Genealogy, I am doing it

Last night I helped serve a dinner for the missionaries and volunteers who work in the Family History section of the library. During the event, a representative from the new Church History Library downtown SLC spoke to all of us and gave us an interesting slideshow of the history of the church. Some of the photographs were seriously incredible. He showed a real photo of the pioneers crossing the plains in 1947. Another photo was of the SLC temple half way built. My favorites were of several Native Americans who had come to SLC to have their picture taken.

One story he shared was from Joseph F. Smith’s personal journal. While reading us what Joseph wrote, a picture of the journal was on the projector. Joseph had a two and a half daughter who was very sick. She couldn’t sleep at all one night and as he consoled her, the little girl said, “It’s okay, I’ll sleep well tonight.” That evening the little girl passed away. Joseph’s heart was broken as he realized his little daughter knew what was before her.

I didn’t tell the story nearly as well as the words in the journal, but we all felt such sadness hearing the thoughts of Joseph. It was incredible how much we could sympathize for him and his family from just a short journal entry. The speaker told us if we can connect so much with someone who isn’t even related to us, imagine how amazing it would be to connect with our family members who have passed on. That is why it is so important for us to keep personal records about our stories, events, and testimony. It truly will be a treasure to our posterity and a great way to connect with them.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Y8x5z2pd8&fs=1&hl=en_US]