Finding a True Gold Mine...

One night while I was sleeping, a thought came to me that I needed Jennifer, my daughter, to look at some letters that belonged to my Dad. After a couple of days, I remembered Dad's old worn out suit case that was down stairs. It was brown, medium size, and looked like it might have been made mainly out of a thick cardboard, with a little leather here and there, and a thick leather handle. It was falling apart,after all it was somewhere around 86 years old.

Jennifer came here to do some Genealogy, before going home to Arizona.
I asked her if she would like to find a gold mine? Not realizing what a true statement that was. We took the suit case out of plastic bags, where it had been placed to protect it while moving. We carefully opened it. Seeing with in it, unorganized papers, letters, and pictures.

Sorting, and organizing, mostly letters, we found these letters were written during my Fathers, Cecil Smith Brimhall, mission to the Central States Mission, back in 1921.

I read letters from my Grandmother and Grandfather Brimhall, Ether Record Brimhall and Sophronia Lydia Smith, whom I have not met, and lately have a deep warm love for them. I saw a scribble drawing that my fathers brother, Henry, sent to him when he was 5 years old. When I met Henry Brimhall, He was a tall good looking Fireman, that had kids older than me... We found letters from other members of his family, but I was touched by the simple encouragement, and love of his mother, as she kept encouraging him to be strong, and in sharing his testimony of Christ. She also tells of events that are happening in the family, and they were working on their Genealogy, having 149 names to submit to the temple. I think Grandma was teaching a Genealogy class once or twice a week, she would refer to them as "Cottage meetings".

And to my surprise we even found a letter written by my mother, Ivie Hartley, just a couple of weeks before their marriage, in the Manti Temple, in 1929.

Working for about 6 to 7 hours, Jennifer and I, have just scratched the surface of whats there.

Wow...What a wonderful, and awesome Goldmine....