June 23 - 29 - Sunday to Saturday

We watched "The Other Side of Heaven 2: Fire of Faith" on Saturday morning June 29. We wanted to watch it on the opening weekend of its release. See more comments on the Saturday entry,

From Sister Tolman for the week

This week had been a little bit crazy in some ways. Sunday was the Broadcast, Church and our floor social. Monday we had a party in the evening with the Senior brothers. Tuesday we went to the park in the evening for a concert. Wednesday was mostly a normal day. Thursday was the 175-Anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith, also a day for us to have physicals, go to the temple and do some food shopping before going to work. Friday was clean the apartment, do the laundry and work a full shift. Saturday we went to see The Other Side of Heaven 2, then worked a half shift and then went to the cousins party for Glen’s family. Early next week (Monday) is the day to get ready for Janny’s visit.

We work with all different kinds of people and on all different kinds of projects. Sometimes they are quiet and timid, sometimes boisterous and outgoing but most are somewhere in between. Some are from the surrounding area and some are from different countries around the world. We try and help them connect with families from wherever they are from and sometimes it is an impossible challenge. One person was from Egypt but when they started searching they found he was really from Greece. One was looking for her grandmother’s first husband. We were able to find their marriage and the death date of the man.

This week we had two couples come in that were African American and one of the young elders told one of them that there was nothing more he could do and sent him down to the second floor. I intercepted him and we connected him with Elder Tolman who only had about 15 minutes but found some records. We don’t give up. We want everyone to have a good and spiritual experience and maybe the spiritual part is just feeling the importance of family.

Sunday June 23

We attended and enjoyed Music and the Spoken Work in the Conference Center. The subject of our Sacrament Meeting was the prophet Joseph Smith and the messages were well-prepared and inspiring.

We held our monthly Fifth Floor dinner social. The food was a pasta bar. We were asked to share inspiring experiences with others at our table and then one of us to share with the others. I was asked to share the story of Sister Abernathy (a missionary in our zone) and Noelini (Noe) Mateaki. I shared this in a previous blog.

As a student at BYU Hawaii then called the Church College of Hawaii, Sister Abernathy was greatly inspired by a musical number “O Divine Redeemer” sung by another student Noelini Webster in Sacrament meeting in the 1960’s. This song had a profound impact on Sister Abernathy and she has wanted to thank Noelini ever since. She had asked and searched over the years asking classmates if they knew what happened to Noelini. I had met Noelini at the library and had helped her several times. One of these times, I had helped with her father’s research so I remembered her maiden name which was Webster. Several days later, in our zone newsletter, I read a brief biography written by Sister Abernathy which mentioned Noelini Webster and the impact she had on her life. I immediately knew that the person I had been helping and the person Sister Abernathy mentioned were the same person. About a week later, both were in the library and I was able to introduce them. I was happy to be a part of helping Sister Abernathy meet Noelini. As Noelini is a regular visitor to the library, they have since visited several times.

Monday June 24

We attended our Monday mission devotional at 7:30am. President Fenn conducted the meeting. He announced a new mission Executive Secretary – Elder Gordon who replaces Elder Ted Hodges who has been serving faithfully for the past four years. We heard from Sister Gordon and Elder Gordon and then from Elder and Sister Hodges. President Fenn announced that his plan is to keep the current mission presidency intact until end of June 2020 when he and Sister Fenn complete their mission. This will be a great blessing for the work here. I personally thanked Elder Hodges for his tireless work. We have had a lot of interaction with him since we first met him in Salt Lake City in January 2018 to discuss a possible missionary assignment in the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission.

I talked for about 45 minutes on the phone with Dorothy Duncan from our stake in Tempe. She will visit the library on Tuesday. She had some questions which I was able to answer. Her son Scott lives in our daughter Michelle’s stake and another son David is an airline pilot who brought her to Salt Lake for the day to work in the library.

We had dinner at Murray Park with the Seniors and Dad Seniors brothers- Brian and Karen Ethington, Mark and Illene Ethington and Harold Ethington who married Dee Ann (the other brother Wayne’s widow). We enjoyed a good dinner and conversation. Sister Tolman's grandmother Grandma Leila Ethington is Grandpa Senior, Mark and Brian's mother. Grandma Ethington passed away in 1989 and visited us several times in our home in Tempe.

Sister Tolman, Mark & Illene, mom and dad, Karen and Brian

Tuesday June 25

We attended our prayer meeting at 7:30am where we had training on how to help African American guests. We can use the same records the we use for others in the United States from the 1940 US Census back to the 1870 US Census. Prior to 1870 it is harder to find records. After the prayer meeting, I updated the mission website with access to the training material that we reviewed.

I helped Don Attridge with getting his DNA kit ready to send in. I also helped him reserve some temple names for the spouse and children of one of his Attridge ancestors. I have been doing some research on his tree and still have some duplicates to resolve. He will not be at the library for the next several weeks as the Salt Lake Temple will be closed the first two weeks of July.

Dorothy Duncan visited the library with her son David who is a pilot for American Airlines and is based in Phoenix. She said yesterday the she might be in Salt Lake City today. She can’t see very well so using the computer is difficult. We were searching for David's wife’s ancestors. At first we couldn’t find them on FamilyTree but were able to find one of them Charles Matthew Wells on the 1861 English census with his parents as a two year old along with his birth registration. We found a tree for the family on ancestry.com and then were able to find the family on FamilyTree. Much of the information for Charles Matthew Wells (LJ58-KCH) needed to be updated. He was born in England and died at sea just outside of Tahiti. David picked up how to use FamilySearch quickly. We needed to resolve some duplicates and attach some sources. I printed a pedigree chart for him to share with his wife and documented some of the information that we found. Here is a picture of Dorothy Duncan with her husband Jerry. Besides knowing them in the Tempe Stake, I worked with Jerry on several projects at Motorola.

Dorothy and Jerry Duncan from Tempe, Arizona (picture from Facebook)

Sister Tolman and I were supposed to go to lunch at 11am but I was involved helping Dorothy and David. Sister Tolman went to lunch at 11:45am and brought me lunch which I ate around 12:45pm. She brought the fixings for nachos and I managed to fix my own plate of nachos in the microwave.

During our Zone leadership meeting we discussed the material that I put together to help us manage the floor and focus our efforts on helping library guests. I added the material to our desk guest book.

We went to the music group “Vocal Male” at the Brigham Young Park at State Street and North Temple. Learn more about them at this link. They were very entertaining.

Wednesday June 26

I led the 7:30 am prayer meeting. We reviewed the training for finding ancestors for African-American guests and I showed how to access the mission website to see this plus other training.

Helped Sister Chabries with understanding how to help a member of her ward get access to the free ancestry.com account. I shared how to convert an existing account to the free account as often individuals have previously signed up in the past for a free two-week trial membership.

Helped Sister Godfrey with how to attach sources especially when the source includes different family members such as a marriage record with the man and woman to be married plus both of their parents. Helped a woman with questions on FamilySearch and her Ancestry.com tree. She decided she will not worry about her ancestry.com tree and focus on improving her information on FamilySearch. Her family can see the information free on FamilySearch.org as long as they get an account.

Visited briefly with Noe Mateaki. Texted Ira Gentry. He just missed seeing us at the library for a short visit. May see him sometime this week or next week. Helped an older man get his RootsMagic database uploaded so he could work on it at the library.

Helped Susan Beilman from Sun City. She is trying to find the first wife for one of her ancestors. Their child was connected to an additional parent which we corrected. I suggested that she add the rest of the children to the family. The mother on FamilyTree was listed as “unknown”. I suggested that she just put in her married last name instead which she did. She is here on Thursday and Friday. She said she is reluctant to ask for help but appreciated how I was able to help her and she will be looking for me on Thursday night and Friday afternoon before she and her husband Hank leave on Saturday.

Helped Elder Olsen who is a new full-time senior missionary. His wife is serving on the Discovery Floor. I helped him previously find relatives to add to the tree. I had found another family to add and helped him do that. I showed him the training that I put together to help people get started on FamilySearch. He was grateful for that help.

We drove to City Creek Canyon for dinner at about 5:30 pm. This is just a short drive from our apartment. The weather in the valley was about 90 degrees but a lot cooler in the canyon. By the time we left started to drive down the canyon at about 7:15 pm or so Sister Tolman needed a jacket. We enjoyed being there with the trees and the sound of the creek. On even days of the week cars are allowed in the canyon. On odd days, bicycles are allowed. The road is not very wide with no center line. Hikers are allowed on all days.

Notice the narrow tree-lined road

City Creek near the top of the canyon

Sister Tolman putting together a picnic dinner for us

Thursday June 27

Today is the 175th anniversary of the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum in the Carthage jail. Here is a picture of Sister Tolman and me taken last year in Carthage.

I read chapters 44 “A Lamb to the Slaughter” and 45 “An Almighty Foundation” today from Church History Saints Volume 1. For our evening reading we read Doctrine and Covenants Section 135. I quote verse 3. “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!”

In the morning we talked to our daughter Laura. We had arranged for an in-home health evaluation from a nurse. She arrived a 9:00 am and spent nearly two hours with us. She was very thorough and her visit was helpful to both of us. We then attended the 12 noon endowment session at the Salt Lake Temple. The session had more attendees that any session we have attended so far. The temple closes the first two weeks of July for cleaning as is normally done twice a year.

We were not busy at the library on our 6 to 9 pm shift so I worked on some personal family history work. When we stopped by my sister JoAnne’s house last Friday on the way home from Manti, she gave us some temple cards of people for whom she had completed the temple work. The one on top was a couple sealing for John Rames and Mary Alice Boagley.

JoAnne and her husband Craig had completed the temple work for this family with eight children. I used how I found this family and added them to FamilyTree in the training that I have in the lesson on my family history blog titled “Research – Expanding Your Tree”. When I looked at the temple card, I knew there was something I needed to do. I started checking on Mary Alice and found that the marriage record for her and John had recorded her last name incorrectly and her correct last name was Boagey and not Boagley. With this information, I was able to connect her to her parents and siblings. I have been working on this family for several days and completed a lot of merges and research for Mary Alice, her parents and her siblings. This part of FamilyTree is now put together. It was challenging and enjoyable to get this research completed.

Friday June 28

We finished the weekly cleaning in the morning and started our shift at 12:30pm with the regular prayer meeting which I conducted.

I helped guests with a variety of items during the afternoon. A man was trying to print a document that he found on the internet and the print out kept showing an icon that was blocking part of the print image. We copied the document into a Word document and printed it out. He was happy with the result. I never know what different things I will be asked to help with.

I helped Brenda Sue who lives in the West Temple Apartments on the seventh floor. Her husband works at the Church Office Building. They used to live in Utah County which resulted in a long commute. They like it much better living in West Temple Apartments. I helped her with some questions on updating information in her ancestry.com tree. She was also having trouble accessing her myheritage.com account and she needs to contact them to straighten out her account since it is supposed to be the free account but it is not. I showed her how to disconnect an ancestor from the incorrect parents.

I talked to Hank and Sue Beilman before they left and got their contact information along with a picture of them shown below..

Sister Tolman and I helped a young family (mother and father and four children) visiting from Maine. They didn’t have much time so we put them in two groups and had them search for records for their family on ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. We found records for them in both places and tracked one ancestor from the 1940 census back to the 1900 census. We showed them where to get help back in Bangor, Maine. Their next stop is rafting down the Green River starting near Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, Utah which is right where my brother Byron lives in Jensen.

Just before it was time to leave Elder Benton asked me to help a man from Sparks, Nevada. Two African-American couples came into the library just before 8pm and they received help from mostly the young elders. One of them had not had much success in finding information about his family so Elder Benton asked me to help him. I didn’t have much time but we went to work. The first thing that I did was look for information about his father Charles who was born in 1938. We found his birth certificate on ancestry.com and printed in out and then uploaded it to FamilyTree. It showed the names of his father’s parents which confirmed something he thought was true. We found his mother’s parents on the 1940 census and added that to FamilyTree. We then found a WWII draft registration card for his mother’s father and printed it out and added it to FamilyTree. I showed him where to get help in Sparks, Nevada when he gets home. He was totally excited about what we found and told Elder Benton that I should get a raise.

Saturday June 29

After breakfast and talking to our daughter Julianna we went to a theatre to watch “The Other Side of Heaven 2 – Fire of Faith”. We really enjoyed the movie about Elder John H Groberg and his wife Jean when they served as mission president in Tonga in the 1960’s. Here is a summary of the movie. “Missionary John H. Groberg returns to Tonga in the 1960s with his wife and their five young daughters. When their sixth child is born with a serious illness, the Grobergs face their ultimate test of faith, only to find themselves surrounded by the love and prayers of thousands of Tongans. Barriers of interreligious strife are soon broken down as all unite in hopes of a miracle that will save the baby's life, as well as the life of a Tongan minister's son.”

I helped Linda Wallace from Gainesville, Florida. I helped her find additional information about her family. I helped her install the mobile apps and showed her how to add photos and documents. I took a picture of her with her phone and she added the picture. She knows a lot of information about her parents and grandparents so I encouraged her to add some stories about them on FamilyTree when she gets home. I also helped her daughter and granddaughter who are here with her.

We went to my sister Gerri’s for dinner with my siblings and then enjoyed a Kerr cousins party at Gerri and Dave’s church building a short distance from their house for visiting and dessert. It was really good to see the Kerr cousins. The cousins who were there were included from Adele Kerr (my mother)- Glen & Lynne, Glenna Neilson (plus son Cory and daughter Lori), Gerri and Dave Coombs, Byron and Peggy, and JoAnne and Craig Barlow. From Knight Kerr- Margaret, John, Robert and Mandi. From Helene Kerr Smith- Willis & Gaylene and Chris. From Walter Kerr- Valerie Merritt and Grant and his wife Carol. Many of the cousin’s children and their children were there as well. Thanks to Gerri for organizing this reunion! Here are a few pictures.