Ellen grew up in the Monrovia area and one hundred percent considers herself to be a California girl. However after being curious about the snow, she attended Brigham Young University where she studied Art Education & International Cinema. After ultimately deciding the snow wasn’t for her she moved back to California, where she is currently working as a Nanny.
Ellen
also loves traveling & will take every opportunity she has to visit
somewhere she’s never been. Nothing makes her happier than a good film
paired with a good meal and one day she hopes to visit every Art museum
in LA.
<I have work enough to do, for myself & kindred too>
“ LEARN ABOUT THE EXCITING & SACRED WORK OF FAMILY HISTORY & HOW TO BE ENGAGED IN IT ”
“ LEARN ABOUT THE EXCITING & SACRED WORK OF FAMILY HISTORY & HOW TO BE ENGAGED IN IT ”
Family history is an opportunity for service, you are helping to facilitate someone else’s joy
You never know what you’ll find
FAMILY HISTORY LOOKS DIFFERENT FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE
What can I do to DISCOVER member of my family and help others do the same?
1) Index; helping digitize old documents makes them easy to search & allows people all over the world greater access to the information they contain.
2) Become more familiar with familysearch.org; whatever stage of family history you are in, spending time becoming acquainted with the ins & outs of family search will help you find relatives that you may be searching for and help you learn more about your family’s ancestors
3) Visit Local Historic Sites or Genealogical Societies; as you learn more about your family you will learn about the places they spent their time & the things they accomplished. You may find that your ancestors played an important part in the history of an area or that they spent part of their life in a historical place during a landmark time history. Visiting that place, after learning about your ancestor’s role there, may help you better understand your ancestor’s life & experience.
4) Billion Graves or Find a Grave; these groups combine the excitement of indexing, visiting a historical place, and providing service. In a simple act of service you can visit a local cemetery and groom and document the headstones. Like indexing old documents, many people across the world use the information recorded on headstones to correct and enhance the information they have in their family trees.
*Gathering the family of God - President Eyring April 2017
“Just a few weeks ago, I was working on my family history with a consultant by my side and another helper on the phone. On the computer screen before me was a problem beyond my mortal power to solve. I saw two names, sent to me by the wonders of technology, of people who might be waiting for a temple ordinance. But the trouble was that the names were different, but there was a reason to believe they might be the same person. My task was to determine what was true. I asked my consultants to tell me. They said, “No, you must choose.” And they were completely sure I would discover the truth. The computer, with all its power and information, had left me the blessing of staring at those names on a screen, evaluating the available information, seeking other research, praying silently, and discovering what was true. As I prayed, I knew with surety what to do—just as I have in other situations when I needed to rely on heaven’s help to solve a problem.”
What can I do to GATHER my family and help others do the same?
1) Collect family photos & stories; if you have photos of ancestors or stories about their lives add them to the Memories section in family search. Having a picture and story about a relative makes them more real than just a name on a family tree. Try comparing a photo of yourself to your ancestors, see what physical traits you share. Also try asking older relatives about the stories they have about themselves and their family, this will also provide you a sweet time to connect with your living relatives.
2) Write your personal history; go through your old documents and life accomplishments and create your own personal history. Whether it’s a book of remembrance or a written history of your life to this point, your descendants will treasure this documentation of your life. You may also be surprised to find that by starting with your history you are prompted to learn more about your ancestors
3) Share family traditions and heirlooms; having traditions, meaningful objects, or talents that are passed down from one generation to the next is an incredible way to feel connected to those who have gone before you. These practices can also inspire you to find similarities between yourself and your ancestors and grow closer to them as well as helping younger generations have a tangible piece of the past.
*Your Family History: Getting Started - Boyd K. Packer August 2009
“We found things we had wondered about for a long time. It seemed as though they came to us almost too easily. More than this, things that we never dreamed existed began to show up. … We came to know that an inspiration will follow those who move into it. It is just a matter of getting started. Once we started, we found the time. Somehow we were able to carry on all of the other responsibilities.”
“…the decision, the action, must begin with the individual. … If we want a testimony of family history and temple work, we must do something about that work. … Family history work has the power to do something for the dead. It has an equal power to do something to the living. Family history work of Church members has a refining, spiritualizing, tempering influence on those who are engaged in it. They understand that they are tying their family together, their living family here with those who have gone before.”
What can I do to CONNECT with my family, past and present, and help others do the same?
1) Heritage of talents; whether you had a great grandmother who loved to cook, an aunt who was a painter, or a grandma who quilts every family has talents and skills that have been passed down like family heirlooms and are far more precious. Have a living ancestor teach you a skill or share their talent with you. It could be learning to prepare a family recipe, playing a instrument that has been passed down, sewing clothes, painting, singing, etc. Not only does this allow you to develop you own talents, but it allows you connect with the person taking their time to teach you a skill. Something that you could possibly share with your descendants as well.
2) Doing Temple Work & preparing Ordinances; if you have the opportunity to go the Temple, take family names with you. By looking at your family tree through Family Search you will be able to see the ordinances that have been performed for your relatives. The more time you spend looking through your family tree, the more likely you are to find someone who still needs their work done. With the temple representing our ultimate goal of returning to live with our Father in Heaven, there is no sweeter place to connect and feel connected to our families as we bind ourselves together.
3) Trace family names; have a family name? Look through your family tree and find the members of your family you are named after. Learn their stories and get to know those whose name you have the opportunity to carry. Names are so personal that by learning more about those we share a name with we can better understand the heritage we are coming from and the incredible people in our family trees. As a bonus look for people and names you might want to passed down to your children :)
4) Keeping your ancestors alive in your home; as with most part of history, people can be easily forgotten when we don’t have reminders. Find a way to give your ancestors a space in your home, whether it’s family pictures, a piece of art or a blanket made with love, a family recipe that you make with your family, a story or poem or song written by and ancestor, etc. Weave the history and talents of your ancestors into your life and you will assuredly feel blessed with a connection to the legacy that came before you.
*Great love for our Father’s Children - Quentin L. Cook May 2019
“When we learn of the trials and hardships our ancestors faced, our love and appreciation for them is magnified.”
*Family History & Temple work: Sealing & Healing - Dale G. Renlund April 2018
“…love for their ancestors was the catalyst to heal a rift, mend a hurt, and seek and extend forgiveness.”
“But as we participate in family history and temple work today, we also lay claim to “healing” blessings promised by prophets and apostles.6 These blessings are also breathtakingly amazing because of their scope, specificity, and consequence in mortality. The long list includes these blessings:
-increased understanding of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice
-increased influence of the Holy Ghost to feel strength and direction for our own lives
-increased faith, so that conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding
-increased ability and motivation to learn and repent because of an understanding of who we are, where we come from, and a clearer vision of where we are going
-increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating influences in our hearts
-increased joy through an increased ability to feel the love of the Lord
-increased family blessings, no matter our current, past or future family situation or how imperfect our family tree may be
-increased love and appreciation for ancestor and living relatives, so we no longer feel alone
-increased power to discern that which needs healing and thus, with the Lord’s help serve others
-increased protection from temptations and the intensifying influence off the adversary
-increased assistance to mend troubled, broken, or anxious hearts and make the wounded whole
If you have prayed for any of these blessings participate in family history and temple work.”
“Meaningful growth occurs going backward and forward through the generations as sealing ordinances weld families together.”
*Generations linked in love - President Russel M Nelson April 2010
“When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes inside us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves. Our inborn yearnings for family connections are fulfilled when we are linked to our ancestors through sacred ordinances of the temple.”
“No matter your situation, you can make family history a part of your life right now. Primary children can draw a family tree. Youth can participate in proxy baptisms. They can also help the older generation work with computers. Parents can relate stories of their lives to their posterity. Worthy adult members can hold a temple recommend and perform temple ordinances for their own kin.”
How do we keep record of our families now?
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