Genealogy is... Doable

{Preface}

It was the second time attending the Boston temple that I heard an off-hand remark that I will never forget. I had arrived early, earlier than the workers I had realized as I sat in the empty locker room. Finally, two workers appeared to attend to me and as they prepared for the day they made small talk- as usual they asked me where I was from, if I was married, if I had any little ones, how old Caleb was, the conversation de jour (actually l'année). Finally one sister took the conversation upon herself and talked about her gifted son, a piano prodigy since birth. I’m guessing this wasn’t the first time the other sister had heard this yarn, and she nodded methodically as she listened, and when the praise of her companion ceased she said, “Well, yes, that’s how it is for some, but the rest of us have to keep banging away.”

That, is a statement to live by. Music, is not a strength of mine (unless you count page-turning, I’m an excellent page-turner; I have credentials and come highly recommended).

We each have talents and gifts. I’m a firm believer that every talent given is linked to a perfecting attribute. If you are “intuned” with music, you may not only be the creator of peaceful sounding melodies, but be a patient person and serene in demeanor- you know how to create peace. The same goes with any talent.

But what if you don’t have that talent? Should you just assume it’s not meant for you? Should that talent along with its attribute fall by the wayside because we were not innate prodigies?

My seminary teacher gave me this quote and I read it quite often:

Genealogy, friends, is a talent. It will not come easy to everyone. It requires certain abilities and attributes that you may not be equipped with at this time, but if you keep banging away you’ll get it- and you’ll acquire qualities that will make you more perfect. I promise.

Just as there is a season for perfect scripture study, well-rounded food storage, and cultivating a family, there is a season for genealogy in your life. Take your time.

{To work on genealogy

for at least 35 minutes

for one week.}

(That’s at least five minutes a day!)

PART ONE: PRAY AND DO IT.

Here are some ideas for activities:

Interview, call up a family member and ask them some questions and record them!

Journal, answer one question a day or freelance!

Baby books, you know you have been meaning to get around to it!

Scrapbook your family tree or about ancestors

Create a family history activity book

Have spotlight on a relative for Family Home Evening

Tell your child a story about your childhood or a spiritual experience you’ve had.

Play a family history-related game, like memory with photographs and names

Teach your child family relation terms, like grandma and cousin, etc

Take a fieldtrip to a genealogical landmark

Take pictures of your house and label them with the full address and date

Research your four generations

Try to find your ancestor’s graves

Organize your genealogical materials

Learn about your full name and record your findings

Offer to help someone research their four generations

Learn and cook a family recipe, record a memory about it

Create a four generation display for your home

Join RAOGK, and help someone out

If you are a member of the Church and it is available in your area, please sign up for New Family Search

PART TWO: SHARE IT.

After one week, please write about your experience, what you have learned or how your testimony has grown and share it with others. Especially me! Please e-mail me, send me a message via facebook, leave a comment on the blog- whatever!

PLEASE IF YOU HAVE A BLOG make a post about it, entitle your post “Genealogy is…” and insert your own phrase and let me know you have done so, so I can read it! Challenge others if you want, you can even link back here!

Genealogy is... Romantic

The December before we headed East, we planned a trip up to Blackfoot, Idaho. The purpose of our trip was to see some of Mike’s family members and to take pictures of some genealogical landmarks, like the Blackfoot tabernacle (which is now a mortuary, yikes, that’s a story for another day) and a few graves in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately it dumped snow the entire time we are in Salt Lake, so the graves were covered and we never got the pictures.
Last month I asked my friend Marné to do me a favor while in Salt Lake, to take a few snapshots of the graves we couldn’t during our trip. Marné was successful, and it was a delightful surprise when I informed Michael that Marné had pictures of his ancestors’ resting place.
Yeah, yeah. I know, your husband wouldn’t find it very romantic to receive a cemetery plot map and photographs of tombstones, but there is something more to this, I promise, and I’m getting to it!

Through genealogy I’m beginning to understand the word ALL.
And how it pertains to time and eternity, and the love I have for my husband.
As I trace my lineage and the lineage of my husband, I begin to understand the eternal nature of our being, and how it is possible that we have always existed.
Have you ever heard the expression

“I love you to pieces”?
I love all my husband’s abilities, and inabilities, his features, his mannerisms, just everything. The sum of who my husband is and what he will become is due, a great deal, to his family, both eternal and earthly. How can I not want to be with ALL of him, any part of him that has ever existed? How could I not love him to “pieces” even the pieces of his pedigree?

My marriage to my husband is for all time and eternity. Just as my husband’s time on earth did not begin at the wedding alter, neither does eternity begin at our demise.
Through genealogy, my love grows for my husband and the people who made his mortality possible, just as my love for him perpetually cultivates as I watch our son mature. Family, now and then, past and present, is all about love.

It’s terribly romantic, really.

So, yeah, it’s “just" a plot map but what it represents is part of ALL my love for him.

So, until next week…
it’s ALL or nothing!

Next week... the challenge!

Genealogy is... Creative

Before Michael and I were married, I graduated institute. After we were married we both continued to attend institute classes together and separately, which was a great blessing for us. We enrolled in a Family History course one semester and I was very smug as I sat down for the first class. The instructor had us fill-out a survey about our family history experience, what was completed and what we had yet to get done. I confidently checked box after box, indicating my familiarity with the subject, until the last question made me pause.
Do you have your four generations on display in your home?

...What? No.
I do now though, thanks to Sister Hopkins. My parents have theirs as well, and my son’s is in the nursery, I’ve given pedigrees as gifts, and by helping others create displays have made friends . Often when we think about doing our genealogy, we imagine ourselves hunched over a keyboard at the Family History Center in dim lighting for hours. Not so, though, unless you prefer your time spent this way… then… keep trucking, I guess… but you can be hunched over your craft bench as well.

Here are some ideas from around our home and out-and-about the internet:

From Our Home

Artifacts: Use family textiles, pictures of ancestors and genealogical landmarks or objects to decorate your home.

Pedigree display: frame your pedigree and showcase on a bookshelf or sitting area. If you need a template, I have templates for individual and couples' predigrees.

Activity Book: Fun for younger family memebrs. Take genealogical information and create cross-words, matching, and other activities.

From Out and About the Internet

Using Photographs as displays

Scrapbooking-This is from my friend Caitlin’s craft creations blog, I love her dearly and she is the most self-reliant woman I know. This display is a wonderful idea., and of course Caitlin is a great scrapper and can execute it perfectly.

Recipe books- Gather up recipes, family traditions, and other related material and make a recipe book for the family

They always said in school if you can make the infomation meaningful to you, you'll remember it better. Use your talents to make family history meaningful to you and others!

Until next Thursday,
Don’t worry, get scrappy!

Genealogy is... Preserving

Often our perception of genealogy is two dimensional, paper and pen, pedigree and charts, maybe a few pictures, maybe. Yet there is so much more that we can do. Let me tell you about some of our family’s treasures.
Recordings
Most of you know about my mother-in-law Ruth, some of you have had the pleasure of knowing her personally, a privilege I missed. I met Michael shortly after his mother’s death; therefore, I have never known the woman who raised my husband. You miss out on a lot of information without a mother-in-law.
Right after my niece Alyssa was born, Ruth recorded herself reading Little Golden Books and singing songs on tapes. Thanks to Shelly, we were able to record those tapes, so now we have the MP3s. We also have recordings of Michael’s grandparents reading books as well. When Caleb gets old enough he will enjoy being read to by his progenitors.
Recipes
One of the things I cherish is family recipes. Every time I make banana bread or Captain Grandma’s Rice Dish, I think about those ancestors who nourished their families and bothered to record the recipe, so the nourishment and tradition could continue.
Journals
My brother-in-law inherited a set of scriptures from his father, and I think they are the neatest token. What’s so special, you ask? Well, beside from the Bruce R. McConkie autograph in the back, my brother-in-law’s father basically journaled in his scriptures. He would date passages the day he read them, record answers to prayers, and identify a scribble or rip a child created with a byline and date. It is priceless.
Genealogy does not have to be two dimensional, it’s all about preserving. You take something that you want to remember, record it in some manner and preserve it for future generations. It could be a frugal recipe your great-grandmother passed down (that you end up serving on a second date with your-future-husband), silly songs or a lesson learned or a set of values or beliefs.

You know, the important stuff.

It doesn't always have to be about your ancestors either.
You can start working on your personal history now,
you know, while you actually remember it! ; )

Until next Thursday…
make like some jam and preserve!

Genealogy is... Interesting

I just got done preparing a four generations pedigree for one of Mike’s home teachees, and it turns out he is related to Annie Abbott "The Little Georgia Magnet"

Go ahead try to tell me that isn’t interesting.

Also.
I mentioned on another post that I’m helping out a neighbor with his genealogy; he already had his four generations, and wants my focus to be tracing his paternal roots to England (since his maternal roots were already established back to Benjamin Franklin).

Which I just completed this week (hooray for me), and I managed to find a book about his great-great-great-great grandparents and descendents, The Shropshires of Cumberland County and have purchased it for him (it was the least I could do- we came home to a mowed lawn on Sunday).

There’s a bit of folklore circulating the genealogy forums about my neighbor’s ancestors. No one really knows when or why the first Shropshires landed on American soil. Some say they were retired pirates who settled in America to rest on their “booties” and eat apple pie. Others suggest they were more Privateer than pirates, since they are recorded as Whigs, who may have had the courage to stand as marked men by signing the Oath of Allegiance back in the 1700s. Pirate or Privateer? Hm. Interesting.


The more research I conduct the more appreciative I become of the human experience.

Mike is my type of guy. He carries around copy of the infamous Beware of Pride talk in his scriptures. I didn’t know this until last year when we were taking a Book of Mormon class and the instructor passed around a copy of the talk and Mike promptly pulled out his own shrunken-down version from his scripture holder.
In the talk President Ezra Taft Benson describes the many facets of pride, he says, “Another face of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous dominion, generation gaps, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride.”
I remember when we went over this in class I raised my hand promptly, probably too promptly, and inquired, “What’s a generation gap?”
Just in case you didn’t know either, a generation gap is not just the varied experiences of an older and younger generation, it’s more than that. It’s the irreverence for someone of another generation. After we reviewed Beware of Pride I began to see generation gaps everywhere, especially when studying the scriptures. The whole book of Ether: generation gap. Heck, the whole Book of Mormon: generation gap.

What am I trying to say? As we study those of different generations we develop a reverence for them and the lives they have led, and we forget our own. Yes, we can develop pride as we discover royals or novelties in our lineage, but as we realize that their true royality and novelty comes from being a Child of God, our pride escapes us.

So start digging!
Who knows what you’ll find in your family tree! You could be related to a former President of the United States, a survivor, a ring leader, an arsonist, a farmer, a martyr-

there could be epics in those branches

and scandals in ‘em roots!

The question, Paul Harvey, is...

do you want to know the rest of the story?

Until next Thursday…
mind the gap.

Genealogy is... Necessary

It is a pretty common dialogue among members of the Church when discussing family history. A member will say, “Our family history has all been done,” or speak of a shrewd great aunt who is the family record keeper.
By “all done” I can only imagine the person means the minimal four generation temple work has been completed, because I highly doubt they have traced their ancestral line back to Adam and Eve and can explain to me with confidence how we are related.
Regarding Aunt So-And-So, the keeper of the records, there are two stories to this common narrative. The first is that the Aunt will not share the records. I have met people like this and I am flabbergasted, they have a different idea of what ‘preservation’ means, I suppose. The second story is that the member is apathetic, Aunt So-And-So has it done, so why should I bother?
I’ll tell you why you should bother, brother.


An infamous story from the Book of Mormon illustrates my point perfectly. It’s a story we sing about in Primary, a story that we study in Sunday school, and in our homes. It is the retrieval of the brass plates. The value of scriptures is often discussed with this story, but a less-discussed theme is the value of genealogy, for the genealogy of Lehi’s fathers was upon the plates as well. To sum up my thoughts on this story in relation to genealogy, it is important to know where you are coming from to get where you are going- wherever that may be. That’s the simple summary. To read more about this story, here are the references: 1 Nephi 3:3-10, 19-21 and 1 Nephi 5:10-22


It is our duty to seek out our genealogy, no matter the price, despite the completion of temple work. If we seek out our progenitors for only the act of proxy ordinances, we are falling incredibly short of this most glorious practice, and the spiritual lesson it teaches.

I know that genealogy is necessary, not just the ordinances that are completed within the temple. And, that through this work, I have learned far more about the nature of God and the nature of the Atonement than studying any other subject. I know that God knows and remembers each one of His children. Through prayer, I have never fallen short in my searches and I have seen miracles, and I have become a miracle.

Through genealogical research I have developed Christ-like attributes, and have become more perfect. And I thank my ancestors for that.

Until next Thursday…

Please tell Aunt So-And-So

I’m sorry about comparing her to Laban!

Genealogy is... The Introduction

I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly six years now, but I’ve been a genealogist since I was a little girl. I have always enjoyed learning about my family and listening to stories and asking far more questions than any child should.

After the many conversations I’ve had with members of the Church concerning genealogy, I think I should endorse a paradigm shift on the subject.
So. Beginning May 7th, for five weeks I will be publishing a brief post on Genealogy each Thursday, besides my other posts. At the end of the five weeks, I’ll publish a challenge.

I’ve installed a button on the sidebar that will direct you to all the posts of the series, in case you miss a week.

Disclaimer:
Although my posts will refer to practices and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they are no way an official statement. These are my unique experiences, and interpretations concerning genealogy.
For more information about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints please visit mormon.org or click the button on the sidebar.