“One of Meridian’s Own” Family History Story
In our introductory article of this Ancestors are the People of History™ series, we invited the readers of Meridian Magazine to share their family history stories of ancestors and their place in history or the stories of personal connections with those people of the past. We are pleased today to have a very special story by one of Meridian’s own, Darla Isackson.
Through the important work of redeeming the dead, we have the sacred privilege of providing ordinances for our family that are beyond the veil. For some of us, this can be challenging because our ancestors, our ancestry, our relatives, haven’t always fit the image we would hope for in our past. They may have lived in a time without an understanding of the modern day gospel of Jesus Christ, and had to face a difficult world with imperfect understanding or tools. But, they experienced life and made it possible for us to be. For that sacrifice, we have the supernal obligation through family history work to “honor thy father and thy mother”, to appreciate our ancestors and their accomplishments, and to forgive those who have gone on before for their weaknesses or failings. Remember, we must never judge the past by our understanding of the present.
Family history work is our opportunity to love, to forgive and to serve; to remember our family for the best they were able to be; and to teach our children to love their ancestors with stories of hope and reward. And as saviors on Mt Zion, we, too, will be redeemed. In this second entry to Ancestors are the People of History™, Darla shares her family history experience with her husband Doug and his ancestors and the healing power of the atonement.
Now here is Darla Isackson’s story…
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Living, Breathing Family History
By Darla Isackson
One day I was pondering a particular phrase in my patriarchal blessing about doing vicarious work for those who would inspire and influence me ― loved ones who had gone before.
My father was an avid genealogist, part of a family organization that paid for professional researchers. The work was done as far back as records were then available. I had always felt there was little that I, a novice, could possibly do to add to those efforts. Consequently, that phrase from my blessing had frustrated me.
However, that day, as I pondered my blessing, the sweet voice of the Spirit told me those loved ones mentioned included my husband’s family! Perhaps because my second husband Doug and I hadn't yet been sealed in the temple, the thought that my blessing could be referring to his family had never occurred to me. The Spirit’s powerful witness not only awakened in me a great desire to pursue family history and temple work for my husband’s ancestors, but also gave me pause.
If Doug’s family were included with those referred to in my blessing as my loved ones, could I have known before this life that I would be in this second marriage? Had I known and loved these people in the pre-existence and promised to be a “savior on Mt. Zion” in regard to their temple work just as I had my own progenitors?
I was willing to believe these tender impressions, but the task seemed especially formidable. Doug and I were barely beginning to learn about research, and almost none had been done in his family. There seemed to be no information available at all in regard to one of his lines. His mother said she knew nothing about her grandmother Wendla's date of birth or her parents, and wasn't even sure how any of their names were spelled. Her siblings were equally clueless, and we knew of no other living relatives. How on earth would we proceed? How could I do vicarious work for a family that had kept no records?
Less than a week after the experience I mentioned in regard to my blessing, Doug’s mother called. She had just found an envelope that her uncle’s widow had sent her years before; inside was information she thought might interest us. Did it ever! The envelope contained certificates that documented the dates and places of Doug's great-grandma Wendla’s birth and death, the correct spelling of her name, Wendla Sofia Lofsund, and her parent’s names, as well — on official documents.
If that wasn’t enough of a blessing, the envelope also contained documentation for Doug's great-uncle (Wendla's only other child besides Doug's Grandma Vera), and both of Wendla’s husbands (the great-grandpa who died before Doug was born, and his step-great-grandpa he remembers.) It seemed a miracle that we suddenly had all the information necessary to do temple work for Wendla, her husbands and son, and needed only to find dates for Wendla's parents before their work could be done.
However, I felt sad that Doug, who had joined the Church just before I met him, had not yet decided to go through the temple, so couldn't do his male relative's work right then. I also had my doubts about how Wendla might feel about temple ordinances. I’d heard a lot of family stories about her. For example, she had a real, live shotgun wedding; her intended husband abandoned her when he learned she was pregnant, and the sheriff caught him and forced him at gunpoint to marry her! Word has it that she despised him for trying to run out on her, but would never give him a divorce. He died ten years after they were married.
But listen to the rest of her story: Wendla was a bootlegger in Salt Lake City during prohibition days and ran a hotel of no small reputation. She was still a drinker when she married Doug’s step-great-grandpa years later. From all we could gather she had little use for any kind of religion until her last years, when she suffered a terminal disease and turned back to her Protestant roots. To top it all off, she was anti-Mormon right up to the end. I honestly didn’t have much faith that this great-grandma would be anxious to have her work done!
My Surprise Joy
Trying to put aside my doubts, we prepared the temple-ready disk and I took it to the family file desk at the Jordan River Temple. I took Wendla’s pink ordinance card with me every week when I went to the temple to play the organ in the baptistry chapel, but kept procrastinating doing her baptism. Then, one day, as I was finishing my shift, it came into my mind very plainly that it was time to do it! Feeling a sense of being carried along, I went to get my baptismal clothes. The most wonderful feeling came over me--as if someone had just given me the happiest news in all the world.
I found myself crying--the joyful kind of crying that is a witness of the Spirit. I was absolutely taken aback. After I changed clothes, I stepped into the water of the font and the baptizer raised his right hand and spoke Wendla’s name. Again, I couldn’t hold back the tears. I knew without any doubt that Wendla was not only accepting that baptism, she was rejoicing over it!
It occurred to me that in the fifty years since her death, she had been very busy on the Other Side learning the gospel and applying its principles and was absolutely delighted to finally receive the ordinances of the Lord’s own priesthood. I was greatly humbled that I had misjudged this dear woman.
A short time later when I did Wendla’s initiatory, both the worker and I were overcome with the Spirit and had to pause to get control of our emotions. The worker said she had never felt a presence so strongly. It was almost as if there were no veil between us. Again, I not only felt Wendla’s presence--I felt her joy! I knew she had been anxiously awaiting this day, and was grateful to me for being her proxy. It was the most joyous temple experience of my entire life. A bond of love was created between Wendla and me that I can feel to this day. I rarely think of her without a swelling of the Spirit in my breast.
What Greater Witness?
The implications of that experience are enormous. I was raised in the Church, served a mission, married in the temple, had always been active, always had a testimony. But never had I received a stronger validation of the truthfulness of the gospel and of the atonement. Never had I received a more sure witness of the reality of the spirit world, of the importance of temple ordinances and family, of the bright and beautiful light of truth that was restored by Elijah to the prophet Joseph. Wendla was alive and real and cared about us and about the gospel and about the temple ordinances!
I was able to go home and share that experience with Doug, feeling the Spirit’s witness again as I spoke. The implications were not lost on him, and a few weeks later he surprised me by bringing home a temple recommend. My experience with Wendla was only one of the contributing factors of his decision, but I had waited for that day for more than a decade and this was welcome news indeed! He received his own endowment and soon did the work for both great grandfathers and his great uncle.
Since then we have done temple work for more of his ancestors, and we continue to find information on his various lines. We grew closer as a couple through years of ward and stake consultant callings, helping others with their family history work. Our weekly shift at our multi-stake family history center was a satisfying part of our lives.
But wait! The story is not finished. Perhaps the best part is this: in September of 2006, after overcoming many obstacles, Doug and I were finally sealed in the temple. I am so thrilled to be part of his family — and officially Wendla’s great-grand-daughter! I’m sure it was with her help on the other side and with the Spirit’s approbation, that Doug and I prepared for that special experience, and recently found the dates that were missing for Wenda's parents. Now they can be sealed to each other and to her!
Because of this whole experience, I am even more certain of the connection between all of us — on both sides of the veil — as we come unto Christ and seek to be His children. Today, I can sincerely say that I know that we have a huge cheering section — a heavenly family who cares about us, loves us, cheers us on, notes our progress and believes in us. I believe that, like our heavenly parents, they love us no matter what, and that they are progressing “over there.”
I know they want what is best for us, and I suspect they see our finest qualities, recognize our divine potential, and keep our weaknesses in perspective far better than we do.
King Benjamin said, “Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation, and eternal life, through the wisdom and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all” (Mosiah 5:15).
All who are “sealed His” are his children. Talk about extended family! Regardless of our family situation here, that eternal family is forever--we are never without family.
Extended Blessings
My experience with Wendla and my study of the scriptures, especially D&C 138, have given me much comfort and hope in the aftermath of my son Brian’s death. I know that the “dead who repent will be redeemed.” I know that Wendla had the gospel preached to her in its purity and power after she died, and that she repented and accepted it. And I know for sure that she accepted her temple work. I was there! What a great tutoring precedent for the situation I faced when my son took his life.
Brian is now included in my “loved ones who have gone before,” and I sense that he is among those who are inspiring and influencing me. I’m grateful that his name was spoken in the temple of the Lord when his temple endowment was completed by proxy, and I feel deep inside that he accepted it. I am grateful for Doug's continuing comfort and support in this situation and grateful for the blessings we now have of attending the temple together.
Thanks be to God for our heavenly families! May we will feel their love and live in such a way that we can be assured of our place in the heavenly family of Christ. May we look forward with great joy to a reunion with our heavenly parents and our extended eternal family. I can imagine no greater blessing, no greater joy!
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What a wonderful story Darla has shared! Her account testifies to us that lives continue beyond the veil of death; that those who struggled in mortality can have the opportunity to hear and understand the fullness of the gospel. And through family history and temple work, every one of Heavenly Father’s children will be able to hear the Gospel and have the saving ordinances. When we reach out to our family beyond the veil with love, and forgiveness, and service, they can reach right back to us and share testimony and love with us. Recording and preserving the stories of our ancestors will help our hearts turn to our fathers and open the way for our children to receive and keep that testimony in their hearts for generations to come.
You can participate, too!
Each of us has had experiences or ancestors whose brush with history provides new and interesting insights and details of the past. Recording and preserving these stories are opportunities for family history work and redeeming the living and the dead. Please join us in sharing how “we touch history” and participate in Ancestors are the People of History™. Sit down and spend a few minutes with your experiences and your ancestors’ lives and choose a special story to share with us. Remember, we and our Ancestors are, literally, the People of History; only by sharing the stories that we and our ancestors have experienced, will the testimonies and memories of the past be relayed to our descendants, for future generations to use and benefit from. Please send your stories to proctor@meridianmagazine.com with the subject line - APH Attention: James W. Petty, AG, CG, and we will take it from there.
