We actually got a day off for a holiday this week. Wahoo. The library was closed for the Fourth of July. It seems like we are open most holidays, but they decided to closed for this one. It was nice to have an extra day off.
We started the week by going into the library on Monday morning and having it quickly get busy on our floor. Mom and I first worked on some zone leader stuff, but then I was asked to help with a Sweden research guest. She was trying to find the parents of one of her ancestors,
so we went into the records to see what we could find. It was back a ways…mid 1700’s…but fortunately there were records. We found a marriage record and a death record, but unfortunately they did not list any parent’s names. So we looked for birth records and household records. We found a household record after she was married, but not one with her parents and still no birth record. I got one of the staff to come look and he suggested maybe tax records. So I showed the guest how to find those and left her to search through on her own. No parents. I have learned that sometimes we get stuck, and there aren’t any records available yet. Maybe some will come in the future that will help her in her search. We then walked to the COB for lunch. Mom remembered her candy bucket and gave some out to sister missionaries we saw on our walk over there. When we got to the cafeteria she went to a table filled with sisters and told them to pass it around. When she went back to retrieve it a sister came up to Mom and told
her that a couple of weeks ago she and her companion had been approached by a person who wanted to
Bible Bash and argue with them. She said they were very uncomfortable and it left them with a bad feeling. Shortly thereafter Mom and I had come up and she gave them some candy and it just changed her feelings. She was happy again. Yay for Mom’s little purple bag and candy bucket. It does make a difference now and then. When we got back to the library I was asked to help someone with Portugal research. Yikes. Fortunately the Research Wiki page for Portugal was very helpful and gave him mostly what he needed to search to find what he was looking for. I stuck around a bit, but then saw that he was well on his way so I was able to get off in time for our zone council meeting. It went well and we were back on the floor only shortly when I was asked to help another guest with Sweden research. This was a case where the guest was quite sure someone had identified the incorrect father in the family tree line. So into the records we went and sure enough we found a birth record and
learned that someone had extracted the name incorrectly. It should have been Häller Persson, which really isn’t a Swedish name, probably more German or Swiss, but someone had totally read it wrong. We were able then to track the records back and put the correct parents in his tree. Wahoo. I love it when a plan comes together. We closed out the night and then ran home quick to drop off food and then over to the fireside with President and Sister Craven. She spoke first about some of her interactions with and testimony of President Nelson as a prophet of God.
Then President Craven spoke about being a lifelong learner. He told a story about a guy who was upset because a person who had been in his company for just one year was promoted instead of him, who had been there for 5 years. His boss told him, “You've been here one year, but just repeated it five times.” We need to always be learning and improving. I ended the night with watching the next episode of
American Ninja Warrior.Tuesday was Pday and we finally actually used the whole day as just a Pday. I got up and went for a ride and Mom went walking. I was feeling pretty good so I went a little further than normal, 36 miles. We did lunch at the COB and came home to relax for a bit, then I headed off to give platelets. I had to change my 6:15pm appointment to a 2:45 appointment so that I could be home for dinner since we had been invited over by the Ngs. Well they sent us a note that they would have to postpone to another day, so Mom contacted John and Matthew, who she had invited over next week for dinner and Mah Jongg, to see if they could come tonight instead. They could, so my 2:45 appointment still worked. I watched
Nyad, the story of Diana Nyad, a marathon swimmer who tried to swim from Cuba to Florida and failed when she was in her 20’s and then decided when she was 60 to try again. Pretty cool story, but I didn’t get to finish the movie and it’s on Netflix which we don’t have an account for. I guess we might have to subscribe so I can see the end. I got home in time to help set the table and we had grilled cheese sandwiches and salad for dinner. Then it
was teaching Matthew and John to play Mah Jongg. They caught on pretty well, but the big story was my win with 5 jokers. It was wild. I started the game with just one joker and then kept drawing them as we went on in the game. I have never had that many jokers in one game. Mom made me document it because she says I always claim that I never get jokers, and now I can’t make that claim. Well fine. I will from now on claim that I never seem to get jokers except that one game where I got five. How’s that? Both John and Matthew liked the game and said they would love to play again sometime, so I guess we’ll have to set up a date for that in the near future.
Wednesday I went to the gym and then came home and was reading and the thought came to my mind about when I had passed up the opportunity to buy an e-mountain bike from
Fezzari last year on Black Friday and how Mom kept saying I should have done it. For some reason that popped into my head. So I went into the
Fezzari (now
Ari) website to see if they were having a 4th of July sale. They were, but the bikes were only $300 off not $1400 off like they were for the Black Friday sale. But then I noticed an
Outlet link. This took me to a page that had a bunch of bikes in their outlet store…most likely bikes that had the old
Fezzari logo on them.. So I scrolled through them and found this bike, the same one that I had passed up last year and being sold at that same sale price. So I decided to listen to Mom and not pass up such a good deal on something I really wanted, and I bought it. Yikes. Lots of $$ but I am excited to have a very nice bike. Now I need to sell my current mountain bike to help pay for this one. When Mom got home I told her I bought a bike and she said, “No you didn’t.” But then I told her again and the little story and she was happy for me.
Hurray early birthday present for me. We then went into the library and got to work. We had a 1pm meeting and almost directly after that I was asked to help a couple from North Carolina. She was the big genealogist and was looking for help on her French side of the family. They didn’t have a whole lot of time so I taught her how to use our site to find records and then about
Geneanet and then about how to use the
archives en ligne. We looked for a quick document and found a marriage document and I showed how she can attach it as a source and ended with showing her where the FamilySearch center was nearest to where they live and explaining what resources were available to her there. She was very excited and gave me a hug as she left and said out loud, “This is the best 1/2 hour that I ever spent!” Pretty fun. I guess we should realize the power of a half hour like this book attests. I then spent most of the rest of the afternoon trying to find something that could prove that Caroline P.
Jenkins LWYZ-85F is indeed the daughter of Nathaniel Jenkins LKFF-2BK and Rebecca Boyden K4YS-VJ1. I found circumstantial evidence, like the 1850 Census that has Caroline and her husband Alexander Harris living with their three children in Iroquois, Illinois and there is also a Fletcher Jenkins L85M-2ZD who is two years younger than her living in their home. There are no children listed for Nathaniel and Rebecca, but it says that Nathaniel married a Delight Corkins LKFF-LMP and the same year their first child, Fletcher, was born. I went to find a marriage record for Nathaniel and Rebecca and found an index stating they were married and a page on which book you could find the record, but apparently the book is not available. What I really need is a birth record for Caroline, but so far no luck. We ended the day and then I started a new show…
Race to Survive:Alaska. It’s ok.
Thursday was the 4th of July and as I previously mentioned an actual holiday for us. I went out in the morning for a ride…35 miles this time…and then came home and washed my bikes. They needed it, especially my mountain bike because I needed to get it ready to sell. I learned that my road bike was much dirtier than I thought it was, especially my rear pulleys that guide the chain through the rear derailleur. They were caked with sludge and I used my fingernail to clean it all out, which I learned was not a good decision because it got up under my nail and broke the skin. Ouch. But I got it all cleaned up and then took pictures of my mountain bike and
posted it on
FB Marketplace. I got some pretty immediate responses, but I was busy working on a possible remodel design for Shaunna and Chris and didn’t see any of them. Mom went for a walk/hike with SisterPruner and got in 7.4 miles total. They started out just walking up City Creek Canyon, but then there was a trail that goes off to the north and they followed that up the canyon more. I believe it is the same trail that I can see from the road that goes up City Creek to the water treatment plant when I ride my road bike up there and I have thought about riding my mountain bike on, but I think it is only for hikers…no bikers. Anyway she got back and I was finished with my bike cleaning and she said she felt like fries. So Mom and I then went to
J Dawgs for dinner because Mom wanted their fries and I thought having a hotdog along with the other millions of people who were having hotdogs on the 4th of July was a good idea. It was! Their polish dog was great, and so were Mom’s fries…after she took
them back to get hot fries. We have learned that their coated/seasoned fries are super tasty and they of course serve them with fry sauce, as I believe just about every restaurant in Utah that serves fries does. Mom also got her other favorite thing from
J Dawgs…a soda, because they serve ginger ale in their soda fountain. It was a little different than last time though, the fountain used to have the brand (which we have forgotten) and now it just said ginger ale. But it was good! We came home and watched
Independence Day, which we did last year as well (I think it is becoming a tradition…”we will not go quietly into the night…”) and then I started looking at all of the replies for my bike sale. There were about 4 or 5 that expressed interest or gave me a
lowball offer and one that wanted to come see the bike. But after replying to all of the people only two replied back. We ended the night by watching the fireworks from our balcony. They were all over the valley, but the closest ones were right behind the Ensign College building. They had just enough height so we could see them above the building.
They started just after sundown, when it was still a bit light outside, and I still heard some going off after 11pm. Lots and lots of fireworks.
Friday I started the morning in the gym and then we went into the library. We were there for just a little while when I was asked to help with Netherlands research. I learned when I got to the guest that it was actually research in Curaçao that he was wanting help with. He had an ancestor who he was certain someone had put in the wrong spelling of their surname in
FamilySearch and thus also put in incorrect parents and wanted to verify what he had found was correct. Since it is a Dutch Caribbean island we first looked in
OpenArchives and
WieWasWie to see if they were there. No luck in the time period we were looking for. So we went to
My Heritage and were able to verify with a couple of different trees there that his suspicions were probably correct. Then I decided to check
FamilySearch catalog for records in Curaçao and learned that they had birth records for the time period we were wanting. So in we went and there and there it was, the birth record for his ancestor showing
the last name as Recaö not Recas and showing who the correct parents were. So we used that record to change the spelling of her name as well as who her true parents were. He was happy! We did lunch at the COB…cauliflower crust pizza for me. Yum! Then in the afternoon we had our T/R day so I did some
messenger negotiations with some potential buyers of my mountain bike. Mom went shopping for some items for dinner and I finally got a confirmed offer on my bike. So I went to get my haircut and then loaded the bike up and went to meet the buyer at a Maverick gas station in North Salt Lake. He was a missionary serving in the Salt Lake North Mission. He jumped on the bike and started doing bunny hops and wheelies all around the parking lot. He was definitely comfortable on a bike. I learned that his companion was a “bike nerd” and worked in a bike shop before his mission. They both checked out the bike and felt my price was fair so I sold him my bike. He kept saying this was the nicest bike he’s ever owned. Wahoo. I came home and vegged most of the rest of the night.
Saturday I did a quick 30 mile ride and then it was into the library. We weren’t there for long when I was assigned to Rosemary who was wanting to do Netherlands research. I learned that she was a KLM flight attendant and had heard from fellow KLM employees that our library was a cool place to visit. She was first looking to do research on her mom’s side in the Netherlands. It was funny because she asked her mom about her grandmother’s information and we used it to go to a birth record in
OpenArchives. We were looking at the record when her mom sent a link to
OpenArchives with the same
info. I told Rosemary that her mom was amazing, and she agreed. She is a tech in the police department in the Netherlands. Well we were quickly able to fill out her mom’s side of the tree and went upstairs to print a poster size fan chart for her mom. Then we came back and she wanted to research her father’s line. He was more difficult. His father had emigrated to England and then Ireland originally from Poland. So I turned her over to some of our other missionaries and went to help somewhere else. That somewhere else was a guest on the main floor needing help with China
research. Yikes. When I got to him I found that he was actually needing someone who could read his Chinese jiapu book. So I found Sister Lee, a Chinese missionary on the Discovery floor and she said she would gladly help. I was only back on our floor for a few minutes when they needed help for both Italy and the Netherlands. So Mom got Italy and I got the Netherlands. This was an interesting one. The guest wanted to know if she could find out more about a grandfather who she had recently learned about
because of an adoption that was disclosed. He had immigrated to the US and had been accused of in his later life of poisoning to death his neighbor. She was wondering if there was a way to find out more about him before he immigrated to the US. So we started looking and found some interesting records from when he was 20 years old in the Netherlands and was in the military. He apparently was jailed twice, once for slandering his commander officer, and we couldn’t figure out what the other was for. She was intrigued. She told me she was glad to know a little more about his character, but wished she had more history. She was happy to learn how to search the records and planned to look back into his past when she got home. I then was asked to go back and help Rosemary with Poland, because we didn’t have anyone to do Poland. So I asked Erika Haak if she did Poland as well as Germany and she said no. So then I saw Jerry Malloy and asked him and he said I do know something about Poland, so I told him to tag along. I basically turned it over to him and off they went looking for Grandpa Zajac. I finished the night being asked to look at a German
document, a marriage record, which mentioned the father of the groom and that he was from Malmö Sweden. The guest was wondering if we could find any records for him in Sweden. Well the guy’s first name was Schwampe and his last name Wennström. The surname sounded Swedish but the first name sounds German. We were wondering if maybe he had changed his name when he moved to Germany. The other hard part was that Malmö is a province and there are about 30 parishes in that province. There are also about 10 parishes with the name Malmö in them,
so we would have to look through records of about 40 parishes. Not practical. So I asked Geoff Morris over and he took a look. He agreed that it was not feasible to find him looking through the parishes, so he tried a few different index searches thst I hadn’t which turned up empty and then saw that both father and son were shoemakers. He said there was a Shoemakers guild in Malmö and they might be registered. So we looked in that record, but nothing. We then ran out of time and he said he would come back another day and maybe we could have another shot at it. We closed the floor and Mom headed home a little early because we had the Carpenters, a couple from our zone, coming over for dinner and Mah Jongg . We had a lovely dinner of ham and Swiss sliders and salad and then played. Kay had played mah jongg before, but some of the rules were different for her. Anyway we had fun. She actually won twice and me once and Mom once. More Mah Jongg recruits.
Today was church. We walked as usual, but it was a little warmer than usual. Both Mom and I taught today…her primary and me Gospel Doctrine. Both lessons went ok. Mine was fun because I asked them to pick the
most important verse in their assigned chapter. It really isn’t a fair assignment because each verse in a chapter can be the most important just depending on the time and circumstance and the person reading the verse. They let me know that, but I still made them try. We had a great discussion about all of the wonderful principles taught in these chapters…Alma 17-22. At the end I told the story of Tony Lee and how he came to join the Church. It was a great ending to our time together. We came home and I worked on this blog post and then we went down to our
break-the-fast with our apartment mates. We had 46 of us there this week. Yikes, we keep growing and aren’t fitting in the downstairs lobby very well. We hope they get the gathering room at the end of the hall finished very soon.
Well I am finished for today. I might watch a couple of the Tour de France highlights on YouTube to catch me up on the last couple of days, but then it will be off to bed.
Love you all.
BE GOOD!
Elder Dad and Sister Mom
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