Talk about a day to go down in history! I really felt strongly that I should record this in my family history, or my Book of Remembrance. So that is what I am doing. Today, we had General Conference. For those of you who are not members of our church, that is when we gather as a church worldwide and have the blessing to listen to the living Prophets today. It is one of my favorite times of the year! One of the best weekends ever. We get this blessed, sacred opportunity twice a year. Today, President Thomas S. Monson announced the change in age to serve missions. Young men can now go on their missions at age 18 rather than 19. And young women can now go on their missions at age 19 instead of 21! It was SUCH a surprise but it gets me choked up even talking about it because I know how true this church is and how inspired each and every thing the living Prophet tells us to do is. What a beautiful opportunity! How exciting! What a memorable time for the church! I also feel extra happy and emotional about this because two of my siblings will be going on missions. My younger brother already has his mission papers in, and will get his call in 2-3 weeks. My younger sister is only 19, but she has wanted to serve a mission for as long as I can remember. So she was overjoyed by the news today! She will be starting her papers asap and leaving as soon as she can as well. I am SO excited for the both of them and know they will make some of the finest missionaries ever. I can't believe how wonderful our missionaries are in the church and how much they grow on their missions. I never served a mission because I was married by age 20, but I hope and we plan on serving a couples mission later on in life; my husband and I. Both of my parents served, and my older brother, and I see the amazing good it has done in their life. I hear about it too from their experiences. Today I am feeling extra blessed to be a part of this wonderful work and gospel. So grateful for living Prophets who speak to us through God on earth today! :)

"I Heard Him Come" - Jeff Goodrich (LDS)

If there is one thing that I can leave behind in this world, and that I want my husband, my family, and my future children to know, it is how much I love and know the Savior is alive. I know He loves me with a perfect love and He is the reason I am here. I cannot wait to return to Him when it is my time. There is no greater friend than the Savior.

Sometimes music says it better than we can ever say in our own words. So here is my testimony in a song. There are so many to choose from, but this one has always spoke to me and really touched my soul, so I decided this is the one to choose to share with my future generations.

"TO THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE ME" A tribute to the pioneers

I found this when looking at some music for my blog & I want to make a tribute to my own personal ancestors using this song. Such a beautiful song. Really pay attention to the words & I am sure you will agree. :)

A Scenario

So for Family History class, we watched this short animated video. It had two people talking, and one asked what the other did for a living; they replied saying they were a genealogist. The other person said, “Oh good for you. I could never do something like that. Genealogy never interested me, but I am glad there are people like you who like it. My Aunt Bertha does genealogy. She has done all of mine for me.” We were then asked to think about this video when we responded to these questions below. 1. If you were to trade the words "scripture study," "temple work," "missionary work," or "good works" for the word "genealogy" in this video's conversation, how would the conversation feel differently to you? (or would it?) This conversation would feel differently to me. It would be a huge slap in the face. It would be saying that by ignoring our genealogy, and not working at it, or trying to find our ancestors, we are missing out on so many blessings. We are missing out on the same blessings we get from scripture study, temple work, missionary work, and performing good works. That is quite a scary thought. I would not want to miss out on any of these blessings. 2. Why do you think people are so comfortable admitting this about their family's history in public, when doubtless few would dare say the same about temple work, missionary work, or personal spiritual progress? I believe it’s because people do not fully understand the importance of family history work. In my experience, the majority of people are waiting for others to do their family history work for them, or they just assume someone will. People don’t understand that everyone has a part and that in order to be saved; we are required to do family history work, and to help give the blessing of the gospel to our ancestors who have gone before us. Everyone in the church realizes the importance of temple work, missionary work, and personal spiritual progress, but what they don’t always recognize is that family history work is JUST as important. 3. How can we respond to comments such as this in a way that will help others feel the Spirit of Elijah and want to participate, rather than feel uninterested in the Work or satisfied that "someone else is doing my work for me"? I believe that we tell them we gain so many individual blessings for doing family history work, and our ancestors are blessed as well. We tell them that we owe our ancestors for all that they did before us, and this is the way we can do that. I also believe we let them know it’s a commandment from our Heavenly Father. I would tell them we each have our own individual work to do for family history, that no one else, not even our grandma’s who may be family history fanatics, could do for us. Also, I would let them know not to feel overwhelmed. That it’s exciting to be connected to our ancestors and learn their stories and about their lives! I would let them know they can start their own family history by getting everything organized and records of their immediate family, themselves included. Also keeping a journal is a small but successful step on the right path.

Michael R. Otterson

I just listened to an AMAZING video, which was a talk by Michael R. Otterson. Here are some feelings I had while watching this video. One of my favorite quotes from this entire video/talk by Michael R. Otterson was the following: “The term we most commonly use for God is Heavenly Father. That is no casual term. God is a loving father, who cares about every one of His children, and who will not leave them to chance.” I don’t think it gets much better than that. How beautiful that each and every one of us has our own story to tell. And how wonderful that we are able as he said to help learn these stories and do the work for those who have gone on before us. I love that not one of us is left to chance. I love that Michael R. Otterson tells us shares with us how much more real and significant temple work is when we know something about the ancestor we are doing work for; even a small story or the place of birth or who they married, etc. I also love how he said the work is never done, no matter how much our relatives have already done. We all have work to do! Let us go on and do it. So grateful to be a part of this work!