It is a crucial part of who we are - the cultures, traditions, even the genetics that contribute to our overall being!
But it is more than mere curiosity - the prophet Malachi spoke of the hearts of the children being turned to their fathers before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Malachi 4:5-6). Many people - in and out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - are feeling that turning of their hearts.
There are many reasons why to do Family History. Here are a few great sources to learn more about why you should get involved:
True to the Faith - Family History Work
Video: Baptisms for the Dead
President Eyring - Hearts Bound Together
Article: Family History Work
Video: Why Family History Work
But today, my focus is on teaching you HOW to get started.
One
Create a FamilySearch.org account. This will give you access to millions of records absolutely free of charge, and can be done even if you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here's how to do it:
- Visit https://familysearch.org/register/ and fill in the required information
- When you get to this question, you will notice a box pops up if you click "yes" asking for your membership record number (MRN). If you do not know it, just click the checkbox to remind you later. You can obtain this from the clerk at your Church building (his office is usually right next to the Bishop's office).
- Agree to the terms and click "create account"
- Activate your email so that you can recover your password/username if lost
Two
After completing the registration process, you will be brought to the home screen. Notice my name, "Jason Foote", at the top right. You should see your name there; it means you're logged in!
There are a few important parts of FamilySearch's website that I will briefly describe.
First, "Family Tree"
This icon, at the left of the navigation bar, will bring you to a collaborative family tree that all FamilySearch users work on together. Unlike websites like Ancestry.com where individuals work on their own family tree, FamilySearch has a collaborative tree that anyone can add to or change - sort of like Wikipedia.
That being said, it is easy to see why it is important to be VERY careful about changes that you make to this tree. Be sure to follow the law of witnesses - to have 2 or 3 sources to support a change that your are making.
Second, "Search"
This is the middle icon on the navigation bar. Family history is like a puzzle. "Family Tree" is like the table where we are all putting the pieces together. "Search" is the box full of pieces that we are pulling out, trying to find what we are looking for to complete our part of the puzzle. "Search" is where you can find census records, marriage certificates, birth certificates, death certificates, etc. These records may or may not be connected to the collaborative "Family Tree" yet. As volunteers digitize more and more records, there are more and more pieces available to complete the puzzle.
Third, "Temple"
As you find the names of deceased family members, you can reserve their names and print off ordinance cards to perform vicarious ordinances for them in the House of the Lord. Again, I will refer you to the sources above for more information about the marvelous work of the Temple, and will simply share my conviction that it is of God. The Spirit is strong in the Temple.
Note: Temple only appears if you register as a member of the Church.
Three
"Family Tree" is a collaborative tree of those who have already passed on. So, the most important first step is to get any information you can about your living family members. Also, get any information you can about your closest ancestors who have passed on from your living family members. As you obtain this information, you can enter it into "Family Tree", the collaborative tree.
Note: Living persons (such as you... obviously you are living) CAN be entered into FamilyTree, but they are only visible to you.
How to add to the collaborative "FamilyTree"
- Click on the "FamilyTree" icon at the top navigation bar.
- After doing this, you will see an additional row of buttons appear
- You also should see this dialog box. I HIGHLY recommend viewing the training. This is intended as a supplement to and not a replacement for the awesome resources already available.
- You will be redirected to a page where you can enter all the information about your living relatives, starting with your father. Enter whatever information you would like to contribute to the family tree. Click "save" after entering the information or "skip" if you choose not to enter information for that person at this time.
Remember that living persons are private and not visible to others, but those who are deceased will be added to the collaborative tree and others can search for and see the information you contribute!
When you get to grandparents, be careful and make sure you add information about the right grandparent (mother's side vs father's side)
Also, don't hesitate to take advantage of the "live chat" option (left side of screen) to help you with any questions you may have.
- After you finish entering all of this information about parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, you should see this window:
Four
Great work! You've got your account set up and basic information about your family into the Family Tree.
There are SO many different directions that you could go from here that we will do a "choose your own adventure book" instead of trying to shove everything into one blog entry.
So what are you looking to do?
Find information about a specific ancestor
Find out more about my ancestors in general... I don't know much about them and want to learn more.
Find the name of an ancestor who I could do Temple work for.
I hope this blog has been helpful. Please share any comments or questions below.
