Family History Conference BYU

  This past week I attended The BYU Family History Conference in Provo,

 Utah. It was an inspiring week with my good friend Mary Morrow, also 

 from Mesa, Arizona.

     It was if I traveled back to my youth and back in time. We stayed in the 

 dorms at  Helaman Halls on BYU campus.  I was accepted to attend

 Brigham Young University back in 1978 after I graduated from Ricks  

 College, now known as BYU Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho. I did not attend 

 BYU as I was a young newlywed. My first husband Steven Wayne 

Dawson had also been accepted to BYU. We mutually decided that 

 I would work and Steve would attend the university. That however, 

 is a story for another time.  

     It was heavenly to be back in Utah and on campus for this conference. 

 It was four days jam packed with remarkable keynote speakers and five  

 classes each day taught by accredited genealogists and others who 

 shared their expertise in various genealogical areas.

      I was thrilled to hear the story of Jeff Marks as he traveled to Haiti, 

 Wyoming and Yougoslavia experiencing many miracles along the way as 

 he searched for and found his ancestors. We were also blessed to hear 

 from George Durrant  a favorite of mine from the past.  He is a former 

BYU professor with a humorous touch and spiritual depth. Susan 

 Easton Black is married to George Durant and she spoke along with 

 him. She taught at BYU for 37 years and has written 160 books.

     I learned so much. I can't wait to implement what I took away from this

  conference.  I just don't think there are enough hours in the day to get it

 all done.   

     We couldn't leave Provo without attending the Provo City Temple.  

 After the class on Friday afternoon Mary and I took an Uber ride to the 

 temple. It was a sacred experience and the temple is absolutely stunning. 

 We did dealings and our temple sealer was A. LeGrand Richards  

 the grandson of Legrand Richards an apostle of God. The battery on my  

phone died so we were unable to get an Uber ride. We ended up walking 

back to our dorms. Mary was barefoot because her shoes were giving                                              her blisters. She enjoyed walking barefoot through the lush green grass

 in Provo.

     We walked miles and miles and miles while on campus and off. 

Every evening after our classes and dinner at the BYU Commons we  

took a 2 mile walk on campus and most of the pictures below were taken  

as we walked around campus. We even saw an obviously intelligent deer  

grazing on campus as we walked. We trekked from our dorm to the 

Commons where we ate our meals. We hoofed it to the conference center 

each day for our classes. We ran to the BYU bookstore so we could shop. 

 I didn't make it to the gym this week but I managed to meet my exercise 

goals.

     "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the  

great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the  

fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I  

come and smite the earth with a curse." Malachi 4: 5-6 Searching for our 

kindred dead, uniting families and having their ordinances done in the

 temples around the world is THE SPIRIT OF ELIJAH.