Family History

One of the goals our Area Presidency gave to us at the first of the year was to help members and friends to record 15 family names of direct ancestors in 2015.  We had already done our four generation (15 direct ancestors) work several years ago, but felt that we could still find other family names.  We were told by the Area Presidency that can we increase our faith in Jesus Christ and love for our family through submitting and performing temple ordinances for family members who have passed on.   Not only will we have the eternal gratitude of our loved ones, we will be bound together as families for the eternities to come.  This past year we have been able to find and submit several family names and then go to the temple and perform the temple work for them.

Two weeks ago we left the office early and drove to the town of Hamilton.  Upon arriving there we went to the home of Vic and Rangi Parker.  We had previously been invited to spend the night at their home which is minutes away from the Hamilton Temple.  We dropped off our bags and went to the temple to participate in family temple work there.  After the session we stopped to take some pictures of the Christmas seasonal lights which are already on at the temple grounds.  While in the parking lot Gary offered to take a picture of a couple.   Coincidentally,  the couple (the Shurtz) had just returned from Tonga where they had been volunteering in the humanitarian dental clinic with Elder and Sister Johns, who just went to Tonga to direct the dental clinic in September.

We then returned to the Parker's home for the evening.  Elder and Sister Parker have undertaken the task of writing the history of the Church in New Zealand.  We had a delightful visit with them.  She showed a fascinating movie about the life of Matthew Cowley an early missionary in New Zealand and later member of the Quorum of the 12.  We had a great nights sleep and in the morning went back over to the temple to participate in another session.

After our session, we drove home, stopping several times on the way at stores and shops that we are usually too busy to visit.  We figured we better check some of these places out sooner than later, as we will be going home before we know it.

Dr. and Sister Shurtz

View of temple from Parker's home

Vic and Rangi Parker

"The first thing that everyone should do is to gather all possible information about himself that might be found in the home and from close relatives.  The purpose of this is to identify yourself as an individual and to know from whom you have descended."  Howard W. Hunter, Primer in Genealogy, Ensign, February 1971

Post Script - This post was finished and ready to be published, but as we typed the thought above, we had the impression to share a bit of family history that we discovered recently.  Last week our daughter went to a Remembrance Day Program at the local elementary school in Raymond, Canada.  During the program they showed pictures of veterans.  One of the pictures was of a young man who looked like her brother.  The name on the picture was George William Winters.  She inquired if Gary's father had been in the service (his name was George).  We said no, but thought we could check with a cousin who had relatives from Raymond and see if there was any connection.  We sent out an email and heard back the very next day that yes, George William Winters was the son of Gary's grandfather's brother.  But now, the story gets even better.  The person who gave his cousin all this information about George Winters was a man named Ray Court.  Ray Court was a cousin to our son-in-law's grandfather.   It is indeed a small world.

Welfare Specialists

LDS Charities operates 7 "signature programs",  www.ldscharities.org.  They include Clean Water, Wheelchairs, Benson Food Initiatives, Emergency Response, Maternal and Newborn Care, Immunization, and Vision Care.  In our area, we sometimes call upon welfare specialists from the USA to help us develop projects or provide training on these signature programs for communities and local in-country humanitarian couples.

Church couples who have an expertise in a particular area have been called and set apart as welfare specialists.  Most of these couples are retired, but some may still work part time.  Depending upon their expertise they are assigned an area to which they help in carrying out the signature programs.  The following is a description of what some of the specialists do.

Maternal and newborn care specialists give "train-the-trainer" instruction to medical personnel and birth attendants.  They provide lifesaving training and equipment to help medical people resuscitate babies born with breathing difficulties, support the care of newborns, and improve maternal survival.

Vision care specialists provide training, equipment and supplies to help local eye care professionals and develop programs to improve eyesight.

Wheelchair specialists help assess individual needs, select and fit people to appropriate wheelchairs, and train individual wheelchair users, their families and caregivers.

Clean water specialists help provide communities with clean water sources, as well as improve sanitation facilities and teach proper hygiene techniques.

Recently we had Elder Jim and Sister Karen Greding come to the Pacific Area.  While here they visited Samoa and Tonga to help develop clean water projects.  The water needs are as different for each country as are the ways they get water.  Elder and Sister Greding went out with the humanitarian missionary couples and staff and visited many potential water projects.  Then they write reports which helps our area to prioritize the water projects in different countries.  We are thankful to have specialists that we can call on to help our couples with their projects.

The Gredings have traveled to many places in the world, but most of these countries are not "vacation destinations".  Remember most countries do not have the water systems that we enjoy in the more developed world.  Getting to these water projects sometimes require hours of travel and many different modes of transportation and can be a little bit of a challenge to visit. 

"I am deeply grateful that as a church we continue to extend humanitarian aid where there is a great need.  We have done much in this regard and have blessed the lives of thousands upon thousands of our Father's children who are not of our faith as well as those who are.  We intend to continue to help wherever such is needed."  Thomas S Monson,  "Until We Meet Again",  April General Conference 2009