During his 20-year military career, Thomas Spillane and his wife, Brenda, now of the West Plains Ward, Springfield Missouri Stake, lived in 17 places. Despite the frequent moves, the Spillanes tried to attend the temple. Often, their annual vacations were spent driving cross-country to a temple. And despite the energy demands of frequent moves and rearing a large family, Sister Spillane plugged away at doing family research. The work was important to her as she was then the only Church member in her family involved in that pursuit. She often felt helped in her work.

"It has seemed over the years that even the smallest effort on our part has eventually resulted in large returns," said Sister Spillane.While in central Texas in the mid-1970s, they met two of her great aunts who shared life histories and records of living relatives. While they lived in Fort Benning, Ga., in 1978, one evening a knock on the door announced the presence of a distant, non-LDS cousin who gave them "sheaves of paper" he had accumulated in his research. In 1979, while Sister Spillane lived in Southern California during Brother Spillanes' service in Korea, a non-member genealogist contacted her and provided the family with 12 generations on one research line.

"From our efforts as meager as writing a few letters, our file now contains 2,300 names," said Sister Spillane.

In 1985, their nomadic life finally brought them to live near a temple. They were assigned to Frankfurt, Germany, and stayed for the dedication of the temple in 1987.

In the mid-1980s, Sister Spillane's parents, Ed and Mae Imgrund, joined the Church. They later became ordinance workers in the San Diego California Temple and lent their efforts to performing family ordinances. Later, her older brother, Rob Whitaker, was reactivated and became a family history specialist with his wife, Jan. Work for the Spillane family names continued in the Salt Lake, San Diego and Dallas temples.

One example of this was at the Salt Lake Temple on June 17, 1994, when their daughter Ashli was sealed to her husband, David Thompson. The family performed baptisms for 443 of their ancestors with the children serving as proxy.

"Emotions brought to the surface by the Spirit were evident as names familiar to many had ordinances performed," said Brother Spillane.

"One of the children remarked, `It all makes such perfect sense; families coming to the temple to feel the joy that can be eternal.' "