The task was, use the family search app and find an ancestor buried locally. Learn enough to tell us something about them. Of course, we did my grandparents because we don't want to forget them and we had some neat stories. But the rest were new to us. After visiting Nauvoo last summer, we realized we had many family members that left Nauvoo and settled in different areas in Utah and Idaho. Bo and I thought it would be neat to look some of them up and try to find their headstones.
We started out in the Lewisville Cemetary. We had to google map it because we didn't even know where it was. We walked the entire cemetery, which wasn't very big (but it still took about 20 minutes), and, finally, in the last area, we spotted them. The name Bo found turned out to be two families and some children (two twin girls who died the day they were born and other sisters that also passed away), among others. The fathers being James and William Myler. My 3rd and 4th great grandparents.
 |
| the headstone of James and his wife, Julia |
 |
| William Oscar (he went by Oscar) and his wife, Christina |
While we were there, one of Jame's great-great grandson's happened to be there with his sister. His name was Don Myler. I forgot his sister's name, but I think it started with a D too. Anyway, they told us some stories about our common ancestor. It was so neat. He had spent the last month fixing up their headstones. They were a mess. It took about 60 bags of concrete to get them all placed back and looking beautiful. They looked so great, and I felt grateful we could see them right after he fixed them up. I don't know how easy it would have been to find them if he hadn't put them back in place.
Here is a little about James and his wife, Julia. They moved to Nauvoo just after Joseph Smith was martyred. So, their life must have been difficult the whole time they were there. Especially the last day they were there. A mob came in and told them they had an hour to leave, or else. So they packed up what they could, which wasn't much, and began their journey. It was a freezing -28 F. So cold that the Mississippi River was frozen over. They walked across it, and about halfway, Julia began leaving bloody footsteps. You see, her shoes were so bad that her feet began to crack. This wasn't even the worst of it.
James was in Platoon C in the Mormon Battalion. While he was gone, Julia took the wheels off their covered wagon, and she and the kids lived there for 18 months! I can't even imagine the struggle they had 11 kids. I'm not sure how many they had at the time. But even alone, it would be difficult.
We then went to my great grandparents and grandparents (Warren and Lorna Shelton) in the Feilding Memorial Park Cemetary in Idaho Falls. This was my part, and sadly I forgot to take pictures at the cemetery. But, I wanted to share a couple of sweet stories with the kids about my grandparents. My grandfather didn't grow up in the church but, at one point, was baptized. It wasn't until later in life that he chose to live the teachings of the gospel. My grandmother (I assume) really struggled with that. I requested her Patriarchal Blessing from the church, and when I read it, much was mentioned about how she would help my grandfather want to follow the Savior's teachings. But, she needed to let him choose and not push. Her example would do it. It eventually did; he did become truly converted. I remember my grandfather always being active. But, my older siblings remember him a little differently when they were young.
On familysearch.com, there's a talk my grandpa gave on his testimony of the Book of Mormon. Here's a link: Grandpa's Talk. It's funny (of course, grandpa was so funny) and inspiring. I have loved this story since my mom told it to me. So I read it along with the part of grandma's blessing. It was neat to see how they came together. I'm not sure my kids understood how cool it was. But, they at least got to hear some neat things about their great-grandparents. We also spoke a little bit about their great-greats. Next time I want to find more from my mom's side. Everyone but I found names from my Dad's.
Jackson and Conrad did Archie and Irene. Their great Grandparents. Brayden told about Fred Christensen, Archie's Father. I wished we'd done his wife too because they shared a headstone. I'll remember that for next time. Here's a link to Archie and should get you to everyone else: Archie Christensen. My kids don't know my grandpa, so it was fun to hear a little about him.
Then Hailey found a name we didn't know was in the Ririe Cemetary too. Thomas William Morgan III. He was a great kind man and lived to be 94. Quite the feat back in the day. I need to read up more on him. His story sounded interesting. Bo had noticed his headstone in that cemetery before, and we able to find it pretty quick. Caleb's person was right nearby Thomas's headstone.
Caleb told us about Reuben Coles. His story was so great. I read all about him helping Caleb, so I'm a bit partial. But, He and his wife joined the church and got married. When his wife, Hannah, told her mother what they did, her mother told her to leave and never return. It sounded like they did make amends, but after they had enough money, Reuben and Hannah came to America on the same boat as the missionary that baptized them. Pretty cool. It was a huge struggle for them, and their life wasn't easy. But they saw blessings all the way. They were very strong, and they lived their life for the Lord.
One of the things that made it special was printing out pictures and placing them by their headstone. I loved that part. I'll never forget this Memorial Day. It was pretty special, and I want to make this a new tradition. It's hard to explain why it's so exciting to learn about the family that came before you, but it pulls you in. When I read about all they went through to make our lives possible, I feel so grateful. It makes me want to live better to show them my gratitude and live a good life so my future posterity will want to be better too.
