My sons, I would that ye should remember that were it not for these plates, which contain these records and these commandments, we must have suffered in ignorance...for it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates;...(Mosiah 1:3-4)
King Benjamin was reminding his sons of the importance of the family records that had been passed down from generation to generation until their time. Not only the records of their ancestry, but the records of revelations and prophecies given their ancestors by the Lord.
I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief...(Mosiah 1:5)
I'm sure I've been told stories of how my ancestors became members of the church, but I don't remember any of them. As I was trying to think of how I could find out this information without spending the whole day on the phone, I remembered a book that had been given to my husband. It was a coincidence, really, (or was it?) that he happened to be called to the home of my grandmother's cousin for work. This cousin had very recently moved into our town and wanted some work done on his new home. My husband is probably the most outgoing and friendly person I've ever met. He will strike up a conversation with every person he comes into contact with. He's very rarely intimidated by first impressions. Because of this, while conversing with the homeowner, they discovered his relationship to my grandma and he gave my husband a book that had been written by my Great Great Grandfather. I have flipped through the pages of the book a couple of times before, mostly just enough to see the names of my grandmother's siblings and mine and my siblings' names. This morning, however, I read from the author's words:
My father and mother...were married October 25, 1855. At about that time, and for several years later, there was a great religious revival in the northern part of Norway. Many people left the Lutheran Church, which was the dominant, or State Church, and formed a society called Dissenters. At one of the meetings which my father attended, the preacher took for his text the fourth chapter of Ephesians, dealing with the organization of the Church of Christ. My father was not satisfied with the interpretation put on that scripture, and wondered why there were not apostles, prophets, etc., in the Church as there were in the primitive Church. After returning home he went to bed, and, falling asleep, dreamed that a personage appeared to him and said, "In four years from now you shall understand the meaning of that scripture." Precisely four years from then the first Mormon missionary came to Kasfjord and obtained a house to hold meetings in. After the first opening exercises, he took his Bible and turned to the fourth chapter of Ephesians, read and explained the same scripture, stating that the Church of Jesus Christ was now established on the earth with apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc. Father was converted to Mormonism that first evening.(Utah Pioneering, an Autobiography of Andrew M. Israelsen, pgs 5-6)
He goes on to say that my Great Great Great Grandfather was the fifth man beyond the Arctic Circle to be baptized, and a year later my Great Great Great Grandmother would become the third woman baptized. They emigrated to the United States a couple years later, in a company of nine people - his mother and father, himself and three siblings and three other Mormon emigrants.
The voyage over the Atlantic took eleven weeks. It was a very hard journey, resulting in much sickness and many deaths. I was among those who were stricken. For some time it seemed impossible that I would be able to live. I was pronounced dead by the ship's doctor, and was ordered thrown overboard, where all had to go who died on the ocean. [Father] plead with them not to throw me overboard for a while. His pleadings and prayers prevailed, and soon after I began to show signs of life. Now, in this year, 1930, I am the only one of that company of nine who is still alive.(Utah Pioneering, an Autobiography of Andrew M. Israelsen, pg 7)
What a blessing that my Great Great Grandfather chose to record his story for his posterity. What a blessing that I can know how and why I was born a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Had my Great Great Great Grandfather not chosen to become a member of this "unpopular" church, there is a very real possibility that I would not be a member either.
O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that these records are true...and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes. (Mosiah 1:6)
Because I have a written record of Andrew M. Israelsen's life story, I can know of a surety that the stories are true. They are written by his own hand, and not stories that have been simply passed down from generation to generation to be changed or embellished. This has given me a sense of urgency in writing my own life story, so that someday, when my great great granddaughter has questions about where she came from, she will have a way to find the answers. That she will not have to "suffer in ignorance". Thank you, Great Great Grandpa Israelsen!
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