Saturday, February 5, 2011

Who Do You Think You Are?

I haven't watched this show yet, but now I really want to. Why? Because I finally started doing some geneology!

In our church, geneology is HUGE. The very last scripture in the Old Testament, Malachi 4:6 says: "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." We believe that has to do wtih geneology, and we apply that in several ways, but two of them are:

1. By knowing our past, we know who we are and how we fit into the eternal plan of our Heavenly Father,
and
2. We literally believe that families are forever. We do not say "till death do you part" in our marriage ceremonies, we say "for time and all eternity." We believe if you have a child who died, you will have that child (and all your other children) back in Heaven- in their perfect form. We believe you will be married to your spouse forever (good thing I really like Ben, huh?). This is one of the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that I love the most. But really, there are a lot of doctrines of our church that I absolutely love- how could I choose? So it's just in the top 10, or 15. Hee, hee!

Anyway, my sister and I have tried to do geneology work in the past to no avail. All of our lines (and Ben's lines) go back to the pioneers, so there have been thousands of people on both sides- including several professional geneologists- who have been working on our lines. That does not leave us a lot of options, and has led to some great frustrations.

2011, though, is my year for family history. 2010 was the year of food storage, and now it's family history time. I can only do one major thing a year- I'm just not that good to do it all at once.

I met with a friend who has experience doing geneology and she showed me several tricks. We beat our head against a brick wall for days. I prayed and prayed that I would have some success, but I did not. I was very much ready to give up because EVERYTHING has been done, but then it happened...

I found a line that hadn't been touched! Once that line was opened, I found a hundred names in a week- and I have barely touched the surface! It is unbelievable, and has been such a rewarding experience!

My testimony of families has increased 10 fold. It's as if I can somehow catch a small glimpse of what Heavenly Father has in store for His children: this perfect plan where we have a mother, father, and children who grow in love for each other and for Heavenly Father. That, in turn, has increased my love for Ben and the girls- if that is even possible!

My temple worship has changed as I feel like my heart is being turned to my father's (and my mother's!).

It has been a life changing experience.

Why am I saying all of this? I am now at a point where there is too much work- I have to pace myself to keep up with it all, and so I am at a good point to branch out and help others get started. If you are interested in doing geneology but you don't know where to start, I would LOVE to help you! Seriously, now that I have a testimony of it, I want to share it with everyone so you can have a testimony of it as well!!! And, certainly knowing our ancestors and how we are connected is not limited to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so if any of you out there want some help, please e-mail me!!!! Seriously, I would love to help anybody I can- this is such a huge blessing, and I want everyone to have this sweet experience and be blessed as well!

4 comments:

  1. you know what is funny. I've had family history on the brain. Maybe since I helped you on the food storage end, now you can help me on the family history end :)

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  2. Wow! I'm so happy for you. How exciting! I'm in the middle of a couple of big projects right now, but I seriously might take you up on your offer when they're finished. I do much better when I focus on just one thing at a time. I'm in a similar boat in that A LOT of work has already been done, but I'm sure it can't all be done. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I've done large amounts of the genealogy in our family and actually been able to do some temple work too. It is an incredible experience to do work for someone you actually KNEW! Sadly, the lines are all back to places like rural, war-torn Finland and also my grandpa's family name is like "Smith" in Germany, so we've come to a bit of a stall. I'd love to know what your tricks are. Maybe they could help me too. What I have found most fascinating is that although both my parents are converts, there have been random individuals in our family who's work has been done in other places. I'd love to know if we have some long-lost member-relatives out there.

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  4. Jen-
    Let's get together! The kids can play while we work- send me an e-mail and we'll pick a day!

    Kristin and Danielle-
    Give me a call and we'll see what we can find!!

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