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We interrupt this blog to make a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT from your sponsors--

Daddy Waddy and Mommy Wammy!

Thank you for the absolutely fabulous 40th Anniversary DVD!!!!  We just love it!  With Carol's permission we watched it yesterday(before midnight!); relished it over and over.  Thank you to all for contributing pictures you had taken over the past two years and to Carol for putting it all together.

 We just loved the music; were disappointed when it "Ended"; thrilled when it "Continued"; chuckled and laughed seeing you all; our hearts filled with gratitude for each of you.

Watching "You Raise Me Up" brought tears to our eyes.  We love you with all our hearts, Ubehebe.  Of course, you know that already but it bears repeating.

Beyond our ability to express, we are grateful for each of you, for who you are, for your devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ and your loving service to one another.  We, like John  would say... "[we] have no greater joy than to hear that [our] children walk in truth."(3 John 1:4)

For each of us, life will bring a measure of challenge, heartache and suffering, otherwise, how could we be refined.  But we pray that no matter what comes (or has come) your way, that you will always follow the prophet, live according what you know is true, and trust that it will all be for your good.

Love,   Mom and Dad

                                                OUR MILLS FAMILY HERITAGE

It seems altogether fitting that on St. Patrick's Day we should begin our sharing of the first experience that Elder Mills and I have had getting "Across the Pond". Where?  To Ireland!  For those who do not know, this expression has to do with finding exactly where one's ancestors came from in Europe.  The "pond" is the Atlantic Ocean.          Go Figure!

MILLS FAMILY IRISH BACKGROUND
     James Mills and most of his family (wife and 15 surviving children) came to America between 1848 and 1853.  They were among those known as the "Famine Immigrants" - mostly tenant farmers who left Ireland because the potatoes were rotting in the fields on a massive scale.  With the loss of their crops there was no income to pay the rent and they were evicted from their homes by their English landlords.  Left without jobs and a means of supporting their families, for many the choice was starvation or emigration to America.
Our Mills family chose to came to America.  You probably recall the scripture found in 2 Nephi 1:6  "...there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord."   Was the potato famine the Lord's way of bringing them to America... so that our generation could find the Gospel?
    It appears that James and his family came on different voyages to this land... probably because they were too poor to pay the passage for all of them at one time. I have been unable to find them all together on the New York Passenger Lists. It is difficult to identify which William or James Mills is ours since they are not with a lot of other family members.  MILLS is a very common name!  JAMES and WILLIAM aren't rare either!
Let me first show you how we are related to these ancestors. _______________________________________________________________

                                         MILLS DECENDANCY CHART

   RICHARD MILLS (b. ~ 1763, Co. Armagh, Ireland)   4th Great Grandfather
              l         wife Margaret CONNOR
              l
   JAMES MILLS (b. ~1789, Co. Armagh, Ireland)       3rd Great Grandfather  
              l          wife Mary BENNETT                                            Came to America
              l
WILLIAM C. MILLS (b. 1832, Co. Armagh, Ireland)   2nd Great Grandfather
              l          wife Margaret KINZEY (Married in NYC)
              l
ALBERT RYERSON MILLS (b. 1867, New York City, NY)  Great Grandfather
              l           wife Florence Brewster JAYCOX
              l
GEORGE ARTHUR MILLS (b. 1914, Nunda, NY)              Grandfather
             l            wife Dorothy Barnes PAGE
             l
RICHARD PAGE MILLS (b. 1944, Providence, RI)             Father
             l           wife Cynthia Ann GILLESPIE
             l
LUANA, WM. ALMA, JOSHUA,
CAROL, LUCILLE & ENOCH MILLS
_____________________________________________________________________

You may ask, "How do we know the names of the James' family members?"   Well, we didn't for sure.  But we had an idea.  About 13 years ago, I found a Family Group Sheet for James Mills and Mary Bennett that was submitted to the Ancestral File.  Members sent into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints family group sheets containing their ancestors's vital information as part of a 4-Generation Program beginning in the mid 1960's.  These family group records became the Ancestral File.  I tried to contact the person who submitted this information but many years had passed and the submitter no longer lived at the address given.

So for some time all we had was an undocumented record of the fifteen children born to James and Mary. While the dates were very specific, the place given for births and marriages in Ireland was County Armagh.   
 If it were possible (an enormous "if") it would take years to search for the Mills records in County Armagh.  The places given in the actual birth and marriage records of Ireland are townlands-- a geographical area where the person lived.  In County Armagh there are at least 1000, not 100, but 1000 townlands.  The smallest townland is less than one acre; some are as large as 7,000 acres.  So it is virtually impossible to find your family in Ireland without knowing the townland they came from.

  WE DIDN'T KNOW THE TOWNLAND!
In the marriage entry for William Mills and Margaret Kinzey, found in Owen Kinzey's Family Bible, it said that William came from "County Armagh".
 The places on the Ancestral File sheet (shown to the left) for the family of James Mills also said  only "County Armagh." 

 
We couldn't find anything more specific than that... until we discovered about 7 years ago another Ancestral File family group sheet for John Mills (James' 3rd child) and his family.
On it, the birthplace of the older children was listed as Lisadian.  There were no documents cited to support this, but at least we finally had a  place to start.
 Ah, but there is a Wrinkle... there are two townlands with the name Lisadian in County Armagh!  Which one did our family come from? Where should we begin our search?

 TURNING OUR HEARTS
 One of my purposes in writing this particular blog post is help us "turn the hearts of the children to their fathers"  Malachi 4:6.   There are several different ways this can be accomplished.  Searching for the records of one's ancestors and piecing together the family members is one way to become familiar with them and experience a softening of heart for them. Doing their temple work for them might be another.   I would like to suggest yet another way.  Reading about our ancestor's experiences from a journal, diary, personal history, or letters (if we are fortunate enough to have these).  But, if not, we can read about the lives of people in similar circumstances; this can help us understand, appreciate, and respect those who came before us. 

To turn our hearts to our Irish immigrant ancestors, I am suggesting that you read Nory Ryan's Song.  It is a young-adult work of historical fiction which poignantly portrays the experience of a tenant farmer family as the potato famine overpowers their lives.You might read it to your older children. I have a copy to lend.

I have been forever changed by reading this book. My heart has been softened.  It has awakened in me a profound awareness of and appreciation for the struggles and courage of our Irish ancestors.  My heart has turned to them even though I do not know them personally.  I believe their sacrifices in overcoming economic and social hurdles have, at least in part, made it possible for our lives to be better.  In a sense, they were our pioneers (though not Mormon pioneers) preparing a better way for us.

                                           

     ~~~ To Be Continued ~~~

Mission Miracle: Finding the Mills in Ireland 

Hi Family and Friends,

     We have just finished our two weeks of mission training, received our zone assignment, and begun the training in that zone.  Wait a minute... let me backup and give you more detail. 
      The last 14 days in the Training Zone (TZ) have been exhilarating... filled with much opportunity to learn how to use the different family history software programs (PAF, nFS, Fam Insight), church family history websites, and do research to locate records of our ancestors.   

Instruction from the Mission Presidency
      On our first day Monday Feb 6th,  there was a Mission Devotional Meeting at 7:30 am.   One of the mission Presidency gave an inspiring presentation to start each of the first three days of training on the JSMB 10th floor.  Here are some pictures taken on and from the 10th floor.

View (West) of Salt Lake Temple

 

View (East) of Church Office Building

 From then on, all our prayer meetings and training work took place in the TZ on the 3rd floor JSMB.   Here is our two week schedule.


How the TZ Day Begins
      Here is how the day goes:  After viewing 10 min. of very funny video clips we saw a more serious, inspiring one.  For 5 - 10 minutes, 
led by Elder Kuchar TZ coordinator,   we do exercises in place.  Missionaries give an   inspirational thought, scripture and prayer.



 
Then either Elder Kuchar and Elder Pethel go over the events of the day and present guidelines for how to prepare as fulltime missionaries.

 


      We all listen ever so intently!




.
 Issuing a Zone Assignment
      After the two weeks of training each missionary is assigned to one of twenty mission zones.   Zone assignments are made by the mission presidency who pray about each candidate.  According to Elder Kuchar, the Presidency refers to a list of the zones that need positions filled.  Having reviewed the trainer reports, briefly interviewed each missionary couple, and discussed each situation, they kneel in prayer.  And they don't get up until they all have received the same inspiration.


Possible Zone Assignments
 I don't know the names of all of the zones or very much about what they do, but I will attempt to give you an idea of their scope before telling you where Elder Mills and I have been assigned.   We might be assigned to:
1-  Church History Library where they work with all the documents and artifacts pertaining to the Church's history since the 1820s (for example, the Joseph Smith Papers).
2-  Worldwide Support which handles questions from all over the world. I think this is NewFamily Search. 
3-   Family Search (FS) Indexing where records obtained by the church are... you guessed it, INDEXED.      
4-  FS -Wiki  It's kind of like Wikipedia.. only as it applies to family history and is organized by the Church. 
5-   Family History Library   (has at least 4 zones)
      A-  Main Floor
      B-  United States/Canada
      C-  International
      D-  British Isles
6-  Records Preservation and...  this is the zone we went to the other day to see if the Church was interested in using the Indexes I created to the Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church.  We had a good meeting with the head of that department, Elder Starkey, who will help us.
7-  Technical Support (which is not what you would think)  where all the images digitized around the world are sent and prepared for distribution via the "pipeline" to either be indexed or to FS for browsing on the internet. Our home teacher and his wife work there. Obviously there are many more.  

All of us had been wondering for days where we would be assigned, 
but were told by our fearless leaders (yea, those two guys) not to ask them...
because 1- they didn't know and 2- if they had known they wouldn't tell us. 


In our brief interviews with the presidency Rick and I had indicated a preference to work in the Family History Library.  But we had qualified this with the comment that we would accept a call to work where ever the Lord wanted us to serve. 


The Big Day: Training Ends and Assignments are Made
Friday morning was our last day in the Training Zone.  It's the big day... the day we get our assignments!  Remember the cheer?  "Are we ready?  Well, I guess! ..."  Oh, Oh, check out the expressions on Elder Kuchar and Elder Pethel's faces...  does that look mean they're not sure we are ready? 

  Oh, how we love these wonderful men and what they have contributed to our fabulous training experience!


 After Friday's "opening activities" and 30 minutes of one-on-one training, we met with our mission class, our trainers, the zone coordinators and mission presidency for delicious home made bread and jam and juice.  Then into the JSMB Chapel for the  exciting "Go Forth" Meeting.  The moment had arrived.  The mission assignments would be announced from the pulpit.


Each single missionary or missionary couple stood to receive their specific call.  As we stood before this special group of missionary leaders to receive our call (we were up front- having been asked to give the prayers), I wanted to maintain a pleasant, neutral expression on my face.  I didn't want to betray any disappointment should I be unhappy with our call. 

What I didn't know was that I didn't have anything to worry about.  Elder Mills and I have been called to serve in the Family History Library - United States/Canada zone. 

 Exactly where we hoped to serve!  When we sat down, I leaned over and asked Rick how he felt about the call.  His response "Ecstatic!"  Ditto for me!  


We are having such a glorious time! The Lord is blessing us so abundantly.  And we are grateful.   We know that He is blessing you also.  

We Love You!

Elder and Sister Mills

Dear Family and Friends,
     We are just about to complete our first week as Family and Church History Missionaries in Salt Lake City.  On Thursday, Feb 2nd we extricated all of the belongings stuffed into the white Buick and lugged them up the stairs to apartment #33.  

MANY THANKS!! 
By the way, we cannot adequately express our appreciation to all who helped us over these past few months with your prayers and your deeds. You were involved in so many different ways: boxing up belongings and moving them to storage, cleaning the house, organizing and packing up family history and personal mission supplies and finally just getting out the door.  Some of you may have thought we would never leave!   
To our S.Calif. children: Enoch, Marissa, Lucille, Alma, Claudia (& Jonathan), Josh and Elsa.   To our "out of town" children: Luana and Carol for providing emotional and spiritual support and helping me gather my mission attire.  
To our dear friends: Nancy Peterson, Barbara Wiltsey, Luana Gilstrap, Linda Newsome, Ruth Turner, Bette Keesing, Carmen Wise, and Ursula Bennion who all contributed in meaningful, important ways.
We love you all and we pray that you will be blessed as we serve this mission for Our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.


Our apartment is bright, cheery, clean and and wonderfully well furnished. 

160 N 200 W #33 Salt Lake City, UT 84103

Flip Image right to left to get our apt layout

View from the Balcony - No wet snow

Our first day consisted of moving in, figuring out where to put everything, and stocking our pad with acorns and supplies for the winter.  Well, maybe not with acorns, but surely with almonds!





By the way, we immediately got to use of Enoch and Marissa's Christmas gift... a handy, dandy snow scraper (THANKS!)... in Beaver, UT.  Went to bed Wednesday night (Feb1) about midnight and woke up the next morning to an inch or so of snow.  Thankfully, it hasn't snowed since.  Wouldn't "moving in" through snow have been fun!?

The group who entered the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission Friday, Feb 3rd with us includes 6 other couples coming from places like S. Carolina, Calgary, Canada, Forrestville, CA (friends of Lu & Howard Gilstrap), Salem, Indiana,  Culpepper, VA,  and Arizona.  A lovely bunch of people.  In addition, we have 4 young elders.  
     During a delicious Orientation Luncheon held at noon in the gorgeous Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB), we met the mission presidency and their wives and everyone briefly introduced themselves.  

Elder and Sister Mills with President & Sister Peterson

     We then went to the Training Center on 3rd floor of JSMB, were briefly oriented  and  met our individual trainers. Training began at that moment...  one hour only to get our "feet wet" so to speak. 
For the full two weeks of training, this tutor will teach us how to work in Personal Ancestral FIle (PAF), Family Insight, New Family Search (NFS), and how to do personal research.     

 Rick's trainer is Sister Shaffer. 

She is wonderful.  

 My trainer is Elder John Rogers 
and he is wonderful, too.

Both Elder Mills and I are thrilled with our mission experience.  Every day we thank God for the opportunity we have to serve this mission.  There is a  warm, strong spiritual feeling present as we seek to find and know our ancestors.  We are learning many new things everyday about how to do this. It is exciting to be learning and growing. 

We have trusted in the Lord.. that He will take care of you while we are away... that He will bless all our loved ones.  And it is my testimony that He began doing so even before we left home. We are most grateful for the many evidences we have seen of His involvement in your lives.  We have come to refer to them as "Mission Miracles". 

Love to you all,  

Elder & Sister Mills

Elder Richard and Sister Cynthia Mills have been called on a mission!
It was wonderful to sit in our living room at 4187 Center St. with all our family present-- either in person or via Skype -- to witness the opening of our mission call.  
(Ever since Rick served a mission as a new convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has wanted to serve with his companion in his later years.) 

Well, at long last the day had arrived.  After seemingly months of attending to dental and medical examinations and needs, submitting mission papers, and planning what to do with the house, the moment was at hand.  What would our assignment be?  We had specifically applied to serve a "Member and Leadership Support" Mission in the US because we felt that we could make a meaningful contribution in that area.

USA Map www.bjdesign
(Left click on images to enlarge)

Many family members ventured a guess as to where we would be "Called to Serve".  Where do you think we will be called to serve?  
Actually, one person guessed the right state and also the city and mission.  Who do you think that was?





Sister Mills was slightly concerned that our mission call might be met with some disappointment.  So there was a tad bit of apprehension for her in the moment.  As we opened our envelopes- both husband and wife get their own "Call"-  the excitement rose.  Look below to see where we were called.

 How perfect is this mission call!  Even though we did not apply to serve a Family and Church History Mission, that is where the Lord has called us.  I and Elder Mills feel so very good about this assignment.

I continue to be amazed and awed, beyond the ability to express, by this call which will take us to Salt Lake City... the world-wide center of family history activity and resources.  Had I been given my fondest dream, it would have been exactly this call.  Elder Mills and I have been doing family history for four decades.  Family History is my passion!  I know that our call is divinely inspired!


We want to "go forth and serve with all our might" and pray to learn and do well.


Love to all,

Elder and Sister Mills