For me, the highlight of the trip has been visiting the gravesites of Josef Antonin Ziegelbauer and Marie Loudilova.  When we stopped at Josef's grave I felt an immediate presence, one full of joy and excitement that caused a tingling that swept throughout my whole body.  It was a warm, happy sensation that caused me to feel great joy.  I have felt this same spirit many times before in my life.  It is the spirit of God or the Holy Ghost that gives approval of our feelings, desires and actions.  It is such a wonderful feeling that I wish I could make it come whenever I wished for it to come.  I felt that Josef and Marie were there with us, feeling what we felt, loving us, and thanking us for finding them and their families. God loves all of His children. He will work through us here on earth to save those who have gone on before. They are as alive as we are.  We are responsible to those who have given us the gift of life. I am grateful to the Ziegelbauer family for having Karen Maria and allowing me to become part of the Ziegelbauer clan.💕

Ciglbauerova

Traveling with family this trip has been one of the highlights of my life.  I have enjoyed the closeness and the bond that unites us...love. As we traveled to the town of Pištín near České Budějovice and visited the church where ggg grandma Maria Ziegelbauerova was baptized in 1826, I felt excited to see another place where our family once stood. But I was unprepared for the feelings I felt as I looked at the gravestones of the Ciglbauerovas. I felt excitement, sadness, joy, and concern.  It is really is hard to describe the emotions as they all seemed to happen at the same time. I did walk away feeling that our family was happy we were there.  They knew that we had not forgotten them. I felt a great need to be more proactive in doing genealogy, making trips to the temple, and living my life in a way that I will continue to feel and hear the Spirit.

Jason Boothe

Christmas Eve

"Music is truly the universal language, and when it is excellently expressed how deeply it moves our souls". President David O. McKay.

I experienced this at the opening and closing of my day.

We gathered together this morning in Josef's room for a Christmas devotional, reading passages of scripture and singing beautiful Christmas hymns. Thoughts entered my mind of Grampa in his younger days and I shed a silent tear of joy as I looked around the room at his posterity that surrounded him. Alison shared her German family tradition of handing out a gift to each family. It was a lovely way to start Christmas Eve, which is the day many European countries celebrate Christmas. We then hit the road, Michael Buble Christmas album blaring, headed for Salzburg.

Lunch was at the Hotel Goldener Hirsch and it was a little bit fancy. The duck was to die for. After that we walked around the square before ending our day with the absolute highlight...

A visit to the St Nikolaus Kapelle in Obendorf where Silent Night was originally composed. About a 30 min drive from Salzburg.  It was extremely chilly yet the place was overflowing with people both young and old, little children and grandparents, friends and neighbours, and tourists from all over the world. Like us, some had come to see for the very first time, others enjoy the occassion each and every year. Although the service was mostly in German, you could feel the spirit of the message no matter your native tongue. And despite the cold air, you felt the warmth from within as you listened to the angelic voices. I moved closer to the chapel about half way through the service and I'm glad I did, the singing was magnified, with less pollution of nearby chatting and laughter.

Standing on the side of the chapel I watched 2 old men, I assume locals by their manner, mouth the words to "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht", standing in solemnity and ending the service with the sign of the cross before kissing their fingers and looking up to the heavens, I couldn't help but let my eyes well up and my heart swelled.... I wondered what their stories might be. I watched as they walked away and got lost in the crowd.

All the while, a recollection remained in my mind, of a story I read earlier in the day. "The Christmas Truce", a modern miracle which took place just outside a little town called Ypres in Belgium. On 24 December 1914, in the middle of WWI, the unthinkable happened. Christmas music, sung by German voices, reaches across the fighting plains. Instead of shellfire, explosions and the screams of wounded and dying soldiers, British soldiers hear the sounds of "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" through the cold night of Christmas Eve. Soldiers eventually left their trenches to cross "No Mans Land" in a friendly exchange. Kind words were spoken, hand shakes were common. Gifts were traded and friendships made. The miracle of the moment when both sides mutually decided to stop the war for a while taught both the Germans and the English how equal and human they were. The killing and hatred was forgotten. Eventually, the war resumed,  but, for a short time,  humanity was the victor. The Christmas truce was a celebration of the human spirit - the true spirit of Christmas.

That is the power of Christmas.  That is the Power of music. - Nicole Ziegelbauer

(I can't add a picture!!) :)

Vzpomínáme (We Remember)

The thing that you notice about Czech cemeteries is that they are beautifully well taken care of. The grass is particularly green. And they are busy. Well, especially at Christmas time. It is the custom for the Czech people to visit the grave of their dear departed one's early in November and then again just before or on Christmas. In fact, just before the Christmas meal is eaten, families take a moment to remember loved ones who are far or have passed on.

It was fitting, then, that we visited the the burial place of Grandpa's parents, Josef and Marie, on the crisp morning the day before Christmas Eve. With this in mind, Mirek and I purchased two small wreaths and candles to place on the graves in memory. We'd come a long way not to mark it in some special way, for both parents and children.

The moment was quiet, spiritual, thoughtful, full of emotion, serene. It felt like coming together. Grandpa placed a small pot of flowers on his father's grave. Karen lay the wreath. Joe, my husband, lit the candle for his namesake and great-grandfather, Josef. By passage of years, the name of another now adorned the headstone and some paraphernalia decorated it; a red ticket indicated that it now lay unclaimed by failure to pay its rent and upkeep. Yet it was no less of a final resting place for having been shared, and Grandpa stood with the men of his family and dedicated the grave of his father.

Marie's resting place was further away, up the path, in a quiet spot under the shade of a nearby tree. It had no name and no decoration but the filagree of a cross and the accoutrements of nature and time. Karen lay the wreath on the green of her grandmother's final resting place. Reef asked to light the candle but I softly declined and lit the match myself. As I placed the candle, I spoke to Marie in my mind. Here are your family Marie. They are here for you. You are together. I know you love them. I hope they can feel it. Marie's love curled through the winter sun and filled the air. I felt it move and wrap around her child, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, and all her family.

Someone said Grandma is here. Mirek pointed to the sky, Marie is in heaven now. Uncle Steve stood by the cross in the dappled light, gold flecked and softly sparkling green. He replied. She is here, now. She is all around us.

-Alison



 

Ceske Budejevice

We started today in Prague at the church and the home of Grandpa's father, Josef Antonin Ziegelbauer.

From there we made the trip down to Ceske Budejevice, the region the Ziegelbauer family called home.  I've been here once before and there is something about this place that brings a feeling that I find hard to describe. It's like the relief of finally coming home after a long trip. I had that feeling before and I have it again.

We spent the afternoon winding through the countryside, hopping from village to village, discovering family homes and churches from as far back as the mid 18th Century.

It's one thing to learn about your family history and come to know your ancestors through the information and the stories you find but actually being here and seeing these places is like the familiarity that comes with putting a face to a name.

In the 18th Century, Edmund Burke wrote:

"People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors."

I feel blessed to be here to look back...
-Josef Ziegelbauer

Blessed

Mirek, our genealogist and tour guide, mentioned more than once today how lucky we were. He has traced our family tree back to the early 1700's, and the earliest birth date to 1692. He considers that unusual. He has not even traced his family back that far.

When we arrived at Sukorady we found the birth home of Marie Loudilova, Dad's mother. It was still there!  The owner of the home allowed us to see the property and take photos.  Mirek said we were lucky because the home is so old that it will soon be demolished.

The Chronicler/Historian of Sukorady took us to the home of Jaronic Vonka. We met the great grandson of Frantiska Richterova, Dad's grandmother. We were lucky that Jaronic was home at the time.

Mirek arranged for us to meet Dad's cousin in Horice. Yaroslava Prokopova is Dad's first cousin. At dinner with Yaroslava and her granddaughter Lanka, Mirek said we were lucky because his clients rarely ever get to meet relatives so closely related as Dad and Yaroslava.

What a blessing this trip has been! 

- Karen Boothe

In the beginning

I was always a little unsure that this whole family history tour would actually come to fruition but now having arrived in Prague last night I am full of excitement and anticipation for a number of reasons.  I'm  going to meet up with my family (living in the Emirates now I see them next to never). I'm going to meet Mirek; the genealogist that has done so much work for our family over the last couple of years.  I'm also going to come to know family members; long dead and some still with us.  

My wife Alison has done so much of this work for us,  and I know she has had amazing experiences that have solidified her testimony of this great work, but every now and then I catch a glimpse of what genealogy is all about and I feel the feelings that drive people to know their ancestors.

I hope this trip will give me more of that and that the spirit of Elijah will burn within me and I to will have that drive.
-Josef Ziegelbauer