This BEE has not been so very busy this past year due to age, yup, I'm gonna be 75 this year. So instead of writing blogs to fill my own "personal history blank spots," I used Amy Johnson's #52Ancestors in 52 weeks weekly prompts to develop a habit of writing a page or two every week about a story or remembrance about someone in my family history and decided to relate it to our time living in Mexico between 1996-2001.
Having developed that habit I made it through October. My residential circumstances changed and I had to move from a three bedroom place to a tiny 520 sq. ft apartment. What did I have to do? begin sorting and throwing away boxes and boxes of stuff. The result was no blogging, writing stories, etc. However, I have given away most of my dad's history to my half sister, Christalee, mailed a lot of my husband's history and files to his oldest son, Scott. And I've set aside all of my stepfather's history and photos to be given to his sister's son.
I have entered data into Ancestry and FamilySearch, kept documents and photos then threw away 40 years worth of notes, family group sheets, etc. I still have 15 banker size boxes to go through! they form a "wall" between my dining area and living room. No joking I only have one chair in the living room and
a four drawer file cabinet with saved research, table with printer, where I can sew, make crafts, scan photos and sell a few remaining family artifacts Online in the dining area.
A Realization Hit Me!
Who is going to write my personal history, if I don't? No one. To what avail are all those journals that I've kept over the years, because I don't think anyone is going to read them. To this end, I've set a goal and have a list of topics about stories that only I can tell. So my descendants (I have 3 grandchildren currently ages 11, 8, and 5) will only have to read those stories and not wade through 30+ journals.
I've developed a list of 29 prompts of my own.
I kept adding to this list and may add one about social media and blogging!
The most recent entries on this blog were to help fill in our family's experiences while living in Mexico. It really became a stretch for me (it seemed so random, artificial) to do this so I stopped. No I didn't stop writing once a week from Amy's prompts, just stopped trying to relate it to Mexico. But I never posted them on my blog. Quite frankly, I questioned whether this blog witing thing was for me.
When I started in 2010 I had a purpose: To help LDS members get the most out of their Patriarchal Blessings. I've watched James Tanner's blogs and had to stop following some of them because he wrote so many that my inbox was full of them every day. It seems that he auto posts 2 am daily. How does he do it? Maybe he thinks what he has to say is SO important and well written that everyone will want to read them and indeed he has many followers. I know that he gets discouraged about whether anyone is following his advice, but I did and shared with my co-workers at our local family history center his ideas, etc. for years. When one of them cites me saying, "Bev said..." more than likely it was something that I became aware of in one of James' posts.
Blogging IS for me, the Goal is to be Consistent
This morning I did what I've done at the first of each year, finished one journal and began another. Took a picture of adding it to my shelf of journals.
Next since during December I set my 2019 goals using my Patriarchal Blessing to give me insight, personal revelation, and a theme for inspiring a great new year, I thought I'd best see what had happened during the year on BEEintheDesert in 2018 if anything. The statistics page came up and yesterday alone, 14 people had visiting one of my pages! It was about Organizing your Patriarchal Blessing most links were from Pinterest.
Then I searched through these that mention of this type of study about Patriarchal Blessings and discovered they were young bloggers who are giving suggestions to teens working on their Personal Progress books. (all about goal setting, by the way)
And I realized something one of them said back in 2016, indicated she'd seen an idea, maybe mine, about organizing your blessing into a scripture format.
Many people might be reading what I'm writing here but simply lurk in the background as I do on social media. I'm aware of what is going on in people's lives but I don't always "like" or "comment" on their posts.
Being an Influence for Good
One of the phrases in my blessing says that I'll be an influence for good in the world and amongst my friends and fellow associates. Figuring the only way that might happen was if I learned the technology and blogged to a wider audience. God may use my posts to lead young people to an idea that will benefit their lives.
If you read my statement about being a BEE on my About Me in the right hand column here, that's what is really happening now.
Rereading Your Own Posts is Benefitial
Next, as I was rereading my own posts from 2011 and found these statistics about missionary and temple work:
What is our Responsibility?
MY SUGGESTION: There are about 6,881,113,487 people alive in the world November 2010 and only 310,691,528 live in the United States. They estimate 106 billion people have been born on the earth, making the population currently alive roughly 6.5% of all people who have ever lived. The United States only has 4% of the world’s population alive today. The membership of the church is 14 million. Over a million LDS missionaries have served in the world, and more members live outside of the United States than in. They speak 22 different languages. These amazing numbers mean that every member must find at least 491 living people to whom the gospel can be preached if we are to fulfill the Lord’s command to take the gospel to every nation, kindred and tongue and find 7,571 who have died who need to receive the saving ordinances.
Did you see that estimate? 106 billion people have lived on the earth. Every one of these spirit children of our Heavenly father are beloved by Him and His son Jesus Christ. WE PROMISED THAT WE WOULD FIND THEIR RECORDS AND PERFORM THE ORDINANCES IN THE TEMPLES ON EARTH FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!!!
Marvelous Technology Makes Temple Work Possible
With our current technology, we can actually see the possibility of doing this great and marvelous work that will bless ALL the NATIONS of the EARTH (D & C 128:24) But we are not alone. God will help us and those Priesthood holders on the other side of the veil will also help. Guess we’d better get to work.
President Nelson has asked us to prioritize our lives, research our own ancestors and take them to the temple.
It was Never About Numbers
I checked my current statistics on FamilySearch:
All Reserved: 992
Not Printed: 337
Printed: 393
Shared with Temple: 257
These statistics are current but do not reflect how many names I've submitted to the temple since, let's say, 2010. My friend Cecelia, told me once around 2010 that she'd submitted over 6,000 names. I felt that I'd fallen behind, and did the above research and discovered that a goal of 7,571 names would be doable.
This began my very determined and serious research process and submitting names for temple ordinances. Soon it became possible for me to have a free Ancestry Account, although my cousin June Wallace Atkinson, allowed me to tie into her tree and do research there quite a few years earlier. (together we traveled to Maryland and Tennessee to find illusive common ancestors over the past six years.) Her tree on Ancestry includes 52, 334 names.
It is not possible for me to know how many of those are my entries, but the entries on my own tree of ancestors is now 8,160 individuals.
And alas, it is not part of the record keeping process on these sites to determine how many names that I have submitted over the years.
It never was about numbers, but about my responsibility to ensure that my ancestors had that opportunity to accept the gospel that they didn't have in their mortal life.
In Summary...
Blogging pays off, but it's often behind the scenes. People of all ages who read them benefit, including us senior citizens. It's a permanent record of progress, insights and advice to others so that they can benefit for your life's stories, mistakes, and successes. A blogger has the responsibility to be honest with themselves and have integrity in order for readers to benefit including the author.
Patriarchal Blessings are indeed personal scripture. They are God's way of giving personal direction and inspiration to us. They don't get boring over the years, because like the scriptures, they open up new insights and ideas with every additional reading.
Pinterest in the last year has been active getting people to return to and use their site from my personal perspective. I was not impressed, but now I see benefits.
Journals are important especially for older people who can not remember when something happened or what someone said. Besides our Prophets and God have asked us to do this.
Personal Histories are also important. Probably more so for men who might one day become leaders in His Kingdom, (How else will biographer's know what to say?) But as is currently becoming apparent in the publication of the Joseph Smith Papers that his mother's writings, and quotes from other men and women verify and fill in wonderful details about the restoration of the gospel and a prophet's calling, personality and integrity.
FamilySearch although once difficult to use is now a treasure trove of sources, stories and photos and THE vehicle or "a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worth of all acceptance," that when it is finished will be presented to the Lord in his holy temple when He returns.
Ancestry for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, free and connects with FamilySearch so we can compare sources, etc. for a more complete record. It's search engine's alogrithms find additional sources in our search for ancestors.
Temple Submissions are the reason we do what we do. More women than men attend to these special duties because although I have 982 reserved names and can do sealing for my own female ancestors, there are more that 600 men who have not had their endowments performed. It takes 4 years if shared with temple and lots of begging just to get one male name endowed in four months from my local priesthood.
Now we will see what 2019 brings....
Now we will see what 2019 brings....
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