How can anyone be crazy enough to leave the warm, beautiful beaches near Cabo San Lucas to travel to the frozen north at the end of February for a family history conference in Salt Lake City? Well, apparently, I am crazy enough to do that, because I did. I attended RootsTech 2023 in Salt Lake City, March 2-4. Not really what I would have chosen to do, but through the course of several events, I ended up there. It was a little bit nice to see snow again (I do love snow), but the cold was another story.
So how did I end up going to RootsTech in the middle of our exploration of the Baja Peninsula? Well that is a bit of a long story, probably for another time. Let’s just say, that I learned several valuable lessons of what not to do in the future. Learning is always a blessing, no matter how expensive or painful. Let’s just say, that my tendency to try to make things great for everyone else, while not really thinking about the impact on me and my family, came back to bite me again. This is a lesson I seem to “learn” or not learn over and over and over again. We should be focused outward and helping others and be accommodating and care for others, but not at the detriment of our own or our family’s welfare. Notwithstanding my mistakes, RootsTech turned out to be a joyous experience for the most part. It was joyous because of connection. I was able to connect with people I love and that made the whole thing worth it.
I connected with my siblings and their spouses. We had dinner together right before I flew back. I connected with some nieces who were at the conference and my brother and his wife. I connected with my mother-in-law and a friend who were generous enough to let me share a hotel room with them. Thanks mom-in-law because I know you would have slept better without sharing a full size bed with me. I connected with dear friends who are very sick and I offered a little bit of service to them. I connected with great friends and colleagues whom I worked with a FamilySearch. I connected with dear friends who are genealogists. It was so amazing to realize how many amazing people I am blessed to know and count as family and friends. It also helped me understand how much I am valued and the value I bring to the world. I miss all of them.
I have yet to fully understand why Mike and I felt that I needed to go, but I believe it had a lot to do with the people I saw and gave hugs to and talked with. I believe it also helped to bring some closure for me on a few things, particularly the roller coaster I’ve been on over the last two years, finding myself and my purpose again. I have always worked full-time and mostly for a place that had an amazing purpose. When I left, I knew it was time to leave, but I had to disconnect my value from who I was at work. It’s similar to what most people go through when they “retire”.
There were so many people who let me know how much I was truly missed at FamilySearch and how much they talk about and miss me. That was really nice to know the people I worked with before, really valued me and what I did while at FamilySearch. They are such good, amazing people. I did have some tears one evening in the hotel room because my heart is and always will be a part of FamilySearch, it’s mission and people.
I bought a plane ticket to go to Rootstech to help work in the booth of My Family Forward, a non-profit that I have been helping to found. They were going to pay my way and I would help them run their booth. We had received excellent placement in the exhibit hall thanks to the Rootstech team. I was also going to meet up with another group of people I have been working with too. Well, it turned out that the My Family Forward team had to pull out about three weeks before the conference due to a family medical emergency. So I decided to cut my losses and not go (and stay in warm Mexico). Then I had a phone call with a friend and he was super disappointed I wasn’t coming to Rootstech. Mike and I started contemplating and praying to know if I should go.
At about the same time, we both felt that I should go. So I got on a plane and flew to Salt Lake. I thought maybe it was so I could spend more time with the other people I had intended to help navigate the FamilySearch world and I was looking forward to seeing family and friends. I went, with a prayer in my heart to know what I must do going forward and for me to have a clear understanding of my path forward.
Over the last year, I have worked with several groups and they would all like me to work with them full-time. I’ve been confused about what to do, so I was praying to know and boy did I get an answer. First, the one person I was most excited to meet with and whom I was excited to spend time with, got really sick and couldn’t come. The other friend who was so upset I wasn’t coming had a freak back injury and did not come either. One other person from that same company did come, so I spent my time at Rootstech with them which allowed me to have meetings with several of my friends from FamilySearch. That facilitated reconnecting with some of them.
Well, long story short, all that made the answer to my prayer very clear. It became even clearer when I returned home and there was an email from BYU-Idaho about applying to teach online. And there was another email from a friend who wanted to hire me to do some genealogical research for her.
There is so much more to this story about how the Lord guides us down a path. Very often along that path, it is murky and unclear and your not really sure where to go and it can be frustrating and confusing. In fact, it can be like leaving the beautiful warm beach and flying to a cold snowy place. Makes no sense, but you learn something along the way and experience blessings and connections along the way too. Always at the critical decision points along the path, somehow you know what to do. Something happens and you know. That’s what happened for me.
While I was playing around in the frozen north, Mike was working hard on taxes and financials in the beautiful southern tip of the Baja Peninsula at Los Barriles. He and our friends were parked at an RV park with access to the beach. It wasn’t the nicest place to be because we prefer the beach, but it suited our purposes. He mostly just focused on work while I was gone so that he could have more free time when I got back. He did emerge a few times to capture a beautiful sunset and enjoy dinner with our friends. We also met a couple who are members of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We were able to drive the hour or so to Cabo San Lucas area to go to church with them. It was nice to meet some new friends. They come down and stay there for about four months every winter.
I still don’t know exactly why Mike and I felt I should go to Rootstech, but it is becoming clearer and I’ve learned some things along the way. I got to connect with my family and friends and that was so very joyful. My path forward is much clearer now. Now the question is, will I have the faith and courage to act on my impressions and feelings. Rootstech, in the cold north, was the catalyst to wake me up to go pursue my dreams once again. I thank God for His endless patience with me and for His guiding hand. Now I’m going to DELIBERATELY move in the direction of these dreams, just like we did when we deliberately planned to retire early and go on the road. Stay tuned!