Scattered across attics, tucked inside cedar chests, and resting quietly on shelves, family heirlooms hold more than dust—they hold memory.
Each artifact we’ve uncovered along the way has a story to tell, often quiet but deeply felt: a handwritten recipe card, a worn set of scriptures, a pocket watch passed from hand to hand. This living page is a celebration of those treasures—objects that connect us to people, places, and values long past but not forgotten.
As you explore, we invite you to listen closely. You may find echoes of your own story here. And perhaps you’ll think, “Oh, that reminds me…”—and be moved to share a piece of your own legacy with us.
Artifacts & Heirlooms
AND THE STORIES THEY CARRY
Vilate
This excerpt was discovered by Sylvia Smith
This was a fun little story about Vilate. A memory shared by her daughter Helen. It is short and sweet.
But I love this kind , it helps you to get to know the ancestors characters and personality.
JOURNAL EXCERPT FROM
Ruby Baird Martin
This excerpt was discovered by Rod Zabriskie
Sometimes, it’s not the grand sermons or well-known histories that move us—but a single line in a journal, a quiet testimony scribbled in the margin, or a thought passed down in a family letter. This short video is one such echo—a small excerpt, lovingly brought to life, that carries eternal weight. As you watch and reflect on the question that follows, we invite you to consider what other forgotten phrases, overlooked stories, or hidden insights might be waiting in your own family’s legacy. What if even the smallest record could spark a gospel conversation that changes hearts?
Journal Excerpt
What is my membership in this great church worth?
What changes that worth?
Why, the touch of the Master’s hand, the more we apply ourselves.
So I have applied myself.
We cannot take serving the Lord in this life lightly.
It’s a measure of our attitude toward God.
Our homes in heaven will be made up of materials sent from here up there by the service we render the church and fellow men.
Question
How do you feel the worth of the Church in your life today—and how are you adding to the foundation of your eternal home?
As Clay (In The Master Potter’s Hands)
For the Heber C. Kimball Family by Clive Romney
Performed at the Heber C. Kimball Family Reunion, June 2025
I’m an earthen cup filled to the brim with Living Water
I’m an iron blade forged for His harvest of souls
In the furnace of affliction
My dross is consumed
As the visions I’ve seen have foretold
I’m a sapling planted by the Gardener,
Bent and tied and pruned
Till the fruit I bear is what God intends
And I rejoice that His eye is upon me
And that He reaches down to shape me to His ends
So come... my sons and daughters
And come... my friends in distant lands
Come and submit as a child to its father
Be as clay in the Master Potter’s hands
On the potter’s wheel I’ve made ten thousand earthen vessels
On the smithy’s forge and anvil I’ve shaped countless tools
By the square I’ve raised each building
By the square lived my life
So it shows in my heart who truly rules
I have laid aside this world’s treasures
And labored for my God
With the promise that His life will be mine
And I rejoice that “peacemaker’s” what He called me
And that He called me home in His perfect time
(Chorus)
And, friend, I want you by my side, by my side
In Zion, where friends of God dwell
For I see what will be, how our hearts will soar and sing
In the praise of our God, and in love for our king
And there’s more joy than I can tell
So come... my sons and daughters
And come... my friends in distant lands
Come and submit as a child to its father
Be as clay in the Master Potter’s hands
Be as clay in the Master Potter’s hands
Copyright © 2017 by Utah Pioneer Heritage Publications, ASCAP
SONG WRITTEN ABOUT HEBER C. KIMBALL
Heber C. Kimball
This excerpt was discovered (and filmed) by Sylvia Smith
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The Story of the Temple Apron
You may not know this, but you have a beautiful and amazing heritage, with many faithful ancestors who loved going to the temple and are so grateful for the covenants made there, the knowledge received there, the blessings it brought to their life, and the blessings it continues to bring them beyond the vail.
Your GG Grandmother Ruby Baird Martin was one such noble woman. Because of her love of the temple, she took it upon herself to hand stitch temple aprons for many of her posterity. Beginning with her own children, grandchildren, and even a few of her great grandchildren, until she was no longer physically able to do so.
Your Grandmother, Sylvia Kimball Harmon was one such recipient of a Temple Apron stitched from her grandmother's hands. Your grandmother also loved attending the temple so much. My memories are filled with the example both she and your Grandpa Harmon emulated by taking every opportunity they could to attend the Temple on a regular basis. Because there were those of us that did not receive a temple Apron, our mother Sylvia would borrow her apron to us on our special day of receiving our own endowments and/or being seal to our sweetheart for eternity.
Tragically, many years ago your grandma and grandpa Harmon had their temple bags stollen out of their truck. Grandma Harmon lost this most precious treasure from her grandmother. The silver lining in this tragic story is, I discovered that before your grandma started losing her own memory and could still stitch, she had set out to replace her grandmother's apron that she had lost, by stitching one of her own.
I found this, her needlework, among the many treasures of unfinished works. I have fashioned it into a new temple apron in order to carry on the tradition started by your GG grandmother Ruby Baird Martin, and the tradition started by your grandmother, of allowing it to be borrowed out for your special day. It will now have an added meaning , as it was stitched by your own grandmother Sylvia Kimball Harmon.
Please always keep in your heart the memory and opportunity for wearing it. Please, know how much your grandmother loves you, and how happy she is for the righteous choices you are making in your life. May you continually strive to keep the sacred covenants you have made, and live eternally with your family, both the one you grew up in, and the one you are now starting.
With all my love,
Aunt Sylvia Kaye Claude Sindambiwe
As Clay in the Potter’s Hands
~Sylvia Smith