Youth and Family History, Part II- The Red Headed Hostess

These are my very own nieces.

And they have been born into a family with a lot of Family History to do. My father, their grandfather, was not a member of our Church.

And neither were his parents… or his parent’s parents, and so on. When my father passed away 15 years ago, we got ourselves to the Temple. He passed on October 31, 1996 and we were gathered around the font November 2, 1997, to witness his work finally being done, and then finally we were sealed as a family that same day.

Needless to say, he was only the beginning of a long line of individuals that we needed to love as much as we love him. A whole line looking to us to provide the saving ordinances that they need, that we had just given him.

When Elder Bednar gave the talk on family history work this past general conference, my older sister heard his message, and she and her daughters (ages 13 and 15) had their hearts turned to their fathers.

She turned her daughters to the new youth family history website.

And they started to get to work.

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Why do you like the new youth website?

Heidi:

Because it helps me find my family and where I came from.

Ashlyn:

Because it is fun, and I learned a lot about my heritage.  Stuff like… I am royalty a lot of different times.

 

How easy has it been for you to learn how to do family history?

Heidi:

Its pretty easy.  It is a little difficult when you first get on, but when you get help you get used to it.

Ashlyn:

Pretty easy.  I found George Fee and it linked to  a whole lineage because I found him.

How has the new youth website helped you?

Heidi:

It helped me realize how many people me and my family are saving.

Ashlyn:

It helped me a lot by instructing me on how to do family history.

Why do you like to do family history work?

Heidi:

Because I know that I will be able to meet all of my family someday.  And in order to do that I have to be baptized for them.

Ashlyn:

Because it is fun.  I learned that I’m related to Julius Ceaser!  How cool!

How do you feel when you are working on your family history?

Heidi:

I feel like I am being like Christ.

Ashlyn:

Like I have the spirit of Elijah.

What have you learned about where you come from?

Heidi:

I think its really cool that I’m related to tons of kings and queens and  then how I’m related to hillbillies.  It is interesting.

Ashlyn:

I am German, Irish, in the family of Judah, British, Roman, Greek, etc.

How does knowing about your family history impact you?

Heidi:

 It makes me proud of how I have helped them get to heaven.

Ashlyn:

I can get extra credit in french class for being related to the Louis’.

How do you think you will feel when you are able to take some of these names to the temple?

Heidi:

GREAT.  I actually did that today, I did a couple of names for my ancestors.  It was awesome.

Ashlyn:

I will be happy to do it for them.

What would you say to someone who said that family history is only for older people?

Heidi:

I would say that is way wrong.  Teenagers really help get it started.  They tell friends and family and then it gets spread around.

Ashlyn:

To a kid:  “Well have you ever done it?”  To an adult:  “I beg to differ!”

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“It is no coincidence that FamilySearch and other tools have come forth at a time when young people are so familiar with a wide range of information and communication technologies. Your fingers have been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord—not just to communicate quickly with your friends. The skills and aptitude evident among many young people today are a preparation to contribute to the work of salvation.”  (Elder David A. Bednar, October 2011 General Conference)

Have you checked out the new youth website?

This would be a great thing to have a Family Home Evening about.  It is brilliantly done.

 

3 comments

  1. My daughter needs a project to help the other young women (so she can earn her “bee”) . She thought about doing something with Family Search Indexing, but I think it will also be great if she taught the YW how to use the new website too!

    Great interview, young ladies!

  2. I love that you posted about this. I am in YW and from the minute I heard Elder Bednar’s talk, I knew I needed to challenge our YW to find names we could take as a group to do baptisms. We had them come to my house and check out the new site and search for their ancestors names. At first they were disappointed when they heard what we were doing, but by the end of the night they didn’t want to leave. It was so promising. I told them when they left I would help them anyway I could. I am an avid FH person and know my way around all the sites. The excitement was short lived. I am not sure how to encourage them more. We have challenged them to find names to take next time we go. I am at a loss how to light a fire under them…I finally got all the leaders on board and the YM went to the FH center last night. Any ideas would be so helpful.

    I think the biggest thing is there are so many families who believe that all their work is done, yet, once you log into NFS, you can see there is so much to do. I have learned that just because the work shows done on NFS, that is just for those submitted and does not mean the family is complete. I have found birth records for young children who died before they were added to a census records, extra spouses after one passed away, etc. Anywho…sorry to jabber. Love this topic!

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