Memorial Day Weekend Part 2

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heat of the children to their fathers"  - Malachi 4:5-6

Sunday morning we went to church with Rick & Linda.  Rick is the bishop of a young married ward in the area so Eric and I fit right in. After the meeting, we talked with them a little bit and then headed back to the trailer to get changed and start visiting cemeteries.

Our first stop was the Manti Cemetery.  My Dad's Aunt Pat is buried in this cemetery as well as my Great-Grandpa's parents on my Mom's side.  My Great-Grandpa Ivan's mom, Emeretta, died in childbirth and is buried with her baby.  Her husband was eventually buried next to her with his second wife.

Our next stop was the Ephraim Cemetery.  This is where most of my Nielson family is buried, and where I have the most vivid memories of visiting with my Grandparents.



Simplified Nielson Family Tree

Our first stop is always my Great-Grandma Johnson's grave.  Her name was Afton Leatha Johnson and she died when my Mom was pregnant with me.  My parents named me after her with the middle name of Lea.  My Dad says that she was just a tremendous woman who loved all her grand-kids.  Her first husband Howard Nielson died of a heart attack very young.  My grandpa Vail was only 16 when his father, Howard, died.  Afton eventually re-married Elliot Johnson. My Dad doesn't remember either of these grandpa's but heard that Elliot always took really good care of my Grandma.

Our next stop was Uncle Alt and Aunt Erma.  Alt was Howard's brother (my grandpa's Uncle) and Erma was his wife.  They were unable to have any children so they adopted my Grandpa's children as their grand-kids.  My Dad told the story about Alt giving him his first horse.  The horse was difficult to control and would run off instead of going where you wanted it to go.  My Dad was able to control the horse so Alt said he could have him.  My Dad named the horse Brandy.

Close to Alt and Erma are my grandparent's graves.  My Grandpa died 6 years ago and my Grandma died last year.  They were amazing people and I learned a lot from them.  I remember visiting cemeteries when I was young and my Mom would always cry at her Grandparent's graves.  I never really understood it until my grandparents died and I cry every year at their graves.  My goal for next year is to be able to tell stories at their graves, but I'm not there yet.  It's still very difficult.

One thing that gives me comfort is that I know Skylee was with them before she was born.  My grandma died about 3 weeks before Skylee was born so I like to think that Skylee knew her in the pre-existence, in a way she was the last one of us to see our grandparents.

My Dad told us about going to the temple to be sealed to his parents.  He was only 4 or 5 and was the youngest of the 7 children.  He doesn't remember very much about it, but he remembers being in a large room at one point and he thinks it was the Celestial Room.

Near my Grandparent's graves are the graves of my Great-Great Grandparents Joseph and Lily.  My Dad remembers his Grandpa Joe - in fact, he is the only grandpa my Dad remembers, but he died when my Dad was about 5.  Lily died before then.  When we went to the cemetery with my grandparents my Grandpa would always tell the story about going home from school and stopping by his Grandparent's house and Lily feeding him so many cookies he wasn't hungry for dinner.  His mom hated that.  When my grandma Colleen first met Joe he told my Grandpa "she isn't very big, but she'll have to do."  She always thought that was funny.

Our next stop was Andrew Christian Nielson.  A.C. joined the church in Denmark and came to the United States.  He kept a very detailed journal, which is why we know so much about him.  When he arrived in the United States they hadn't yet established Ellis Island so he came through the Castle at Battery Park.  This is one of my favorite places to visit in New York because it's where my family first touched American soil.  A.C. settled in Ephraim because, as my grandpa liked to say, Brigham Young couldn't understand the Danish saints so he sent them down to Central Utah.  He had two wives, Mary and Ellen and they are all buried in the Ephraim Cemetery.

When A.C. arrived in Ephraim he started a farm at Shumway Springs that is still run by my family.  My Dad grew up on this farm.  There are several things we know about A.C. from his journal.  He fought in the Blackhawk war and he shot at Blackhawk.  He doesn't know if he hit him, only that he turned and ran.  One of his wives had many children and the other wife was unable to have children.  When his first wife was in labor the second wife turned the horse loose. One of the children had to run into town to get the midwife because they couldn't find the horse, endangering the life of the mother.  This is obviously not the proudest moment in our heritage - good thing we're not related to THAT wife.

A.C. is legendary for his passion for the gospel.  He loved preaching and would often go do missionary work at the mines above Ephraim.  As the story goes, whenever the miners would see him they would say "here comes that Mormon Preacher." From that story comes my family's nickname in Ephraim, Mormon Preacher's.  We also sometimes call him Grandpa Mormon Preacher.  In his journal, he wrote out his testimony and titled it "As sure as I live." I clearly have a great pioneer heritage through Mormon Preacher.

After A.C. we visited Bart and Cleon.  Cleon was my Great-Grandma Johnson's sister, who she loved dearly.  My Dad used to come to the cemetery with his Grandma Afton and said she would always get emotional at Cleon's grave.  She was very worried that Cleon wouldn't have flowers on her grave after Afton died and told my Dad that it was his job to always put a flower on Cleon's grave.  If he didn't, Afton would come to haunt him.  Every year for my entire life we put a flower on Cleon's grave for that very reason.  My Dad also dedicated the grave prior to her burial.

My Dad told lots of stories about Bart and Cleon.  Their children were my Grandpa Vail's cousins and they were very close.  My Grandpa was notorious for giving people nicknames, and Bart & Cleon's children were called Tink and the Good June.  My Dad said that Bart always told people that "Vail had the best damn boys."  I like to think that is true - my Uncles are all really great.  My Dad said they used to visit Bart & Cleon when they went to Salt Lake and they had a .22 range in their basement, which my Dad always thought was cool.

Bart & Cleon finished up my Nielson relatives and then we started with my Mom's family, the Alders.  Her grandparents Eunice and Ivan are buried in the Ephraim Cemetery as well.  They both died of Alzheimer's when I was 11 or 12.  They were wonderful people.  I remember visiting their house in Ephraim and they always had oatmeal-raisin cookies for us.  My Dad describes them as salt-of-the-earth people.  My grandpa used to give the lecture as part of the endowment in the Terrestrial Room of the Manti Temple.

The Alders were the last family for us to visit in Ephraim so we headed back to the trailer to have a traditional Nielson meal of steak and potatoes.  While it was cooking, Eric and I took a walk up to the temple because we were camping right next to it.  I absolutely love the Manti Temple.  It was so peaceful and the Sanpete Valley is so beautiful from the temple.

After our delicious meal, we headed over to Rick and Linda's to visit with them for a while.  My cousin Jenny was also there - they are all such wonderful people.  We then headed back to the trailer and made some Peach Cobbler in the Dutch Ovens.  It was delicious - definitely our best attempt.  While it was cooking we went with Jake & Meg back up to the temple.  It was so beautiful with the lights.  All-in-all, it was a wonderful day.