Family History is Fun!

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, We are sure you have heard by now that we are moving out of the ward.   This will be our last posting.   We wanted to leave you with some thoughts as we have been downsizing. One article we found was from The Nome Nugget, a newspaper from Nome, Alaska.   Brother May received this paper when he was a reporter working in Nome.   On the front page of the Thursday, April 14, 1988 edition, is an article entitled “Family history salvaged at Nome City Dump”.   It is a story about a man who was tossing a load of trash in the Nome City Dump and his foot slipped on something slick.   He picked it up and found a baby book among the items.   The book contained more than 100 photos and notations from a mom about her new baby son.   The notations covered his life from his birth in 1946 through the year 1962.   They included information about his family members – his father, his brother and his mom.   As the man lo...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, It has been awhile since we last posted on the blog but wanted to catch up a bit.   Pioneer Day is coming in two weeks and as we prepare to celebrate this holiday our hearts are turned to those who suffered so much in the face of adversity as they sought the right to practice Freedom of Religion.   We sometimes take that freedom for granted.   As I have been researching my pioneer ancestors (see blog from May on the Palmer family), I have come to more fully appreciate the freedom we enjoy.   As I mentioned before, my ancestors were victims of the extermination order and the massacre at Haun’s Mill.   They were forced to flee their homes and the security of being near the Prophet for guidance and assurance.   They lost most, if not all, of their material possessions – both those of sentimental value and those that provided the necessities of life.   They faced the harsh elements as they crossed the country and lost ...

 Dear Brothers and Sisters, The 1950's Federal Census is being released and several states are released already - most on the East Coast.  Texas and Nebraska may also be released at this time.  Do you have ancestors that were living on the East Coast, Texas or Nebraska in the year 1950?   Brother May and I were living in Washington State in 1950 and we cannot wait until that state's information is released!  How exciting!  We have only one week left to complete the Family History Contest in our ward.  How are you doing?  Need help?   Here is how the tree looks as of this morning..... This is exciting!  Who is going to be enjoying some ice cream?                                                                        R...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, We have always heard the adage that “A picture is worth 1000 words”….. so today Brother May and I are adding 2000 words. This is a photo of a World War I memorial in Hungary.   But when we looked at it, it reminded us of those who have passed on before us and are waiting for their work to be completed in the Temple! This is the photo taken today (Sunday, 20 March, 2022) of the Spirit of Elijah Challenge Tree in our ward building by the Bishop’s office.  Our poor tree is looking like the beginnings of winter instead of the beginnings of spring……… We have one week left to complete the first of our ward’s challenges on Gathering Israel.   If you have completed one of the tasks, be sure to add your leaf to the tree.   If you cannot get to the building to do it, contact Brother May and myself and we can add your leaf for you on the appropriate branch of the tree.   Below is the reminder of the tasks ...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today in Sacrament meeting, Sister Woods of the Stake Primary spoke to us.  Her message started with her fascination with the roots of words and she told of Jacob, Abraham’s son, being renamed by the Lord.  His new name is Israel, which in Hebrew means, Let God Prevail.  Another meaning of the name Israel that is used today is “those who are willing to let God into their lives and let God prevail”. President Nelson has asked us to participate in the gathering of Israel.  In other words, to participate in the gathering of those who are willing to let God into their lives and let Him prevail.  We, in the Heber 3 rd  Ward, have taken this request to heart. We are gathering Israel on both sides of the veil. How are you gathering Israel?   The Ward Family History Plan is a fun way to fulfill that request. Last week we introduced the Ward Family History Plan. Today it began and the contest runs through Sunday, March 27....

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, I have been waiting for the BIG announcement to update the blog.  If you were in Relief Society or Elders Quorum, you heard it.  The Heber 3 rd  Ward is holding a Family History contest!  Last night Sister Miller posted our weekly bulletin and added a small poster to the email that was sent out.  Below you will see a larger copy of that poster. Several months ago, the Ward Family History plan began to take shape.  With input from the Young Women and Young Men, the Elder’s Quorum and the Relief Society, the plan to help our ward Gather Israel was formed, modified and refined.  A couple of weeks ago, it was “soft Introduced” in the joint Elder’s Quorum/Relief Society Meeting.  Today it was officially introduced to all organizations.   Simply, it goes like this: Outside the Bishop’s office will be a poster with a Family Tree on it.  It will have 5 branches – one for each of the organizations in our ward – E...

Dear Brothers and Sisters, With a new year comes the anticipation of new beginnings.   We set new goals and resolutions, we plan to make this new year better than the last, and hope to accomplish all the things left undone last year.   We are determined to improve ourselves in the process. It is a time of change and excitement. As we search for inspiration on what changes to make, we look in the scriptures, the Liahona, and pray for direction.   Every once in awhile, however, our inspiration comes from another place.   In this case, ours was from a post in Facebook! ***** Help Wanted ***** Family history and temple workers to link families eternally.   ~~ Linda K Burton Recently we were told that all operating temples were open in one phase or another and that we, in Utah, can make an appointment to do proxy work at any Utah Temple.   This is a great blessing!   As we make our goals for this coming year let’s consider answering this Help Want...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, While roaming through social media this past week, I came across this post and thought it was a great visual of Christmas and our family trees.   I borrowed it from J. Paul Hawthorn. (Hope it is not too blurry to see)  It got me to thinking about family history and our responsibility.   We are in a very busy season with all the seasonal activities, family gatherings and the stress that sometimes (maybe most often) goes along with this. When we have a moment to just sit and relax, if you are like Brother May and myself, we do just that – sit.   But what if we relaxed with our family history? We have been told by our Prophet, Russell M. Nelson, that this is the time to be engaged in the gathering of Israel and he calls it “the most important work in the world”.   This gathering consists of missionary work, on both sides of the veil, and we can do it in many ways that fit our personalities, our schedules and our talents.  ...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, This is an exciting time to be doing Family History!   We have been talking about different records being available for our research and how easy it has become to obtain information.   People all over the world are working together on family trees – adding documents, little details, photos and stories.   We may not know these distant family members but we have the blessing of benefitting from their contributions.   Each little added piece of information brings us closer together   -   members and non-members alike building one wonderful family.   We as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, have an additional blessing.   We have the Temple so we can be proxy for those family members on our tree and help them become part of our eternal family!   Before COVID became part of our lives, we could go to the Temple just about any time we wanted.   Now as Temples are slowly opening up ag...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, This week we will be celebrating Veteran’s Day – a day set aside to honor and celebrate all Veterans of the Military Service –   those who have passed away and those who are still living. As many of you do, Brother May and I have a rich heritage of military service in our family trees.   The more recent heritage includes Brother May’s parents -   his father was in the Air Force, his mother was in the WAC’s.   My father was in the Navy and my sister was in the Army and National Guard.   Brother May, himself, served in the Air Force, following his father’s footsteps, then also served in the National Guard.   (Me?   I am a Navy “Brat” – didn’t serve in the military, but was born while my father was on active duty.   I was probably more “brat” in my teenage years but that is a different story and won’t be told here :-) When we are researching our family’s military records to add information and sources to our tree...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, A couple of years ago, Brother May and I launched a fun project in the ward to find out if we are more than a ward family but have closer relationships with other ward members.   Many of us found out we are cousins with other ward members….. sometimes several times removed.   Do you get confused with “9 th cousin” or “1 st cousin, 4 times removed” or similar relationship descriptions?   We certainly do! FamilySearch has the answer!   When you log onto your FamilySearch account, the home page has a box on the upper left corner with the wording “What’s a 2 nd Cousin Twice Removed?”   Click on the blue bar with the words “Check the Cousin Chart” and the FamilySearch blog post appears.   This blog post has an excellent explanation of those confusing relationships. It defines a cousin and goes on to describe 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th cousins.   As you read further, the blog describes the term “once removed, twice remove...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today as we bring our discussion of Census Records to a close, we will cover Occupation, including Military Service. It appears that for most areas, the 1870 Census was the first to include Occupations.   Just after the Description section is a column titled “Profession, Occupation or Trade of Each Person Male or Female”.   On the line following the individual’s name is their occupation or profession.   On my great-great grandfather’s Census record from Bedford County, Virginia,   most males were listed as Farm Laborer and the females were listed as “Keeping House”,   Children age 10 and older had a question mark in the column while those under age 10 were left blank.   The 1880 Census carried the same format but the question marks were replaced with the words “At Home”. In 1900 many of the enumerators listed only the occupation of the heads of household and the servants or boarders in the home.   Others may have b...