Several years ago, before we got our Family History Center, I was asked to head up a family history class on a ward level. I tried to interest the members to attend. I had little success.

As I tried to recruit members, I approached a sister and friend to come to my class. I was surprised by her angry response. She absolutely wanted NOTHING to do with family history. I was taken aback by her answer. She was kind, talented, intelligent and truly one of the loveliest ladies I knew, but she made it clear that she didn’t want to know anything about her family history. I could see that there were deep wounds there for her. She told me that her childhood had been terribly difficult. There had been generational neglect, abandonment and pain. She had spent many years distancing herself from the past and didn’t want to dig it up again. I felt sad for her and didn’t bring the subject up again.

About a year later, my friend caught my arm at church. She was so excited to tell me about her family! She had been taking some classes at BYU to finish up her degree and got to the point where she needed one more credit to finish. The only class that would fit into her schedule was Genealogy 101. For the sake of graduating, she was forced to face her history.

As she completed the assignments, she discovered wonderful people a few generations back. They were hard working people who settled in New England in colonial times. One ancestor was a mayor who was beloved by the town people. They were educated and service oriented. She blurted out, “I come from wonderful people!” I could almost hear them cheering for her on the other side. Her heart was “turned.”

Sometimes families lose their way. My friend has since done much temple work for her beloved ancestors and in doing so she has been healing herself. It was a blessing for me to witness this.

-Karen Stoddard, Consultant, Granite Family History Center