Why do Mormons do family history or genealogy work?
Many years ago, around the time of 1854, many faithful men and woman made decisions to sell all that they own and move their families to America, to join up with the Latter-day Saints at the Salt Lake Valley in the Rocky Mountain West. Johan and Johanna Larsen had recently been baptized and become members of the Mormon faith, along with their children. Following Mormon Church leader Brigham Young’s admonition to gather together to build up Zion, these motivated Saints, made up of 149 new Danish “converts”, prepared to embark on the long journey westward. They must have been so excited. They must have truly wanted to do what their Heavenly Father wanted them to do. They likely had good intentions to do well, even if some had little else except the money for ship’s passage. First they boarded the steamship Cimbria at Frederickshavn, where they joined nearly 300 other Saints coming from Copenhagen. The company was lead by Missionary and Church official in charge, Peter O. Hansen. It was o
