When I watched the video for the first time, my mind was flooded with thoughts of my Grandma Phillips who served as a young sister missionary at the turn of the century. Ann Elizabeth Rasband Phillips is my maternal great, great grandmother. I blogged about her several years ago in this post. She died nearly 40 years before I was born, so I never had the chance to meet her. Yet I feel very close to her, almost like I know her. Why? I have a copy of her missionary journal!
It is just a little photocopy with a cardboard cover and it details less than two years of her life, but it is a treasure to me! I read it for the first time many years ago and I've looked at it occasionally. I have shared a few quotes from it during lessons and talks. A couple of months ago, I even helped Marianne find some excerpts to share in her religion class. Now something is different. I keep feeling an insistent prodding that I need to do more. So here's what I have planned: A short series of posts with excerpts from her journal. I think you'll find them interesting even if you're not a relative!
To get us started, here is the little life history she wrote at the beginning of her journal. It's pretty short because she was just 20 years old at the time.
My name is Annie. I
was born in a log house owned by my Grandpa, John M Murdock, in Heber City,
Utah Oct 20, 1879. My fathers name is Heber Rasband, my mothers Sarah J Murdock
Rasband. I have one brother and two
sisters. Ray, Embell and Jennie.
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| Annie at 3 years old |
When I was eight years of age our family
moved to Park City. My father was in the butcher business with his two brothers
Jim and Fred. We lived about a mile from
town on a ranch. Our nearest neighbors
were China man, a family on each side.
My father was the butcher and many times I have seen him lie flat down
to keep from being gored to death by wild hog he was about to kill.
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| The butcher shop in Park City Utah |
Lily Duke lived with us for a long time. She and I went to Heber with my uncle Fred
Rasband and family to visit her mother, aunt Mary Duke on the 7th of
Sept 1889. I was baptized and confirmed
a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints, Sept 8, 1889 by
H.L. McMullin and Alax Forti. That evening we started home. On our way we lost our valise containing many
clothes of Lily’s and a few of mine. We
never heard from it nor found it.
In 1896 we moved up town. My father was one of the policemen. We rented a house for a year in the meantime
built one of our own and moved into it in June 1897. In August 1898 I went to
Provo to attend school. Ray, Ma and aunt
Net were with me. I met my old chum Minnie Brown from American Fork. She was going to school too. We boarded at Mrs. Hoydes. Had a grand time
and liked school very much.
On July 2, 1899 I was called to mourn the loss of my darling father. He fell down a shaft in a mine and was killed. He was 40 years old. That was the greatest sorrow of my life.
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| Annie at age sixteen |
On July 2, 1899 I was called to mourn the loss of my darling father. He fell down a shaft in a mine and was killed. He was 40 years old. That was the greatest sorrow of my life.
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| At her father's funeral |
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