Meet Becca. She was the Relief Society President of our Sunset Young Single Adult Branch when we arrived. She is a dancer at the Polynesian Cultural Center, a hostess at 'Seven Brothers' - a local hamburger business and also cares for her widowed mother, who is in a wheelchair because of serious health issues. She is 25 and attends BYUH. She is a benevolent person with a true Polynesian heart that is as big as her hair! She has several, much older, half siblings that are married and on their own. Her father and mother were never married and he disappeared from her life early on and passed away when she was in fourth grade.
Last Monday evening, we had a 'Family History' activity for our YSA kids. It usually amounts to the adults doing names while the kids text each other, fool around on their tech devices and eat. This night was no different...except, I didn't have any names to do, so I wandered over to the sofa and asked the three girls sitting there "who needs help"? Becca responded first and stated she has been looking for her fathers information for several years with no luck. We sat on the floor and brought up her FamilySearch.org account on my Ipad. She barely knew her dads name and maybe his birth state. We entered that and his approximate death date (determined by her age in 4th grade). I linked to Ancestry.com and with just that information, a marriage record popped up with the same name as her dad. However, the marriage had taken place just a few years before she was born. Because she could, she entered the name of the woman he married into Facebook and found a matching name in Illinois. (It is 9:30 p.m. in Hawaii, which makes it 2:30 a.m. in Illinois.)
She simply asked the face-book name if "she was married to this man, in this state, on this date"?
The woman answered right back and said '''she was''.
After a few more texts, Becca softly said "I think I found my dad"!
As one can imagine, this was considerably overwhelming to Becca. At this point, we felt like intruders watching a very personal experience unfold and it was also after 10 p.m. so we called it good and headed for home.
The next day I received a text from Becca. "It was him. He's my father! She sent pictures and I showed my mom".
The next day I received another text. " Can you come to my work? You have no idea. I have to tell you in person".
Elder Cameron and I went to 'Seven Brothers'; she saw us and walked toward us with the sweetest expression on her face. As she hugged us, she said "He's alive. My dad is alive"!
You know those bumps that come on your arms when you hear unexpected news? We had them in spades. "Whaaat? Hooow"?
Becca's mother had received phone calls from the Social Security Administration, those many years ago, and through misunderstandings and perhaps aliases and nefarious fraud, on her dads part, her mother understood him to be dead.
Well! As the week has progressed, she has discovered 5 older half siblings, which she is thrilled about! The woman from Illinois has welcomed her with much kindness and open arms and told Becca, her baby picture has been on their fridge for years. She divorced Beccas dad several years ago, but, told her where he lived (Washington State) and gave Becca his phone number.
I received this text, from Becca. "Oh my gosh, it's crazy!! I can feel Heavenly Father hugging me. I have felt so much love and comfort these last few days. It is so amazing. I keep thinking, "how am I taking this so well?!...but I know".
She gathered the bravery and strength to call her father and had the "conversation of my lifetime It was awesome!". She has been so gentle and had faith and courage in the timing. We love her.
Grateful Aloha
