Malachi 4:6 "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers..."

                I recently saw a statue of a woman entering into heaven and reaching out towards Christ. This statue was most likely made to illustrate a joyous moment, but to me that's not what it represented. I had one problem with the statue, as excited as the woman looked, and as welcoming as Christ looked, they were stuck. They couldn't touch.

                               Ever since I saw the statue I couldn't help but think about my ancestors up in heaven. I like to think that they now know the fullness of the gospel and love every aspect of it. I like to think that they know and love Christ personally, and most of all I like to think that they want nothing more then to be able to reach out and not be stuck, but to fully embrace our savior.

                Today I had the opportunity to be baptized and confirmed for two of my grandmas (okay my great great great grandma and my great great great great grandma).  This was my first time ever doing one of my own family names and I'm not going to lie I was pretty nervous. Everyone always talks about how strongly they feel the spirit when they do baptisms and I just didn't see anything super special happening, but oh boy was I wrong.

                The only thing I could think of leading up to the baptisms was my own baptism. I was eight years old and more excited then I had ever been in my life (even though I thought I failed my baptismal interview, but that's a different story). That's when it all kind of hit me, today was Adeline and Amelia's day. I wonder how excited they were?  Well I can honestly say that you can now add me to the "I feel the spirit so strongly when I do baptisms" list then multiply how strongly you think I felt it times a billion and your probably half way there. I know that probably doesn't make sense, but that's kind of the point, it was absolutely indescribable. I cried like a little baby, and ask anyone, I DON'T CRY.

                I love family history. I love doing work for my family that they can no longer do for themselves. I love these people that I don't even know. they are part of me. I can't wait to go to heaven and see Amelia and Adeline and be able to talk to them about all the stories that they have that aren't recorded in a census or marriage record. I can't wait to see if they have accepted the ordinances that I've done for them, and I can't wait to thank them for giving me the opportunity to grow closer to them and Christ throughout this whole process.

                I can honestly say that if at any point in your life if you feel alone, or need that instant testimony builder you can look to family history. if you search prayerfully and have a desire to connect to those who came before you a way will be made available to allow you to do so and it will truly change your outlook on the whole concept of an eternal family.

                So many people are willing to devote their lives to help people here on earth, but not many are willing to devote their lives to help those who have already passed. so here it is, my announcement to the world (or whoever actually reads this so probably like 6 people, myself included) that next year I plan on attending college to pursue a double major in communications and family history research.

                 I've spent my whole time as a youth in the church hearing that my generation has all the tools and knowledge needed to increase family history work, and that's exactly what I plan on doing. No I don't plan on taking this major in family history and becoming a millionaire,  I plan on taking the knowledge that I'll gain and using it to help others to love family history just as much as I do.

There are so many people in heaven awaiting their special day, so lets help them out? yeah?

Discovering sunsets one day at a time, todays your day Adeline and Amelia.