Dearest Family,     Happy Anniversary!  today!  Gaye & Frank is it 36 years!   Happy Birthday,  to Ken on Monday!   

       It has been a wonderful week, but different in many ways!  Library was special, Brother Croft spent time with a brother his age – so excited about FH & sharing that joy with every one!  He is working with his grandchildren, the people he HTeachs, his ward consultant, getting her involved with less actives.....it is amazing to witness! My Deacon who I usually work with wasn’t feeling well & I got started helping his mother.  She had done a lot of FH 10 years ago when her husband was in college, when it was much more difficult to do! I started showing her the “hints” in Family Search & how one can link them to people, & also add new individuals to the tree.  She was amazed & excited!!!  It has changed so much in the last 10 years & also in just the last two years!

     On Tuesday a miracle happened – & we are so grateful!   We were scheduled to help a Bro in the Living center at 1:00, when we got there he & his wife had gone out to lunch with someone! Our next appt was at three, helping several consultants prepare for a Sunday lesson which they were unsure about.  We decided instead of waiting, we would go to the FHC early!  We did, & helped them with the lesson. At 3:15 an Activities Day group of girls appeared at the door,  (We had been asked to help them, but had not gotten the date on our main calendar & had forgotten)  We are so grateful that we were there, with the two consultants & Bro Croft & I, we were able to help them!

    Wednesday morning we had the opportunity to do a 45 min presentation on family History to the Lovell Women’s Club! Bro Croft talked about the Memories, sharing photos, audio, & stories. Then I did several searches, demonstrating how one can look at censuses & other kinds of original records to learn about our families. We had received a list of the people in the group so we could find records that were about their ancestors!  Was a fun time! 

Lovell Women's Club

Wednesday evening we were just going out the door to help a YM’s group in Cowley when the young man who scheduled it called to say there had been a change.  Several weeks ago, Rob had scheduled his YM’s group in the center, but we had previous commitments, so others would help him.  We looked at each other & said , lets go to Lovell. Started helping his group, & in walks another ward, who wasn’t no the schedule!   As you can see, there has been a little excitement this week & inspiration in many ways!  We are so very thankful for it! 

    Thursday, Friday and Saturday was the Rootstech2015 & Family Discovery Day in SLC. Some of this is streamed over the internet.  What a blessing it was to watch & be a part of it here in our home!  That much TV made our eyes go buggy by Saturday evening..... Very inspiring! Now we start reviewing, so decisions can be made for our stake “Family History Day” to be held March 21! We have sent all of you this link to watch it now the videos are posted on LDS.org https://www.lds.org/topics/family-history/familydiscoveryday?cid=HPSA021415698&lang=eng

    The expanded youth challenge is “Prepare as many names for the temple as baptisms you perform in the temple and help someone else to do the same” The overall theme from the Gen Authorities speaking was FIND a name in Family Search, TAKE the name to the temple or share it with a family member or the temple TEACH someone else to do the same. Plus for all of us to  understand that FH is an important part of the Lord’s plan of Salvation and not just something else to do. We must eliminate other things including church traditions from our daily routines, that we may think still need to be done in our callings.

    Sunday evening was our scheduled FH Youth Consultant meeting!  They along with their leaders have indexed about 150,000 names during December 1 to February 14.   Now, another challenge begins!

As we met, we all shared things we had seen happen in our lives & the lives of others!  Several mentioned the peace they felt while doing it, how it relieved the stress of daily living, closeness with siblings, & family togetherness.   So very special!

    We had to get a different vehicle this week too, since our 2004 Toyota RAV4 isn’t reasonably repairable. Our antifreeze leak was from stripped head bolts so the aluminum block is ruined .  .  . all the repair options were too costly for an 11 yr old car. Nice outside, but the inside, (motor) has died. We decided to get a new 2014 RAV4 that should last us for many years. Happy Valentine’s Day to each other!

    It has been a great week!   we send our love to all of you!   & CTR

Bro & Sister Croft