In the Right Place at the Right Time

I awoke one morning with a thought I knew came from the Lord. “Sarah, if you will arise early today and read your scriptures, the Lord will give you a gift.”

I followed the prompting, got up, read the scriptures, and said my morning prayer. I began my morning chores in anticipation of receiving guidance from the Spirit, and soon I received a strong feeling that I should visit my parents in Tennessee.

We were living in Utah at the time. I had seen my parents only a year earlier, but I called the travel agency anyway. I explained to the agent that I wanted roundtrip airfare but had only a small amount of money. I asked her if she could find a discounted airplane ticket. She laughed. In order to meet my request, she would have to find something less than half the regular price.

“I really don’t think anything like that is available,” she said, “but I will check the computer.”

All day long I awaited her call. Finally, she called that evening.

“I don’t know how this happened,” she exclaimed, “but there are a few tickets available for the price you quoted me.”

I was able to make the trip to Tennessee. My parents and I had a joyous reunion, but after a few days I began to wonder, “For what purpose did I come here?”

I explained my feelings to my mother, who was a not a member of the Church at the time. She told me about a woman whom she had met at the beauty parlor a few weeks earlier. The woman’s married name was Street, which is my maiden name, and her husband had done extensive research on the Street family line.

I went to visit Clay and Martha Street. They met me with gentle graciousness. Clay showed me his family history, and I learned that we had the same family line. He gave me vital information about more than one hundred of our common ancestors. All of the dates necessary to perform their temple work had been carefully documented.

I was amazed as Clay, who was not a member of the Church, shared with me his desire to search out his family line. He told me of an experience he had had that was similar to my own. One day he had felt impressed to drive sixty miles to North Carolina to visit his aunt. There he copied all the names and information he found in the little local family cemetery. He suspected that some of the information dated back 130 years and that it was the only known source for the birth and death dates of these ancestors. When he arrived at his aunt’s house that evening, he prepared his materials so he could return to the cemetery early the next morning.

That night, heavy rain began to fall, and Clay found he could not sleep. He became more and more anxious to get back to the cemetery. Finally, tired of fighting his feelings, he jumped out of bed, threw on his aunt’s yellow raincoat and rain boots, grabbed her umbrella, and headed for the cemetery.

Using a flashlight, Clay guided his way through the downpour to the tombstones and copied down the names and dates he needed. Feeling satisfied, he returned to his aunt’s house and slept through the night.

The next morning, he arose to a beautiful sunrise. The rainclouds were gone. Clay decided to drive over to the cemetery again and take one more look around. When he arrived at the cemetery, bulldozers were there. A house was being constructed nearby, and, without knowing it, the bulldozer operators were pushing dirt onto the little cemetery, covering it. He then understood why he had felt such a strong desire to go there the night before.

As I left the Streets’ house to find a copy machine, Clay advised me to go to the one in the university library a few blocks away. I went there and copied all the materials. As I was paying the librarian, she said, “Oh, it looks like you are doing genealogy. What line are you working on?”

“Well, this is the Street line, but the line I really need is the Garland line from Carter County, Tennessee,” I explained.

“Did you say ‘the Garland line from Carter County’?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered, somewhat startled.

“There is a lady in the back room who is president of the Garland Family Research Club. Her main lines run out of Carter County, Tennessee,” she said.

After talking to the woman in the back room, I left with information on more than one hundred of my ancestors—with everything documented and verified.

This all happened in one afternoon. I was thrilled and humbled at this great gift the Lord had given me. My husband and I, with the help of friends and family, eventually were able to do the temple work for more than two hundred of my ancestors.

This experience has been one of the highlights of my life. I know that many of my ancestors were ready and eager to have their temple work done. I felt them near me in the temple as I was doing their work. I had many sacred experiences in the temple, and doing the work for my ancestors brought a rich renewal of my faith in the power of the Lord.