Tuesday, January 18, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2011

Already, we are off to a great start to a great year! 2010 was filled with wonderful experiences, which as you can see did not get posted. One of my goals is to work on this blog more faithfully and submit posts to update events. It has been too long since I visited this and added anything, despite my promise to do so. But here I go!

So far, I reached a small goal of getting the necessary info on my great-aunt Merle (Craig) Kirkpatrick to do her Temple work. Our Stake Relief Society Presidency, of which I am 2nd counselor, invited all the sisters to attend an endowment session or do baptisms or initiatories on Saturday, January 15 and to come prepared with their own family names. Over the years I have been a member of the church, my efforts to gather genealogy have been very limited as far as the results have gone. But, recently, this month, I have been thinking about Aunt Merle a lot. I have also been thinking about Aunt Betty (Toots) & her husband, Uncle Ray Hertler. It became clear to me that Aunt Merle was trying to get my attention to do the work for her. I want to also serve the others, but Becky is eager to participate with some of the ordinances for Aunt Toots, and I want Steve to participate for Uncle Ray. So, my plan is to arrange for that work to get done this month or as soon as possible. I was able to find the appropriate information to do the work for Aunt Merle. I went to the South Salem Lone Oaks Stake Center Family History Genealogy Library and received amazing help from 2 very wonderful sisters there. They walked me through the steps to utilize the Church's newest Family Search link, and we were able to get all the correct required data for the Temple work. That was on Thursday, Jan. 6th. The next evening, after calling the Temple to verify that a youth group would be there to perform baptisms, I went to the Temple and asked the workers if the youth could do the baptism & confirmation for Aunt Merle. They did. The nice surprise was that it was a group of youth from the Fairgrounds' Ward, several of whom I knew as well as the priesthood holders from that ward are friends of ours. That made the event even more special to me! I then returned to the Temple on Tuesday, Jan. 12th to do the initiatory for her. That completed the preps necessary for the endowment ordinance. It was delightful to arrive at the Temple on Saturday, completely prepared to participate in her receiving her endowment. The next step for her is to get her husband's info, have his work completed & then participate in the sealing ordinance. It is so exciting! I still have much to learn about the Church's newest version of this Family Search site, but I have become familiar enough to continue my efforts, and I know there are those who are willing to help. My testimony of genealogy work increased a great deal, & I am excited to continue gathering the necessary data on my family names to do their work for them! I felt a special closeness to Aunt Merle that day, & I knew she was happy about what I was doing for her.

Yesterday, Monday, Jan. 17th, Camden's birthday, we celebrated his 4th birthday. He, Naomi, & their mom, Becky, came to spend the night on Sunday. Then, since yesterday was MLK Day, Jake was off work. He & Beth & their family came for breakfast after which Camden opened his gifts, we sang Happy Birthday, & ate cupcakes. We then headed off to the Salvation Army Kroc Center to swim & climb the rock wall (the kids did that). Because I am fighting a head cold, & didn't want to swim, I tended Isabel the 3+ hours we were there! Made my day! Everyone had a great time!

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