Isaac Fox Journal

I enjoy reading and reviewing books.  I usually write my reviews on goodreads.com.  But the book I recently read would not be on that website, as it is a history of my great-grandfather, published by my sister, Patty Gabrielsen Mickelsen.  

This is the cover.  My sisters and I helped transcribe and edit the journal. Patty had a copy of the handwritten journal.  We all took sections and transcribed them.  But Patty was the editor in chief and spent many hours putting in extra material, pictures, and even wrote some of the introductory information.  She has a passion for family histories.  She has blessed all of our lives, publishing this one.

These pages are all in the back of the book and include precious family photos.  They are treasures.

I love these pictures.  The top is the family home of Isaac.  The bottom is a picture of a time we visited Aunt Norene, the youngest and last-living child of Isaac.  Though totally blind, she lived alone and was still very sharp mentally.  Ken and I visited her several times, too.  We loved Aunt Norene.  Those in the picture are my sister Patty, my mom Dorothy, Aunt Norene, me, and my sister Joan.

I wanted to finish reading the journal while on our cruise to the Caribbean, so, the night before we left, I took photos of all of the remaining pages so I could read it from my phone.  It worked great!

Review
My great-grandfather was a faith-filled man.  Reading his journal was/ is a blessing in my life.  It made me realize and ponder the fact that I am part of grand family.  I stand on his shoulders.  One of the last things I did before we left on our mission to Japan, was to finish transcribing the part of his journal that I had been assigned.  I was privileged to transcribe what I think was the hardest part of his mission.  He and a companion were sent to the Big Island of Hawaii.  He got extremely seasick on the way there.  The conditions and food were deplorable.  He had to hike over lava rock, live in unsanitary conditions, and often eat rotten food, if there was any food at all.  He was very homesick for his wife and family and longed for letters from home, which didn't come.  He couldn't communicate, as he didn't speak the language well, and people were often rude and unaccepting.
All of that was fresh on my mind when we embarked on our mission.  We had difficulties, but I often compared our conditions to his, and recognized how blessed we were.  We had a nice, new, and very American apartment with good heating and air conditioning.  We traveled by car.  We had access to good, clean food- and were able to shop at Costco occasionally to purchase even American foods.  The people were accepting and loving.  We could communicate by texting and skyping with our family regularly and by email frequently.
As we served, I felt Isaac's support.  I don't know how to describe it, other than I truly felt I was standing on his and my other great-grandfather's (Andreas Peterson's) shoulders, and that they were helping me serve.  I especially felt Isaac when I worked in the music and started a little branch choir.  I didn't speak the language and it took everything I had ever learned to do what I did.  I felt him helping me, as he had done the same thing- organizing a band and a choir in Hawaii in a foreign tongue.  He knew what to do and helped me.
I loved his sense of humor.  Even in his difficult circumstances, he found ways to laugh and make jokes.  I loved his tenacity.  He struggled learning the foreign language.  Boy, could I relate.  But he kept at it, and in the end, was leader over the whole island of Oahu.  He conquered.  I loved his integrity.  He stayed true, even in trying circumstances.  I loved his diligence.  He wrote in his journal most days.  Most of his entries were repetitive.  But he kept at it.  What to him, I'm sure, seemed like a boring journal, has become one of the foremost sources in the history of the church in Hawaii.  His day to day writings are the foundation for many papers written about that period of time.
Some of those papers and historical reports are included in the back of the book.  Reading those, gave me a sense of the power of this humble man's journal.  Because he served with President Joseph F. Smith (who was in the First Presidency at the time and was in Hawaii to avoid authorities seeking him because of polygamy charges) every detail of what he wrote has become very important in the history of the church.  He was with President Smith when he finally obtained the Spaulding Manuscript for a short time and Isaac helped copy it for the church.  That alone is a huge contribution to the history of the church.
I think this has taught me that simple, everyday work and ministering can make a big difference- an eternal difference in peoples' lives.
I have to think that Isaac and Joseph F. are still friends in heaven and that they had a hand in our serving in Sendai, Japan.  Let me explain.  You probably know the story of our mission call.  We had arranged with a mission president in Wisconsin to serve there.  We thought it was a done deal.  Then we got our call to Sendai, Japan.  Our mission president was Jeffrey Smith, the great grandson of Joseph F. Smith.  Isaac and Joseph F. served together.  They wanted their great grandchildren to serve together.  It may be a coincidence; but I think not.
I am so very grateful for the worthy example of my great-grandfather, Isaac Fox.