Family history moments: Family ties
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When our family moved to Mesa, Ariz., in 1999, I was called to be a stake missionary and asked to home teach the Joseph and Coralie Stygar family.
Coralie was not a member of the Church, but it wasn't long before we were teaching her the gospel. She seemed interested and had great spiritual insights.
She received our messages for several years but was reluctant to be baptized.
One day while visiting, she told me she was doing family history research. As she showed me a pedigree chart, I recognized some of the names.
It didn't take long to realize that we shared the same great-great grandfather, Joseph Watkins Johnson, who was baptized by the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo in 1840.
She found out that her great-grandmother, one of Joseph Watkins Johnson's daughters, had married a miner who was not a member of the Church. His mining career took him to Montana, where Coralie was raised.
Coralie was eventually baptized and completed a tremendous amount of family history work.
After her baptism she was called to serve as a family history missionary at the Mesa Family History Center. She became a family history expert and served as the family history consultant in our ward.
Coralie was able to complete the family history work for many of her family members, and our family was able to help her perform the temple work.
What a privilege and joy it was to help bring Coralie into the Church and then have the joy of tying the Johnson family together through the beautiful saving ordinances of the temple. — J. Corby Gardiner, Princess Park Ward, Mesa Arizona Citrus Heights Stake
