My husband, Ray, and I were going on a road trip to Nauvoo, Illinois to visit some historical places of our stalwart pioneer ancestry. On the trip, we were passing through Fort Madison, Iowa which lies west of the Mississippi River before getting into Nauvoo. As we were driving through Fort Madison, a memory clicked in… Read More Spiritual Experience in Fort Madison, Iowa
Have you ever thought about messaging an unknown distant relative on FamilySearch or other family history sites? Reaching out to unknown family members is a great way to develop relationships with extended family and add information to your family tree. Back in the 1990s before online research, I connected with Geoff Sadler, who was researching… Read More Making New Family Connections
After a busy day or week, most of us enjoy a quiet evening settled on the sofa to watch a little TV. The challenge is finding shows that are “of good report” and worthy of our time. Some entertainment that we have come to appreciate are a few of the Family History shows found on BYUtv. Here are… Read More An Evening with Family History
My mother died in 1989 at 99 years of age and 3 weeks. I inherited a number of her keepsakes. Enclosed is a translation of a letter that was written to her in 1926 by a young man who had proposed marriage to her. Out of the many proposals that she had, this is one… Read More Is It Just a Coincidence?
In a RootsTech presentation in 2017, President Russell M. Nelson made an important connection that family history work can aid missionary work. Here is a link to a 2-minute excerpt from his remarks: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/family-history-can-aid-missionary-work Among other things, he said the following: People have an inborn desire to know something about their ancestors. That can become… Read More Family History Can Aid Missionary Work
I know many people shy away from doing their DNA testing, and rightly so if they are not willing to accept that their ancestors were human. They had no idea their secrets would be revealed through a simple test. A few years ago, my husband discovered a half-sister that even his 96 year old aunt… Read More DNA Connections
Recently I was visiting my aging mother in Central Utah. While I was there, I noticed an ad in her local newspaper promoting “Oral Histories” of some of the people who had lived in the area, but had since passed on. Reviewing the list, I noticed the names of those who had previously served as… Read More Gathering Information on Those We Love
When I was a young girl, one of my favorite things to look forward to in the summer was spending a week with my cousin at our grandparents’ house in Nephi, Utah. Their house was so different than living in the city. They had a large plot of land with a barn, chickens, a cow, horses, and… Read More Keep Family History Alive Plant; Something in Honor of An Ancestor
From a messaging conversation on FamilySearch: -Mark Peterson, New Castle Ward Temple & Family History Leader
My husband, David, is the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his family. We had been interested in finding his ancestors for decades and had worked on it to the best of our ability and time. Then, six years ago, we moved into the Little Cottonwood Ward. One of the… Read More Finding my Husband’s Italian Ancestors