The Heavenly Messenger

Each week I think about what story I want to tell. There are so many stories to tell. I usually settle on a few and then I begin to write. But even though all the stories are worthy of being told, if I choose the wrong story to tell - it doesn't work. The words just don't fit together. So, I begin again with the "other" story I was thinking of and it works.

In honor of the upcoming General Conference this week, I wanted to share a spiritual story. The one that came to my mind is about Uncle Bert. Uncle Bert as he was known was actually born Thomas Alberto Huff. He married into the Tuck family when he married Rosa Tuck on 3 April 1918 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bert had struggled with his spirituality, so as Rosa said, " He wasn't ready for a recommend." So, Bert and Rosa missed the opportunity to be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. An opportunity Rosa would have appreciated.

But time and the powers of heaven were on Rosa's side. I am sure that many times over the years of their life together that Rosa petitioned Heavenly Father in behalf of her husband - hoping that someday he would find his God and thus find himself worthy to enter His holy temple. As stated in the Book of Enos, "I prayed unto him with many long strugglings...After I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires because of thy faith.

One morning there was a heavenly messenger waiting for Bert to wake up. As Bert got out of bed and headed to the bathroom he heard a voice that said, "Get your endowments." It was a simple but powerful message meant just for Bert that cut straight to his heart. It was a message that could not be denied.

The heavenly messenger was successful because from that time on Bert began to attend church and his Priesthood meetings. It wasn't long before he qualified himself to be ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. On December 5, 1964, at the age of 80 years old, Bert was now able to walk through the doors of the Idaho Falls Temple and be sealed to his wife Rosa and two of their daughters - Nell and Rosa Lorraine.

As Elder Holland once said in this talk found here  "But I testify that angels are still sent to help us, even as they were sent to help Adam and Eve, to help the prophets, and indeed to help the Savior of the world Himself.

How Grandma Got Her Name

Grandma Ernestine and Great Grandma Ossie

My grandma and I share something in common - we both have unusual names. People don't know what to do with unusual names. They don't roll off the tongue and so people shy away from them. And in my case, my name is also hard for people to spell. But we each were also blessed to have surnames (Smith and Archibald) that are easy to pronounce and easy to spell.

The origins of my grandmother's name date back to the days in Virginia, where her mother Ossie Pearl Tuck was born and raised. Ossie was a Virginia girl through and through. The Tuck family roots run deep in Virginia. By the time Ossie came upon this earthly scene, the Tucks had been living in Virginia for at least 6 generations. That is until ... the Mormon missionaries came to Leesville and happened upon the door of the John William Tuck family.

In describing the scene when the missionaries first arrived at the Tuck home, Rosa Tuck, Ossie's sister, said, "My father never turned a stranger away from his door, so the first time the Elders came, they were taken in with open arms. From the beginning they began to investigate the gospel and felt like it was just what they had been looking for."

So, it was not too long before the Tuck family decided to leave Virginia, the place that they and their ancestors had called home so many years and come west to join with the Mormons. Just before they left Virginia, they moved a 111 miles south to Lynchburg, Virginia.

While in Lynchburg, Ossie and her older sister Rosa took a job working in a bookstore named Brown & Morrison. There they became fast friends with Ernestine Blackburn. They all enjoyed each other's company so well. Rosa and Ossie began teaching Ernestine about the LDS faith. She was very interested and asked many questions. This lead to an even closer friendship between the three, so that upon Rosa and Ossie going west, they announced that whoever had a baby girl first would name their child after Ernestine, their dear friend.

Ossie was the lucky one and her first born was a baby girl. She was a woman of her word and named her daughter Ernestine, a remembrance of her home - Virginia.

Irish - Dublin Coddle

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, so...I thought it would be appropriate to post an Irish recipe on my genealogy blog, since I am Irish, you know or maybe don't know. The Smith's come from, you guessed it - Ireland. I also have a few other Irish surnames that may and may not sound so Irish - like Hogan and Carbine. Sorry no tradtional names likes O'Leary or Flanagan.

This morning in the newspaper I saw an article about Dublin Coddle. I had never heard of Dublin Coddle. Maybe you haven't either. It is called coddle because the food is cooked slowly, either on the stove top or in a slow cooker, which ever you prefer. It is a comfort food, something warm and filling.

Here is the recipe I found for it:
If you want to check the website out where I found the recipe go here http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/03/dublin-coddle-oh-so-good.html


Dublin Coddle 6-8 Moderate servings

1 lb bacon slices, cubed
2 lbs pork sausage links
2 large onions, thinly sliced
4 large potatoes, peeled, and thickly sliced (about 1/2 inch)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
6 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
pepper and salt
4-6 cups of apple cider

1) In a large pot add the bacon and cook over medium heat until the bacon is crispy. Make sure that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and cooks evenly by stirring frequently. Using a slotted spoon remove the bacon to a bowl. Pour off most the grease, leaving just enough to grease the bottom of the pan. (Save that grease to fry eggs in, delicious!)
2) Add the sausage links and brown on both sides in the bacon grease over medium-high heat (you may need to do this in two batches). Remove. Add sliced onions and garlic and soften (you can add a little more bacon grease, if needed to prevent sticking). Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the bacon and sausage back in along with the carrots and potatoes. Season with pepper and add enough apple cider to almost cover the mixture. (I used about 4 cups of juice and added just a bit of water to almost cover).
3) Simmer, but don’t boil for 1 1/2 hours, covered. Check seasonings and serve one sausage per person topped with potatoes and carrots and some of the juicy broth. Enjoy!

If you are feeling Irish - try it out!

Granite Mountain Record Vault

Here is a picture of the entrance of the GMRV or the Granite Mountain Record Vault. It is located up beautiful Little Cottonwood Canyon along the Wasatch mountains in Utah. I wanted to do a post on this place because it holds amazing genealogical treasures. It is the big brother to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

The GMRV houses about 2.4 million rolls of microfilm. This number does not include all of the information found in book form. There is estimated to be more than 4 billion original names on these rolls of microfilm. So, this number does not include any duplicate names! Mouth drops open, eyes pop out! I know - there are a lot of people to be found. Now, get ready, this is the kicker. Out of the 2.4 million rolls of microfilm, only 1 million rolls have been checked out! Okay, looks like there is a lot more research to be done. This should give everyone hope. Always, exhaust all possible records. Every record has its own set of information to offer the genealogist.

The LDS Church began acquiring this mass of information in 1938. Since one of the very first directives that Joseph Smith received was to turn our hearts to our fathers, the LDS Church knew that to make this happen for its members - records must be made readily available. So, film crews began the large task of flying around the world to film and collect records that contain information about our forefathers. They are still sending film crews out today. The collection of records is not done.

Now we have arrived at the point where the LDS Church is now scanning all of the 2.4 million rolls of microfilm plus the large book collection it has and putting it all in a digitized format on familysearch.org. The amazing engineers have rebuilt - meaning they have pumped up their scanners to withstand the demanding 13 hours a day, 5 days a week task of scanning. Finally, it is estimated that the scanning will be complete in 7 to 9 years.

So, check out familysearch.org. Last year, the amount of digital images available on familysearch.org - DOUBLED! If you don't find what you need, look again and again.