Personal Note

I've been rather silent since my twittering experience at the Family History Expos in Salt Lake on August 28th. I burned myself out and didn't want to write anything after the experience. Don't get me wrong the Expo was fantastic, I had so much fun! I just think my fibromyalgia caught up with me afterwards. Twittering non-stop for two days took its toll on me. When I have a chance I promise I will report on the great classes I attended.

I found after the conference that I was experiencing "social networking overload". I don't know if it is an actual syndrome but it defines exactly what I felt. I didn't want to read another tweet, get on facebook, open my blog reader, read emails. I was offline. The only reason I did do some of the above during this time frame is because my job required it.

What I did find I wanted to do is work on my own personal genealogy. It has just been so refreshing to get back to what I find the greatest pleasure in. You can get so wrapped up in social networking tools sometimes that you need to just stop and get back to the basics. If there is one curse to being a blogger, it is the fact every moment you blog it takes away from the time you spend on researching.

Now I want to relate something personal and disclose to you, not of my LDS faith, a wonderful resource that members are giving. At the age of 15 after much fasting and prayer I was giving a Patriarchal Blessing by a Patriarch called and ordained to that position in my church. He placed his hands upon my head and gave me through divine revelation my Patriarchal Blessing, a road map to my life. The blessing was tape recorded and later transcribed which resulted in 2 1/2 legal size pages of my life's road map. Blessings promised to come true if I remained obedient and faithful throughout my life. There is one section I want to share:

"I bless you with the spirit of Elijah, that you will have an interest in all your family relations, particularly your kindred dead, that through you a greater portion of their work will be performed in the Temples of the Lord. As you are active and diligent in this important responsibility, at the appropriate time in your life, you will be assisted and will experience great joy and happiness in this important work, and your kindred will praise and honor you for the work you do in their behalf."

I know I have had the spirit of Elijah, my heart has indeed turned to my fathers and I know of their love for me. The one thing I have waited for my whole life, while I pursue this great work, is someone in my family that will take an interest and assist me in my efforts. I think that day has come.

My brother Randy is now interested in doing genealogy. It has been fun to see how interested he is. It is the blessing of having new FamilySearch available that has sparked this dormant flame. In turn once you realize that you now need to really collaborate and share you records with someone else, it really makes you ponder the state of your affairs. I have been busy cleaning up all the loose pieces so we have a fresh start. I am having a great time!

I have found a family member willing to assist me in getting names submitted to the temple. I find I love the thrill of the hunt and unless reminded by a family member I fail to stop and submit names for temple work. My brother on the other hand is very passionate about making sure it is done. What a wonderful fit. I wish you could feel my happiness inside.

Today I did decide to come up for air and make sure I am posting and documenting my happenings on my blog. I have many press releases to share and I just wanted to prepare you for that before I send them. Enjoy, because I might be hiding for a while after that!

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!