There are many reasons why people get interested in genealogy. Some people come to it out of curiosity. Some do it out of appreciation for their cultural heritage. Others begin searching for information about their medical history.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have a different motivation. My faith teaches that family bonds are eternal. I believe that I will continue my family relationships in the life to come. In addition, the doctrine of my faith teaches that through sacred ordinances performed in holy temples, those who never knew of or fully understood the teachings of Jesus Christ during their mortal lifetimes can be given the opportunity to have the blessings of the gospel. So I feel a real sense of responsibility to seek out my deceased ancestors.
Elder Boyd K. Packer said: "Family history work has the power to do something for the dead. It has an equal power to do something for the living. Family history work of Church members has a refining, spiritualizing, tempering influence on those who are engaged in it." I have a testimony those words are true.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are taught that we can act as "Saviors on Mount Zion" for our ancestors by seeking out essential information about our kindred dead and performing sacred ordinances for them in the Temples of the Lord.
On the church's website, in the section on Family History Work & Genealogy it says:
"In the spirit world, the restored gospel is preached to those who died without receiving it in mortality. Many of those in the spirit world accept the gospel, but without a body they cannot receive the ordinances necessary for salvation. The primary purpose of family history work is to obtain names and other genealogical information so that temple ordinances can be performed in behalf of deceased ancestors." Found HERE
Over the years I have done quite a bit of family history research. Back when I was a young stay-at-home mother I worked hard to fit it in between managing my busy household and kissing scraped knees. Even when my kids got older, as a harried graduate student I somehow found time to make it over to the local family history library to search through old microfilm files or to locate cemeteries where I could track down critical dates. However, in the last 10-15 years I've done very little family history work.
Alas, too often I have allowed the demands of my professional work life to take precedence. Also, having essentially found all the "low hanging fruit" I became discouraged when I kept running in to dead ends after going back about six generations. So, little by little, I gradually slipped away from my steady routine of working on my genealogy projects. I would pick at it it fitful bursts of energy now and again, but it was no longer a regular part of my life. Then, when I moved to a different state it all got crammed into boxes and has not been looked at since.
There is a time and season for everything, they say.
I am determined that my time for doing regular family history work is back. I do want to do more original research. For now, however, my main focus will be on reorganizing the information I already have and saving it all onto the web so that it will be available to others who care to share it.
I have a STRONG testimony of WHY to do family history work. Now it is time for me to start over at square one to re-learn HOW to do it. The tools have all changed since last time I was taking this seriously. My records are a hodge podge mess in the boxes they were hastily shoved in to at my last move. It's time for me to take them all out and get them organized. It's time for me to learn some new skill sets in research. This blog will be my way of holding myself accoutable during the process of the class I am starting and to record the resources I find.
REFERENCES:D & C 127:4-10
D & C 128: 15-18
D & C 138
Malachi 4:5-6
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have a different motivation. My faith teaches that family bonds are eternal. I believe that I will continue my family relationships in the life to come. In addition, the doctrine of my faith teaches that through sacred ordinances performed in holy temples, those who never knew of or fully understood the teachings of Jesus Christ during their mortal lifetimes can be given the opportunity to have the blessings of the gospel. So I feel a real sense of responsibility to seek out my deceased ancestors.
Elder Boyd K. Packer said: "Family history work has the power to do something for the dead. It has an equal power to do something for the living. Family history work of Church members has a refining, spiritualizing, tempering influence on those who are engaged in it." I have a testimony those words are true.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are taught that we can act as "Saviors on Mount Zion" for our ancestors by seeking out essential information about our kindred dead and performing sacred ordinances for them in the Temples of the Lord.
On the church's website, in the section on Family History Work & Genealogy it says:
"In the spirit world, the restored gospel is preached to those who died without receiving it in mortality. Many of those in the spirit world accept the gospel, but without a body they cannot receive the ordinances necessary for salvation. The primary purpose of family history work is to obtain names and other genealogical information so that temple ordinances can be performed in behalf of deceased ancestors." Found HERE
Over the years I have done quite a bit of family history research. Back when I was a young stay-at-home mother I worked hard to fit it in between managing my busy household and kissing scraped knees. Even when my kids got older, as a harried graduate student I somehow found time to make it over to the local family history library to search through old microfilm files or to locate cemeteries where I could track down critical dates. However, in the last 10-15 years I've done very little family history work.
Alas, too often I have allowed the demands of my professional work life to take precedence. Also, having essentially found all the "low hanging fruit" I became discouraged when I kept running in to dead ends after going back about six generations. So, little by little, I gradually slipped away from my steady routine of working on my genealogy projects. I would pick at it it fitful bursts of energy now and again, but it was no longer a regular part of my life. Then, when I moved to a different state it all got crammed into boxes and has not been looked at since.
There is a time and season for everything, they say.
I am determined that my time for doing regular family history work is back. I do want to do more original research. For now, however, my main focus will be on reorganizing the information I already have and saving it all onto the web so that it will be available to others who care to share it.
I have a STRONG testimony of WHY to do family history work. Now it is time for me to start over at square one to re-learn HOW to do it. The tools have all changed since last time I was taking this seriously. My records are a hodge podge mess in the boxes they were hastily shoved in to at my last move. It's time for me to take them all out and get them organized. It's time for me to learn some new skill sets in research. This blog will be my way of holding myself accoutable during the process of the class I am starting and to record the resources I find.
REFERENCES:D & C 127:4-10
D & C 128: 15-18
D & C 138
Malachi 4:5-6
