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             Our ward had an activity on Saturday.  I was asked to give a spiritual thought in relation to said activity – which was on family history.  I thought I would just give a quick and short thought about why we have family history and sought inspiration.  I listened to a conference talk given by Elder Nelson (now president) had given in 1994 which mentioned “genealogy” being replaced with “family history” which for me opened a whole new floodgate of questions.  

Curiosity got the better of me and I researched dates and information related specifically to downtown Salt Lake. By the time I had finished my research I had enough information for a talk though unless specifically assigned the family history topic it is not a talk that I’ll ever give from the pulpit. 

So my thought was:

“Genealogical Society of Utah started exactly 130 years and 3 days ago.  So what is the difference between Genealogy and Family History.  I would love to give you the reference but this quote came up as an IA overview, but I thought it was such a good quote I thought I would share it.

“Genealogy is the “bones” of a family tree and family history is the “flesh” that brings it to life.”  

I concluded with another quote:

President Spencer W. Kimball taught that “our great part in this aspect of missionary work is to perform on this earth the ordinances required for those who accept the gospel over there.”

I did not share any dates or discoveries that I had made as I researched the history specifically of the family history library located in Salt Lake.  

 According to Russell M. Nelson (GC Oct 1994, who at the time was an elder and not prophet, seer and revelator) the Genealogical Society was organized on November 13, 1894.  I remember going to the church office building where the Genealogical Society was on an upper floor.  I don’t know that it was really open to the public per se – I was always with a group and had assumed prior arrangements had been made. 

I remember searching through large books with legal documents containing family group sheets and either copying the information by hand or most likely using the copy machines and adding said information to my very own Book of Remembrance.  How grateful I am that the legal paper is a thing of the past. 

 Apparently the family history thing (then tacked with the name genealogy) became a hot item during the 70’s thanks in part to Alex Haley.  The Genealogy Library in Salt Lake was not built until October 1985. The name was changed to the Family History Library almost two years later in August 1987.  For a good while there people came to Utah to use the Family History Library, my aunt being one of them.  She would sleep in the extra bed we had, leave in the morning, spend the entire day downtown, and return at night to sleep.

On January 10 last year the name was changed to FamilySearch library to accompany the online source which is available world wide.  How blessed we are to literally have so much information at our fingertips and do not have the expense of traveling to one destination or back and forth to several. 

 The children’s songbook was initially published in 1989.  On page 94 is the song “Genealogy – I Am Doing It” also changed to “Family History– I Am Doing It”.  I remember hand writing the new words but cannot find the book I used.  The second verse is the same but the first us different – except for “progenitors” (that’s a big word for primary kids) I like the flow of the “Family History” lyrics as opposed to the “Genealogy” ones.

 

Geneology – I am doing it, my geneology

                  Fam’ly history—I am doing it, My fam’ly history.

And the reasons why I am doing it

                  And the love I feel when I’m doing it

Are very clear to me

                  Is very sweet to me.

I will keep my book of rememberence;

I learn stories of my progenitors;

I’ll write my history.

I write their history.

It’s a record of my family

I keep records of my loved ones

My geneology

On my own fam’ly tree.