by Annette Lyon
We should all be doing our family history and temple work, right? The thought makes many of us choke—isn’t the process convoluted and complicated? It used to be. A decade ago, getting the work of one name researched, approved, completed and recorded, took about two dozen steps, including trips to family-history centers, file conversions, and more.
Temple Ready CDs were updated every few years, so they were rarely current. Patrons often submitted work that had already been done since the last edition. Duplication was a huge problem.

Continue Reading »

By Danielle Ellis
“Stand close together and lift where we stand,” counseled President Dieter F. Uctdorf in an address to the priesthood brethren in the October 2008 general conference. Although President Uctdorf’s counsel applies to many settings within the Church and our lives, I want to share the startling results I have experienced applying this counsel to family history.

Continue Reading »

By LaRae Free Kerr
Four brothers inherited a business from their father, which then failed, due to a vice of one of the brothers. This brother withdrew from the family, and his descendants didn’t even know of their relatives in the same city. When a modern descendant contacted a descendant of one of the other brothers, the cousin left out the “falling out” part of the story. The reader telling this tale then asked, “I’m wondering a) if I should have (left it out), and b) whether I should approach any member of the “estranged” branch of the family to see if they would like a gentle account of the story.”(This story has been changed to protect privacy.)

Continue Reading »

By LaRae Free Kerr
There are other folks I’d like to mention but I really
haven’t time.

Continue Reading »

By LaRae Free Kerr
In a perfect genealogical world, every single person would be represented on a family group record with at least three vital records: birth, marriage, and death certificates. Each certificate would give a name, an event, a date, a place, one or more persons, and a connector which, when combined,

Continue Reading »