I want to thank all of the distant cousins who have contacted me and made it possible for our family to track down the journals of Herman F. F. Thorup. My mother obtained a copy of this wonderful book Dedicated Faith, compiled by Renee Blackburn Jacks. It is a compilation of his journals as well as family photos, biographies, time lines, articles and more. 
My mother has the original journal that is contained in this book on pages 11-34. He titled it "My first mission from Utah to Europe," and he gave it to his daughter Lizzie, my mother's grandmother. In this book I was also able to find the biography for Herman's first wife Sofia which I have been looking for for some time. I am so thankful for all that has been preserved of the lives of our ancestors. I am thankful that I have the genealogy bug as well. It is such a blessing to know our ancestors, what their lives were like, why they chose to live the way they did, their thoughts, feelings and circumstances. How sad it is to be forgotten. Every life has value and meaning. The everyday man has little influence beyond his own family. His parents, his spouse and any children will remember him and what he taught and who he was but then he is gone. Time goes on and in time we all move on, learn to live without them and he is lost to the next generation. What a wonderful blessing it is to do your family history. Through the records they are alive again. We see their struggles and their examples. There is a legacy left for us to follow and learn from. They are known and remembered and loved again. It is a gift to know them and to know that their story goes on.
My mother has the original journal that is contained in this book on pages 11-34. He titled it "My first mission from Utah to Europe," and he gave it to his daughter Lizzie, my mother's grandmother. In this book I was also able to find the biography for Herman's first wife Sofia which I have been looking for for some time. I am so thankful for all that has been preserved of the lives of our ancestors. I am thankful that I have the genealogy bug as well. It is such a blessing to know our ancestors, what their lives were like, why they chose to live the way they did, their thoughts, feelings and circumstances. How sad it is to be forgotten. Every life has value and meaning. The everyday man has little influence beyond his own family. His parents, his spouse and any children will remember him and what he taught and who he was but then he is gone. Time goes on and in time we all move on, learn to live without them and he is lost to the next generation. What a wonderful blessing it is to do your family history. Through the records they are alive again. We see their struggles and their examples. There is a legacy left for us to follow and learn from. They are known and remembered and loved again. It is a gift to know them and to know that their story goes on. 