When I was younger, my dad showed me an envelope filled with a stack of yellowed paper, but I didn't know at the time how much I would come to treasure that yellowed stack of paper. I later discovered that the envelope was filled with letters dating back to 1896. Most of the letters were written by my great great grandfather, George Alma Varney to his wife, Emeline Elizabeth. She went by the name Libby. George Alma was on a mission for three long years leaving Libby home to raise their many children. Reading through the letters continues to be a tender experience for me. I laughed because there were several times where after George had written something humorous, he followed with, "Hahaha!" Isn't that amazing?! That was absolutely amazing to me. A letter from 1897...
Reading my great great grandfather's personal letters to his family helped me to know what kind of man, father and husband he was, but also what an amazing woman Emeline was. I remember one letter, which had me in tears. He wrote,
"You said in your letter that you was so busy last week you could not write. Mam (his wife Libby), their is no use of you trying to kill yourself with work, because I am not home. I know you have a trying time to get along & I feel at times to shed bitter tears to think about the poor circumstances we were in when I left you. I know you have had to toil & labor to keep things rearing as they should be. All the consolation I can get is to retire into the woods & bow myself before the great I Am and ask him to lend us a helping hand & console us in our trying times, which we have to go through, and to open the windows of heaven & shower down his promised blessings upon out heads, and give unto us his Comforting Spirit to cheer & comfort our hearts at all times when I am absent from you."
George Alma having great faith in the Lord fulfilled the call for a mission in the Southern States leaving his wife to run the farm, raise their children, and keep her job as a midwife. I can only imagine how hard that must have been on both of them.
Learning about my great great grandmother, Libby, has been a miracle in my life. About a year ago when I started teaching the family history class, I challenged my class members to choose an ancestor whom they did not know, and to research their lives-- see what they could find in a week. I chose Libby. It was hard for me to find anything about her. Those who could give me insight into her life had already passed on, and although some small memories of her were shared with me, they weren't exactly what I was looking for. I knew that she was a midwife in American Fork, but that was about it. The letters hadn't been discovered at that point, and so naturally I was a bit discouraged.
I prayed fervently for Heavenly Father would show me the way, telling Him that my desire was to know my great great grandmother. As the end of the week was nearing, I expressed my frustration to my mother, because I really hadn't found sufficient information. She said, "When your grandpa Penny died (Libby's son), I took something of hers for your sister. (My sister is named Libby). I think she has it." So I made a phone call and then headed to my sister's house. The cross-stitched wall hanging had fallen behind a bookshelf, so my brother-in-law had to move it to get the hanging for me. As he moved the shelf and pulled out the wall hanging, I felt the spirit burning through me testifying of the eternal love my great great grandmother had for me. She knew of my efforts, and Heavenly Father knew my intent. Crossed stitched by my great great grandmother, on an eighty year old piece of paper, the hanging reads boldly, "Remember Me."
How grateful I am to have such a faith filled woman to look to in times of trial and challenges. Grandma Libby was a stalwart woman, a support to her husband, a Godly mother, a pillar in the community, and beloved by many. I pray that I will become even half the woman she was and is! One of the greatest desires of my heart is to know my ancestors so that when I someday return to my Heavenly home, I will rejoice with them, and it will be the sweetest reunion. I know that my great great grandmother Emeline Elizabeth Chipman Varney watches over me, and she'll help me to become the woman and Daughter of God that Heavenly Father needs me to be.
I love my great great grandmother, and my heart is bursting with gratitude and love for such a faith filled woman.
Happy Tuesday!
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