From our Sunday School lesson today:
Referring to the pioneers, President Hinckley said: “I will never get over being thankful to them; I hope you never get over being thankful to them. I hope that we will always remember them. … Let us read again and again, and read to our children or our children’s children, the accounts of those who suffered so much” (Church News, 31 July 1999, 5).
As I have time, I’ve been reading from and extracting from the journal of John Bushman, my 2nd great-grandfather’s brother. He was a wonderful record keeper, writing in 3rd person about his life and his interactions with others. John Bushman kept small diaries, pocket-sized, throughout his life. Then in 1918, he transcribed them into a record book for his posterity. Below is the beginning page. This record book has 1197 pages. I’m taking screen shots of entries in this original compiled record in his own handwriting of all of the vital family information. Then I can attach these images to those individuals in FamilySearch.
It is my hope that these stories of faith and fortitude can be read again and again, and read to our children and to our children’s children. John Bushman’s faith strengthens mine. I hope my faith will strengthen someone else someday, far in the future after I am gone. This is why I continue writing my fingers to the bone.
