“Where we came from, if one did not want to die of poverty, one became a priest or a bandit!” That quote came from the spaghetti western, The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Thank goodness that isn’t where most of us came from today. However, with H.D. (High Definition) technology, we can all be fully exposed…
Tag: Family History
On Keys II
“A blind person asked St. Anthony: “Can there be anything worse than losing eyesight?” He replied, “Yes, losing your vision.” I’m going to try to give you the vision the brethren would like you to have regarding family history and the blessings of the Priesthood. Peter was one of the greatest of men. It is…
On The Power of Storytelling
The Church has always emphasized the importance of the family unit. And every member of each and every family has lived a life worth remembering, not just the family patriarch, whose story is often the only one written. Elder Dennis C. Brimhall said, “Every person who has ever lived has a right to be remembered…
On Family History
“A blind person asked St. Anthony: “Can there be anything worse than losing one’s eyesight?” He replied: “Yes, losing your vision.” In this brief thought, I’m going to try to give readers a vision of family history as a blessing of the Priesthood. “Peter was one of the greatest of men. It is true that the New Testament recounts…
On The Doctrine of The Plan of Salvation
Family history, in its broader sense, may be correctly referred to as a mystery of the Gospel. Why? Because the doctrine is not simple, nor is it found all in one place, a place where just anyone can become easily acquainted with it in its entirety. You might say that most of the doctrine that…
On Siblings
I have recently been rewriting my personal history that was originally written seven years ago. In the process I realized I had said very little about my seven siblings. I left home as an eighteen-year-old to work in another state and never did get back to live close to where my family lived. We saw…
On Our Challenge
Family history research, for most people, has always been difficult to begin, primarily, I believe, because a person knows that it is not a project that will take only a few minutes or even a few hours. Neither is it a ‘one time’ project but rather an ongoing and fairly time consuming effort. It takes…
On Why Family History
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are sometimes asked why we are so interested in Family History. Here is a brief response that I have written after some thought and hopefully a little inspiration. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in a pre-earth state…
On Reason
Reason, as defined by the world, will often exclude spiritual truths. Those who have tried to convince another of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel often find the world view of reason a hindrance. A person describing their spiritual feelings is often viewed as a person who is not down to earth, a person without…
On Gatherers Vs. Dispersers
We are born into this world with absolutely nothing and, it seems, that for most of us, the rest of our lives are devoted to seeing how much of this earth’s goods we can add to that ‘nothing.’ We learn early about ownership, as soon as we try to take a toy that belongs to…