DANFAM

Sunday, May 22, 2011

It is now May 22, 2011. We just keep doing the same thing every day which is exciting because new people come in every day with new problems and information. I am getting the hang of New Family Search so I am able to help people get their family ordinance forms printed up. I am even helping Warren learn NFS. We have just started being able to print the cards off at the library so they can take them directly to the temple and just walk in to do the ordinances, which is great. Since I come from pioneer families from all four grandparents, I find a lot of errors on my New Family Search lines. Since I am working to fix my problems, I am also able to help fix some of the problems that occur with our patrons. People are so excited to find family members that they can take to the temple. We are continuing to get people coming into the library who are just starting to do their work and they are the ones I like to work with.

Since we arrived I have found four people that are on my collateral lines that were not on New Family Search so their work has not been done. I couldn’t believe it. But these are the people that were born in the late 1800s and early 1900s whose families have fallen away from the church and no one in their direct line is doing the work; so I get to at least get them on New Family Search. I am unable to do the temple work because they were born less than 95 years ago. But, someone some day (even me if I live that long) will get to do it.

Warren seems to be the go-to person when no one can answer a question. He is amazing in that he picks up on things really quickly –he also has an ability to bluff his way through!!! I am now the official Ancestry.com teacher. This is great because I really get to learn the ins and outs of the site. It is a great site, but has its flaws and does not have everything, but it sure has a lot of information with more than 30,000 databases and each database having thousands and hundreds of thousands of records.

We started going back to the grocery store right across the street from UCLA. We stopped going because it was so busy, but it is a bigger store than the one we had been going to. It also has the advantage of the excitement of college life. We could just walk there, but it would be too hard to bring the groceries home. We go for walks at least three times a week and get to walk through the beautiful greenery and beautiful blooming flowers of California. . . oh, and also, an occasional homeless person sleeping on the city sidewalk. There are trees on our walking route that have purple flowers that are just beautiful. We also have more than 35 tomatoes on our tomato plant on our 3 sq. foot patio. We have already eaten two of them and five of them are turning red right now.

On the home front, Lindsay Daniel (David’s wife) will have her sixth child in July, and Katie (our daughter) will have her sixth child in November; so we left with 14 grandchildren and will come home to 17. At church I just love to watch all the babies and just think about how my grandchildren are growing.

Well, it has been a while since we have posted on the blog. We do about the same thing every day. Work with the patrons to help them search out their families and help keep the library running. It is interesting working with the people and learning how to answer their questions. The biggest thing that is needed is a little prayer before talking with the people. I still feel inadequate in my abilities, but with the Lord’s help, it seems that I am able to help people find things and work on New Family Search.

Just to let you know since our last posting we have had a new grandchild, Ethan, by Mark and Angie Daniel, he was born on Saturday, March 19. He was a week and two days early – nice for Mom. He was very small but a beautiful baby as you will see in the picture we post. Also, David and Lindsay will have a baby boy in June and will name him Benjamin Warren Daniel. We just found out this week that Katie and Jason are expecting in November. Wow, we will have three new grandbabies while we are on our mission. I will miss not being there with them, but at the same time am grateful that we are able to serve the Lord knowing that he will take care of them in their need.

It is wonderful being so close to the temple that we can just walk there. We make sure we get there at least once a week. We are beginning to know the workers. Also, we live in the temple patron apartments where the workers live for a week while they serve in the temple. It is fun to meet them.

Ethan Mark Daniel

John Morgan and Ann Gillett Family- Phyllis' GGGrandparents found on Ancestry.com. (Joseph Edward Morgan is GGrandpa0

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

February Report

Things are still about the same. Go to the library and come home to rejuvenate so we can go back the next day. Last night for Family Home Evening we went to the Library to work with a Singles Ward on getting names to take to the temple. The Los Angeles Stake is having a temple day on Saturday and has encouraged people to go to the Library to find an ancestor to take through the temple on that day.

Well, working with these young adults was amazing. We usually work with older people whose hands and minds don’t work really fast. You would suggest one thing to these young adults and they would catch on immediately, just whip through the computer and, Whamo!, they were doing what you just hinted at. It was wonderful. I love the newer generation.

One of the gals I was working with had a family like mine where there was a lot of work already done and we couldn’t find anyone that she could take to the temple, but there were a lot of errors in New Family Search that need to be investigated and corrected. At the end of the night I was afraid that she would be disappointed and not want to work on it anymore, but she said “I’m hooked”. Wow, what a fine feeling. The spirit of Elijah is really at work.

I had a call at the library where someone had joined the Jewish Genealogical society just because she wanted to do her genealogy and didn’t know where to go. In reading their information they indicated our library so she called. She was just full of enthusiasm and signed up for the foundation courses. It is fun working in this field. I am working on a power point to present concerning Ancestry.com. I am hoping that we can learn enough here that we can take it back to Utah with us and help people there become confident in working on their genealogy.

Picture sets are of:

1- Destruction work on the old Mission Center. 4 pics

2- The movie star cemetery just next to the LA Branch Public Library we walk to each week. To the Library…. 2 pics. The second one is … you read it, Marilyn Monroe. Notice how pink it is. Any guesses as to why so pink? The answer is in the picture.

3- 4 shots of our trip with Earl and Jennifer Carter to the Farmers’ Market. We even found our old car prototype for electric power when we return from our mission. Yeah, Right!

4- Forrest Lawn Cemetary in Glendale, to locate and photograph my mother’s second husband’s grave, Scotty’s grave. 8 pics. We didn’t find the grave. Had the map and grave number, but no grave marker. A security guy saw us wandering all over to graves so he stopped to see what was going on, then understanding our problem, helped, traipsing back as we had then back again as we had, identifying the 3 places you see me pointing as possibilities. No grave stone. I left a request at main office to replace it and let me know about it. Nothing in the 3 weeks since then. I’ll call ‘em soon.

5- Lunch after the cemetery and Earl’s and my 45 minute walk in the heat. The heat, you read that right.

6- Mother has been watching the budding of a tree at our apartment. You see it in the 7 pics, with attention to one branch end that is close to us. I’ll continue to take development pics of it and post to this blog.

7- Finally our Tomato Plant, an Early Girl. It better produce, we have about $30 in it. LOL.

We love the work and all of you family.

Warren and Phyllis

Monday, January 31, 2011

Last Two Months

We haven’t written on the blog for a while. It is funny how busy we are. We are spending most of our time at the library and then even on Sunday’s we have special groups come and we have to be there for that. But that is what we are here for.

Warren and I have been given our assignments at the library. Warren is going to work with the money and he and I will be available for Sunday groups when required. I will work with keeping the books in order. But, the main purpose of the mission is to help people work on their family history. It amazes me how many non LDS people come into the library and how few LDS come.

I know the feeling of having pioneer heritage and it feels like it is all done, but it is not. That is what New Family Search is for – to clean up the problems, what’s not done. NFS has combined all that has been added by different members of the family and some of it is incorrect. The people in the past were great in getting what they did, but we need to clean it up. This way during the millennium there will be correct records to work from to get the work back to Adam. Many of my lines go way back, but the director here informs me that I need to start with my immediate family and go back family by family and make sure each person is accounted for. If the work isn’t done, do it. If the work is done, make sure that the dates are correct by getting primary sources for the birth, marriage and death dates. It is fascinating work because you find stories along with dates and places.

Since we live just a short distance from the library we walk to work every day. They are tearing down the old mission office building to build new housing for the mission president and the temple president. It has been fun watching the building being torn down. Now we will get to watch it being built.

We love the setting of the sun here. Instead of mountains to watch the sun set on we have tall buildings all around. Just a majestic place.

Well, until next time, be happy.

Elder and Sister Daniel (Mom and Dad Daniel)

Mission work...

We meet together before going out on the floor...

Patrons in the library...

We take classes to learn more, and more, ..... and more...

Phyllis helps people...

Phyllis helps a lot of people...

San Pedro visit to get info on my grandpa Warren and the harbor, with my Sister Marion...

Remember the Sears light I saw from my bedroom. Here's how close it was. We lived forward into the second picture, right, around the corner. No trees to block it when I was there.