She Will Find What is Lost

Last night Burke and I were doing a little Christmas shopping at Deseret Book when he went around the corner to get a drink of water.  In a moment he was back with bright shining eyes and said with excitement, "I found your picture Em."  He led Daphne and I around the corner and there, on an obscure wall by the bathrooms, was a painting that sent chills down my spine and instantly brought tears to my eyes.

(found here)

It is called "She Will Find What Is Lost" by Brian Kershisnik and it speaks more powerfully to my soul than any art piece I have ever seen.  I am that woman.  I know my ancestors are a very real presence in my life, urging me onward.  There is so much work to be done.

In October, a miracle occurred.  I was looking on FamilySearch for one of Catherine Berry's (my great-great-great Grandmother) siblings for a clue about her life when suddenly I noticed her brother's children didn't have any of their temple work done.  In just a few hours of jumping back and forth between FamilySearch and Ancestry.com, I had found and added to my family tree over 50 names with no end in sight!  The more I looked and researched, the more work I discovered that had never been done.  And this was just from one brother.  Guess how many siblings Catherine had?  Eleven!  That means when we start tying in their spouses families, their children and their children's spouses, etc., we are talking well over 1,000 names here.   

On November 12th, my nephew Zakia went to the temple for his 12th birthday and with the help of Amy, Karl, Anne Kirby, Mom, Dad, Grandpa Bush, and Grandma Ellsworth they were able to do the initial baptism and confirmation work for 90 family names I had sent them.  Then, on Friday, November 29th, Cassie, Mom, Dad, Burke and I decided to participate in a "White Friday" instead of "Black Friday" and went to the Logan Temple to do the initiatory work for many of these names.  I can't wait until they are all done!  What a neat neat experience!

So my family history tip of the day is that if you think all the work has been done in your direct family line, start looking around and I'm 90% sure you'll find ancestors who are waiting to be found on your lateral lines - Aunts, Uncles, etc...  I would love to hear when you find them, because I promise you they are out there waiting for you to get to work and find what is lost.