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.