Mills Family Book of Faith

  As I have collected all these amazing stories, Family History has been on my mind a lot!  Visits with family members in person, over the phone and back and forth in emails and texts has been so rewarding and helpful!  Thank you for sharing your stories with me.  Please continue to do so through email, phone call (801-414-9048) or completing this form .   My mom shared her story in a book that is now out of print, called "Links of Forever."  It was a collection of stories about Family History.  My mom's story is a huge reason why I believe what I do about life after death and the importance of family history and temple work.  She gave me permission to retell her story for this book.  It is a compilation of her published story,   journal entries which she shared with me and personal interviews: ​ Why Me? By Valerie Mills Hunt from the published account, interviews and journals of  Rena Gayle Mills   My mom w...

  Thoughts from the Mills Brothers on Smoking   Compiled by Valerie Mills Hunt   As I interviewed and collected stories, I heard several told about smoking.   My first thought was, these are not the kind of inspirational stories I was hoping for.   But then, I realized I was being short-sighted.   I believe we all have our Achilles Heel – weaknesses that can hold us back from achieving if we let them.   The example that my dad and uncles set for me, was that they each learned and in their own way, overcame during their lifetimes.  What an amazing example that is to me!     Uncle Glen mentioned in one of his stories that he did not drink coffee and I had never seen him smoke.  Since other stories had come  up in other interviews, I asked him why,  when his other brothers and dad smoked,  he didn’t.  This is the story he told summed up in my words:   ...

  Hello Again, This week I'm back to the Len & Deanna branch of the tree.  It's always a hard decision on which story to choose to share.  This time I chose one that takes us back to the 1940's.  After receiving this story from Uncle Len, it dawned on me that this happened before most of us were alive.  And in fact, Uncle Glen is the only other person in the family to have been present.  On one of my visits, I asked Uncle Glen what he remembered about this story and you'll see a fun footnote with his comments.  This story is a tribute to Mothers.  In particular, our Mother and Grandmother, Lorna.  It definitely brought back other memories of her and also the times my mother was a ministering angel to me.  If this stirs any memories of mothers, grandmothers, mother figures, or fathers too, let's get them in the book for our posterity to read some day. After going through my mom's photo collection and a fair number of Fac...

 I have had the privilege of reading all of these wonderful stories and visiting with family members asking questions and gaining a greater appreciation and love for my family members.  I hope that you also feel that appreciation and love for our family members as you read their contributions.  I truly think we each have something worth sharing with each other.  I have loved reading about lessons learned from parents and grandparents, how several of us made it through trials and came out stronger because of it, and answers to prayers.  This week, I am choosing  from Aunt Lorna Gail's branch of the family tree.  Laura Lea submitted several beautiful, short stories.  I couldn't choose just one. If the thought enters your mind, "Maybe I should share that" please do.  The things that inspire and matter to you will matter to others.  Email, fill out the form or call me at 801-414-9408 to add something.   Dad is Still Helping  Decemb...

 It's not too late to submit a story.  You can submit using this form, reply to this email, or text or call me at 801-414-9048.   The more stories that come in, the harder it is to choose which to share.  I have been limiting myself each week to a certain branch of the family tree.  This week, if I go in the same order I started with, we are back to Uncle Mavin's & Aunt Loa's branch.  I spent yesterday typing up Aunt Lajune's Autobiography for the book.  It is priceless!  It got me thinking about birth order a bit.  Uncle Mavin was the oldest of the kids from Ruben and Lorna, with Uncle Glen next.  I have enough stories that it would take me more than a year to share them if I do one a week.  So with that said, this week, I have decided to share two stories from the first section of the book:  Faith in Family.  The first one comes from Sherilyn and the second from Amanda Mills Johnston, daughter of Ben & Lori and ...