Week 17 - August 19-25

This week, as zone leader, Elder Koberstein or I was assigned to write and article for the zone weekly newspaper called the "International Express".  Elder Koberstein had already written an article for both the "Vineyard" (mission newspaper) and the "International Express" (zone newspaper).  It was sadly my turn.  Writing has never been high on my list of fun things to do but with the Lords help I can accomplish this task too.  I spent part of this week reading carefully articles by previous zone leaders and assistant zone leaders and praying about what I should write.  I decided to share the following experience from my childhood.  Believing children learn about family history very young.  As parents and grandparents we can affect that learning by sharing our experiences with them.

"I have been richly blessed with parents who shared family history with me as a child. My father often told stories around the table from his life and the lives of ancestors. As a child my siblings and I would coax him to tell us the stories over and over. One of my favorite stories was about my grandfather Hale receiving his mission call."

My father with his children

In the winter of 1899, Benjamin Walter Hale received a mission call to the South Western States Mission. He was reluctant about going to such a humid area because he had a severe health problem of quinsy, which is an acute inflammation of the tonsils. He coughed and choked terribly each time he got a cold and needed special care to get well. Papa went to discuss it with his bishop, Osborne Low, Sr., who felt impressed that he should go. Bishop Low said, “Benny, I feel you shouldn’t turn down this call, but that you should go and try to the best of your ability to be a good missionary and the Lord will surely bless you.” After pausing a moment, he added, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do Benny. If you will take this mission call and try to the best of your ability to be a good missionary and serve the Lord, I’ll take the quinsy for you while you’re gone.” Papa jumped to his feet and said, “Bishop, let’s shake hands on that deal, so that it will be binding before man and God.” After shaking hands, my father returned home and told his mother that Bishop Low had agreed to take care of the quinsy for him while he was gone on his mission, so he had decided to go. Grandma hurried and helped him get ready. Papa left Star Valley in the middle of December. He went to Grantsville for a couple of weeks to visit his father and his half brothers and sisters. Grandpa drove him to Salt Lake City where papa was set apart by Apostle Heber J. Grant on January 3, 1900. He was assigned to labor in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas where he faithfully served until April 1902. Papa never had trouble with quinsy during his mission, but he received a letter from home saying that Bishop Low was terribly sick with quinsy. In fact, for a while they thought he was going to die. He continued to struggle with it all during Benjamin’s mission. When father completed his mission, Bishop Low was very happy to see him and said, “Oh, Benny, I’m glad that you are home again. Here you can have your quinsy back again. I’ve taken good care of it for you while you have been gone.” Papa started having quinsy as before, but Bishop Low never again got quinsy during the fifty years he lived in Star Valley. This experience has been a strong testimony to my father, our family, and Bishop Low that if we are humble, prayerful, and obedient, the Lord will provide a way for us to accomplish what he has asked us to do.

Elder Benjamin Walter Hale on the right and companion 1900-2

This week Salt Lake City has been blessed with some clouds and scattered rain.  It has cleaned some of the smoke from the Utah and California fires.  This is a picture I took Friday from the parking lot as Elder Koberstein and I left the Family History Library.  If you look carefully you will see the spires of the Salt Lake Temple, roof of the tabernacle and the log cabin between the Family History Library on the right and Church History Museum on the left.  

Elder Koberstein has biked home to Bountiful every day this week.  He got rained on Wednesday and was a little wet when he got home.  Friday he was sprinkled on but not really wet.  Biking is an enjoyable part of his day.

Saturday all seventeen pairs of zone leaders and the deaf zone were invited to President Fenn's home for real Italian pizza.  In the picture President Fenn is demonstrating how to roll out the crust the Italian way (by throwing it in the air).  The pizza was baked in the brick oven behind him and tasted delicious.  A fun evening.

We had a beautiful sunset to enjoy on the drive home, a colorful benefit of all the smoke.  A beautiful ending to a wonderful day of preparation.

THOUGHT FOR YOU

Never stop striving for the best that is within you.  Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart.  But don't close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day's ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life.  -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Week 16 - August 13-19

Friday evening we decided to go grocery shopping at the Japanese grocery store, Sage Market, in Salt Lake City.  It is a short distance from the Family History Library.  We were sad to discover that it closed at 6pm.  We arrived at 6:20pm.  We then decided to then go out for dinner.  Elder Koberstein thought tonkatsu ramen sounded good so we went to the Kobe Japanese Cuisine in Salt Lake City and enjoyed ramen.  

 Saturday we sent the day with a Rick College roommate in Heber.  I was privileged to meet her while attending the Provo Temple.  I felt like Alma the younger when he met Ammon after their 14 year mission to the Lamanites described in Alma 17:1-2.  

1.  "And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying toward the land of Zarahemla.

2.  Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord.... " 

We caught up on the past almost 50 years.  Our lives took different turns as we married and raised our families but we are still sisters in the gospel.  

While in Heber we took the opportunity to check out the Historic Heber Valley Railroad.  We wonder if some of our grandchildren might enjoy a ride on the train during our family reunion next summer.  

The train was even held up but no valuables taken, it was all in fun. 

  This is a picture of the trains engine.

Our train switched directions by the engine disconnecting and running along a side track from one end of the train to the other and reconnecting.  We then went back the way we had come.  The seats in the train also changed directions so we could always be facing the way we were going.  It was fun to switch your seat as the train switched directions.

The ride was about 45 minutes long. 

THOUGHT FOR YOU
The thought this week is from our Mission Conference keynote speaker Elder Bradley D. Foster.  The theme of the conference was discover your story.  We were encouraged to write our life story.  Keep a journal and leave tracks so our posterity can know who we are, what we believe and things we are part of. 

GRANDFATHER’S ADVICE

     When the world was young and new, people thought everything should be young and new. So when a man got old, and could not do his share of the work any longer, they had no use for him.

     It was the custom to get rid of those old fellows who were only a burden.

Now there was a man who had an old father and a little son. “The old man is useless,” the man said to himself. I should have to get rid of him.”

So he took the little son’s sled and piled the old grandfather onto it.

     “What are you doing with Grandfather?” asked the little boy.

     “I am putting him on your sled,” said the man.

     “But where are you taking him?” asked the little boy.

     “To the forest,” said the man.

     “Whatever for?” asked the little boy.

     “Never mind!” said the man. Even though it was the traditional thing to do, he did not quite like the idea either.

     “Let me come along!” begged the little boy.

     “Come if you must,” said the man angrily.

     So the little boy hopped along after the sled.

     Finally, they came to the forest. The man dropped the rope which he had used to pull the sled. It seemed a hard thing to do but it was the custom. And who is brave enough to go against custom?

     His little son tugged at his coat. “You mustn’t leave Grandfather here in the forest,” he said in a small voice. “He will surely die.”

     “He is too old to work,” said the man. “It is the only sensible thing to do.” He began marching homeward. The little boy ran after him, and pulled at his coat.

     “What’s the matter now? The man asked.

     “Daddy, you mustn’t leave my sled there!”

     “And why not?” asked the man.

     “Because when you are old and worn out, I’ll need the sled to carry you to the forest to die!”

     “Perhaps when I get old, my son will do with me as I have done with his grandfather.”

     So the man turned to his son and said, “You are right, and I am wrong. We’ll go fetch Grandfather home again.”

     So he went to fetch the sled and grandfather. He did not let the neighbors know that he had brought the old man home again. After all, he was going against custom, and that was a risky thing to do. So he hid the grandfather away, and took him food and drink in secret.

     Now it so happened that not long afterward, there was a famine in the land. Certainly nobody was going to be bothered feeding the old fellows. Nobody but this one man. He kept taking food to the old grandfather in his hiding place. But he took smaller and smaller portions.

     The old grandfather noticed this and knew what was happening, but said nothing.

     The famine was a terrible one. They ate their wheat down to the very last grain. Nobody knew what to do next. If they had not gotten rid of the old men, they might have asked their advice. But the wisdom of the old had died with them.

     One day, the man who had kept his old father hidden, took him his dinner with a sorry face. The dinner was nothing but a piece of bread—and it was a small piece.

     “There is a famine,” said the man. “There is no flour to make bread with. There is not even a grain left for planting a new crop.”

     “Well,” said the grandfather. “You have a roof of wheat straw on your house. Take half of the straw off the roof and thresh it well. You’ll find that quite a bit of grain has been left in the thatch. That will give you enough grain to feed us until harvest. Then take the other half of the roof, thresh it, and it will be enough grain to plant your crop.”

     So the man did, and in good time he grew a fine crop. When the neighbors discovered his good fortune, they came crowding around to ask him how he had found his seed grain.

     “I got advice from my old father,” said the man.

     “How can that be?” they asked. “You have no father!”

     “Oh, but I have!” he answered. And he brought the old man out of hiding.

     “That’s my grandfather!” said the little boy proudly.

     After that, nobody thought of getting rid of the old men. They were respected for their wisdom, which the old keep just as the thatch keeps the seed.

Week 15 - August 5-12

This week was the Tour of Utah Bicycle Race.  On Thursday the tour rode from Antelope Island through Bountiful.  My brother-in-law watched the race in Bountiful.  The picture is from the race video on the internet.

 Friday was our temple/research day.  We did research in the morning at home and in the early evening we attended a session in the Oquirh Mountain Utah Temple.  The Oquirh Mountain temple was the 13 dedicated temple in Utah.    

Lots of smoke in the air.  Mountains close were basically not visible as we left the temple.  Notice the shadow beyond the fountain.

Elder Koberstein and brother-in-law went into Salt Lake City to watch the fourth stage of the Tour of Utah.  The cyclists made ten 6.8 miles loops around downtown Salt Lake City.

Elder Koberstein watching Stage four of the race in Salt Lake City.

This weekend we attended the wedding reception of a niece.  It was fun to visit with siblings and their families while in Idaho Falls.

A THOUGHT FOR YOU

Faith is not believing God can,

it's knowing He will.

Week 14 - July 30-August 4

This week as zone leaders we were challenged with the opportunity to share an article for the mission wide newspaper.  Elder Koberstein thought it was my turn and I just could not come up with an article.  With dead line upon us he sat down and wrote up this experience with finding his Koberstein ancestors homeland.  I feel it was the message that our Father in Heaven want shared this month.  Thank you Elder Koberstein.  Hope you enjoy his article.

  Message from International Services  

By Elder Terry Koberstein, Zone Leader  

My last name is Koberstein, a clearly Germanic name. It has been a very interesting issue in my life, coming to learn about my last name.  Of course I knew it was my father’s and grandfather’s last name, but my father died of polio when I was less than three years old so we didn’t have lots of father/son discussions about who we were. My mother and stepfather didn’t provide insights, either.  

At a fairly young age I became involved in searching out my ancestors, first finding my link to my Grandmother Koberstein’ French Canadian ancestry (La Fleur) and then over the years working out the history of my state-side Koberstein family.     

My first job after college took my wife and me to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The full load of work, church and family enveloped us and nurtured our fledgling family. Life was good to us and we loved it.   

However, the rumblings of “who am I?” became even stronger.  After a while we left Wisconsin and moved to California, working for a new company. Part of my assignment was traveling back to Wisconsin. Since I had continued my family history research, I had discovered the connection with Great-great-grandfather Ludwig Koberstein in Newton Township, Marquette County, Wisconsin, just two counties above the county where we had lived. I was greatly interested to find where he came from in Europe and thought maybe Wisconsin held the key.  

I needed to know the key! I had to find the locality, even down to the very city or village to find the Koberstein’. The records I could find state-side were vague about that locality. Census, immigration passenger lists, emigration from Hamburg all gave the general location as Prussia. The Kingdom of Prussia, as I came to learn, was a very large place with frequent border changes based on the last war to envelope it.  

On one of my business trips back to Oconomowoc I added a side vacation trip to Marquette County. I searched the courthouse, library, cemeteries etc. to no avail.  However, I did stay over on Sunday and attended the ward in the nearest larger town, Westfield.  At church I asked around for the most knowledgeable genealogist in the ward.  That was Sister Ingraham, they all said.  I caught her after church and explained my interest.  She said she may have something that might interest me. She and her husband invited me to dinner that night.  I was anxious to find out what she had.  

That evening after dinner she explained that she had been given permission to extract records from the nearby old German church in Lawrence, Wisconsin, and went into an adjoining room to bring back the church record for William Koberstein. It clearly stated he was born in Colonie Brinsk, West Prussia.  Miracle of miracles, I knew the key! Later I found out through the experts at the Salt Lake City Family History Library where Colonie Brinsk was. Once I knew that, I found the records of hundreds of my ancestors who had waited almost 200 years for this grand event. 

   

Elijah had paved the way, probably with the help of my deceased ancestors guiding my steps.  

Thursday was the first Recognition Meeting that Elder Koberstein and I have been responsible for on the B1 floor.  I am so amazed at all the hard work of so many in our zone to make this event and the luncheon following a success.  Pictured is Elder Koberstein preparing the slide show for the awards, birthdays and new or returning missionaries in our zone.

This is the group of missionaries that complete their level 2 training in July.  Level 2 training give a brief overview of how to access records in ten different countries. Elder Koberstein and I are among those that completed it.  We now have one more level of training, level 3.  In level 3 we will specialize in a language group.  Elder Koberstein chose the "German Group".  I have one line from Denmark which is part of the "Nordic Group".  The training on our floor of the Family History Library is amazing.  I feel so blessed to be given the privilege to be here.

This week Elder Koberstein has been biking to Bountiful from the Family History Library and I have driven home.  I injured my knee so I am trying to give it a chance to heal.  On Saturday morning he describes his bike ride to the Legacy Nature Preserve on Facebook as follows:  "My bicycle trip to day down Orchard Drive to North Salt Lake City, down Center Street to the Legacy bike path entering Woods Cross to the Legacy Nature Preserve then back into town on 500 South past horses a weird Buffalo by the oil refinery."

Here is the buffalo all dressed up.

I wonder if it is a better place to visit in the spring when there is more water, not to many birds to watch this time of year.

THOUGHT FOR YOU

This is Grandpa Hale's missionary card from his mission to the Southern States.  Grandpa left Salt Lake City 4 January 1900.  He labored in the Ozark Mountains.  The following poem was found in Grandpa and Grandma Hale's poem collection.  I enjoyed reading it.  It tells a lot about missionary life at that time.  The author is unknown.  

Missionary Work in Arkansas

Thru sunshine and rain

Thru pleasure and pain,

Striving to bring souls unto God,

To do the folks good,

We did all we could

Showing them the path Jesus trod.

We walked up and down

From farmhouse to town,

Calling on the high and the low

Kind and polite we treat everyone

Disseminating truth as we go.

Thou some at us scorn

We try to all warn

Of judgement, destruction and woe,

Soon to be sent

Unless they repent

Of their sins so debasing and low.

They will get very mad

And say all that's bad

And turn us away from their door

But with a light heart

We'd always depart

And go on our way as before.

There are others again

Who would bid us remain

Their food and shelter to share

Saying that we would welcome be

If we could put up with the fare.

By the fire at night

We'd the gospel recite

And rest them by singing a song

We'd talk of the news

And show them some views

Which we always carried along.

Our tracts were as free

As the sands by the sea

To all who desired them to read

Our books we did lend

The truth to defend

And the people with literature feed.

We had books for sale

But if we should fail

To get them out in this way

For the people in need

Who desired them to read

We'd offer one without pay.

We were always in search

For schoolhouse or church

In which we might gospel discuss

It was hard to get these

So many to please

And someone would kick up a fuss.

So we have spoke

Under some spreading oak

To the people gathered around

In the domicile too

We preached to a few

Whenever the privilege we found.

We found it was best

To go neatly dressed

And a gentlemanly bearing to show

So that every sect

Would show us respect

Among whom 'twas our duty to go.

Without purse or script

Along with our grip

We found was the best way to go

Fir if we confide

The Lord will Provide

We've tried it and found it is so.

When we did commence

To carry a few cents

Upon which we might safely rely

But twice at night

We were left in a plight

And in the woods had to lie.

Last conference we agreed

Without purse to succeed

And have quit sleeping out in the cold

Our washing get done

And our stamps always come

And we're bringing more sheep to the fold.

We haven't been last

To observe every fast

Appointed by God's holy men

Besides other few

We enter into

For strength we desire to obtain.

We always have stiven

To observe all that was given

By way of command or advice.