Goals

When I started this semester, I was looking to gain enough information that I could start working on my family tree in FamilySearch. However, with pioneer ancestors, there are many people working on my lines and there are lots of mistakes. My biggest question was, how do I fix these mistakes and know that I am not making even more mistakes. I knew I had a lot to learn. I wasn't wrong.

The most important thing that I learned is that to be a good genealogist, you really need to study correct research strategies, how to analyze records, create logs, be organized, be specific, be detailed, know how to use RootsMagic, FamilySearch, Ancestry, understand databases and so much more!!! There is so much more to genealogy that I had previously imagined. And it is wonderful and exciting and overwhelming at the same time. 

Henry B. Eyring said, "You will be temped to stop and leave the hard work of finding to others who are most expert or to another time in your life. But you will also feel a tug on your heart to go on in the work, hard as it will be." I am definitely feeling that tug, and also am tempted to leave the hard work to another. Taking these classes has given me some confidence to keep going. There are so many helps in FamilySearch, The Family History Guide, webinars, conferences, genealogical society, family search centers. The list goes on. The goal is to take it one step at a time. I cannot run before I can walk.

I have definitely gown in that I am excited about being able to help others grow their family trees and gain a love of family history and learning about their ancestors and being able to take their names to the temple. It's exciting to be able to build a family and then seal them together in the temple. 

I previously had the opinion that you did not need much training to do genealogy work. I now understand how important it is to know correct research strategies, how to create a plan and a research log, cite your sources, analyze, collaborate and so much more. Anyone doing family history work should have more than a 1 hour class in relief society. It does have to start with an interest though.

Dieter F. Uctdorf said, "Those who are unafraid to roll up their sleeves and lose themselves in the pursuit of worthwhile goals are a blessing to their families, communities, nations, and to the Church."  My love/hate relationship with the church is that we can never stop learning, never stop growing, never stop challenging ourselves. In the last general conference, Michael Dunn gave a wonderful talk about become 1% better, it won't happen all at once, just shoot for 1% better.The Lord wants us to keep learning, keep growing, keep contributing and blessing the lives of others. I feel the Lord tugging me along in this work for myself and for others too.

My goal is to continue with BYU-I to complete the Family History certificate. I have a goal to serve at a family history consultant of volunteer in the Family History Center. There are many opportunities to keep learning. I am looking forward to continuing on in this path of family history and genealogy work. 

Tracking a family with census records

 These last few weeks were very challenging! First, I learned that it is very difficult to do a group project with people that are on the other side of the world. Connecting in different time zones is very difficult.

I was very overwhelmed with the assignment and made it much more difficult that it actually was. Navigating RootsMagic was a challenge, but once I got the hang of it, it was quite exciting. 

I also made searching for records much more difficult than it was. Once you find a record in FamilySearch, it is amazing how many more records were coming up and how easy it was to track the family through census records.

The tender mercy is that I figured it out!! I was so overwhelmed in the beginning and then so happy with myself when it all came together. I was ready to give up genealogy work and then got excited and want to search for another family.

I am looking forward to gaining more knowledge and more skills going forward. Line upon line, precept on precept. It is not necessary to run before you can walk. 

The Big 4!

 This week we explored vital records, marriage and family laws, and probate records and how they can help the genealogist create a timeline of an individual and family. I particularly enjoyed readying some of the probate records and gaining a better appreciate for how little they had and how much they valued everything. The marriage laws were also interesting, as women really had no legal status, but were considered more of a belonging of the husband. Our ancestors worked so hard very everything they had. In contrast, our generation feels entitled to so much without having to work for it. With all our increased knowledge, technology and accumulation of property (and stuff), how is it that we are becoming less educated, more entitled and more divided as a people, we devalue the family and religion and we call this progress? Even the poorest people in America have more than our early ancestors. AS I continue to study the lives of my ancestors, my heart is definitely turned to them in gratitude for their great sacrifices for a better life. I am so grateful.

Social Media Sites

 This week we explored social media and how to use it in family history work. I was able to find and join a few facebook groups. One was a general group called "The Family History Guide - Trainers, Consultants, Leaders". This is a great group, and I was able to find a few "zoom" classes I can register for as well tips in how to promote family history in the ward. Another one is called "Student Genealogical Society". They also post upcoming zoom classes and other interesting posts relating to family history. And a third one is named "US New England Genealogy Research Community". I joined this one when I realized how many ancestors my husband and I both have that came to American in the 1600s. There is some fun interaction there from other descendants of these early American colonists. And notifications of new archives that have come available. The nice result of these facebook posts, is it keep me interested in family history and therefor I spend less time getting lost scrolling the world wide web in things that generally end up being a waste of time. It was also a busy week of family and thanksgiving, so I feel a little distracted right now. Hopefully I can get back on track this week and finish the week strong.

"turning the hearts to the fathers"

 This week we explored many different types of researching. It was exciting and frustrating. Exciting exploring all of the records, photos, databases, maps, histories that have been recorded, digitized and easy to access. Modern technology is truly is miracle! Frustrating when I actually tried to narrow down on one of my ancestors to look for information about him. However, the blessing from this week, was that my "heart was turned to the fathers". I decided to research an ancestor that came to Massachusetts in the 1600's. Much of my genealogy has already been done, so I was not really looking for anything new as there are many people adding to my ancestor lines all the time. What happened during my research though, was learning that I had not just one family come to Essex, Massachusetts in the 1600's, but at least four. Maybe that is not significant (nobody else I told, thought it was.....is this not evidence of my heart turning?). I came to realize that these families stayed in the area for 200 years. Surely they must of known each other and interacted at times. I learned that because they did not have slaves, they kept their families close, working on the farm, supporting the family for generations. Why did they leave 200 years later? Because of Jospeh Smith and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They followed the saints to Utah. They immigrated from England in the 1600's for religious reasons, they emigrated to Utah in the 1800's for religious  reasons. I come from a family with a rich religious heritage and belief in God. That deep belief in God and Jesus Christ is in my heart as well and I follow Him. Of course, I have know this before, but this week it was imprinted with the spirit on my heart. I am so grateful for the sacrifices my ancestors made to follow God. My testimony of the importance of doing family history this week was strengthened, even though it feels like it is done and I'm not sure what to do on my lines. 

Search Strategies and Consultant Work

 This week we learned more search strategies and I also worked with a group to prepare a slide show to teach Family History Consultants and to help a family with Family History. I have to admit that when I started these courses, I really was just wanting to learn the proper way to research and look for sources for my own family. But, after seeing everything that is available to help Family History Consultants, I can see that my Stake and Ward is not taking advantage of these wonderful resources. I reached out to our Ward Family History Leader to see how I could help (which is party of my responsibility as a Relief Society Counselor), and he admitted to me that they really weren't doing anything. He is just focused on the temple class right now. I can see that he is overwhelmed thinking about how to get the ward doing more Family History. I'm excited with everything we are learning and the prospect of being able to help other families start building their own family trees with proper research and sources. I'm hoping that they will meet soon and I can offer my support with all these resources I didn't know about before, especially in the Family History Guide. So much training is available, it's awesome. I feel like I was truly inspired to take these classes and gain some confidence in my ability to learn and teach others. In the past, I have always felt like it wasn't the right time with a young family and our own business, it was hard to give it the time it deserved. But, now, with retirement looming around the corner, and me wondering what I was going to do in the next phase of my life. I am excited that I will have the time to really jump in with both feet and be of assistance to others as well as my own family.

Searching databases and consultancy work!

This week we discovered the multitude of databases that are available and how to determine if they are a good resource. It was fascinating to discover the amount of information that has been preserved so we can learn about our ancestors, not just names and dates, but about what is going on in their town, state, country at the time. Learning the history of the time and place of your ancestor will help you in determining the correct database to search. We also learned about volunteering and doing consultancy work. It got me curious what our ward and stake goals are and I don't think much is going on. As a member of the Relief Society presidency, I am over temple and family history, so I should be working with my ward on our ward efforts. I learned about the massive amounts of information in Family Search and The Family History Guide to help individuals and volunteers to help others. Am I prepared to volunteer to help others in their family history? At a church activity today, my friend learned I was taking a family history class and asked if I could help her with her adopted child's Native American Indian genealogy. The questions was overwhelming and exciting. Could I? I was able to go home and search for some information about Native American ancestry and sent it to her. I'm excited to keep learning and gain some confidence in not just cleaning up my own lines with proper documentation, but even helping others with their family history as well.