House Guest

A couple of weeks ago the police dropped off Dave's brother at our house. He stayed with us for a few days. The first thing I asked him was if he was hungry, so I made him Kraft Mac & Cheese (Dave got it off Amazon for me). The next day he had to go to the police station and after they dropped him off again, sure enough I asked him if he was hungry.

What does that say about me? Is this really the right question I should be asking him first?

Dave's family thought we shouldn't be letting him stay with us after what he did, but from my perspective I would rather he stayed with us where he can actually learn morals and values and start to realize that he has potential in life. Instead of what his mother has allowed him to do and become. The MIL has given him every electronic gadget/device he has asked for, even when he breaks it she just replaces it without any consequences to his actions. She allows unrestricted access to tv/internet/phone and does not teach discipline. Dave and his sister were not raised like this, but for some reason it is ok to let him become part of the Entitlement Generation.

The Saturday night he was with us Dave and I went to a church meeting and while we were gone we told him that he could use Dave's laptop, but could not look up certain things. After we got back Dave checked the search history and sure enough he looked up the things we told him not to. So the next day I explained to him why Dave and I have chosen not to look at certain things on tv/internet. I hopefully did it in a way to make him understand our choices and to know that he disappointed us. The punishment was that he had to watch tv and look up the internet only when we were around. Last week I read an article on ksl.com about "The 5 words every teenager dreads hearing from their parents." I was hoping that my talk with him was equal to the "we are really disappointed in you" speech. I have also read in other articles that explaining to children why they are being punished can help them learn more from their mistakes than by just yelling and screaming at them when they do something wrong. I also let him know that he is always welcome in our home. I would rather he stay with us where I know I can teach him how not to be part of the Entitlement Generation.

This post might be in the over sharing department, but I never had to experience things like this growing up. I'm not sure if it is because the World has changed or because I'm not in Happy Valley Utah anymore, but now I know what to do if I am ever in this situation again.

How to find research?

"How do you know that?"

"Where did you find that?"

I get questions all the time like this.

So here is a post on how to find stuff.

When I am looking for info for my research or anything scientific in nature I always go to PubMed first. I'm sure everyone is familiar with Google Scholar by now, but the problem with Google Scholar is that you need to give it VERY specific words to search for what you are looking for or you will get thousands of hits to irrelevant stuff. One last thing about Google Scholar, it is good if you are looking for something from a non-traditional source. I found a great set of articles about DanceSport from the journal FACTA UNIVERSITATIS Physical Education and Sport, which is from Croatia.

PubMed looks at the good scientific journals that have the info you really need. I know some of my professors have snubbed PubMed for Medline, CINAHL, etc, but anyone can access PubMed and sometimes you can get free articles. (Another reason I like PubMed is that they list the articles chronologically.) With other databases you have to have a login access, which means you have to be student, staff, or faculty. The only database I use with login acces is Web of Knowledge/Science. I like it because you can look at a specific article's references and they link to other articles that have referenced that article you are looking at. Plus with PubMed and Web of Knowledge/Science you can click on any of the authors of an article and see what else they have written.

Yes, I do look things up on Wikipedia, but you really can't reference it, so I just use it as a jumping off point. I look for better key words or phrases or authors names (especially spelling).

One of the annoying things about the University of Wolverhampton is that you can't access everything at home using the University's Library website. At BYU you could be anywhere in the world, and if you were logged into the Library's website then you could access anything. When I was home in March-April for the wedding I would have to have my Mom log into BYU's Library with her staff id so I could get the articles I needed because the UofW Library website sucks! I complained about it and I found out I am not the only one who has complained, but nothing has happened. Bureaucracy!

BTW, my friend suggested signing up for Academia.edu when I first started my PhD. Since then people have been looking me up! I get a Google alert whenever someone searches my name or previous research. I still haven't had my Master's Thesis published (working on it now), but because BYU has it available on their library's website people can look it up and read it. (Dave looked it up when we were dating and didn't understand a word.)

Hope this helps for your future research!

another blog suggestion

Oh my goodness, if you want any kind of idea for anything, check out this blog "Older And Wisor"! Seriously Rebecca has the craft room of my dreams!

Check out her post on how she did it.

New Calling

I got released from Young Women's on Sunday. I am now the Gospel Principles Sunday School teacher. I am really bummed! Dave left to go to mutual tonight and I am at home alone. :'( My favorite callings are in Young Women's. I won't have to start teaching for two weeks because next week is Stake Conference. The Stake YM's President got called as the Bishop in his ward, so they should announce who is the new one next week. Hopefully it will be someone who is better at communicating. The last one never told Dave any information and he is the son of our Bishop.

It's just sad when you get moved from a calling you really like, but Heavenly Father wants me in this new calling for a reason.

You Owe Me!

I have been asking for a dryer since April when we got married. Dryer's are pretty rare here in England and they are usually tiny with a big price tag.

Dave has been asking for Tivo since July.

The V+ box died yesterday, so Dave called to have Virgin Media come fix it. While the cable guy was here this afternoon he said the V+ had to be replaced, so I asked if he could replace it with Tivo. He did and he changed the very old box in the 2nd bedroom to a brand new V+ box. I had called Dave to tell him and that he now owes me a dryer. The cable guy overheard me and said he had an extra dryer in his garage!

Dave said the cable guy must be Santa :)

Update 5 Dec 2011: Got the dryer!

pasta noodles

One of the sad parts of going to a grocery store here in England is that the pasta noodle isle is small. I have only seen fusilli, penne, tortiglioni, rigatoni, conchiglie, spaghetti, macaroni, tagliaelle, rigate, and a wannabe version of fettuccine. I would die for some real fettuccine, angel hair, gemelli, Bertolli's, or Kraft Mac&Cheese right now!

Normal!

I went to the doctor today to get my test results from last week. I did a transvaginal ultrasound and a progesterone blood test. The ultrasound showed that all my lady parts are normal and the progesterone showed that I am ovulating normally.

I've had all day to absorb the info, but it still seams unbelievable. I was expecting to have something wrong because it seems like a lot of women that I know have some sort of fertility problem, so I should too right? But nope, I'm normal. I figured that statistically at 37 I should have some sort of fertility problem, but nope, I'm normal.

Now it's Dave's turn to figure out if he's normal. I guess that is my new worry, we are both normal, but no kids. Is that even possible?

I keep thinking of my Great Grandma Jensen and how she got married at 35 then had my Grandpa and his twin brother a year later. What if she had this same worry? That was back in 1918, so there would not have been the modern fertility medicine. How would she have coped with these problems? Thank Heavens I live in 2011, almost 2012, and all the tests I just took to tell me "don't stress all will be good!"

Listening

Since I have coughing attacks every time I try to speak, thanks to this current cold/flu/whatever it is, Dave and I have been listening to the Book of Mormon instead of reading it. Click on a specific chapter then look on the right side of the page the first link says "Listen". Some of the manuals and General Conference talks have the "Listen" option too, so that is what we did for FHE last night. Dave has the app on his phone too and has used it during YM lessons. Too bad they don't have the "Listen" option on the YW lesson manual yet :( I also listened to my favorite Conference talk from October by Elder Ian S Arden, but don't get thrown off by his New Zealand accent.

Thanks to Pinterest...

...I found this blog that has great cleaning solutions. It's called One Good Thing by Jillee. She also has facebook page called Sweet Deals by Jillee. Seriously, this woman has great ideas for all kinds of stuff! Check it out!

Riding side PB's

I requested the PBs of my Grandma and Grandpa Riding. They came this week. Grandpa's was done in 1977 and Grandma's in 1958. My Grandpa would be considered a Jack Mormon, maybe that is why it took so long to get his PB done. Grandpa didn't smoke or drink like other Jack Mormons, he just didn't go to church every Sunday. He would rather sit in his Lazy Boy chair and watch WWF (the old version of WWE) on HBO on Sundays. He would drive Grandma and the other old ladies in the ward to church and choir practice and back home. (Grandma never got her driver's license, even though she was really good at criticizing Grandpa on his driving skills.) But he was still an awesome Grandpa!

Grandpa's page 1

Grandpa's page 2

Grandma's page 1

If you can read the paragraph, "Do not turn anyone from your door who shall come seeking aid or assistance..." That totally reminded me that Grandma would feed all the stray cats that came through the neighborhood. I always thought it was just another quirky thing about Grandma.

Grandma's page 2

Sick

I'm really boring when I am sick. Dave's had the whole week off and I'm sick so he hasn't done anything fun or productive except take me to the doctor and go get OJ for me. But it was his fault that I am sick anyway, he gave me his germs! He was sick for over a month, now I got it. Major cough and now my left ear is totally plugged up with mucus.

Tuesday for YW's they came to our house to register for indexing. Back in August the LDS Tech website announced that 50% of all chapels worldwide should have internet by the end of the year. Then Elder Bednar was here in September and suggested to have the youth have Family History callings because they are more tech savvy than the current older generation who are called to be Family History consultants (which is what he talked about in his General Conference address). So a few weeks back the Bishop called the youth in our ward to be Family History consultants. The internet is slowly being installed into our chapel, but until it is complete we have been hosting Tuesday night activities at our house whenever we need the internet. The Young Men where here two weeks ago, then the Young Women two days ago, just to register for indexing. Since almost all of them have laptops, they can do indexing at home now.

If you have never tried indexing, it's kinda cool. Tuesday I did draft notices in Hawaii for WWII and voter registration in California in the 1880's and the Young Women did 1871 UK Census records.

What does my mother want to know about?

It's been a month since I blogged anything. I wasn't really sure what to write, maybe writers block? But then I need to think, "what would my mother want to know about?" Especially since we live so far apart. So here are some of the things that have happened in the last month.

We were redoing the YW board in the Bishop's office and I used permanent maker that bleed threw on the Bishop's desk. Dave and I found that toothpaste removes marker. Here is the after, we forgot to take before pictures.

I got more PB's. The first is my great great Grandfather John Edward Rogerson's, then my great Grandmother Madora LaVerna Rogerson Jensen, then my Grandpa E Q Jensen.

These two were done on the same day, 3 September 1901 in Monticello, and from the page numbers they were only done nine apart.

There are actually two for my Grandpa, one in 1933 and the other in 1939.

I have sent my literature review off to get published by the Medical Problems of Performing Arts journal. I have no idea when they will notify me whether they will publish it or not. So I am still working on editing the others so they will be publication ready soon. I should be pilot testing my next two projects soon.

Last week I was looking on FamilySearch and noticed that someone was trying to seal my Grandpa Riding to his second wife Mary. None of us really liked her. And she is already sealed to her first husband, so I'm not to sure why someone is doing this. So I notified my Dad and uncles about this. Then put a message on my Grandpa's and Mary's name telling everyone that they did not have permission from our family to perform the sealing. I told my Dad that they need to contact Mary's family and let them know incase they didn't, but my Uncle doesn't remember how to contact them. So we've done all we can do.

The company Dave works for, the RAC, was bought out by another company. You know when that happens things get changed. Dave was inform that his department was being eliminated, but that everyone was going to be moved to other departments by January. For two weeks Dave worked in another department on days, but then last week went back to his normal job at nights, but then was told this coming week he is going back to days for the foreseeable future. He is still in limbo until the company decides where he is going to be permanently and we don't know when that is going to happen.

My calling is 1st counselor in the Young Women's. I am always teasing the YW that they need to remember to flirt when they go to church dances. A couple of weeks back another YW leader heard from other church members in another stake that one of our YW has a bad reputation for flirting. Great, now I feel bad for encouraging the flirting. It didn't help that this YW had a boyfriend for a short time and he is one of those bad boys, or in this area they call them chaves, it was even fb official. It caused a stir for about a week, then died down. Everything is alright now and the good LDS boys are even asking her to dance at the church dances.

Dave and I were looking at the NHS website (England's socialized healthcare) and it said if you have been trying for more than six months and are over 35 then go see your GP about starting the fertility problems process. So I went to see my GP and they took some blood samples and my hormone levels are normal. Next week, Dave has his appointment with his GP to start his part and I am having a ultrasound (I think to check egg count) and another blood test to check more hormones. We knew getting married in our late 30's that there is a higher risk of not getting pregnant, miscarriage, having something medically wrong with the baby, or even a chance at multiples (yippee!). We even talked about adopting if we couldn't have kids, but the LDS social services website says you have to be married for 2 years before you can start the adoption process. The adoption process in England is so freaking LONG! After the UK government got rid of all the adoption companies that refused to work with same-sex couples, I really doubt that they would allow an LDS couple adopt. So if we can't have a biological child, then we will have to wait until we move to Utah to adopt.

We had the missionaries over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and they challenged Dave and I to do mormon.org profiles. Dave already had one, click here, so I made one, click here.

Is this what you wanted to know Mom?

6 months

Dave and I have been married now for 6 months, so we went to the Preston Temple yesterday. I don't know if I am suppose to say something profound about marriage, but it's only been 6 months. It hasn't been weird living with a boy. The adjustments from singlehood to marriage, especially since we are in our late 30's, has not been as difficult as I thought it would. The first month I felt like I was in a haze of bliss.

Anything I miss about the wedding? Yep, I miss hangin' with my family. That was such a fun day, even though I didn't get to talk to everyone, I'm glad they all came to the Temple to see us sealed. And I miss that amazing cake! If you didn't get a piece make sure you head over to The Chocolate and order the Cherub, but get it with caramel filling. Just so yummy!!!

The next 2 years are going to continue to feel temporary, until I graduate. After that the plan is to move back to Utah, closer to my family. Hopefully the economy cooperates and Dave can get a job at that time. And the government is generous by immediately granting Dave a visa! Fingers crossed and many prayers!

brownie cake

Here are pictures of the brownie cake I made between General Conference sessions.

Dave bought the Ghiradelli's brownie mix from Costco. I split the mix in two and baked the separately. Follow the recipe on the box for oven temperature, but the time says to bake for 45 minutes and I only do 30 minutes.

Then I mashed up Oreos and mixed it in with some Betty Crocker Buttercream Icing. I put one layer of brownie on a plate, iced it, then put the other layer on. Then eat! I will warn you that it is REALLY sugary with the addition of the icing and Oreos. Dave describes it as a diabetic coma.

Sarah Jane Perkins PB

This is the PB of Sarah Jane Perkins Rogerson, my second great grandma. It was done in 1875 and if you read the beginning carefully it says, "A Blessing by John L. Smith patriarch ..." I thought the name John L. Smith looked familiar so I looked it up and sure enough I was right. John Smith was the nephew of Joseph Smith Jr. the first prophet of the church and the first son of Hyrum Smith, Joseph's older brother, from his first wife Jerusha Barden Smith. The recorder is J.R. Smith, John had two son's named John and Joseph, but neither of them had a middle name that started with a R, so I don't know who the recorder was.

The PB was done "Parowan Iron Co, Utah In Apr 2nd 1x75", which makes me think that John Smith wandered the Utah Territory giving PB's to the members instead of everyone going to their local Stake Patriarch. Does anyone know the real story of how PB's were done back then?

General Conference

Have you seen this picture before?

If you haven't, this picture was taken in the early 1980's for the LDS church to use, mostly for manuals. I am the girl in the yellow dress. I was about 6 years old. Thought I would post the picture since it's the Semi-Annual General Conference this weekend.

Thank Heavens we can watch Conference online now. I hate having to get dressed up, drive 30 minutes away to the Stake Center, find a parking spot (on the street), and sit on VERY uncomfortable benches or chairs for 4 hours. Instead I'm sitting on the couch in my pj's with Dave's laptop hooked up to the tv. And after the morning session (it started at 5pm England time) I will make a brownie/oreo cake (thanks to the pinterest idea), yup oreos are now at most grocery stores here, but in smaller packages.

Mold

We have had a mold problem and finally called our nice landlady for advice. She suggested Dettol's Mould & Mildew Remover. Dave sprayed it on some main areas ... and now it is gone! So, if you need to get rid of mold, go get some Dettol!

p.s. In England they spell mold, mould.

Paracetamol and other drugs

Last night Dave said he had a headache and that he had taken 2 aspirin an hour earlier, but wanted to take 2 ibuprofen. I then had to explain to him that aspirin, ibuprofen, advil, and aleve were all the same product. Then he said he would just take some paracetamol, which I had to tell him that paracetamol is the same thing as the others.

Paracetamol is acetaminophen and is the basic ingredient in all the aspirin like drugs, but then they add other ingredients, such as an anti-inflammatory. The purpose of paracetamol is for pain relief and fever reduction and is REALLY cheap here in England. However, there are side effects when taken in large amounts; liver damage and stomach bleeding. Tylenol does not have the stomach bleeding side effect, but does not have the anti-inflammatory ingredient. When I have an athlete or dancer that sprains their ankle or another simple injury, I always advise them to take ibu, advil or whatever is in their house and read the label to know how much to take. This helps decrease swelling and increase the healing process.

Hope this helps if you were confused too.

Jane Benson Perkins PB

I ordered Jane's PB on the church's website and it arrived today. It was done in Manti, Utah 4 June 1896. She was working in the Manti Temple at the time. I checked the 1900 Census and she is living alone in Manti. John died in 1870 and she never remarried.

Jane was born 4 July 1824 in Wrightington, Lancashire, England. Her family joined the church in 1837 when the first missionaries went to England. About 1847 she married Amos Fielding and a year later they had a son, Amos Hyrum.

They finally left for Zion to join all the other saints. Amos was the PEF (Perpetual Emigration Fund) officer, so he left on an earlier boat. Jane and her son arrived later in St. Louis, Missouri, where they found Amos had taken another wife. When they arrived Brigham Young immediate granted a divorce for the abuse Jane and her son had to live through while crossing the plains. Jane became the second wife of several men at different times, but eventually ended up in Parowan living with her brother's family.

In 1860 John Perkins was sent by Heber C. Kimball, three days after he arrived they were married. John died 10 years later, Jane wrote in her journal that John was her favorite husband. After all her children were married off, she moved back and forth between Mancos, Colorado and Monticello, Utah, until she went to Manti to become a temple worker. She died in Mancos on 5 December 1900.

After emailing a copy of the PB to another relative who has been doing research on this family he told me that Jane had 4 PB, which I didn't know you were allowed to have. I thought you could only have one, but I guess in the Pioneer days they let them have more than one. This one is #3. When I get a copy of the others I will post those. I will warn you if you try to read this, there is no punctuation, it's just one long run on sentence.

Dave has gone coupon crazy

Tonight Dave and I went around to different Morrison's grocery stores and picked up 26 jars of pasta sauce because Dave found a coupon for £1 off.

The pasta sauce was 99p, so we bought other things, like the palmolive shower gel (it was on sale for 70p), to get a discount on the discount.

Dave found a coupon for free Campbell's soup, I think because it is a new product here in England. There are only a few flavors, but we mostly get Cream of Chicken to make Yummy Potatoes.

Dave also got a coupon for Honey Shreddies (they are like Chex) and Tesco had a sale on them, so they were free.

The tv show Extreme Couponing has finally come to England on the Discovery Channel. Dave signed up on some forums that tell you which stores are having sales on specific products. Then he either gets emails about coupons or sees them on other websites, so he prints them off. We have a good start on our food storage, but it will only last for two years, then we will have to start over when we get back to America.

The problem is that couponing is new here in England, so most of the time you can only use one coupon per transaction. One thing we have found that works is if you get to know which checkout ladies will let you use more than one coupon and which don't.

If you are in the States here are some blogs that have great couponing: The Krazy Coupon Lady and Living Rich with Coupons.

Mormon Humor

Sistas in Zion have this funny blog post where they asked their followers to finish this sentence, "You might be a Mormon if..." Go read the answers here. One of my favorites is, You might be a Mormon if...you can quote Princess Bride word for word! =O)

cake flavors

I saw this cake on Pintrest and it is from Martha Stewart.

But of course I did not want to make the cake from scratch, so I just got a yellow Betty Crocker cake and used food coloring.

Well, I learned my lesson. If you want the colors to look like the picture, then you need to follow the real recipe. It was still yummy!

Dave's been sick, so I had to add this picture of him hiding under the covers.

9 September 2001

Since this is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, everyone has been talking about where they were and what were they doing 10 years ago. But I would rather say where I was two days before. I had the privilege of attending a CES Fireside where President Hinckley spoke at the Conference Center in SLC.

As quoted in the November 2001 Ensign: He encouraged young people attending the 9 September fireside to be faithful and optimistic. “I am suggesting that as we go through life that we try to ‘accentuate the positive,’ ” President Hinckley said, asking “that you turn from the negativism that so permeates our modern society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom you associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults. … “No matter the circumstances, I encourage you to go forward with faith and prayer, calling on the Lord. You may not receive any direct revelation, but you will discover, as the years pass, that there has been a subtle guiding of your footsteps in paths of progress and great purpose.”

My impression from the fireside was that things are going to be hard, but if you do what Heavenly Father asks of you, then you will be blessed. It was actually a short fireside and we got out before the hour was up, which is unusual. Afterward, most people gathered at the reflecting pool to talk about how strong the Spirit was; peaceful, calm, and excited.

Then two days later I understood. My testimony was strengthened that we do have a Prophet of God on Earth that receives revelation from God and was warning us about the hard times that were about to happen. He didn't promise us protection, but I do remember feeling peaceful about what was to come. Needless to say, my life has not been easy since that time, but I have felt that I have been doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do, which is where the peace comes in.

John Perkins Genealogy-Bath

Last week I went to Bath to get some info on John Perkins. After going to Shepton Mallet I decided to email the Bath Records Office to see if they had any info on John's dad George. The 1841 Census had George living at 82 Avon Street in Bath.

Copy of the 1841 Census Record

Avon Street is still there and has the same name! But now it is a University.

John's christening was on 12 August 1821 and his birth date was 28 June 1821.

This record shows his parents were living at 1 Skine Place when he was born.

When I asked, turns out Skine Place was basically an alley across the street from St Swinthin's Church were he was baptized. But that area was completely redone since the 1960's. None of the alley's are labelled, anyone of the following pictures could be where they lived.

Behind all the alley's is a parking lot.

John was baptized at St. Swithin's church in the Walcot neighborhood of Bath.

This version of the church was built in 1742.

The window was added in the 1840's.

There use to be an organ on the opposite was than the stained glass window.

This is where the organ use to be.

This is not the baptismal font used for John's christening,

it was added in the 1860's.

St Swithin's is a famous church because William & Barbara Wilberforce were married on 30 May 1791 and George & Cassandra Austen were married on 26 April 1764. George Austen was also buried at the churchyard. William Wilberforce is known as the member of Parliament that started the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. George & Cassandra Austen are the parents of the famous author Jane Austen.

And the records office found George Perkins and Sarah Peck's marriage record at St James Church in Bath. It was 13 June 1821, 15 days before John's birth. The big news was that it shows that George was a widower. So now I need to find his previous marriage record.

St James church was bombed during WW2, so it's now a Marks and Spencer.

Reverence

Alright I need help. There is this family in my ward that lets their kids wander all over and do whatever during Sacrament Meeting. It is totally disruptive, so much so that I and those around me cannot hear the speaker. I have broken up fights between the siblings, shhhhed them (using the shhh noise and a finger at my mouth), snapped my fingers, reminded them not to run in the chapel, and made them put their shoes on previously. When I did the shoes, more than once, I always told the mother (she is a convert to the church) so she is not surprised when/if the kids say something and she always tells me she has told the kids to keep their shoes on in church. So to me it sounds like the mother is trying to teach her kids good behaviour, but failing. The oldest just turned 11 and will be going to YM's next year. His behaviour is the worst of all the kids, so how do I help teach these kids reverence?

BTW, the husband comes from a family that has a history of letting children behave in this manner.

I found this quote by President Kimball:

“We are a richly blessed people. The Lord has given us everything: the gospel of Jesus Christ, the light, the priesthood, the power, the promises, the covenants, the temples, our families, the truth. We should be the happiest people on earth. We should also be the most reverent people, but here I think every individual and every family should take a look at themselves. Are we a reverent people? Do our actions in the home and at church show reverence for our Creator?

“Sometimes we wonder. We attend sacrament meetings and conferences where children wander unrestrained in the aisles. During the service, we notice adults talking with their neighbors, people dozing, and young people gathering in the foyers. We see families coming late and filing noisily to their seats, and groups engaged in loud conversation in the chapel after the meeting.

“Our thoughts turn to investigators, friends, and those whose testimonies are fragile and developing. Are our meetings the powerful missionary tools they can be, where the Spirit of the Lord reigns and penetrates hearts? Or to sense the Spirit must we first block out many needless distractions?

“Let us examine reverence, not only its meaning and importance in the lives of Latter-day Saints, but some possible ways we can teach reverence to our children and improve our performance.

Patriarchal Blessings

If you didn't know, on the church's website you can order your ancestor's Patriarchal Blessings. Go to lds.org, click on "Tools", scroll down to "Patriarchal Blessing request a copy" and click. It will ask you to sign in, if you don't have a user name and password, then you can sign up for one using your membership number. Once you sign in you can request a "copy of own blessing" or "copy of direct-line ancestor's blessing".

You will need to know:

Deceased ancestor name

Deceased ancestor maiden name

Birth date of deceased ancestor (Example: 6 Aug 1968)

Relationship to deceased ancestor

Deceased ancestor's Father's full name, If you do not know it, please enter "unknown"

Deceased ancestor's Mother's full name, If you do not know it, please enter "unknown"

Patriarch who gave blessing

Stake in which blessing was received

Approximate year blessing was given (Example: 1950 or 1950-1960)

Comments

I requested my Grandma Jensen's and it came in the mail today.

If you are not a member of the LDS church, a Patriarchal Blessing is "given to worthy members of the Church by ordained patriarchs. Patriarchal blessings include a declaration of a person's lineage in the house of Israel and contain personal counsel from the Lord. As a person studies his or her patriarchal blessing and follows the counsel it contains, it will provide guidance, comfort, and protection." In the Old Testament, Genesis 48:14, (King James Version, btw, it's the 400th birthday of the KJV of the Bible), Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim’s head. So PB's are not new, but I'm not sure other churches have continued this practice. Some people call PB's their personal scriptures since they are straight from Heavenly Father. Now that I am on this genealogy kick, it's kinda fun to get these to find out what Heavenly Father had in store for my ancestors.