Temple moments: Gift of names
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Ever since his baptism, Alf Sandberg, a mechanic and prefabricator until his retirement, was interested in doing temple work for his ancestors. Brother Sandberg, now 80, and his wife, June, are members of the Stettler Branch, Red Deer Alberta Stake, in Canada. They were sealed to their parents in the early 1980s, not long after joining the Church. He later submitted his four-generation chart, and they also did work for her ancestors.
"I have always had a great ambition on family history for my family," he said. But with all his ancestors in Sweden, he found it difficult at that time to do the research he wanted. Then came a breakthrough:
"My sister, who isn't a member of the Church, was visiting Sweden," he said. "She knew of my interest in family history, so she looked into it."
While visiting relatives, she met a cousin with a hobby of family history who had compiled a family tree containing some 300 names of their ancestors. She brought these names home to her brother.
"I was surprised," he said of seeing the large list with names and dates of his ancestors going back to the 1700s. He contacted a branch member who understood family history work, Curt Naegel, to help translate and submit the information.
Then one Saturday, Alf and June Sandberg and about 10 of their family members gathered at the new, nearer Edmonton Alberta Temple. The younger members were baptized on behalf of their progenitors and the older ones did the confirmations and additional ordinance work. Afterward, they all went to dinner, pleased and with a deep sense of accomplishment. Brother Sandberg was especially pleased.
"I was a witness to all this," he said. "I felt good about it and felt like the work was accepted. We are now doing the endowment work as time is available."
