What gifts does he bring? - A new grandchild

Today, on the birth of our 9th grandchild I feel somewhat emotional. I feel relief. I feel gratitude. I feel awe.

The older I get and the more time passes I am filled with a profound sense of the importance and meaning of family. I wonder if there really is anything else that matters. It seems that the whole purpose of the universe and the existence of any creation is to enable, support and sustain the family.

I wonder about this new child arriving directly from Heaven. Who is he? Why did he come now? What is his mission on earth? I wonder what gifts he brings and how I can assist in his divinely mortal journey.

I feel moved with gratitude and compassion for my children and their spouses as they experience and welcome their children into their lives. My tears are flowing freely today.

Sweetest Fruit - Poem

Sweetest Fruit

The tree’s

sweetest fruit

lay on the

ground

at His feet

After all

fully ripe

fruit falls

from the tree

last of all

In earnest

prayer

I kneel
to partake

and find it there

1 Ne 8-12

By Janice Harten

Feb 13, 2004
Copyright © 2013 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

Genealogy Research Help - puzzilla.org

If you want to do family history research on collateral family lines, check out  the website my husband, Bill, developed at:

puzzilla.org

Here you are able to view descendant charts of your ancestors to determine where new research needs to be done.  This website is very new and still in the development and testing phase, so many improvements or changes may be added over time.

This website also gives a link to an eight minute research video entitled, "Finding Herman" and an instructional video on how to use Puzzilla.org. Both of these videos were created early in the development of puzzilla.org and there are plans to update them. 

In order to use this site, you will also need to log into familysearch.org.  Anyone can create an account following the links. However, if you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints you will want to sign up using your individual membership number, which can be obtained in one of three ways:

*Ask the membership Clerk
*It is written on your temple recommend
*It is on the membership papers the bishop gives you during tithing settlement

The same user name and password is used to access lds.org, so if you already have an account there, you will not need to create another one. Just use the same log in information.

Important: Write down or remember the user name and password you set up so you can access family search in the future.


The youth in our Stake have been given a goal to find one of their ancestors by August 20, when they will attend a Stake Youth Temple Day and be baptized for the family member they have found. This challenge was first given in June, at their youth conference.  

Each ward called multiple family history consultants consisting of both adults and youth. Several training sessions have been held for the consultants. Each Sunday, during Sunday School, some of the youth and their parents are invited into a special class where they bring their computers and work side by side to find their loved ones. Progress has been very gradual, but we are beginning to see many having success.

Today, we are combining our faith and participating in a Stake fast. We are praying for the spirit of the Lord to guide the youth and their families in finding these individual names. It is thrilling to be part of this work and to feel the Lord guiding and blessing us.

If you are reading this blog post and are not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you may be wondering why we perform baptisms for our dead ancestors.  Some of my previous blog posts address this question; such as the St George Temple.  We believe every person born on this earth is a child of a loving Heavenly Father.  He wants everyone of us to have the same opportunity to learn of him and return to live in his presence.  

The Lord has provided prophets to teach us and the Priesthood to perform the sacred ordinance of baptism, as well as other ordinances found in the temple.  Those who died without being taught and baptized into the kingdom of God, continue to be taught in the spirit world after this life. Since baptism requires that we have a physical body, those of us still on the earth perform baptisms for them and they have the opportunity to accept or reject the work being done. Their agency is paramount. 

Our priority is for each of us to do the work for our own family. And after we have found a grandparent, we feel it is just as important to find all of their children and grandchildren, not just the one we are directly descended from. After all, don't they, and we, love all our children?

(Note: One hundred fifty-six youth came to the temple that day and performed over 400 baptisms, the majority of which were their own family names. It was a moving experience to see the baptistry completely filled by the youth and their leaders, with many more waiting their turn to enter, all the way down the hallway leading to the baptistry. A fireside was held afterward where they shared their experiences.)

Torn Fabric - Poem

I appreciate the friends I have in my life.  I have felt love and support from them through the years and I likewise have tried to offer them support.  I wrote the following poem for a close friend who continues to suffer the pain and heartache of divorce.

Torn Fabric

Torn fabric - torn heart

Can it be mended?

So suddenly ripped apart

One thread at a time

Carefully woven within

Creates a personal design

Now, new fabric - new heart

Pattern unique

Foreseen above from the start

Unseen hands mend

The anguish, hurt and fear

Gently laced with love divine


Janice Harten
Aug 2, 2000

Copyright © 2013 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

Strength

I am in love with a man who gets all sweaty and exhausted from wielding a chain saw, while cutting down and clearing out trees and brush growing around the summer cabin; then pauses to carefully distribute handfulls of seeds along the driftwood lining the deck and watch while chipmunks and squirrels chatter and gather.  He rides the 4-wheeler to neighboring cabins to visit and keep in touch, and then returns to fill the hummingbird feeders and watch the hummingbirds buzz from one to the other. I am in love with a man who insists on stopping by the side of the road to hunt for thimbleberries and eats them like a bear in the bush.  He rushes outside to watch the lightning and the downpour from a thunderstorm and is the first to see the developing rainbow.  And in the evening, tears fill his eyes as he watches the last of the sunset drop behind the mountain and he waits hopefully for a full moon's reflection on the lake below.

To some, these activities might appear as a sign of weakness.  To me, recognizing and enjoying the beauty and power of nature is an ultimate gift from our creator and a demonstration of strength.

Snowflake Arizona Temple - Ezekiel's Prophecy

With the name "Snowflake", I visualized the town and it's temple located in a mountainous area. And although we traveled north from Phoenix through some beautiful mountains to get there, the landscape changed to a barren desert. Later, I read this place was named after it's Mormon pioneer founders Lorenzo Snow and William Jordan Flake. When we first spotted the temple I wondered, "Where's the city?" But, we soon discovered it hiding over the ridge east of the temple.

Because of the dry desert surroundings, I immediately noticed a beautiful waterfall which began near the temple door and flowed over rocks below.  I thought of the scriptures about the prophesies of the temple in Jerusalem described in Ezekiel 47, "Afterward he brought me again unto the ^adoor of the house; and, behold, ^bwaters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward." This prophesy proclaims that water will flow from the temple toward the Dead Sea, and ultimately heal that stagnant, salty water, located in the desert.

When visiting Israel several years ago, I was taught some of the symbolism of living water to the Jews. Their ceremonial washings are done only in flowing or moving water, which is not under pressure. This represents pure and living water. For instance, when washing their hands before approaching the wailing wall at the temple in Jerusalem, they first run water from a faucet into a pitcher. Then they pour the water from the pitcher gently over their hands.

The Snowflake Temple serves four surrounding stakes of Native Americans.  Several beautiful native rugs, paintings and decorations appear throughout the temple.  One of the temple workers commented they can always tell when someone is visiting the area, because they take more time to look at the walls and furnishings.

I was especially touched by the warm welcome I felt from everyone attending the temple that day.    One sister was celebrating 55 years of marriage with her husband.  She mentioned some of the trials they had experienced at the death of two of their children when they were young.  I noticed the sweet face of another sister as soon as she entered the endowment room.  I thought to myself, "I would like to be like her."  As I prepared to leave the temple I saw her again, and I told her about my feelings.  She just seemed to glow with a peaceful serenity.  She told me it must be because she is there doing work for her ancestors, and she prays for them continuously from the moment she enters the temple.

Pheonix Arizona Hike - Saguaro Cactus

Here are a few pictures from a hike we took near Phoenix.  We saw hundreds of saguaro cactus and found some hieroglyphs.  Water and sunscreen were necessities.  I wouldn't attempt this hike any later in the season because of intense desert heat.