Recently my wife and I watched the documentary, “Mully.” It is a fascinating story about Charles Mully who was abandoned by his family as a young child in Kenya. He had nothing and initially went begging for food just to survive. His drive and ingenuity led him from rags to riches experiencing a stratospheric rise to wealth. However, notwithstanding his power and wealth, he sought meaning in his life. This led him to later abandon his successful businesses and use his time and wealth to enrich the lives of thousands of orphaned children across Kenya.
Mully’s philanthropic efforts started small and expanded as his knowledge and understanding led him down new paths. He continually sought out the one, but in the process, often was led to many in need. As time went on, he engaged the services of many others to assist in his mission to help orphaned children in Kenya. The lives of those he employed were also made better because of their association in such a worthy cause.
One of the most touching aspects of Mully’s life was the way he brought his family back together, including his alcoholic and abusive father, his mother, and his siblings. Mully was a master at healing broken relationships and giving those who had been abandoned, hope and an opportunity to grow and progress. His drive and energy were laser focused on helping children with no hope, make something of their lives.
Like Mully, each of us has the opportunity to make a difference in this world through our temple and family history work. We too can build family relationships and provide new opportunities for accelerated growth and blessings for our ancestors. As we learn more about our ancestors, we better understand them and their actions. We are strengthened by their stories and experiences. As we provide proxy ordinances for them, we assist them in moving to a higher plane. We help them benefit from the power that comes from covenants and provide the opportunity for their growth to be accelerated. We also provide the opportunity for them to be united as couples and families for time and all eternity.
-Dave Castleton, Director, Granite Family History Center
Thank you for this inspiring post. It is at your FHC that I met Dean Evans a number of years ago. I was looking for help with French indexing. Dean wanted to help. Then I learned that his late wife Cecilia (a convert) had been very active in searching her ancestors in Moselle, France, an area adjacent to where I was born. I then came once a week to your center for two hours, to help Dean continue on his wife’s genealogy, until my husband died and I moved to Summit Vista when the pandemic started.
A few months later, Dean also moved to Summit Vista and now we are back to working together two hours a week on his wife’s genealogy in Moselle. We also go to the JR temple two mornings a week and hope to continue to have the health to continue for many more years.
Thanks for maintaining your wonderful FHC. The work that you are doing is far reaching and continues outside of your FHC.
Yvette Longstaff
And BTW, do not hesitate to give my e.mail address to anyone who may need help with French, Luxembourg, Belgium, and even some German research.
You may also want to visit the site reulandroots.com which will have soon 24000 entries from Burg-Reuland 1661-1870 and some neighboring villages, all indexed.