There are two ancestors of mine who I would love for my son and daughter to "walk with" on their Trek. The first is my 3rd great-grandfather, William Madison Wall. Yesterday in church, an older brother from our ward spoke about him. (William Wall was his great-grandfather.) This brother and I have known for quite some time that we shared this ancestor and we often greet each other affectionately by "cousin." As he told the stories, my children recognized that they were hearing their family story too. It was a treat for us all.
It's kinda funny that here we are, living in the Provo 3rd Ward and this ancestor of mine once served as bishop of the Provo 3rd Ward. William Wall's life growing up, how he found the gospel, and the incredible work he did to build Zion is very fascinating. I intend some time to write more about his stories in a future post.
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| Micah, Chandler, Miriam, Me, and Kaylee with the statue of my 3rd great-grandfather and my children's 4th great-grandfather looking down on us. This memorial is in Heber City, Utah. William Wall was in charge of building the Provo Canyon Road that connects Heber City to Utah Valley |
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| A book about Wallsburg, the town named after my 3rd great-grandfather, William M. Wall. |
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My grandma's sister, Sylvia, is the ancestor I'd love for my daughter to "walk with" on this trek. Sylvia was one year younger than my grandma and although she never was a member of the church, she had deep faith in God and a profound love for the Bible.
Last year in the middle of the night, on my son Micah's birthday, I awoke from a terrible nightmare. I dreamed I was in some sort of a concentration camp with him and he kept asking where the rest of our family was. I didn't know but I promised him that we would be reunited soon. He curled up on the ground and shivered from fear. There was a chill in the air as dark ominous clouds loomed toward us. In an attempt to calm him, I wrapped my entire body around his and hugged as tight as I could until I could feel his shivering stop. In comforting words I said, "Micah, it's going to be alright. Remember what I have always told you! 'There are a million ways to die and only one way to live'... We have followed that 'one way' to live and we will be okay. We will be okay."
When my parents came to visit later that day for his birthday, I told my mom about my strange dream. She responded, "Did you know my aunt was in a concentration camp with her two sons?"
"What? Really? When!?
"During World War 2... she and her husband went as Christian missionaries to the Dutch East Indies (which is now Indonesia) and they were taken captive by the Japanese Imperial Army. She and her two sons survived. Tragically, her husband did not."
Yesterday, my mom brought over a copy of my Aunt Sylvia's story. I was so excited to finally have her words in my hands! "She illustrated this picture on the front," my mom said pointing to the cover page. "She was an artist like you."
Wow, what a treasure, I thought to myself. I've read a few chapters already since yesterday and I plan to use these stories for our family home evening lesson tonight. I will share more about her too in my future posts.
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| Photo from one of the men's concentration camps. |
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| Photo from one of the women and children's concentration camps. |
As we come to learn more about the journeys of those who have gone before,
We in a sense "walk with them."
And I know that someday... as we look back on our own journey,
We will realize just how often they were literally "walking with us."
-Alicia
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