Tuesday Ramping Down

Tuesday was a day with only one plan: Deborah wanted to see what FamilySearch could do for her. We would squeeze Swig into the day, and then a Spaghetti Factory for me. I just like them. We rose early but then just went in a no-rush morning as we found breakfast at the hotel, no longer free, but excellent. We spent the morning slowly, trying to find the last bits of clean clothing (this has been a two-week trip with various weather and purposes). We forgot to remove the sign from the door, and the room did not get cleaned (we did get it right the next day).

We talked to the desk people, and they directed us to the local light rail, which is free in this area. We took that to the FamilySearch building just across from the Temple Square and the Tabernacle. We were soon back in B1, and Deborah was happy to meet a true expert in her area who could read the various languages. I spent the time using their available machines to look up Wilds and other folks.

Deborah spent hours, but the time seemed to just disappear. Her helper usually limits their time to an hour, but he stayed for many hours and seemed to have as much fun as Deborah. Deborah found her family and exact records, some of which included attached photos, and was able to correct errors in the family memory. It was exciting for her (she returned there again on Wednesday).

I discovered that by freely mixing information from FamilySearch and Ancestry.com, I could trace the name Wild in Germany until the early 1600s. I also discovered that one of the holes in my family history had been partially filled by new information. My Grandmother’s Grandfather now has more information. More to follow, if I feel I want to make more inquiries.

Deborah and I stopped after hours of digging, and she was elated with her findings (and shared them with family). We tried Seven Brothers and had excellent fish for lunch. We walked the temple area, visited the Tabernacle, and the official bookstore. We did a quick, best-of-the-Church-Museum tour. There, we found some reproductions of a few pages from the handwritten versions of The Book of Mormon for sale in the bookstore, and I added them to my purchases. I had one of the original pages on display in the museum, written from the words heard from Jonthan Smith (the copies I have were used to publish and were transcribed by hand from the initial writings). It does not matter if I believe or not, but seeing the center of belief is still special.

With all that done, we headed to a used bookstore, Utah Book & Magazine, which contains rows upon rows of dusty, slightly moldering stacks of paper and books (intermixed with dolls, toys, DVDs, and dusty Halloween items (pointing out the horror section). I looked for things from the 1920s, but most were from the 1930s and later. I skipped the adult section. I picked up a cheap paperback for a few bucks, The Fourth Protocol, which was a good spy movie (1987), and I wanted to read it someday. It reminded me of bookstores now gone in Portland and one in The Big Easy.

With my book, we marched, or so it seemed as it was getting warm, back to our hotel, which was a little further than I thought.

We rested for a while, I finished the blog, and then headed out in the car this time. We stopped at the local Swigs, and a very friendly young person explained all the drinks to us while standing in the drive-through. There were no nearby Swigs, so we would have to do the drive-through. We did it and enjoyed our, in my case, extreme sugar-based drinks. Still, it was fun. Deborah had her dirty Diet Coke.

We were too late for the King’s English Bookstore; instead, we headed to Trolly Town, parked in the garage (with very steep, sudden turn ramps), and found, with some difficulty, Weller Book Works, which is a mix of new and used books. I was tempted by many interesting naval history books, but found one on the theory of science for $10 that caught my eye. The 1400s handwritten manuscript page for $150 was also tempting (until I realized the frame would likely be more to do it right).

Next, we located dinner at one of my guilty pleasures, The Spaghetti Factory, and Deborah managed to assemble a dinner for herself while I had the usual too much food: Italian-style sausage with meat sauce over spaghetti. The salad with their ranch was familiar and comfortable. Warm fresh bread came with dinner, and ice cream to finish. I was happy and relaxed.

We returned to the hotel and gave the car over to the valet. We soon rested and were tired. Deborah, I could see, was still thinking about her family. I remember being there when I first discovered my family. Excellent.

Thanks for reading!