Studying the Word of God with my Husband's Cousin

Dr. Truman Grant Madsen

Those of us who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been encouraged to read through The Book of Mormon this year, as it's the subject of study in our Adult "Sunday School" class, which we call the Gospel Doctrine class. I've been reading it daily and supplementing my study with videos that are available on You Tube. Some of the best videos are those presented by Dr. Truman G Madsen. Wikipedia tells us this about Dr. Madsen (13 Dec 1926-28 May 2009): "An emeritus professor of religion and philosophy at Brigham Young University and director of the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. He was a prolific author, a recognized authority on Joseph Smith, and a popular lecturer among Latter-day Saints."

Since I knew that Dr. Madsen had died in the past few years, I referred to the Family Tree at familysearch.org to learn a little bit about his ancestry. I particularly wondered if he might have been related to any of the early Church pioneers. To my surprise and delight, I discovered that he was a grandson of Heber J. Grant, who served as the 7th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1918-1945. 

I knew from my past research on my husband's family that he was a distant cousin of Pres. Heber J. Grant. From the information presented on the Family Tree, I was able to connect Truman G. Madsen to Pres. Grant, thereby tying him to my husband, Larry C. Jamison. This report shows their relationship.   

Larry Jamison is a 7th cousin one generation
removed of Dr. Truman G. Madsen

I have to admit it gives me comfort to know I'm learning from not only a respected authority in my Church, but someone to whom my husband is directly related.