Finding Lydia

By Lexie Borg

(Based on a true story)

The author lives in Colorado, USA.

All of her friends were counting down to their 12th birthdays, but Lydia wasn’t ready.

“I keep records of my loved ones on my own fam’ly tree” (Children’s Songbook, 94).

Illustrations by Kendall Hale

Lydia sighed as she kicked a pebble, sending it bouncing along the concrete.

Her birthday was just a few days away. Usually she couldn’t wait for her birthday, but not this year. This year she was turning 12, and that meant graduating from Primary and going to Young Women.

But Lydia didn’t want to! She loved Primary. She loved sitting with her class, and she loved her teacher’s activities. Most of all, the Primary chorister made learning songs so much fun. In Young Women, she wouldn’t get to sing that much. All her friends were counting down to their 12th birthdays, but Lydia wasn’t ready.

Lydia found another little rock to kick. It skidded down the road ahead of her.

Why can’t I just be excited like everyone else? she thought. She had prayed to be happy and to know that going to Young Women would be a good change. But she didn’t really feel like she’d gotten an answer yet.

The pebble bounced into the grass. Lydia pushed it back onto the sidewalk with her toe.

“You just need to focus on the good things,” her friend Maya had told her at school today.

What good things? Lydia was trying to come up with some on her walk home. She liked being outdoors, and girls’ camp sounded fun. She also loved the temple. Her family had been visiting the temple grounds since Lydia was little. So … getting a temple recommend and doing temple baptisms … those were things to look forward to.

Lydia counted on her fingers: girls’ camp, the temple, baptisms. That made three good things. But still. She wasn’t ready to give up Primary!

She walked through the front door, sliding her jacket off her drooping shoulders.

“Is that you, Lydia?” Mom called as Lydia closed the door.

“Yeah, it’s me.” She tried to sound happy, but she was still feeling pretty discouraged.

Mom hurried into the room. “I have great news!” She’d worked on family history that afternoon. After hitting a couple of dead ends, she found a distant cousin who needed temple ordinances done.

“It was like magic!” Mom said. She and Lydia had been looking on FamilySearch for a long time without finding anyone who needed temple ordinances done. Mom moved over to the computer and pointed at the screen. “I kept looking in her family line, and you have to see the next person I found!”

Lydia rushed to the computer and read the name. “Lydia Elizabeth Graham. Mom, she has my name!”

Mom grinned. “I know! Plus her husband and siblings all need temple ordinances done. Isn’t it exciting that you’re turning 12 just in time to help another Lydia get baptized?”

Lydia felt so much more peaceful inside. Maybe this was an answer to her prayer. She could hardly wait to be baptized for Lydia!

She hugged Mom and smiled. “Maybe turning 12 isn’t so bad.”

Climb Your Family Tree!

Visit FamilySearch.org with an adult to discover who is in your family tree. Don’t “leaf” it for others to do!

• Find family members by clicking on the Family Tree tab. You can view the chart different ways, like a fan or with lines.

• Check out pictures of your family members. Which ancestor do you look like the most?

• Read their documents and memories. Add your own if you have some!