I Did Another Family History Thing

Kevin Dee Phillips and Family, July 2019

This past year I wrote a family history article every week to share with my family. I emailed it to my nephew on his mission, texted it to my siblings and mother, texted it again to my kids and husband, texted it to my interested nieces and nephews, and texted it again to my cousins on the Young side of the family. It was a really neat experience. I guess God thought so too, so He inspired my bishopric to ask me to talk last week. Below is a copy of the talk I gave and photo's of my ancestors I mention in the talk. Enjoy!

The Year of Family History

by Audrey Cornelius

Sunday, January 11, 2026, 9:00 AM Sacrament Meeting

By way of introduction, I'm Audrey Cornelius. I grew up in Morgan. Kevin and Mary Jan Phillips are my parents. In 2020, Dustin and I moved our family back to Morgan to be close to my mother after my dad passed away. Dustin and I met at BYU. He was my home teacher, and I needed help with my Spanish homework. That was 22 years ago. Since then, together we have completed two Bachelor's degrees, two Master's degrees, moved 1,200 miles to Texas and back, evacuated from two major hurricanes, changed careers, remodeled 1 1/2 homes (we're still working on our current house), and welcomed seven amazing children into our family. I never could have dreamed of all those adventures in my life. I'm excited to see what is yet to come!

When Brother Youngberg asked us to speak I knew why I was being asked. I have had the most extraordinary year of family history, and as my sister Liz told me, "It feels like a sin to not share it."

Before I begin, it is important that you know something about me. I'm a "no" person. My natural response is to say "no" first, think about it, and then say "yes" later. It's just how I'm built. One year ago I got an unmistakable, persistent prompting from the Holy Ghost that I was to seek out and find a story or experience from my ancestors every week to match my Come Follow Me studies of the Doctrine and Covenants. I was suppose to learn the role of my people in the founding days of the Restoration of the Gospel. So, naturally, I said, "No." I was too busy, the task too big, my skills unsuited some one else (anyone else!) could do this better than me, my Patriarchal Blessing doesn't even mention family history so I don't have to do it, right? I simply could not do such a thing.

Luckily, the prompting persisted, my heart softened, and after a week I made a deal with God (He is so patient with my hubris.) I agreed to take on the task, but only as long as Heavenly Father understood He was going to need to make this easy for me. I expected miracles; I expected divine promptings in who to study each week; I expected time to stretch so that the research and writing could get done. I should have also asked that I not have to talk about it in Church afterwards, too. :D The Lord in His mercy and unfathomable kindness for an entire year, week after week, gave me exactly what I needed and more.

I echo the word of Mormon, "God is the same yesterday, today, and forever," (Mormon Chapter 9:9). God wants to help us; He IS helping us. Are we recognizing His hand? He blessed me with miracles each week to show me the amazing experiences of my ancestors and to help link their wonderful faith-filled lives to mine and my family's. They became a support and a strength to us.

Can you imagine how my mother and I wept together when we realized Grandpa and Grandma Sanford and Nancy Porter were part of those Saints freezing, starving, and hiding in the woods with their children as they awaited rescue from Zion's Camp?

Can you see me laughing as I discovered Grandma Tamar Washburn's story of threatening to kick out her house guest, Orson Pratt's wife, if she did not immediately remove the two small fake flowers attached to her bonnet. Such "excessive practices" were not going to be tolerated in her, until recently, Quaker home. Grandma Tamar was a firecracker!

I gazed in wonder to see Grandpa Abraham's record of performing baptisms for the dead in the Mississippi river almost as soon as Brother Joseph Smith gave the revelation in August 1840. Abraham was baptized for his mother, his father, and his 11 year old son, Daniel, who's death was just two months past when Abraham heard and rejoiced in the Gospel message and joined the Church on February 6, 1848.

Grandma Jane reached across time to make a connection with our Maeve. No sooner had we finished our lesson on her life and shared the story of how as a 9 year old girl, she was accidentally left behind from the wagon company for a day, as her family crossed the plains to Zion, that we promptly loaded up the car, headed for Church, and left Maeve at home. Unaware of our parental lapse, pink faced and out of breath, Maeve list into our row in the Chapel with seconds to spare before the meeting starting. Confused by her state (I thought she was just in the bathroom), I asked Maeve what the matter was. Maeve replied that we forgot her at home and she had to run the whole way to Church. In that moment I felt Grandma Jane wanted Maeve to know she just wanted a personal connection with Maeve and now they both had a great story about distracted parents on the way to Zion. On a fun Morgan side note, Grandma Jane was baptized at the age of 8 along with the rest of her family, in the middle of the night, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Great Britain, by Samuel Francis of Morgan. Her baptism took place at night in an effort to avoid the terrible persecution the Saints faced in England at the time.

Perhaps the most meaningful experience came with the week for the Word of Wisdom. I was hitting wall after wall in my research. As I talked to my mom about it, the Holy Ghost prompted me to ask her if my dad had left any thoughts on the Word of Wisdom. And, in fact, she said it was a topic they had talked about together a lot.

I wish I could show you all this great picture my cousin Zoie took of my parents and all of their posterity in July of 2019. It shows my mom and dad in the center surrounded by most of their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, pets, in-laws, and out-laws. It is precious. We didn't know it, but it was the last picture we took with my dad before he passed away four months later.

My Dad, Kevin Phillips, was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis in 1997, but he had most likely be living with it since we was 27 years old (1985). This is a disease of the hardening of the lungs. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is two years. I wasn't even in high school yet and my baby sister was only 9 years old at the time. My Dad's life was a miracle. He lived for 22 more years after his diagnosis.

So, why is his story a story about the Word of Wisdom? My father was raised in a home where his parents smoked and drank to excess. It was most likely the second-hand smoke he was exposed to as a child in his own home that permanently damaged his lungs. Lucky for my dad, when he was 13 years old he got to be really great friends with one of the boys in his neighborhood and they spend a lot of time at his friend's house. His friend's dad happened to be the Bishop. This faithful man and his wife welcomed my dad into their home and showed him a different way to live, a better way to live. Because of this family's example my dad committed at the age of 13 to live the Word of Wisdom, and he did. Abiding by its teachings allowed Heavenly Father to bless my dad with decades of life. God couldn't take the damage done to his body by the choices of others, but He could ensure my dad had the tie he need to enjoy his life.

The Word of Wisdom gave my dad five children and the time to see us all married in the temple. He saw 19 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild come into the family. He was there for baptisms, backyard Easter egg hunts, reunions, graduation days, and secret missions with grandsons to sneak FatBoy ice cream sandwiches out of the freezer without Mom and Grandma noticing. His life was a miracle. The Lord doesn't give us all the same miracle for our faithfulness, but He does give us the miracle we need. I'm grateful that miracle for us was more time with my dad.

This ancestor experience has blessed me and my family more than I can express. It deepened our study of the Doctrine and Covenants. It gave me an easy letter each week to send to my missionary nephew, Elder Rose in Peru. It provided an avenue for me to share my testimony and the testimonies of our ancestors about Gospel doctrine with inactive family members every week. It make family Come Follow Me time more fun and exciting for the kids. And it opened my heart and my home to the workings of the Spirit in miraculous way.

I want to leave you with a few key lessons I learned this pat year and my heartfelt testimony.

1. Always follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, especially the daunting, impossible sounds ones.

2. The best person to do family history work is the person willing to try and do it. That means you!

3. Our ancestors love us. They want us to know them. They want to help us.

4. God is still a God of miracles today, right now, for me, and for you too.

I bear my testimony that I know the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I know Joseph Smith is God's divinely appointed prophet. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's restored, true Church on the earth today. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. It is only by and through Him that I am saved. I love my Savior with my whole heart.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.