Family History in Africa

Here is an excerpt from my parent's mission blog, they are serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as Welfare Missionaries. These are her thoughts as she was preparing for a Conference. I thought it was appropriate to share it here on my family history site.

"I was very close to my Grandma Lewis, my mother’s mother. She lived with us when I was a little girl so I knew her well, served her daily and loved her dearly. It was a sad day, indeed, when death robbed me of our cheery mornings, laughing days and quilting nights together. Knowing of my love for beloved Sarah Jane, I was given her well-worn, tooled leather wallet. It contained a one dollar silver certificate, her mid-wife business card and a faded, folded paper. Some time ago, I scanned the paper and filed it under “Employment.” I thought nothing of it at the time. During my conference preparation, I ran across the copy of the nearly three-quarters of a century old, faded, folded paper and discovered it to be a Welfare/Employment form not too unlike some used today. It provided a heart-warming tie to my beloved grandmother as I realized that she did what I’m doing even before I was born. She identified those in need of work and connected them with those needing workers and endeavored to give them hope. She valued her stewardship enough to always carry her paper with her so that she would be prepared to gather information at any opportunity to do so. May I be so prepared to be of service to help those in need! Thanks to grandma for being an example of faith, charity, love, service and joy. Remembering her and her devoted service to mankind was an unexpected blessing of the Couples Conference. Now the task of implementing new insights becomes the responsibility of those who were blessed to be enlightened by this enjoyable and memorable occasion." - Sister Basso

I hope we can all remember those that have left their footprints in our lives and learn from both the positive and the negative so that we might build a better future. One of my favorite quotes is from President Hinckley when he said, "All of us need to be reminded of the past. It is from history that we gain knowledge which can save us from repeating mistakes and on which we can build for the future (“Reach with a Rescuing Hand,” New Era, July 1997). - Melia