Getting Back to my Roots...Tech

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend RootsTech. I've been excited about going since I signed up back in January, and I was definitely not disappointed when I actually went. There were a lot of interesting things going on, and I learned some very helpful tips for my own family history efforts as well as for my calling as Family History Leader.

It was my first year attending the conference, as last year I hadn't heard about it until after the tickets were sold out. Fortunately, since I now attend a stake family history and temple committee meeting, I got an early notice when the tickets first went on sale, so I got myself registered early. Not having gone before, I simply signed up for the free Family Discovery Day admission on Saturday as that was the only day I could reasonably attend anyway. I didn't realize until just before the conference began that this option would limit me quite a bit on what I could do. It was still a great experience, but I think next year I will spring for the paid one-day pass so I can go to some of the more in-depth sessions.

Sign in was the first step after I arrived. The atmosphere in the Salt Palace was pretty thrilling from the first moment. There were a ton of people of all different types milling about. Also, though I've spent a lot of time around it, I've never actually been inside the Salt Palace. The sheer size of the place alone was exciting. The check-in process was fast and efficient, and soon I was loaded up with my name tag and a string backpacked filled with materials.

I had a few minutes before my first session was to begin, so I did a quick run through of the exhibition hall. There were booths from all kinds of companies and groups here. Family Search and Ancestry had a number of sections devoted to various areas like indexing, mobile apps, etc. There were also lots of little groups from all kinds of areas with little booths. There was a group specifically dedicated to Jewish ancestry research, a couple groups for Scandinavian research, and places specializing in research branches like military records among other vendors.

My first actual session was a leadership training. Honestly, it was my favorite part of the day. They did a panel of leaders from the first quorum of the seventy and temple department. Ideas for helping families engage in family history work were discussed and some great examples were given. They brought up a stake president whose stake had had a huge explosion in people doing temple work for family names thanks to the new descendancy search tool, which makes it easy to find a lot of work to do on peripheral lines quickly. People doing this work together as families had many other positive effects in other areas the stake was concerned about. In this session, we were all challenged to find and reserve a new name to take to the temple by the end of the day.

The presentation and ideas discussed were very enlightening and inspirational, but what made it more powerful for me was the fact that I got a number of specific impressions along the way. Needing to experiment more with the descendancy search was one of those things, but beyond that I also caught a greater vision for what is possible when a ward becomes engaged with family history work in serious ways. I was reminded forcefully of my original intention when I was called to arrange to get in the homes of the members and teach them how to do family history work. I was able to go to a few at first, but nothing as systematic and continuous as I had originally hoped. A new commitment to resume this practice and push it more proactively was impressed on me.

I next made my way to the session I was most excited about attending. It covered how to use partner sites in conjunction with FamilySearch. Unfortunately, by the time I found the room where the seminar was to be held, it was already packed, and they were turning everyone else away. I could have moseyed into one of the other sessions, but honestly the ones that were available on my Family Day Pass at that time weren't all that appealing to me. Instead, I went back to the exhibition hall. It was still plenty crowded, but I was able to collect some useful flyers and such and talk to a few people with some good tips.

I also got lucky and found a terminal that had a nice new Discovery Center interface which I believe is powered by Relative Finder. I've used this tool before, but it seems they've included a lot of new features since I last tried it. I didn't have a ton of time to explore everything in depth, but I did learn some good things. For instance, Ben Franklin is my 1st cousin 10 times removed, Millard Fillmore, Calvin Coolidge, and Henry David Thoreau are my 4th cousin 6 times removed, Issac Allerton (who was a Mayflower passenger) is my 12th great great uncle, Joseph Smith is my 6th cousin 5 times removed, Brigham Young is my 5th cousin 7 times removed, etc. I won't go through all of them. Suffice it to say I have some pretty amazing relations! I definitely recommend trying it out yourself. Though the interface isn't as nice as the one that they had there, you still can get good info. I also got to see this interesting breakdown of my ancestry based on the entered info in FamilySearch. In truth, I have a lot more Slovak and German ancestry, for example, on my mom's side, but her side is simply less complete at this point.

I was pretty absorbed with this and had to tear myself away to get to my next session. That one was also had some useful info about teaching family history to others. I picked up some good tips there I have started and will continue to put into action. Next I went to the closing session for Family Discovery Day. Both Elder Anderson and Elder Cook were there. Most of the session, however, involved a heavily scripted conversation with Elder Cook's extended family and also singing a primary song about the hearts of the children turning to their fathers. It's a nice song, but it was done 4 or 5 times in a row in various ways, so I was kind of sick of it by the end. Honestly, this was the least informative session for me by quite a long shot, but I suppose that's because it was pretty clearly targeted to the kids in the audience.

Finally, the conference ended with a closing celebration that featured Studio C and David Archuleta. The Studio C people answered some questions, did a lip sync battle, and showed this sketch that was specifically created for RootsTech. Check it out below!

Afterwards, David Archuleta sang. There was also a specially produce Spanish music video prepared for RootsTech, which was very well done. I really liked how it shows that our ancestors can influence our lives for good as we connect with them.

Overall, the David Archuleta part was much more interesting to me. He really is quite a good singer and the songs he did were interesting. I also appreciate that he certainly appears to have a very sincere personality and a genuine love for the gospel. It's quite apparent where his priorities lie.

Once the concert ended, I made my way home. I knew that I still needed to fulfill the challenge to find one new name before the end of the day, so as soon as I got home, I whipped out my computer and dove in, praying that the Lord would help me have success. I had found one person, John G. Helm Jr., that looked promising on the FamilySearch app on my phone while I was waiting in line for lunch, so I quickly relocated, researched, and reserved him.

Though the assignment was technically completed, I really wanted to find at least one female name that I could actually do myself. Since John had needed work, I figured that his family was a good place to start. Though his wife's work had all been completed, except for sealing to spouse, I discovered that he had 3 daughters who all had not been done. Unfortunately, there was also not enough info recorded to complete their work. This didn't deter me, however, and through some census hints that popped up for John, I was able to find, enter, and attach the needed info for each of his 3 daughters.

I found a series of 5 censuses spanning 40 years that allowed me to piece together this family's story a bit. I saw John with his wife Lizzie and their 3 young daughters in 1900, then watched as the girls grew up, and Alma got married. Later, Lizzie died, and John's 2 spinster daughters, Hazel and Elsie stayed with their father. Eventually, John retired from his hardware business and the three remained in the house they always resided in near a parochial school. No doubt it was partly because I can in some way relate to the feelings of a spinster, but I felt a real connection to this family. I really cared about them, and grieved with them when I saw their wife/mother die. Though they never had any descendants of their own, Hazel and Elsie are not forgotten. I pondered on their lives and came to love and truly value them, though by most measures, their lives may seem wasted and insignificant in the world.

It only took me about 2 hours, but beyond just fulfilling an assignment and collecting temple work, I came to deeply love this little family. I continually felt the Holy Spirit as well as the influence of their spirits. It is incredible to me how family history work has an intense power to draw me close to both my Heavenly Family and my earthly family simultaneously. A conviction that the purpose of this life is growing to love and assist in binding families together was again borne upon me. I am looking forward to performing the ordinances for this wonderful family.

I truly had a fantastic time at RootsTech. It definitely struck me as the perfect way to spend Valentine's Day. I was richly blessed both while I was there and afterwards as well. In the future, I think I will spring for a paid pass so that I can take advantage of a wider array of the classes. I'm already looking forward to next year's conference!