Connecting with Family

I have had some very interesting experiences in the last few months. I have had a chance to connect with family that I have not been able to connect with before. There is something stirring on the Lindquist side of the family; something is in the wind that is causing us to blow into each other and become closer. It seems there are forces beyond ourselves at work here. It has been amazing for me see. 

In the last few months, some pretty miraculous things have occurred. I have been able to meet up with my Dad's brother, who I have not spent a lot of time with, and we were able to go out to dinner and talk about family and where we come from. It was so nice to get to know him better, and meet his beautiful wife. 

I have also been able to meet up with two of my cousins on that side of the family. We ran into my cousin, Nikki, at church. We picked a random ward to attend on a Sunday while in Utah, and she came running up to my Dad super excited to see him. I had not seen Nikki in forever, it was so good to see her and meet her husband. We were originally going to go to an earlier church time, but I felt we should go to the later ward instead. Small feelings sometimes yield big results. I am learning to follow those promptings. It was just so fun to "happen" to run into family like that! 

The very next weekend Nikki's sister, Celeste, was going to be in Boise to visit some friends. She happened to be here the Sunday I was speaking in church, and she came to hear me speak. We got together during the week and chatted for hours like old friends, though we have only met in person a few times. We have gotten to know each other better through Facebook, so there is proof that some good comes out of social media. I loved getting to know Celeste better. She is awesome. We had so much to talk about, and so little time. We are hoping to meet up with her again in the near future. 

Also, while we were in Utah we were able to meet up with more family members from the Lindquist side, all because of a little mix up on some images on Familysearch.org. My dad contacted the email that was available, and from that a meeting was planned. While we were in Utah we traveled to meet them and visited for a few hours and poured over pictures and information. We were able to go in there and start correcting some of the things that have been done. There were some mix-ups with both sets of information that we were able to correct working together. It was pretty amazing. 

It may not seem amazing from the outside looking in, but for me, and my family, it has been very special. We have just not had a lot of connection with this side of my Dad's family, so these are sweet and tender mercies, and beautiful miracles. 

It is amazing how there are all these people out there who are our cousins and relatives. There is something truly special about connecting with family. It feels sort of magical somehow, perhaps a bit Heavenly. 

For whatever reason, the winds are blowing us together, and I am grateful. Something is stirring on the Lindquist side, things are happening. I must say, I really, really, love it! 

This is me and my cousin Celeste, right after speaking in church. It was so fun to have her there! 

 Me and my Uncle Kent (my dad's brother).

 Meeting Nikki at the church in Utah, and Celeste's daughter just happened to be there too.

I should have jumped in the picture below, but these are more Lindquist relatives that we visited while in Utah. We had lots of Family History to share with each other.

My Grandpa Lindquist working on the railroad.

 He was a mighty handsome man.

This is my Grandma Lindquist. Her patriarchal blessings talks about her focusing on Family History work. It is because of her that I took an interest in Family History. I found a bunch of family history items in her home after she passed away, and it put the Spirit of Family History deep into my soul in a flash of understanding and profound reverence of learning who I come from. I have come to understand her better as a person as I understand who she is, how she grew up, and the challenges she faced. I think we would all be a little more understanding if we knew what really makes people do what they do. Life can be hard, and people handle the hardness of life in different ways. Grandma was a tough cookie. I understand her more now than ever, and I love her.

Grandma with her two sons, my Dad and Kent.

Grandpa Lindquist and sons 

Grandpa Lindquist, and his sister Anna. Anna is how we are related to the Lindquist's we met through Familysearch.org, the family we visited in Utah. I am sure they were smiling in Heaven when we all connected with each other. The picture at the very top of the post was the house they grew up in as children in Fairview, Utah. Their dad was Anders Anderson, who changed his name to Lindquist upon arriving in America. Anders Anderson is pictured by the house in the buggy, his wife is standing by the house. 

Pretty neat stuff. :)