As life speeds up and responsibilities pile up, how will we ever find time to learn—let alone do—family history? FamilySearch has the answer.
Photo by Alexandre Chambon
I’ll be walking in a cap and gown this August and heading out to D.C. with my husband: internship for me, student teaching for him. We’re excited for our new adventure as millennials. But behind our dreams of weekend trips, impressing everyone in our new jobs, and finding family history in the Library of Congress, reality lurks. We’re going to be just as busy as we are now.
The first time I logged on to FamilySearch.org, I clicked aimlessly around my tree for a while and quickly realized that I don’t have hours to spend on my computer digging up family history. When I got my very first smartphone a few months ago, I downloaded the free FamilySearch – Tree app out of curiosity, and it has changed the way I think about family history: it’s my new favorite game!
In her article, “10 Cool Apps to Help You Do Your Family History,” Becca Allen Hardman speaks highly of FamilySearch – Tree app, because with the app “you can add stories, photographs, and documents of your ancestors” straight to their profiles. With no more than a few thumb taps, you can connect a census record or marriage certificate to your ancestor. The more you explore your tree and connect documents to your ancestors, the more tasks pop up. (I started with a couple dozen and now have more than 1,000 tasks in my queue.) The more tasks you complete, the more ancestors you’ll find, no matter how much your grandma has already worked on your family tree.
FamilySearch – Tree app has replaced all the in-between time I used to waste surfing social media. And now, my husband and I have stacks of names to take to the temple. FamilySearch – Tree was built for the rush-hour gaps we millennials call free time.
My favorite family history promises come from Elder David A. Bednar in his talk “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn.” He says, “I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives.” I have felt these promises come in my own life, five minutes at a time.
Read more about the FamilySearch – Tree app and nine more great apps in “10 Cool Apps to Help You Do Your Family History” by Becca Allen Hardman.
Source: FamilySearch Blog
—Emilee Pugh Bell, Mormon Insights
feature image by josh felise
Find more insights
Read Leah Emal’s Mormon Insights article, “Expanding Our Understanding of Family History.”
Take a look at the Family History site on lds.org.
Watch FamilySearch’s video “Every Family Has a Story, Discover Yours.”
Learn more about including family history work in a busy life at FamilySearch Blog’s “Partner Access.”
Watch a video featuring Elder Quentin L. Cook: “The Promised Blessings of Family History.”