Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 138:57

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 138:57

"I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead."

I woke this morning to what would become a wonderful journey. I thought of Sister Julia White, one of the first members of the Glens Falls Branch. Her life and then death left a great impression on me. I thought of so many events and by the time sleep was from my eyes I determined I was going to see if I could find her. That lead me on a wonderful journey with the decision to fill out her information on FamilySearch as complete as I could. I found this lovely picture of her and thought I would like her as a friend. I learned that she was only 13 years old when she married. At 15 years of age she and her husband joined the church. By the time she was 38 she was a childless widow. She never did remarry. She was only 66 years old when she died. I was 14 years old when that happened and could have sworn she was in her 80's.

I had a time trying to pin down her husband. I have 4 men with the same name and death date but the birth dates I have not reconciled. I believe they are more than likely all the same man, but I won't merge the records just yet. Two of the records have the same baptism date as Julia. The others have no ordinance dates. I had never really heard anything about her husband but he was possibly 19 years older than her. He was a WWI veteran and died suddenly while at work. It was wonderful filling out the pieces of their lives and entering what I could on FamilySearch. They never had any posterity. Someone has to do it. The saddest thing of all is I cannot find a record of them being sealed. By the time the Washington temple was built she was already wheelchair bound, without a leg, living in a nursing home. I have a date in 1970 for her initiatory in the Provo Temple, but the endowment date is after her death. Is it possible they were never sealed? It seems unlikely she would travel from New York to Utah to receive her initiatory, but not complete her or her husband's temple work. I still have some investigating to do before I approach the church about having these members sealed together.

To sit and read tonight one of the greatest chapters in scriptures about the redemption of the dead, I cannot begin to tell what is in my heart. I thought of Brother White, a man I never knew, and how he has been faithfully serving on the other side of the veil all this time. The joy there must have been when Sister White could finally join him. What a great legacy and yet it was on the verge of being forgotten. Tonight I dedicate my favorite verse in memory of Christopher B. White and Julia Ann Fowler, they hold a special place in my heart and will not be forgotten.

Day 2141