patrons who come to the library. It is so exciting and rewarding to see the tears of joy, the gasps of delight, and beaming faces when a patron finds an ancestor, a great-grandmother, or someone he or she had been looking for for a long time.
Last evening Elder Smith and I attended the open house for the beautiful new Draper Temple. Every place we looked inside testifies of Jesus Christ.

Home - What a beautiful sound!

Today the most beautiful word to me is HOME. Our 17 yr. old run-away granddaughter returned safely HOME last night. Lieutenant Colonel Craig Patterson, the valiant son of my dearest friend of 40 years, recently returned HOME to his wife and four children after serving fifteen months in Iraq. Our grandson Daniel Branch, who is fighting a fearful battle with Cushing's Disease and complications, has once again returned HOME from the hospital. The other evening in St. George, Utah, Michael Ballam performed in concert and sang a stirring rendition of "Bring Him HOME" from "Les Miserables" after sharing with the audience that his son who has spina bifida was admitted to the hospital the night before. After an exemplary life of service, Larry Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz, returned HOME to his Heavenly Father.
The work in which Elder Smith and I are engaged at the Church Family History Library here in Salt Lake City is to help our Heavenly Father bring ALL his children HOME. How we pray that our homes can be filled with the eternal love of Jesus Christ.

An impression to "bolt"

Elder Allan F. Packer, son of Elder Boyd K. Packer, spoke at a special devotional recently in the theater of the Conference Center. He told the following story: During his growing up years his large family always had a horse. One day his father was sitting in a chair inside the house reading. Suddenly Elder Packer (Boyd K.) had a sudden, very urgent impression to get up and go outside. It was such a strong impression that it literally caused him to bolt out of his chair. He "bolted" outside just in time to see the family horse come running around the corner of the house with one of his young sons hanging by only his foot in the stirrup. Elder Packer was able to catch the horse and stop it, saving his son's life. As we work on our family history, we need to be attentive to the Spirit for those times when we may feel a prompting to literally "bolt" out of our comfort and urgently prepare the work for one of our kindred dead, an act that will literally deliver a soul from the spirit prison and save one of our own.
This work is real and bears eternal fruit. An 81-year-old sister, an accomplished genealogist, found her grandmother last Thursday. She had been looking for her for 50 years. What rejoicing!

Family History Library - Home for the Homeless

There are many sweet stories that surface here at the FHL. The missionaries tell of a homeless man who came into the library to escape the weather and find a place to sit down and rest. He was dirty and unkempt. Someone who found his appearance repugnant offended him and told him he did not belong there. A missionary went after him and befriended him. He was invited to come back. Eventually this man was taught how to index, and over time, he indexed over 50,000 names! His appearance improved, as did his life.

Another homeless man found refuge and solace in the library. He was divorced, had a substance abuse problem, and was not allowed to have contact with his only child, a daughter. He began researching his family history and compiling records. He contracted cancer and continued to work at the library as long as he was able. He put all his genealogy records in a safe deposit box for his daughter hoping that when she reached the age of 18, she would be interested in what he had done and would want the records. He had no one else. He died, and only the Lord knows the outcome.

There is worth in every soul. No one can be forgotten.

Census, Immigration, Naturalization, and Elvis

Elvis?!!! Yes, the Gospel even reaches out to Elvis. After another morning of brain-overload training, Elder Smith and I sat next to another senior missionary in the cafeteria at the COB (Church Office Building). Elder King works in archives in the Church History Museum that will be moving to its amazing new facility in April. He told us about some of the fascinating documents and treasures from Church history that are housed there, including the Book of Mormon that belonged to Elvis Presley. This is his story: A little girl lived in the neighborhood close to the Presley home. She would walk by the house and stand by the gate, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. One day Elvis was out in the yard and saw the girl. He approached her and introduced himself. Over time they became friends. He didn't see her for a while. When she reappeared, he asked her how she was and where she had been. She asked him if he really wanted to know and if she could tell him something really special. She told him about her family investigating the Church and getting baptized. She gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, which he agreed to read. Apparently shortly before he died, he had agreed to listen to the discussions. After his death, his father disposed of some of Elvis' belongings and returned the Book of Mormon to the girl who somehow ended up in contact with the Osmond family. She gave them the special Book of Mormon, and the Osmond family donated it to the Church. Elvis had marked some scriptures that had particularly touched him and had written some of his thoughts in the margins. I've always felt sorry for Elvis Presley. I believe he was a good man who was exploited and ruined by evil agents and managers for their financial gain.
Every day we enjoy sitting by someone we don't know at lunch because by the time we have to return to our assignments, we are friends with new stories and connections.

Another Day in the Mission

It snowed all day yesterday. I don't think I have ever seen such big snowflakes in my entire life. It was beautiful. More snow today. Tonight it will get really cold again. Last night we went to a couple's apt. two buildings east of us. We put our grippers on and walked just fine. They are little rubber things with cleats that snap right on to the bottoms of your shoes and keep you from slipping and falling in ice and snow. Very cool. Then we went to a fireside for our missionary group's first social downstairs in the same apt. bldg. It was so interesting. Elder Kuchar, a zone leader here and retired chemistry professor and Egyptologist from BYU, spoke and showed us his slides from Egypt. He had been assigned to analyze fabrics and materials from the ancient pyramids and participate in the DNA studies on the mummies. He said that all the DNA tests on King Tut that have been repeated and verified prove positively that King Tut was not black, not even a little bit. He showed us pictures of the hair of several of the mummies. Many were blonde and redhaired naturally with no dye. He worked with Dr. Hugh Nibley. I wish you could have seen what he showed us. He had slides showing the ceremonial religious clothing from some of the mummies that had great similarities to our Temple ordinance clothing and drawings, etc. of our very same Temple sacred symbols, etc. How amazing that the Temple ordinances that we have were known and practiced by Father Abraham's children even before the Savior was born.

We had a wonderful devotional this morning. President Nielson of the mission presidency (from our ward in Mesa) spoke. When you read about Ammon in the Book of Mormon, read the story with the perspective that it is a type and a shadow of the Savior: Ammon being a type of Jesus, the scattered sheep being a symbol of all of us, the wicked servants symbolizing the adversary and his followers who would destroy and scatter the Savior's sheep or us, and his taking the arms that he chopped off to the king as a symbol of the Savior overcoming the arm of flesh. I love all the stories in the scriptures that are types and shadows of the Savior. He also had us read from the Book of Ruth. Boaz was a type of the Savior who became Ruth's literal savior when she chose not to return to the world but to stay with Naomi and follow the only true God. It was through Ruth and Boaz's lineage that the Jesus was born.

We sat sleepily through more computer classes today on vital records and library catalogs. Tonight we had a great potluck dinner party for our US/Canada Zone in the Relief Society room in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB). The food was terrific, the company great, and the entertainment out of this world. The Utah Oldtimers Fiddlers Band played for about an hour. They were about 12 - 15 strong playing fiddles, zephyr, piano, singers, mandolin, harmonica, etc. They were outstanding. All very accomplished, both musically and professionally. Their star player was a 93 yr. old woman, very dignified, attractive, articulate, and savvy, who has played the violin/fiddle for 85 years. She was amazing. She could play anything. Never missed a note or beat. How those 93 yr. old hands could do what she did was unbelievable. Afterward it was sure nice to walk back through the tunnel to our apartment. We are spoiled!

Rain, Rest, Review

We finally were able to sleep and get up when we were rested (although I think I could have slept all day). Much needed rain fell most of the day, clearing out the inversion and terrible pollution that have been blanketing the city for so many days. The humidity is healing my dry, cracked hands, thankfully. After laundry and walking outside in the not-too-cold fresh air to get mail from the old apt. and practicing not getting lost in the tunnel again, I'm feeling mostly caught up with chores and errands. It felt so good to sit down and review training manuals and try to feel a little more prepared for Monday's continued training. I feel like I'm back in college! There is so much to read, study, review, etc. We're looking forward to another good night's sleep. This apartment is so quiet and peaceful and so very comfortable. Tomorrow we will be participating in a family fast for our grandson, Danny Branch, who will finally be undergoing surgery next Thursday to remove the tumor that has caused him to suffer with Cushing's Disease. We know there is power in fasting and prayer.