Recently, I got to interview a neighbor, Diane. She specializes in family history and genealogy! She shared her own insights about how journals and family history in this Q&A.
When asked what inspired her to do family history, Diane stated that since she had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it has given her a special connection to her ancestors. "I have been working on this [family history] since 1982 but it was impossible at the time to see any records in Italy or Czechoslovakia," she said, but shortly after retiring, there was finally time to use the Family Search website to find out more about where her family came from.
In addition to using Family Search, a website that combines records of ancestors all over the world to genealogy enthusiast, there are Facebook groups that have genealogy interests that helped Diane find more of her family.
Next, the reason family history is important to Diane was that by doing family history work, it helps ancestors be together again in the afterlife. After all, in the LDS church, we believe that families can be together forever!
"Now that we have so many genealogy website to work on like Family Search, Ancestry, Find My Past, and My Heritage, it is much easier to have success finding your ancestors," Diane said. Even the church president, President Nelson, invites everyone to find the time every Sunday and find our family members in the past through genealogy work.
For resources to keeping a good family or personal history, Diane advised, "You can have your tree and research your ancestors on these websites: FamilySearch, Ancestry, Find My Past, and My Heritage. Plus there are genealogy record-keeping programs like Ancestral Quest, RootsMagic, and Legacy that lets you keep your tree on your own computer and save it." So for those looking forwards in doing your own search for family, these are well-established genealogy resources!
With family history blessing Diane's life, she said, "Whenever I do family history work...I see the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of my ancestors." In addition, there are countless experiences where families are brought back together again through family history and relationships are healed!
And finally, Diane added about the importance of keeping a journal. "I think it is very helpful to write down our stories so that they could help others strengthen their testimonies." Indeed, by keeping a personal record, it helps one grow their faith in Christ and see the miracles God puts in our lives!
All in all, it has been a wonderful experience getting to know what family history means to Diane and how it blessed her life! I know, personally, that by keeping a journal and looking back on those experiences in my life, I get to see how far I've come and I know that family history helps everyone in one way or another!
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