Thoughts and stories, by Pal

In our Family Zoom meeting last Sunday, we talked about the Prophet Joseph Smith.  My assignment for a few minutes was to talk about our ancestors who knew the Prophet Joseph Smith personally.  Between my husband and I we had 19 pioneer ancestors who knew the Prophet, some more closely than others, but at least met him. First is Hiram Dayton, my husband Wayne D Eckman's great grandfather, born  November 1st, 1798, in a small town in the middle of New York State.  He and his wife Permelia Bundy Dayton had a fine home in Parkman, Ohio.  They had large peach and apple o rchards, and a good farm with many horses, and stables. During this time when everything was going good, the Prophet Joseph Smith came to Parkman, and taught him the Gospel.  He baptized both him and his wife Permelia on February 18, 1832, the very first of our ancestors to join the Church, less than 2 years from when it was organized. After this, people who had been friends and neighbors ...

Last October, I went down to the Mesa, Arizona area, to see my newest great grandchild, and beautiful baby girl, 3 months old, and also her first cousin, a year old now.   I was fascinated with the ancestry these two sweet baby girls have, combined with mine.  Their grandfather on my grandson's line was Italian, and the grandmother's line came partly from Lithuania.  I wondered just who my posterity would have on a pedigree, shared with my and my husband's name.  My husband, Wayne D Eckman, an identical twin, had ancestry on his father's side from Sweden, and New England and in the 1600s from England. I took some pedigree charts down with me, and my son-in-law's father, of Italian ancestry just 2 generations back -- filled them back as far as he could remember.  I did find sources which verified them after they had immigrated to the United States, but I couldn't trace the ancestry back into Italy.  I left a pedigree chart with the mother of my grandson's wi...

 Dear friends, Well, in 2021, I plan to write my own thoughts and feelings about what is happening, has happened, or may happen! Many years ago, perhaps 20, my husband Wayne (passed on Feb. 21, 2016) and I were standing in a line at either a funeral or wedding -- remember when we used to be able to do that, and enjoy seeing good friends at the same time, and visiting. Someone asked me how we and our family were doing.  As I have 9 children, and numerous grandchildren (and now--great grandchildren,) I said "Well, at this time everything is going quite well!"  The person who asked me said "I'd be careful!  Something is bound to happen!"  Sure enough it did!  But I can't remember what.  There always seems to be something going on with someone in our family (happy and sometimes sad)! I was feeling really good when I painted this in October for a granddaughter. About 2 months ago, even though we were -- and still are -- in the middle of the Covid pandemic, ...

  Dear friends who read this blog, even now and then: Many of the inspiring quotes I put in my blogs come from Meridian Magazine, LDS Living, and also Latter Day Light.    They are all good places you can go to, and have them come into your own e mail box.  So today I'm sending you the way to go and sign up, all FREE, and get them if you want to.  You may have to copy and paste the links below.   https://www.latterdaylight.com/sign-up/ (a Daily Devotional, all days of the week.) For Meridian Magazine, which is Monday through Friday -- the sign up is here, I think: www.ldsmag.com For LDS Living, I believe you can go to www.ldsliving.com and find it.  It is also daily. I also subscribe to Book of Mormon Central, which is really inspiring.  It is Monday through Friday, and has great videos which you can see at the bottom of each article.  All these are free, as is my blog. I will be writing my own thoughts, and histories from January 1st, 2...

I always have written about the Prophet Joseph Smith on his birthday.  I truly love him, and all I can learn about him is a joy!  I have read several books about his life, and I had many ancestors who knew him personally, one, John Lowe Butler, who was a bodyguard to the Prophet.   This is a beautifully written article from Meridian Magazine about him, and his "Native, cheery, temperament."  That really interests me, and I have tried to develop a native, cheery temperament because of its importance I believe -- to be able to enjoy life and serve others, and to show Thanks to our Heavenly Fa ther! How Joseph Smith’s “Native, Cheery Temperament” Sustained Him Through Trials By  Jeffrey Marsh  · December 22, 2020 Cover image via ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Editor’s Note: We share this article in celebration of the prophet Joseph Smith’s birthday today and in recognition of the need we all have to find our own native cheery temperaments in a year that has bro...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL YOU DEAR FRIENDS!   I am making a decision as to my blog!  I appreciate all you who have read it over the years.  I've tried to find things that would be interesting or inspirational, or both!  In the beginning I mostly told stories of my husband Wayne's, and my own ancestors, and about our family.  Then when I had run out of stories from the past, I began using many things from other writers, which I always labeled to show where I got them from, and to rightly give credit to the writer. I am going, from this point on, to write about my own experiences, especially with Family History, and life in general.  I am now 86 years old, and hopefully have through many life experiences, learned a bit about life. I have always loved stories about ancestors, and from this point on I plan to write and document my experiences about them.   I had a tremendously exciting experience this last week as I researched the ancestors back from my ...