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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Prisoners rescuing

Inmates at Utah State Prison have been involved in family history work for more than two decades.

Prisoners Rescuing Prisoners: Indexing at Utah State Prison

·                      28 OCTOBER 2011

 

·                                 Inmates at Utah State Prison have been doing family history work for more than 20 years.
·                                 Volunteers and members called from surrounding Church units administer the family history program at the prison.
·                                 Both inmates and the volunteers say their lives have been blessed through their work in the program.
“One of the neat things about the family history program is that it brings into focus the law of the Atonement, because you watch people change their lives.” —Brent Powell, family history volunteer at Utah State Prison

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·                                 Inspirational
In many ways, Terry isn’t very different from many others who enjoy doing family history work. He spends multiple hours a week indexing historical records through the Church’s FamilySearch resources. He often works side by side with other patrons in his local family history center, situated adjacent to a chapel. He’s even helped some of them start their own Personal Ancestral File (PAF).
But unlike most of the 4,600 family history centers in more than 125 countries around the world, barbed wire and officers carrying firearms surround the facility Terry uses.
Inmate #60132 at the Utah State Prison for the past 14 years, Terry hasn’t always had an interest in family history. But seven years ago he decided to try out the prison’s family history center, run by volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“For me, a lot of it’s about helping others,” he said. “I find joy in helping inmates find their family. Here, I have a chance to reflect on my life. I just want to be of service to others now.”
During October 2011 general conference, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “The Spirit of Elijah affects people inside and outside of the Church. … We have the covenant responsibility to search out our ancestors and provide for them the saving ordinances of the gospel” (“The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,” Ensign, Nov. 2011, 24).
For these reasons we do family history research, build temples, and perform vicarious ordinances. For these reasons Elijah was sent to restore the sealing authority that binds on earth and in heaven. We are the Lord’s agents in the work of salvation and exaltation that will prevent “the whole earth [from being] smitten with a curse” (D&C 110:15) when He returns again. This is our duty and great blessing.
In the Church, indexed family history records make it easier for family history researchers to find information to submit for temple work, allowing temple ordinances to be performed in behalf of deceased ancestors who are waiting in spirit prison for the opportunity to accept the ordinances performed for them.
As those who are incarcerated at Utah State Prison index millions of names each year, many are finding that they, too, are reaping the blessings of service; behind prison walls, the Church’s indexing program is freeing both those for whom the work is being done and, in many ways, those doing the work—the inmates.
Indexing in Prison
The family history program has been present at Utah State Prison, in one form or another, for more than two decades. Beginning in January 2010, inmates moved from the old-fashioned extraction system—copying old records by hand onto cards—to the digital indexing program.
Today, four out of the six “units” that comprise the prison have family history centers. Shared among those prison units are 95 computers.
Inmates at each of the four facilities have the opportunity to participate for an hour at a time, multiple times a day, if they choose. Some spend up to eight hours a day, six days a week doing family history work. Each family history center is located within the unit. All but one have a chapel where the work can be done. Volunteers supervise each center.
Many are called from nearby Church units, but a substantial number volunteer. Directors, who are specifically called from surrounding stakes, oversee the efforts of the volunteers at each individual facility.
Brent Powell is a business analyst in the Church’s Family History Department who also volunteers 10-20 hours a week at the prison. He oversees the computer operations of the prison’s family history centers.
Brother Powell explained that because inmates are not allowed Internet access, a special process has been set up to get them access to batches of historical records, from which inmates can then extract information to provide searchable indexes.
First, volunteers download batches from FamilySearch.org onto a thumb drive. That information is then put on a server at the prison. Another volunteer takes the information from the server and disburses it to the four onsite family history centers. Inmates can then transfer the information from the historical records onto forms from the FamilySearch indexing program, which has been downloaded onto the computers. Once they finish the records assigned to them, the information is gathered by a volunteer, put onto the volunteer’s thumb drive, and transmitted to the Church Family History Department. Many inmates also work on their own PAFs, where users can enter names, dates, and other information into a database, and can then sort and search the genealogical data and print forms and charts.
Similar programs exist on a much smaller scale at correctional facilities in other parts of Utah and Idaho, USA, as well as in England. The instigation of the family history program within such facilities is ecclesiastically directed.
Blessings from Participation
Between 2003 and 2010 inmates at Utah State Prison indexed more than six million names.
During the first seven months of 2011 they donated nearly 35,000 hours, indexing 1.8 million names. It is estimated that by the end of the year the approximately 660 participating inmates will index a total of three million names.
According to Brother Powell, the program’s success is attributable to the fact that both the volunteers and the inmates are keenly aware of the temporal and spiritual blessings that come from participating in it.
“One of the neat things about the family history program is that it brings into focus the law of the Atonement, because you watch people change their lives,” Brother Powell said. “Most of them want to change, and it’s a joyful opportunity to know that you’re serving those individuals.”
Brother Powell, along with some 140 other family history volunteers at the prison, also finds his service an opportunity for his own testimony to grow. “You know that your time spent helping the inmates is appreciated,” he said.
Angie is one of those inmates who appreciates the program. Incarcerated at the women’s facility since 2007, she helps with orientation at the family history center. She teaches participants how to do family history, particularly indexing and creating PAFs.
“The average education level of women in the prison is junior high,” she said. “Through family history, the [women] are exposed to math, history, geography, reading, cursive, spelling, researching. We all sit together and work together to figure out letters. I see them teaching and caring for each other.”
On the other side of a fence, in the medium-security men’s facility (called “Oquirrh”), Terry sees similar outcomes.
“There are so many temporal benefits—they learn typing and working with computers. They learn to do something worthwhile. And I learn patience,” he said. “It keeps the inmates busy. It keeps them out of trouble, in a good environment. And it increases their self-worth.”
One woman at the prison had had no contact with her son for three years. But when she sent him some family history work she had compiled, the boy’s grandmother, his guardian, wrote back and granted the woman permission to contact her son regularly.
Another young woman who had had no contact with either parent for a long time received a package one day. An uncle she didn’t know existed from her father’s side of the family had heard she was in prison and sent her genealogical records.
“For most, family was a part of the problem that got them here,” Angie said. “Now they are finding part of the family that’s not a part of the problem. It gives them something to grasp on to.”
Many of the inmates participating at Oquirrh’s family history center are not LDS, but all can see the advantage of having records when they begin looking for their own family history.
“It gives a sense of belonging and achievement,” Terry said. “A lot of us don’t know much about our family—who they were and where they are, where they came from. Stories start coming out and they can see connections to their past. They are doing something beyond themselves.”
When an inmates leave, they have the option of taking with them a disc with all their family history work on it so they can continue doing it outside the prison.
Beyond Barbed Wire
In the last several months, participation in the family history program has grown.
“Firesides and other activities have raised awareness of the program,” Brother Powell said. “The Draper Utah Temple president came [to the prison] and explained the ‘why’ behind it—what happens after the indexing is done.”
“The family history room . . . opens the hearts of even the most hardened,” Angie said. “Sometimes, we feel like heaven is right there.”
Terry said he especially enjoys researching to find children who are missing from their families.
“It allows me to serve,” he said. “The chapel is the best place in the prison. I love seeing the Spirit come into the faces of people you never thought would get involved.”
Some of those people who never thought they’d be involved are the ones who return the most often, Angie said.
“There is a little glimmer of hope when we learn about these people we’re researching. Some of them had no job, made mistakes,” she said. “The [women] come to understand that no matter who we are or what we’ve done, God … loves us enough to … provide a way to peace and healing.”
As inmates come to understand more about the family history program and the Church’s doctrine concerning the family, many find greater purpose in what they’re doing and in their own lives.
“It has helped me to know I am still claimed by my Heavenly Father,” Angie said. “It gives me hope about the repentance process. I eat, sleep, and breathe hope that I can return home, that I can be rescued.”
And whether or not they are LDS, inmates who work in the family history centers at Utah State Prison are finding that—to one degree or another—they do feel rescued.
CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER WHITTLE WRIGLEY, CHURCH NEWS AND EVENTS


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Weather channel

It Happened-True story!

Maybe, you better take a look. Think it can't happen to you? It happened!

Standing up for the truth, can still keep you free.

What does God's Word tell us to watch for and do? Read carefully: Ephesions 6:10-13 There are times when prayer requires works. James 2:17-20

You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door.

Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear,

you hear muffled whispers.

At least two people have broken into your

house and are moving your way.

With your heart pumping, you reach down

beside your bed and pick up your shotgun.

You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch

toward the door and open it.

In the darkness, you make out two shadows.

One holds something that looks like a crowbar.

When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike,

you raise the shotgun and fire.

The blast knocks both thugs to the floor.

One writhes and screams while the second

man crawls to the front door and lurches outside.

As you pick up the telephone to call police,

you know you're in trouble.

In your country, most guns were outlawed years

before, and the few that are privately owned

are so stringently regulated as to make them useless.

Yours was never registered.

Police arrive and inform you

that the second burglar has died.

They arrest you for First Degree Murder

and Illegal Possession of a Firearm.

When you talk to your attorney, he tells

you not to worry: authorities will probably

plea the case down to manslaughter.

"What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask.

"Only ten-to-twelve years,"

he replies, as if that's nothing.

"Behave yourself, and you'll be out in seven."

The next day, the shooting is the lead

story in the local newspaper.

Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric

vigilante while the two men you shot

are represented as choirboys.

Their friends and relatives can't find

an unkind word to say about them.

Buried deep down in the article, authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous times.

But the next day's headline says it all:

"Lovable Rogue Son Didn't Deserve to Die."

The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into Robin Hood-type pranksters.

As the days wear on, the story takes wings.

The national media picks it up,

then the international media.

The surviving burglar has become a folk hero.

Your attorney says the thief is preparing

to sue you, and he'll probably win.

The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized several times in the past and that you've been critical of local police for their lack

of effort in apprehending the suspects.

After the last break-in, you told your neighbor

that you would be prepared next time.

The District Attorney uses this to allege

that you were lying in wait for the burglars.

A few months later, you go to trial.

The charges haven't been reduced,

as your lawyer had so confidently predicted.

When you take the stand, your anger at

the injustice of it all works against you.

Prosecutors paint a picture of you

as a mean, vengeful man.

It doesn't take long for the jury to convict

you of all charges.

The judge sentences you to life in prison.

This case really happened.

On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk , England , killed one burglar and wounded a second.

In April, 2000, he was convicted

and is now serving a life term.

How did it become a crime to defend one's

own life in the once great British Empire ?

It started with the Pistols Act of 1903.

This seemingly reasonable law forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun sales were to be made only to those who had a license. The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms except shotguns.

Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the registration of all shotguns.

Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987. Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the streets shooting everyone he saw.

When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.

The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun control", demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.)

Nine years later, at Dunblane , Scotland , Thomas Hamilton used a semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public school.

For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally unstable or worse, criminals. Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearms still owned by private citizens.

During the years in which the British government incrementally took away most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to grant gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun. Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real criminals were released.

Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into their own hands."

All of Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no fear of the consequences. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.

When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given three months to turn them over to local authorities.

Being good British subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't comply.

Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from private citizens.

How did the authorities know who had handguns?

The guns had been registered and licensed.

Kind of like cars Sound familiar?

WAKE UP AMERICA; THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTION.

"..It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."

--Samuel Adams

If you think this is important,

please forward to everyone you know.

You had better wake up, because your new

president is going to do this very same thing

over here if he can get it done.

And there are stupid people in congress and

on the street that will go right along with him.

A very interesting comversation.

Think about this It will make you go deeper into what you actually believe. VERY INTERESTING CONVERSATION. An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the Problem Science has with GOD, the ALMIGHTY. He asked one of his New Christian Students to stand and .... > > Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you, son ? > > Student : Yes, sir. > > Professor : So, you Believe in GOD ? > > Student : Absolutely, sir. > > Professor : Is GOD Good ? > > Student : Sure. > > Professor : Is GO D A LL - POWERFUL ? > > Student : Yes. > > Professor : My Brother died of Cancer even though he Prayed to > GOD to Heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But > GOD didn't. How is this GOD good then? Hmm? > > > (Student was silent ) > > > > Professor : You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, Young > Fella. Is GOD Good? > > Student : Yes. > > Professor : Is Satan good? > > Student : No. > > Professor : Where does Satan come from? > > Student : From .... GOD . . . > > Professor : That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this > World? > > Student : Yes. > > Professor : Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And GOD did make > everything. Correct? > > Student : Yes. > > Professor : So who created evil? > > (Student did not answer) > > Professor : Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All > these terrible things exist in the World, don't they? > > Student : Yes, sir. > > Professor : So, who Created them? > > (Student had no answer) > > Professor : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and > Observe the World around you.. Tell me, son . . . Have you ever Seen GOD? > > Student : No, sir. > > Professor : Tell us if you have ever Heard your GOD? > > Student : No, sir. > > Professor : Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt > your GOD? Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter? > > Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't. > > Professor : Yet you still Believe in HIM? > > Student : Yes. > > Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable > Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn't exist.. What do you say to that, > son? > > Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith. > > Professor : Yes, Faith. And that is the Problem Science has. > > Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat? > > Professor : Yes. > > Student : And is there such a thing as Cold? > > Professor : Yes. > > Student : No, sir. There isn't.. > > (The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events ) > > Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, > Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat, Little Heat or No Heat. But we don't > have > anything called Cold. We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, > but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as Cold. > Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat. We cannot > Measure Cold. Heat is Energy. Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just > the Absence of it. (There was Pin-Drop Silence in the Lecture Theatre) > > Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing > as Darkness? > > Professor : Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness? > > Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the Absence of > Something. You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing > Light . . .. But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its > called Darkness, isn't it? In reality, Darkness isn't If it is, were you > would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you? > > Professor : So what is the point you are making, Young Man? > > Student : Sir, my point is your Philosophical Premise is flawed. > > Professor : Flawed? Can you explain how? > > Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality. You > argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD. You > are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can > measure. Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought. It uses Electricity > and > Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To > view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that > Death > cannot exist as a Substantive Thing. Death is Not the Opposite of Life: > just the Absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your Students > that they evolved from a Monkey? > > Professor : If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary > Process, yes, of course, I do. > > Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, > sir? (The Professor shook his head with a Smile, beginning to realize > where > the Argument was going) > > Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of > Evolution at work and Cannot even prove that this Process is an On-Going > Endeavor, Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir? Are you not a Scientist > but a Preacher? > > (The Class was in Uproar ) > > Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the > Professor's Brain? (The Class broke out into Laughter) > > Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the > Professor's Brain, Felt it, touched or Smelt it? ..... No one appears to > have done so. So, according to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, > Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that You have No Brain, sir. With all > due respect, sir, how do we then Trust your Lectures, sir? > > (The Room was Silent.) > > (The Professor stared at the Student, his face unfathomable) > > Professor : I guess you'll have to take them on Faith, son. > > Student : That is it sir . . . Exactly! The Link between Man & > GOD is FAITH. That is all that Keeps Things Alive and Moving. > > That student was Albert Einstein. Concentrate on this sentence 'To > get something you never had, you have to do something you never did' > > DON'T SIT ON YOUR HANDS AND EXPECT THINGS TO HAPPEN THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO. IT TAKE S C OURAGE AND BE ING RELENTLE SS TO GET THINGS DONE

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