Our Stake Fair?

 On Saturday morning, I had a phone call asking what we can do in our stake fair to encourage family history and temple attendance, In two weeks??? And asking about what we will be doing in the regional Temple and Family History event in October.

This was a bit of a shock since I was unaware of both events. So I had nothing planned, I found out that my fellow stake consultant was also unaware, Obviously we need to work on communicating better, We do put out a monthly stake newsletter, but we can only inform others of what we know,

I asked a few questions and I found out that the expectation for the stake fair was basically a display table and some consultants to answer questions. That seemed very manageable. In fact, if the stake could provide us with a TV we could do much better than that, There are some good videos we could use, and a slide show of local temples might be a good way to attract viewers, If I had more advance warning I would have bought a supply of the tri-fold leaflet Family History: Get Started Now, At roughly a penny each, I could afford to be generous. I have a few copies of Our Family : Stories that Bring Us Together but at $1 each, my frugal Scottish ancestry might be a bit of a challenge. Of course, I can print blank pedigree charts on my printer ,,, 

What other suggestions do you have?

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Sometimes working in family history can leave us feeling isolated. That should not be the case, as a favorite old talk reminds us.

“All of us have parents, friends, or other loved ones who have passed away. They too exercise faith in our behalf. Do parents stop caring because they die? Are friends no longer friends at death? Does caring stop at the grave? I want you to know it does not. Life is eternal.

“And what of those yet unborn? Do they have an interest in your success? Your unborn children watch you from above with great interest and concern. They want the best for themselves and for you. You can be sure of it. Probably millions of spirits yet to be born cheer loudly for the millions of us who prepare the way for them. I believe it could be no other way.

“My message to you is, hopefully, clear. Every person in this life has a cheering section. It is composed of those around us, those who have passed over to the other side, and those who are yet to come.”

“Above all, I bear you my witness that there is a Father in Heaven who put you here and wants you back. His support alone will do it. May we draw close to him so we can know it. May we then give it to those around us who need it, especially our own families. May the Spirit give you the same assurance that I have that our Father lives, that he loves us, and that he, together with many others, can bring us safely home.” - Paul H. Dunn, “The Cheering Section,” Ensign, June 1980

My Elders Quorum President

I was reminded recently of old friends, now deceased, Chesley and Joan Pierson, of Calgary 5th Ward.

In 1964 I was a convert of 2 years, preparing to serve a fulltime mission.

Ches and Joan arranged to take me to the temple for the first time. They were wonderful, generous people. At that time the closest temple was in Cardston, a 2 or 3 hour drive from Calgary,  Ches was my escort, my guide, and my helper. 

At the end of the session, we were descending the stairs from the Celestial room dressed in white. I had the strongest impression that this was like Jacob's vision at Bethel. I have never forgotten this. 

The temple has remained important to me ever since. One of my choicest callings was to serve with my wife in the Edmonton Temple for 19 years.

And my experiences in the House of The Lord started when my elders quorum president invited me to come to the temple with him and his wife. Bless you both, my friends.

Using "Help Others" to solve an urgent problem`

The voice on the phone was somewhat frantic: "We are taking our daughter to the Cardston temple to be baptized for a close relative, I created an account for her but I have lost the username and password."

I suggested that my caller use the "Forgot Username" and "Forgot Password" functions but apparently they were on vacation and this would be difficult.

Then I asked, "Have you ever tried the Help Others link to sign into someone else's account as a helper?" She had not.

 So I said, "Let me try, to make sure you can print the card." I asked the child's names, date of birth and the last 5 characters of her Church membership number. I used these successfully to sign in as a helper.
I checked that the child was an immediate family member of the deceased relative, Good, no permission was required.

Then I checked the relative's ordinance status, and was relieved to see that the child already had the ordinances reserved.

Everything looked good, so I guided the mother through the steps of signing in in as her daughter's helper, and printing the card to take to the Cardston Temple. Fortunately the mother had access to a printer, but if not, the long number from the card would allow the temple to print the card.

The mother soon had the ordinance card in her hands. 

"Help Others" is an amazing tool.

Technology, our frennemy

Yesterday I visited a friend and showed him how to use the FamilySearch Memories app to easily record short stories for his grandchildren, They love his stories. He is a Metis elder and knows lots of stories. 

Then I suggested that he create a folder, perhaps calling it Grandpa's Stories, and add his recordings to that album. Then he can share the URL/web address of the album with family members. Then they can click the link to access the album. They do not need a FamilySearch account, just a device with internet access and a web browser. I think he was impressed by my technical expertise. 

After I returned home, we had a phone call from a niece that we have rarely been in touch with. 

She talked about family, one of our favorite topics. She said she had some family photos to share with us. 

Then we ran into a technology snag. We found that we use different technologies to communicate.

After the phone call, our landline phone kept ringing and trying to read confused text messages to us.

Then our niece phoned again and asked if we had received the photos.   

I explained that this phone is voice-only and has no text function.

She then offered to post them on Facebook, which we don't normally use, but where I would try to connect. She sent a friend request, which I accepted and I was able to see the photos and download them,

Then I figured out how to send a message to let her know that we had received the photos, and that if she would send me an email, I would send her a link to an album containing my photos on that family line. 

We quickly become comfortable with the technologies that we use regularly, but there is a whole world of other technologies.. .

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 Free "partner subscriptions" for Church members to commercial sites
https://www.familysearch.org/access/member-subscriptions 

Do I Have Relatives in the Church?`

 This is a common question from converts. As a convert of 52 years, it still interests me.

I recently had this question from a distant cousin. After listing a few relatives, I made the following suggestion:

On Feb 29 - March 2 we have RootsTech (www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/) which we can watch at home for free, and one of their special features is Relatives at Rootstech, where you can see a map of your relatives who have registered for RootsTech (and have given permission for some of their contact info to be displayed,)  It is a lot of fun. As the world's largest family history event, many of these relatives are not members of the Church, but members who are actively involved in family history will also be there. Check it out on Feb 29th. You may be very pleasantly surprised.