Looking back led to future membership
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CHORLEY, England — Even before they joined the Church in March 2002, Michael and Mavis Fisher had a long-standing interest in family history. During the previous several years, they occasionally went to the family history center on the site of the Preston England Temple in Chorley, Lancashire.
They were vaguely aware of the Church and its beliefs, and had heard of the Book of Mormon, but they were committed and active members of another faith. "We never gave the Church a thought," said Brother Fisher, a retired local government youth officer.
Things changed, however. First, they became disenchanted with and gradually stopped going to their church. By chance, or so it seemed, Mavis looked at Michael's maternal grandfather's line and found a great-great-uncle, George Alan Wadsworth, who had been born in Pilley, Yorkshire; she discovered from the International Genealogical Index that he had been buried in North America at Panaca, Nev.
That raised questions with them. Then they found that they had several ancestral family members who had joined the Church in the 1840s and 1850s, emigrated and were part of the tragic Martin Handcart company. The Fishers wondered why these people would put themselves to such extraordinary stress and pain, and if there was not more to it than simply looking for economic gain.
An IGI search showed the submitter for this piece of information was someone in Provo, Utah. They'd never heard of Provo, but wrote to the woman, Myrtle Joy Free. It turned out she was a third cousin to Michael Fisher. A correspondence ensued. She sent them a copy of the Book of Mormon and told them that a book had been written and published about the Wadsworth family. She sent them a copy.
They now have many generations of family history. The great-great-uncle, baptized in 1852, had been converted by his own uncle, James Wadsworth, who had been president of the Pilley branch 11 years before he immigrated to North America. The immigrants had settled in Panaca, Nev.
The Fishers perused the Book of Mormon, dipping into it but never going any further. Before Easter 2001 they saw a local press advertisement about a musical Easter presentation at the Preston England Stake center in Chorley. They had been away from their church three years and missed the sacrament and the fellowship. They went to the Easter celebration on Good Friday and were immediately impressed with the people they met. "They were wonderful people. We were impressed with them, the music and everything," said Brother Fisher.
Leaving the cultural hall, they stopped at a small table on which were some pass-along cards offering a free "Lamb of God" video. They filled in a card and sent it off. They thought it would probably lead to a visit from missionaries, but went ahead anyway. Ten days later there was a knock at the door. "Come in, you're expected," said Michael Fisher to the two surprised young missionaries.
The Fishers took the discussions. "I was already half convinced from the contact we'd had from the newly found family members in America and touched by their love shown in their kind gift of the book of family history," said Brother Fisher when asked what caused him to join the Church. He continued, "The impression I got of the members was that they were decent people who tried a little bit harder than most to do what's right. Not perfect, but trying harder. That made a lasting impression."
During a period of about six months they had a series of missionaries teach them. At the same time, obstacles began to appear in their path toward joining the Church. They finally decided to join following a number of extraordinary experiences. One of these came from those who were teaching them.
The missionaries visiting their home found out about the family history book that had been sent from the family in America. One missionary came in, asked to see the book and leafed through it. He remarked that he had Wadsworth ancestors and he was from Nevada. A name was mentioned and Brother Fisher turned up a picture in the book, that of Leah Ballard Wadsworth, the missionary's great aunt: the missionary was, in fact, related to the family he was teaching.
Further research revealed that one of the immigrant's ancestors had returned to England as a missionary in 1880 and stayed with Michael Fisher's grandfather. The grandfather had never mentioned this to his descendants and it was unknown until revealed in the Wadsworth family history book, taken from journal entries.
Brother Fisher believes that his ancestors beyond the veil have been looking out for him. "I've no doubt at all that we have been led to the gospel," he said. He finally decided he was going to be baptized when he realized that his ancestral relative had been baptized on March 9, 1853; 149 years later, to the day, Michael Fisher was baptized. Six days later he baptized his wife.
Members of the Chorley 2nd Ward, Preston England Stake, Brother and Sister Fisher serve as volunteers in the family history center where they help others research their family histories.
