WHO AM I?

Who were my ancestors, and where are they now? Who is it that runs through my veins? Who are they who walked this earth before me? Thanks to who am I here?

The United Provinces of the River of Silver. That proud people, born on the banks of the River of Silver. That unconfinable Gaucho spirit of Entre Ríos, and the romantic tanguero spirit of Buenos Aires. Mate, asado, tango, chacarera. ¡Alma, corazón, y vida! The sons and daughters of that proud nation who are the embodiment of ‘la pasión argentina’.

The united kingdoms of the Italian peninsula, from Sicilia to Lombardia, from Puglia to Sardegna. The new Rome, the eldest daughter and heiress of that ancient empire, who carries on the sacred legacy of S.P.Q.R. Food, family, history, warm culture, beautiful language. Opera, architecture, art.

The pilgrims. Those courageous and adventurous spirits who ventured forth from the Old World and from their old lives in search of religious liberty and freedom from tyrants. E Pluribus Unum, One From Many. In God We Trust. A great nation founded on principles of just representation of the people.

Euskadi, the Basque Nation. With their sempiternal language, and their inconquerable spirit and identity. The Euskadunak, a most ancient people, held together through the Roman, Spanish, and French conquests through their reverent devotion to the most important aspect of their culture, the center of their very identity: Euskara. That language held sacred on the tongues of the sons and daughters of Euskadi since before the Romans, before the Greeks, and even before the Indoeuropeans.

Knowing all that I know about my ancestors, suddenly they are no longer just names on the page. They become real people, who lived, feared, hoped, loved, fought, and died on this earth before me. Knowing what I know, how can I leave them in prison? How can I do anything other than my best to love and help them? Thanks to the restauration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith, we have the capacity to redeem our ancestors that died without the ordinances necessary for salvation. It is in the Genealogical Library, or in front of my computer searching records, where I feel their reciprocal love for me. It is in the temple of the Lord in the name of my dead where I feel the closest to them.