Christlike attrubute: Charity and Love

This is a talk I prepared and delivered in church last Sunday. I thought I would share it. It gave me a lot to think about, also requiring a lot of introspection for me. I really needed this as well.

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 First, I will talk about how well we know ourselves. 

This goes way beyond standing in front of the mirror and wondering about uneven eyebrows. I mean a self study of what motivates us in life and our spiritual health.

Why do we do what we do in the Gospel?

As we get to the point that we are doing what we do because of our love for our Heavenly Father and Jesus, we come closer to becoming perfected.

I refer mainly to the address by Elder Holland in October 2024 conference - "I am He"

a few points he makes (quoted from the address):

•"... His ultimate defining virtue, His love"

•"And what He actually said was, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” On that same evening, He said we were to “love one another; as I have loved you."

•"So we try to love— with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—because that is the way He loves us."

• (another ) " characteristic of Jesus’s divine charity was His obedience to every word that proceeded from God’s mouth, always aligning His will and behavior with that of His Heavenly Father."

We see this Christlike attribute of love and charity in the example given at the beginning of Elder Holland's words.

"As the soldiers approached, Jesus, in an effort to protect His disciples, stepped forth and said, “Whom seek ye?” They replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said, “I am he. . . . As soon . . .

as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.”"

Jesus, as he confronted the arresting force - He met them in love — love for his disciples and even patience (that comes from love) in his approach to the arresdting force. He had love and confidence. That with his divine power astonished the men. How could it have been in a modern scenerio?

review the scenario - not a confrontation, but a peaceful showing of acknowledgement and love...

This differs greatly from stories we usually see or hear:

[crime shows where arresting forces confront villians]

[line in the sand, Captain Cook on Motuarohia Island]

How do we approach our Gospel-related activities?

We act for various reasons and motivations: hope for reward, tradition, status, fear of consequences, guilt, respect for a parent or leader, for praise or recognition.  While these do instill such acts of obedience, service and devotion, until they come from a heartfelt love of God, they will not carry us to the end — we will not be able to endure.

It is an ongoing process, an adventure of learning, of awareness of our ability to love and finding that to be our true motivation, why do we do what we do?

As we accompish things in the Gospel, such as church attendance, tithing, Word of Wisdom, proper choices in the commandments and efforts to serve in the church and temple, be grateful for whatever motivation brought you to this point. They are wonderful. As we become more loving of God and the Saviour, and trust in their love, we build on these motivations to embrace more genuine motivations. We do them out of love and with love that we learn from our Father in Heaven. As we have then moved ahead beyond what motivated us originally, it becomes more likely that we will grow spiritually and in heavenly joy and less likely to complain, judge others, lose traction in the Gospel and become offended.

An example of motivation based on the feelings of the spirit comes from our mission in Salt Lake. One of our sister missionaries serving with us came from West Virginia and had only recently become a member of the church. She was raised in the "Bible belt." She attended bible camps as a youth. While she was at college, she met members of the church and missionaries and received lessons, but did not get to the point of baptism. She still felt something special. After returning home in the summer, she was attending another bible camp and thought to ask the Baptist minister a question that was on her mind. Having felt the spirit as she was taught and attended meetings back in college, she asked the minister how often he felt the Spirit. His reply was that he felt the spirit "once or twice a year." This astounded her. Why not much more as a minister. She learned what the restored Gospel brought to her and joined the church soon afterwards and then came to Utah serving a mission.

The Spirit is a good motivation. It depends on what we do to bring and keep the Spirit with us.

By basing our obedience and choices in the church on a true divine love, we can weather the storms of life that might pull us away from our involvement in the Gospel. 

Elder Holland states: "Jesus was “a man of sorrows,” the scriptures say. He experienced sadness, fatigue, disappointment, and excruciating loneliness. In these and in all times, Jesus’s love faileth not, and neither does His Father’s. With such mature love—the kind that exemplifies, empowers, and imparts—ours will not fail either."

What is it that we can do to go beyond our initial motivations and develop a true love of God as our motivation?

thoughts:

(Learned from temple visit)  As we enter into and are faithful to our covenants, we become more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus.

That is so important: we bind ourselves to Him. He then lifts us as we trust Him.

One way to strengthen that covenental power is to review our spiritual strength. A lot of this comes from the standard efforts: Prayer, regular Scripture study and church and temple attendance. Also key is to review the words of the apostles and prophets, especially from recent conference addresses.

Here are some examples (mostly from April 2024 conference):

Spiritual momentum - Elder Renlund (Apr 2024) and Pres Nelson "We become vulnerable when we slow down and especially when we stop. If we maintain spiritual momentum by continually “rowing” toward the Savior, we are safer and more secure because our eternal life depends on our faith in Him. Spiritual momentum is created “over a lifetime as we repeatedly embrace the doctrine of Christ.”"

Spiritual slackness   - Elder Christofferson (Neal Maxwell) Apr 2024 - "Being valiant in the testimony of Jesus means encouraging others, by word and example, to likewise be valiant, especially those of our own families. Elder Neal A. Maxwell once addressed “the essentially ‘honorable’ members [of the Church] who are skimming over the surface instead of deepening their discipleship and who are casually engaged rather than ‘anxiously engaged’ [Doctrine and Covenants 76:75; 58:27].” Noting that all are free to choose, Elder Maxwell lamented: “Unfortunately, however, when some choose slackness, they are choosing not only for themselves, but for the next generation and the next."

Elder Cook - Apr. 2024 talk - on entitlement - "He said we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. Regardless of who our earthly ancestors are, each of us will report to the Savior on how well we kept His commandments."  ... "The Lord’s saving mercy is not dependent on lineage, education, economic status, or race. It is based on being one with Christ and His commandments."  ... "No economic or social attainment is necessary. The poor and the rich have the same spiritual requirements. There are no race, gender, or ethnicity requirements. The Book of Mormon makes it clear that all are invited to partake of the Lord’s goodness,"

Elder Soares - Apr. 2024 - Covenant Confidence  - "As we make covenants in holiness before God and commit to follow the Savior, we receive the power to change our hearts, renew our spirits, and deepen our relationship with Him. Such an endeavor brings sanctification to our souls and forms a sacred bond with God and Jesus Christ, who promise that we can inherit the gift of eternal life. The result of this sacred journey is that we obtain a holier and higher confidence for our day-to-day lives within our covenants made through Jesus Christ."

Elder Holland: "When we stand before Him and see the wounds in His hands and feet, we will begin to comprehend what it meant for Him to bear our sins and be acquainted with grief, to be completely obedient to the will of His Father— all out of pure love for us. To introduce others to faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and receiving our blessings in the house of the Lord—these are the fundamental “principles and ordinances” that ultimately reveal our love of God and neighbor and joyfully characterize the true Church of Christ."

As we bind ourselves to God with our covenants and living honoring them, He will lift us above the troubles of the world around us.

It is my testimony that our Heavenly Father loves us and is always ready to lift us as we turn to Him and are raised by our covenants with Him.

Immigration Document, ca. 1919

This is a document I recently discovered, pertaining to the 5th cousin of my grandfather. I find it quite interesting because of the wording of the document and also the description of this man. He was born in Denmark and apparently became a sailor, coming through Japan, then San Francisco and eventually into Biloxi, Mississippi where he declared his intent to become a citizen of the United States of America. He eventually met and married a woman in New York City, she being an immigrant from Hungary. Below the document shown is a transcription of it.

DECLARATION OF INTENTION

Invalid for all purposes seven years after the date hereof

Sou Div. Sou Dist     In the District Court

of Mississippi  ss:  of United States

I, Anders Christian Frank Andersen aged 25 years,

occupation Sailor, do declare on oath that my personal description is: Color white, complexion fair, height 5, feet 10 inches, weight 194 pounds, color of hair brown, color of eyes blue 

other visible distinctive marks tatoo on both forearms.

I was born in Holbak, Denmark on the 30 day of May, anno Domini 1893; I now reside at (on board vessel most of time) home port San Francisco, Cal.

I emigrated to the United States of America from Kobe, Japan on the vessel Pangan, OK Company (Danish company); my last foreign residence was Holbaek, Denmark;

I am not married, the name of my wife is _____ she was born at _____ and now resides at _______

It is my bona fide intention to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to Christian X, King of Denmark, of whom I am now a subject;

I arrived at the port of San Francisco, in the State of California, on or about the 27 day of December, anno Domini 1917 ; I am not an anarchist; I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy; and it is my intention in good faith to become a citizen of the United States of America and to permanently reside therein:

SO HELP ME GOD.

(signed) Anders Christian Frank Andersen

Subscribed and sworn to before me in the office of the Clerk of said Court this 5 day of April, anno Domini 1919

[SEAL]

Jack Thompson

Clerk of the US Dist Court.

By Geo Money Deputy Clerk. 

Tokotoko

 

In December we visited a wood carver in Henderson, a suburb west of Auckland. Shauna wanted to buy a nativity creche, and found a nice one there. The wood carver and his wife emigrated here some time ago from Bethlehem, in the Holy Land. He has also made some nice kiwi bird carvings for the mission, which they use to give missionaries as rewards for keeping their flats clean. Since my birthday was near, Shauna insisted that I buy a walking stick that he had in his shop, which I gladly did. It is beautiful, carved from Japanese cedar.

Lately, my leg and hip have been giving me some grief, so I now use this cane to steady myself as I walk. It is most useful and is beautiful as well.

I started to get many comments about my walking stick, but especially from the Māori people. There is a traditional stick that the Māori leaders use, as a symbol of their authority, I believe. It is called by them, a tokotoko. I had no idea the significance of my walking stick. It still serves me well, nevertheless.

One of the people who commented on my tokotoko mentioned the spirals carved into it. I just thought it was a decorative touch. It curved a bit so I thought that was to just add to its character. I was asked, "how many generations?" I was then informed that each spiral indicated a family generation. I had noted previously that it had ten spirals.

Upon thinking more on my tokotoko, I reflected on my own ancestry and came up with this amazing observation. If I followed my generations back and forward, I might easily come up with ten. Putting it together, I also thought it would be clever to alternate fathers and mothers in each generation. It worked! I am in the midst of a ten generation span of people who were in the Gospel in their lifetimes. Here is how it works (leaving out names of people who are still living):

1. my great-granddaughter Biesinger, living in Hungary.

2. my grandson Biesinger, in Hungary.

3. my daughter Buchanan/Biesinger in Ohio.

4. myself, temporarily in New Zealand.

5. my mother, Arvilla Jacobson, married to Forrest "D" Buchanan.

6. her father, Eddie Matthias Jacobson, married to Sarah Delilah Anderson.

7. his mother, Rebecca Deseret Dutson, married to Ole Hansen Jacobson, who was baptized in Denmark.

8. her father, John William Dutson, married to Elizabeth Jane Cowley, from the Isle of Man.

9. his mother, Ann Green, married to John Dutson, whose family managed the inn, The Green Dragon, in Herefordshire, England.

10 her father, William Green, married to Jane Prosser, who both joined the church in England and died on their way to Zion.

What a remarkable heritage, and a fitting reminder carved in my walking stick! Also, I love seeing the truly international nature of this progression. The Lord's hand is made bare in the eyes of the world and His kingdom is being established throughout, in preparation to the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ. We look forward to that day, soon to come.

In and out of military records and census records, and a surprise connection

I started working on looking into a 5th great-aunt, Ane Jensdatter, sister to my 5th great-grandfather, Niels Jensen. Not much was known about her.

I started seeing some details emerge in some probate records in the area and, along with others, put her marriage(s) and families together.

My first review of the work was described this way:

"Ane Jensdatter - what we know, and what I did to come up with the rest of the details: She is listed in the 1800 probate record of her uncle, Niels Jørgensen, dated 22/26 March 1800, Sorø Akademie-Holbæk, along with her father and siblings and many of her family. That is pretty certain. That is how she was first put into FamilySearch. It was guessed that she was born about 1718, which I question (details at the end). She is listed there as deceased and as having been married to Lars Pedersen of Kirke Flinterup, with the children: Ole Rasmussen (of Egerup), Peder Larsen (of Kr. Flinterup) and Sidse Larsdatter, also of Kirke Flinterup. Her uncle, Svend Jørgensen, (married to Birte Olsdatter) appears in a probate record in 1856 (for Birte/Beatte) and it lists Ane's father, Jens Jørgensen, as a guarantor in that record, being from Saltofte, which is part of the Stenmagle area of Sorø, Ane's area of birth. A number of people in the family area shown as being from Saltofte. Ole Rasmussen appears in a 1813 probate record (his), also in Egerup. Also listed in that record is Peder Larsen of Flinterup as his half-brother. Eggerup is within the Bringstrup parish in Ringsted, Sorø, Denmark. He appears in those records, listed as 57 at death in 1813, putting his birth at about 1756. Ane also appears in a record showing Ole Rasmussen in the probate record for a Rasmus Olsen of Kirke Flinterup, dated 19 Nov/19 Dec 1766, with Ole as ten years old, matching the one we have seen. In that record, the wife's father (Ane) is listed as Jens Jørgensen of Saltofte, matching the other Saltofte points. Based on this, I researched the Kirke Flinterup records and put together this family with her as a wife to Rasmus Olsen and Lars Pedersen. Two problems are confronted based on missing records: Stenmagle/Stenlille before 1790 and probate records between 1770 and 1790. Ane does not appear in a marriage record in Flinterup in 1755/1756 when she must have married Rasmus Olsen, so she was probably married in Stenmagle or Stenlille. Ane also does not appear in the death records nor probate records around 1775-1779 in Flinterup, so we don't know her age at death. Her children appear to have been born between 1756 and 1775, so she was probably born about 1735."

That long-winded description kind of shows the direction I headed.

In the process, also mentioned in the probate record, I started looking into the family of Sidse Larsdatter and Ole Sørensen. Sidse is listed as the daughter of Ane Jensdatter, subject of the above verbose tome.

A number of children were listed in the system for Sidse and Ole. Several were sons with no further information. With that, I turned to the somewhat laborious process of tracing these sons through the military levying rolls (MLR). This process opened a lot of possibilities. 

The focus of this little story (above was prelude only), is on Ole Larsen. The run of his ancestry is thus:

Ole Sørensen  1763-1803 (husband of Sidse Larsdatter, both mentioned above)

Lars Olsen  1795-1855

Ole Larsen  1824-1903 (don't you just love patronymics?)

The MLR helped me trace Lars Olsen to the end of the records and helped me get him connected to his wife and children. I then tracked the son of Lars Olsen, Ole through the MLR tracing him eventually to Copenhagen. Up to this point all of the families had lived in rural Sorø or Holbæk counties. It is not unusual for children to seek their fortunes in the big city, as seems to be the case for Ole Larsen.

After searching and trying census records and hints in Ancestry ™, I stumbled across Ole Larsen and was pretty sure I had the correct one. He was in Copenhagen and the census records said that he was born in Munke Bjergby in one case and in Døiringe in another and the age was correct. (Døringe was a small community within Munke Bjergby.) Ole's military records all state that he was born in Døiringe.

According to MLR, he moved to Copenhagen from Holbæk and Sorø in 1855, after having bounced back and forth between communities in those other counties for several years. He appears in Copenhagen first in the 1860 census. Through some Ancestry™ searches, I found his marriage. 

The 1860 and 1870 census records both listed his wife's last name as Larsen, which threw me off a bit. It usually isn't until the later years that they put the wife's married name (husband's last name) in the record, but apparently they did that here. In this and children records I determined later that her name was Kirstine Nielsen.

I started then searching for details about Kirstine. The census records were pretty consistent in saying that she was born in the county of Roskilde, not far from Copenhagen. I ended up finding a full birth date for her in the 1901 census (she listed as a widow). With that date (with the chance that the date is incorrect, which sometimes happens in census records), I ended up searching and finding her birth and christening in the city of Roskilde in the main parish church of that city.

Often I stop at that point, but I felt that I needed to really establish that she was not already in the FamilySearch system, so I would not be doing duplicate work. 

Bingo. I found her with her parents in the 1840 census in Roskilde. With a little searching, I found a match for her in her family, as a child — and indeed, her individual work was completed. 

The surprise was this:

Ole Larsen is my third cousin, four times removed, on my Sørensen Danish line.

Kirstine Nielsen is my First cousin, three times removed, on my Jacobson Danish line!

I do not often see my lines cross like this (basically never).

Kirstine's mother was the aunt (father's sister) for Ole Hansen Jacobson, my great-grandfather, who joined the church in Denmark with his mother and sister in the 1860s.

Up to this point, nothing was known about Kirstine, other than her existence. Now we have her with husband and children. Now I can work to get her descendants' work done.

End of message. You can stop reading now.

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A technical glitch I encountered was some snafu that is happening in FamilySearch. It seems that the system is becoming more insistent that work be done only for relatives, so connections are such that relationship is checked BEFORE you even get a chance to see whether temple work is available for someone.

I added the wife and children to Ole Larsen one day, and the next connected the wife to her family, that made her even more closely related to me. Then, suddenly, all of those children I added appeared as not being related to me at all. I found, by trial and error, that I could disconnect the child from the family, by using the edit-relationship icon, then I added the child back in by "Add Child." Then suddenly the child became related. That worked until I noticed that one of the sons had a wife, already connected by me that first day, was also now showing as not related, even after making sure her husband had been reconnected to his family to make him related. It turned out that someone from FamilySearch had to specifically make it work that she showed up as related. Oh well, I hope that they get that problem fixed soon.

Anne Christophersdatter, Where Are You?

It all started with my inclination to research more into Ane Jensdatter, the third cousin of my 3rd great-grandfather on my Sørensen Danish family line. I had put her family togther a about six-weeks ago and we sealed her to her parents in the Hamilton, New Zealand temple about ten days later. I did not have any information about her later life nor possible marriage and family.

Today, I thought I would take a closer look to see whether she had any family.

In the process, I found her confirmation record (age 14), so I knew that she lived at least to that age. Nothing else could be found in the records I usually searched.

Now the fun begins...

It occurred to me to take a look at probate records. These death records are not often helpful, in general, for serious searching. This is mainly because they are not indexed much. Plus, not everyone ended up in these records. Most of the time I find nothing. However, thanks to a wonderful person, named Aurelia Clemons, there are web searchable files of information she extracted from many of the probate records in the areas I sometimes search, including this area. I have a number of her files downloaded on my computer, so I can do a simple text search on the ones I have searched before.

Bingo.

I found the probate record for her father, Jens Christophersen in 1836. She was listed in the record as one of the heir children. She was 18 years old at the time. Included in the line with her name I found in parentheses:  (d.8 Dec 1836 pg 37). 

That led me to find her death record in Stenmagle in 1836 which exactly matched her information! No wonder I could find nothing else.

OK. There is not anything more I can do for her. She had no marriage nor family.

However...

I noticed that her aunt, Anne Christophersdatter (sometimes spelled Ane), was someone I had searched earlier, and found nothing beyond her being listed in the 1787 census record. I had added her to FamilySearch back in October, with the little information I had on her.

Today, I thought I would push a little harder.

My normal searches came up with nothing I could really work with, especially with her common name: Anne or Ane. Oh well.

Then I thought, why not try the probate records for her?

Sure enough, I found Jens Christophersen with his sister and the two other siblings in a 1829 probate record for their father: Christopher Jørgensen. These records often include spouses and sometimes even more. 

... and indexed by Aurelia Clemons:

Christopher Jorgensen gmd i Steenlille               18 Mar 1829      pg 339 341

CH:      Jens Christophersen      50 gmd i Steenlille

         Hans Christophersen      46 hmd i Rude-Eskildstrup

         Ane Christophersdtr      = Hans Jensen gl. gmd i MunkeBjergbye

         Karen Christophersdtr    = Herman Ovesen hmd i Saltofte

[Soro Akademi-Holbaek amt; Bk 25 1820-1830; film 52302]

Ane  is listed as married to Hans Jensen in the nearby city of Munke Bjergbye.

From there I searched and found her with her husband and children in the 1834 census records:

Sorø, Alsted, Munke Bjergby, Munkebjergby, en gaard, 14, FT-1834, C6972

Navn: Alder: Status: Stilling i familien: Erhverv: Fødested:

Hans Jensen  48  Gift    gaardmand    

Ane Christoffersdatter  54  Gift    hans kone    [ his wife ]

Jens Hansen  20  Ugift    deres barn    [ their child ]

Maren Hansdatter  22  Ugift    deres barn    [ their child ]

Karen Sophie Hansdatter  17  Ugift    deres barn    [ their child ]

Bodil Hansdatter  14  Ugift    deres barn    [ their child ]

Niels Hansen  8  Ugift    deres barn    [ their child ]

This led me to start searching for information about those children, which I hoped would give me directions to search for her marriage to Hans Jensen.

I knew that birth (and any records in general) in Denmark prior to 1814 are more difficult to read and search, so I looked for confirmation records in the more readable files for these older children, particularly Maren Hansdatter, the oldest.

I looked for and did not find Maren's confirmation record. However, as I went backward and forwards in these records, I happened to notice a confirmation record for a Karen Nielsdatter in 1825, christened in 1810. The reason it caught my eye (as I was not looking for Karen, nor for a Nielsdatter), the record showed her parents as stepfather Hans Jensen and mother Ane Christophersdatter. These are the parents I am looking for!

Hmmm.

I searched the birth/christening records in the more difficult older records and found Maren Hansdatter in 1812 records, with Hans Jensen and Ane Christophersdatter as parents. 

It appears that these two must have married about 1811 or 1812.

I found the marriage record for them in 26 Sept 1811. He was listed as a bachelor at the time of their marriage and she as the widow of deceased Niels Sørensen.

I then took a chance to see whether he showed up in the 1801 census, just to see how old he might have been ( if I was so lucky). Sure enough, I found him listed there in the same city of Munke Bjergby. What surprised me was that Anne Christophersdatter was already listed as his wife, her age: 20. I thought she would have been too young to be married at that point. Most marriages in Denmark in those times were when the parties were over 20.  (Note: "Gift" means "Married.")

From there, I searched for their marriage record in Munke Bjergby and found nothing in the few years before 1801.

I then tried the parish where Ane was born, Stenlille. Sure enough, I found a marriage record, but it was not very informative. It listed Niels Sørensen of Munkebjergbye, widower, as husband and the wife as the daughter of Christopher Jørgensen. Her name was not even given! She would have been about 18 or 19 at the time. Niels was about 47 and had children already, as shown in the 1801 census.

Thinking back. There would have been no way I could have found her original marriage record, had I started there, since her name was not given. However, because I started where I did, it all fell into place and I found what I needed to get her connected to her husbands and children. 

Ane is my second cousin, six-times removed. We can now work to have temple ordinances completed for them, unting them as an eternal family.

I am sure have been led by influence from them from the other side of the veil. These people want to be found and connected to family. I love the process, but especially the results!