Family Search for Family History

Family Search is a LDS Church owned web site. Family Search has made leaps and bounds recently to create a better webpage and collection of data. Everyday they are progressing to create tools to help with your family history search. Here is the link, take a look and see all the new stuff. It's open to everyone throughout the world.

Familysearch.org

It was just announced that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will have free access in the near future to some paid websites like Ancestry.com and Myheritage.com. This is awesome. Family Search has also made deals with many places to give us access to important documents and even obituaries. That's even more awesome.

I can see God's hand in this work because of technology is rapidly changing for good, and it is making the search for ancestors more possible and easier. I love that and it should inspire many to want to seek for those who has gone before us.

With all this new research processes in place, we first need to turn our heart to our families.

The prophet Joesph Smith said,"The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead..." HC 6:312

Wow, that made an impact on me. I have thought a lot about this and found that he was talking to me. This is my greatest responsibility. When I started looking for names and putting together my family history, they were just names but when I started studying more about them and the times that they lived in, they started becoming more than just names. AND...when I took those names to the temple the true meaning of it all...God's purpose...began to unfold before me. My heart was turning to my fathers and I couldn't get enough of it.

Family History work is now my passion. I love this work and joy that comes with finding family and developing my tree. One thing that was an eye opener was when I started tracing the female side of the tree. It was easier to find the stuff on the male line but when I started working on the female lines I realized that there were so many more people to see.

I truly can see now how we are all related, as you do one line then the next and on and on.. your story never ends. And we are all connected, Family Search is trying to show us just that, we are all one big family.

I hope you will look in your hearts to see and understand this great work that God has entrusted to us. The work that brings us all together as God's family. Our ancestors need us to do this for them, the work that they can no longer do. And we need them to help us grow in understanding God's plan for us. I love my Heavenly Father for this great plan of happiness because I know the joy I get from doing this work.

Hasten the Work of Salvation

We have been commanded to hasten the work. What is the work; to progress the cause of God. Moses 1:39 says that His work and His glory is us! So how do we help in that? We build the Kingdom, which is to strengthen one another and to help people find Christ.

When we think about that we pretty much think of missionary work and helping in that area but it also means to help those who have passed on. We do this through family history work. We are running out of time and now is the time to get this work done.

I have just recently been called by our Stake at church to be a Family History Director, there are two of us. The other one focuses on the Family History Center, and I focus on getting people into the Family History Center to do their work.

I love this calling because I love this work. But I have come to realize that with that love and helping other to get busy in it, I have not done as much in mine as I should have by now. Genealogy has been a part of life for over 30 years. But I am still just barely getting it organized.And that is the key, getting organized. There are many ways to keep your records but you have to choose one or it can be time consuming just trying to...well organize.

Some ways to organize your records are by keeping a hard copy in binders, or filing cabinets. But what if you have a fire, flood, or storm that destroys those records? Keeping a soft copy is good, too.
You can store it on a SD card, a CD, or just on the computer in organized files, and even on an external hard drive.

But what if your computer gets fried or stolen? What if you lose those SD cards or CD's? The way modern technology keeps changing, those SD cards might not be able to be used in the near future.

Hmmm, what else can you do to save your records? I think one of the safest ways is to record this information on websites that specialize in family trees. This is one way people learn about their ancestors is by sharing information on the websites. Ancestry.com would be a great place a to share that info but it has a price attached. It's worth it if you use it a lot, but if you do it only once in a while, well it may not be advised.

Ancestry.com

Familysearch.org is an excellent place to store your information, its free!!!

Familysearch.org

They believe that we are all one big family and if we all submit our trees then we can see how we are related to one another. I thought that was pretty cool. There was a team of 150 people who submitted as many names in their tree as possible and they found that 148 of them were related within 9 generation, that is way cool.

Your ancestors are calling you, it's time to answer and find them. Time is short and technology has made easier than ever. Hasten the Work now!!!

Just Get Started

Good Morning, this has been a very busy week because my youngest son has been working on his BSA Scout Eagle project. Which means I was very busy too. This caused me to miss writing for today so I am taking a few minutes to write about Family History.

Last week, at church, it was announced that my new church responsibility is to get people in our stake and community excited about doing Family History and to get into the Family History Center to get started getting their research going. This is my dream job. I love this stuff.

You don't have to be old to have a desire to search out your ancestors. We usually relate genealogy to retirees but it can be an exciting adventure for anyone of any age. The key is to just get started. Here is a link to some fun family history stuff.

Family History Fun

We start by taking a pedigree chart and filling in all the information we can about what we know about our ancestry. I have provided a link to a pedigree chart that you can print off and make as many copies of as you like.

Ancestry.com pedigree chart

So take the chart and write in everything you know about yourself, your parents, your grandparents and then great-grandparents. That will be 4 generations of family history. Then once you have done this find a Family History Center, either from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or a local genealogy library. They can help you learn on to fill on the rest.

It's that easy. There are so many tools out there that can help you find your ancestors. It's nothing like it use to be before technology ruled our lives. Technology is now a genealogist's best friend. So, what are you waiting for, get started today. Call Grandma or Grandpa or any relative that can tell you stories and help you with your adventure in dead people hunting (my phrase for family history research).

Obituary Data Full of Treasured Information

It's always sad when someone dies. My uncle just past away last week, its sad that we will not see him here in this world again. I pray for his family to find God's peace at this time. I know he is at peace and was ready to get on with his real life beyond this one.

One of my cousins posted a link to the funeral home webpage where his obit was placed. Wow, there was so much information about his relatives. I was amazed at the data that some family genealogist  in the future would greatly treasure.

Obituaries normally contain the full name and birth/death info as well as immediate family names and connections. This is a treasure when you are trying to find this kind of information on your ancestry.

For instance, a spouse whether living or dead is listed, and sometimes how long they had been married will be included. Children's names as well as their spouses name could be listed. You can usually find parents and the siblings of the deceased, with married names of sisters. The amount of  grandkids and great grandkids, etc, are listed but usually names aren't included.

And sometimes, they even include a bit of a story about the person like maybe they served in the military, or where they graduated, or worked, etc.

Obits are a treasure full of information. When my oldest daughter passed away I remember someone asking me about placing an obituary for her, but I don't remember it having a lot of information except a few family members names. This is something to think about in the future. What information do you think will be valuable to your posterity?

Digitalize your Photos Now Before it's too Late!

Last weekend I went to the Central Florida Family History Conference in Orlando, Florida; second year for me, 17th year for them. It was just as good this year as it was last year.

Family Search

We learned a lot about the Family Search website and all the new tools that have been added since last year. I was amazed. Family Search is a free website hosted my The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On Family Search you can create your family tree, do research for your ancestry, they even have free online classes to help you build research skills.

At the conference last week the one thing that really caught my attention was being able to add your photos and stories of your ancestry online. This interested me a lot because I have tons of photos that I don't want to get rid of but are just stored in a container. So I took the class about digitalizing your photos.

The instructor told a story about some photos his father had left him, I hope he doesn't mind me sharing it here with you.

He was gone for the weekend with his wife and while he was gone his house caught on fire due to a bathroom light over the shower being left on. His bishop, who happened to live across the street, called him to tell him that his house was on fire. So he raced home.

On the way, all he could think about was the photos that his father had left him, 5 boxes full. His father had just passed away the year before so he felt like his father was dying all over again. When he got there he found several fire trucks and police cars all along his street. As he approached his house a fire man asked if he was the owner, at that time he saw all five boxes in the street. The fireman had told him he saw that it said dad's photos on the box so he saved them for him. What a hero.

Man, what a story, but it made me think of all the treasures I have in my home with photos. I new this needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. I work a lot so I don't have a lot of time right now to do this but I do have a daughter who has some time. We talked about making this her project. It was suggested in the class to get your kids involved because they seem to love all the new electronics.

He said if you have a smart phone or android that these were perfect for scanning pictures. Wow, I never thought about that. So there doesn't seem to be a need to go out and buy scanners to do this, no excuses. All you have to do is take the picture and lay it on a clean solid color, like white, and take the picture again with your phone then have your phone send it to your email address then save the photo in a file or a thumb drive, stored forever.

I loved it, I have two different kids of scanners at home so we will use that for awhile. One scanner is my printer and the other is a small photo scanner, both work good. I can use the printer for the larger pictures and the small scanner for the small photos. I kinda want to put everything else on hold and make this a family project.

That's my post this week, if you value those family memories you better start to think about how best to save them because you never know what disasters await you and then its too late.

Tools for Genealogists

Hello There!

When I blog about genealogy, I write it more for the beginners. I'm sure there are lots of people out there who know about researching your family history better than I do so I think these Sunday posts are more for the new guys but any one can read it and I would love some input that will be helpful to the beginners, and me.

When I go to do family history research whether it be out of town or at the local genealogy library, I like to carry certain tools with me that might be helpful in this process. Here is a list of things I like to take with me.

1) a big bag to carry everything in
2) pencils, pens, highlighters
3) pencil sharpener
4) notebook or folder to hold my papers in
5) camera
6) handheld/wand scanner
7) SD cards
8) batteries for the camera and scanner
9) names of people I am searching for
10) water/quiet snacks
11) small stapler

These are the tools that I like to take with me so if I am somewhere and need these items I don't have to keep asking to borrow them from someone else. It is good to be prepared but as you go along you will find what things are most common for your use in research.

Most everything is low cost (under $20). The only things that might cost a little are the camera and scanner. You don't have to buy an expensive camera, in fact, I would never take anything of great value with me because you don't want someone else picking it up as theirs by mistake.

You can usually find a digital camera for around $100 or less, shop around. Be sure it can hold a SD card so you can store your photos on them.

I have wanted a desktop scanner for quite awhile but I don't want to pay the price they charge for one. I was able to find a handheld/wand scanner for around $100. Someone gave me a gift card for Christmas and that was what I bought with it. It is an awesome tool.

You can find most everything in a n office supply story or Best Buy, Walmart, or some place like this. Anyway, these are a few of my tools. Again, you will find over time what tools you will need that will be  most helpful in your research for your ancestry. Happy Hunting!!!

Overwhelmed with Names

I was in my early 20's when I started looking into doing family history work for my family. I got real excited about it. I was able to do about 4 generations pretty quickly, then life happened. I got married, started having children, etc. So of course family history got put on hold for awhile. I did do a little bit of work now and then but not much. The excitement was always there.

Once I hit my 40's I found a little more freedom to do some work so I did, but not much, because I was working on my education. However, I was blessed with good people who were sharing the information they had on family history.

I remember one day one of my aunt's called to see how I was doing and before the conversation was over she committed to sending me some family history that she just got for her paternal line. I was so excited once I received it. I entered it in on my family tree. This got me excited again to start looking and confirming this new information.

Once I started looking into things again, I realized that new technology made it possible to see more names and I was able to find two family lines of genealogy that others had submitted online. Now, I was getting a fever for family history. With a little more research I was able to find more and more information, I did hit a few roadblocks from time to time but I would just take a detour to find something else.

So I sat back looking at all this stuff and realized that it needed some organization. That in itself has created a roadblock for me. I really struggled with how best to put this stuff in order so someone else could make sense of it, and so I know that I wasn't duplicating work.

I still find myself overwhelmed at times with the overload of information but I have found a couple of ways that work for me. I have created a blog that only my family has access to, but I am only listing info for those how have died already. I add pictures, documents and links to where others can find the documents. Family Search and Ancestry are my main tools and they have places where documents can be saved with the name of your ancestors. That's pretty cool too. So I can save the documents instead of printing them to file away.

I am also trying to create books of my family history that can be shared with family as well. Lots of fun ideas but you have to find the one that works best for you. It can get frustrating with all the overflow of research that you have found so its time to get organized and have it make some sense.

 I thought maybe others could be having the same issue so I decided to blog about it and add some links showing how others have organized their family history work in hopes of helping you. There are lots of helpful ideas online. Good luck!!!

Organize your Genealogy

About.com: Organize your Genealogy

U Tube on How to Organize your Records

Organize your Family History

Dead People Hunting Time Again

October is time for me to get busy with my favorite past time, Dead People Hunting. The weather is starting to cool down and the stores are filling up the shelves with holiday items. This is when I like to go to graveyards and search for ancestors.

No, I don't usually find them hanging out there but I do find it a challenge to search for their grave sites. It's actually quite peaceful when you go and humbling when you find the name of someone who is your bloodline. I remember when I went with my mother to Kentucky to do some research there and we came to the headstones of my great grandparents and great-great grandparents. When I saw their name they became real to me. I realized that they had lived here in this town once. They probably walked on this land from time to time. It was an eye opener for me that these people were not just names on my paperwork but they were my family.

After that I knew I wanted to know more about who they were and what their lives were like. I was able to find some pictures and stories using different sources. Here are a few places you can go to help find your ancestors.


Oh, I must warn you that this stuff is addictive.

Ancestry.com
This one costs but promises to have a lot of sources in finding your ancestry. I can vouch for that because it was the number one place I always looked and spent hours looking.
Familysearch.org
This one is free and has tons of stuff available to help in your research. They have upgraded the website and are constantly making it better. This is one place where I find tons of source documents on my ancestors. And this one is constantly acquiring more source documents from many other places around the world.

Other helpful websites
I just found this website which lists several places you can look to find information on your ancestors. I hope its helpful.

The key is to get started and to not give up. There will be times you will run into a wall, but find a way around it and keep the hunt going. I promise that you will find it rewarding.

When Opportunities Arise

So back a couple of years ago my daughter and my son-in-law gave me a surprise visit; they lived out of state in Utah. While we were visiting in the lobby of my work place another employee came by. I introduced my family to her and she said she lived in Utah once, so my return missionary son-in-law asks her if she is a Mormon. She replied only when she was little. After she left he turned to me and said there is your missionary opportunity.

A few months ago I received a quick phone call from her saying that I was the only person she could think of to share this exciting find that she had gotten involved in...Genealogy. She started sharing her stories of what she found and how far back she had gone, I informed her that I was the Family History Consultant at church so I could be of some help to her.

Just this week she called me again and shared some more news about a distant family member that she did not know, who she was able to contact her regarding a great-great grandparent. I was so excited for her. So we made plans to have lunch this month and see what all she has discovered since we last talked.

I am not a good missionary. I don't start conversations with people about the gospel but I have no problem discussing the gospel with people who ask questions and really want to know what we believe. I know a lot about the gospel and can probably answer just about any question. I have a strong testimony of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ but I have a hard time starting the discussions.

Now I have this opportunity to share the gospel through this love of genealogy that we both have, to help this wonderful daughter of God restore what she once had as a child. But I don't know how to make it happen. She has been placed in my path and I can't walk away without giving her something to think about.

As a righteous woman it is my responsibility to share what I know with people. The first thing I think I have to do is take this in prayer to my Heavenly Father and ask for direction because He knows her and what curiosities she might have. Next, I will probably try to share as much information as I can while we talk about the importance of family history. Perhaps this will be a start, all I know is here is an opportunity and I will have to answer for it if I don't act upon it.

She may not want to hear anything I have to say except for the genealogy tips and I will honor her wishes if that is the case but I will never know if I don't try.