The Spirit of Elijah and Family History

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.  Malachi 4:5-6

This is called Hugil House.  It is located in the Yorkshire Dales area.  We will spend two days looking for this place and ancestors with the last name of Hugil.  I know relatives came from Yorkshire, so this is worth a visit.  Besides, it is James Herriott country!  (and Robin Hood, and Hogwarts).  In any case, we're excited that when we are off our mission we will be in Yorkshire, which we haven't been able to visit because it is outside our mission area.

These is a deep yearning in many people's hearts to find their long lost ancestors.  This interest has escalated over the past years to where it is one of the most popular hobbies or pastimes for individuals all over the world.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the largest data base with the easiest access anywhere and it is all free.  Miracles continue to happen to make records available for the Church to compile, organize, and make available for the world.  We know there is a reason this is happening and we know God has made it possible in this modern age for this work to accelerate.

We know that Elijah did in fact return to this earth and restore the authority to do the work of linking families together in preparation for the last days of the world.  God is organized.  He needs things done in certain ways so prophecies he has given his prophets to give us through recorded scripture will come true.  Much work for ancestors is still to be accomplished.

Thus, Elder Blain and I are looking forward to visiting some grave sites in old church yards in the U.K., hopefully finding some names of lost but not forgotten ancestors.  Why are they not forgotten?  Because we know we wouldn't be here without them!  We want to know more about them.  They were most likely very ordinary people, but to us they are extraordinary because we claim them as our own and they are our heroes in how they survived their hardships living in difficult times.

Anyone wanting to find ancestors can go to FamilySearch.org and get started.  Have some surnames and general ideas of when or where the relatives were born and go from there.  You'll be surprised at what you find.  Happy hunting!