Skip to main content

Ten Things of Thankful: RootsTech Edition


The main stage of RootsTech, with chairs beginning to fill with attendees

The past few days I was in Salt Lake City, Utah, attending the family history conference, RootsTech. Unless you've heard a description or attended before, your mental image of the event probably isn't completely accurate. Yes, there are classes teaching about research techniques, DNA analysis, and organization methods, but you might not have imagined interviews with Olympic and Paralympic gold medalists, musical performances by The Piano Guys, or cultural cooking demonstrations. It was a wonderful conference, with the open-ended theme, "What will you discover?"

I'm thankful for discoveries I made:

1. I attended several classes on Scottish research and learned something I probably should have figured out a long time ago. Did you know that Nova Scotia means New Scotland? I'm thankful classes cover all levels of family historians, from the very beginner to professionals. 

2. Another class was on planning genealogical travel. Google translate was mentioned, not just for use with microphone, but also with camera. Apparently Google translate can translate photos of signs. I'm thankful for practical tips. 

3. In my search for more records of my Scottish ancestors, I stumbled across a newspaper article mentioning the death in May 1867 of Janet Telfer Davidson, aged 3 years, 8 months, and 21 days. Although so far as I can determine now, Janet does not tie into my Telfer relatives, if you know me, you know that I love to find lost children. So I researched Janet's family a bit, attaching various sources and adding names, dates, places, and sources to FamilySearch, so when Janet's extended family members research her family, they will find her, too. Going down that research rabbit hole, I found at least three other siblings of Janet's, all who died as infants or children. Their mother, Isabella, died at age 39. I haven't been able to figure out what became of their father, Andrew. (There are many different Andrew Davidsons, but I haven't sleuthed out which is the correct one yet.) I'm hoping to figure out which adults (parents, siblings, etc.) Isabella and Andrew connect to, because my very preliminary research isn't finding any of their children surviving past childhood, and I'm saddened to think that their family memories might be lost to time. I'm thankful for people--everyone has a story, and everyone is important.

4. I attended a roundtable presentation given by leaders from the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the things I learned was that the family history department has conducted 2 million interviews for an oral genealogy project in Africa, helping to preserve records that have in the past been stored only in the minds of those given the task of remembering. They also have 67 camera teams in the Ukraine currently digitizing archival records.  I'm thankful for those who help stories live on.

5. I heard a quote from Elder K Brett Nattress: "The youth of today need to serve, more than they need to be served." I suspect that goes for the rest of us, too. I'm thankful for service, which gives me the ability to look beyond myself and reach out to help others. Helping others brings more happiness than self-absorption. 

6. Dana Tanamachi was one of the keynote speakers. She's an artist who had her big break with chalk art years ago. Even if you don't know her name already, you've probably seen her art, whether on an egg carton or a postage stamp. She spoke about her grandmothers who brought beauty to the Japanese internment camps of WWII, even with the humblest of mediums and in such dire circumstances. I'm thankful for all who beautify their surroundings. 

7. Likewise, gold medalist Paralympian Hunter Woodhall and his wife, gold medalist Olympian Tara Davis-Woodhall, as well as The Piano Guys, also spoke about the influence of family traits on their own success. I'm thankful for those traits and interests that are passed down through the generations.

8. I attended a class taught by the film director, T. C. Christensen. (He directed Escape from Germany, The Cokeville Miracle, and many other films.) He encouraged us to think about our own great family stories. I was impressed with his attention to authenticity. He said that in the making of Escape from Germany, instead of hiring a bunch of regular extras, he sought out descendants of the missionaries portrayed in the film and had them be the extras. He sat descendants next to the actor portraying their ancestor, and in the filming breaks, the actors got to hear more about the individuals they were portraying. I'm thankful for family stories and the lessons we can learn from those in our families. 

9. Yesterday, President Jeffrey R. Holland, and Elder Neil L. Andersen and his wife Kathy spoke. President Holland was the president of Brigham Young University when I was a student there and I had the privilege of taking a religion class from him. Now he serves as the acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He has such a gentle nature and exudes love of and for Jesus Christ. It was wonderful to see him and hear him speak, as well as to see and hear Elder and Sister Andersen. The Piano Guys performed at that session, and one of the songs they chose to do was "Story of My Life." They showed the following video on the screens as they performed the song live. I'm thankful for the spirit felt at RootsTech. 


10. The last class I attended was titled, "Genealogy Intertwined with Gratitude." You KNOW I had to go to that class! The presenter mentioned how even the difficult parts of family stories can inspire gratitude. She said that family history gives us perspective, and that we can not only look back and forward through the years, but also up to see our family's faith and over the horizon to glimpse our family's hopes. I'm thankful for my family. 

11. I'm thankful for John. He supports me in my interests and encourages me in my endeavors. He had dinner waiting for me every night when I got back, which was so thoughtful. Thanks, John--for everything!

What have you discovered, and what are you thankful for? Be sure to check out the other blogs, and leave a comment or link up your own post!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Comments

  1. It is sad to think about families which have no living descendants any longer, I'm glad you are trying to find the information on this particular one, so they won't be totally forgotten.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sounds like a very satisfying conference on all fronts, information and technique (of a number of disciplines) and surely inspiring. (I was mentioning to Mimi how the friends we have here online expand our worlds, even if only vicariously* and the proof of that I felt again, seeing the bold-font Roots Tech and thinking... so soon. As down through the years (ikr? lol) you've shared your experiences attending. Just a tiny glimpse into the world/life of another person is surely a enhancement of one's life.
    have a good week
    *not necessarily a bad thing

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...

Ten Things of Thankful: Live from Oregon, part 2

stock photo of old computer monitor When I was 10 or 11, I remember sitting next to my dad in our living room and reading computer code to him as he entered it into an Apple computer. We would finish the exercise and he would hit enter (or was it "run"?) and wait expectantly for the green type to appear on the screen. If we were lucky, the whole conversation would occur. Most often, there would be an error either in my dictation of the code, or in the typing of the code. We would then go painstakingly back through the lines, character by character, to find and correct the error. After what seemed like hours (and might have been), we would succeed and the computer would finally run the entire program. It was magical! My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive solar home decades before solar panels were commonplace. He also was on a 9-month waiting list for a Prius, when hybrids were not seen on every street.  While my dad is definitely on the cutting edge of technol...

Ten Things of Thankful: Oregon Edition, Part 3

  A western bluebird, sitting at the base of a house window, looks inside Thanks (1) to those who have sent well-wishes for my mom's recovery. Her wrist is healing up nicely. I met a friend from high school for lunch this past week. It was so nice to have a chance to visit with her for a couple of hours. She is one of those friends who it doesn't matter how much time has passed, we can pick right back up into meaningful conversations. Lunch ended all too soon, but I'm so thankful (2) for her, and I'm thankful (3) that she reminded me of the importance of reaching out to others.  Being in my parents' home this week, visiting with a long-time (I'm not saying old!) friend, and with Mother's Day tomorrow, my mind naturally reflects upon the women in my life. I'm thankful (4) for an incredible mom--a gentle woman who taught and loved and guided us (and still does.) I'm thankful (5) for grandmas who were different in their personalities but united in their...