Getting Started in Family History

I am putting this blog together to help members of our ward, or anyone for that matter, learn how to do family history and use FamilySearch.org.  This opinions and information in this blog are my personal views and are not intended or represented as official views of FamilySearch.org or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or any other company or website I write about.

For questions about information on this website, please contact Brian Edwards, bljedwards<at>gmail.com.

A question people commonly ask is “Where do I start or what should I do first?”  Believe it or not, I am not going to suggest you start entering data into the family tree.  In Doctrine and Covenants (and in similar verses in Malachi and a few other places), we read this:

1. Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

2. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

3. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.

So, part of the work of salvation is to turn our hearts to our fathers, or ancestors.  This is where we need to start. 

In the Family History Department, this is often referred to as “hearts before charts.”  That’s catchy but what does it mean?  How do we turn our hearts to our ancestors?

Turning our hearts to our ancestors means getting to know them, as real people, not just as names on a pedigree chart.  It means learning a little about who they were, what they did, or their situation.

I would suggest you gather your family and, if you can, talk to your parents or grandparents.  Ask them what life was like as they were growing up.  Ask them about how they met, what they did for a living, or anything else that interests you.  Then, ask them about their parents and brothers and sisters.  See if they have photos of these people.

Then, gather some of these photos and capture some of these stories and add them to FamilySearch.  Don’t worry if the temple work for these people is already done. The goal right now is to turn our hearts to our ancestors and begin to preserve some of these memories for our children and grandchildren.  To remember and memorialize who they were.