Search This Blog

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Family History Activities And How They Strengthen Individuals and Families




The Family History Guide Blog

Yesterday I was able to see the BYU Family History Library Webinar that Bob Taylor gave last week while we were traveling. If you haven't seen it, please do.

It was a really wonderful look into what is possible in the way of family history activities for families, singles, youth and children. This area of the Family History Guide is found under the Misc. Link, in the dropdown menu on the Homepage of The Family History Guide. 
This section of the Family History Guide has recently been masterfully updated by Angelle Anderson on the staff of The Family History Guide in collaboration with Bob Taylor.

Family history activities are a wonderful way to introduce people of all ages to something we already know deep inside ourselves. Knowing and caring about our ancestors strengthens us as individuals and families in so many ways. We take what we learn from their life experiences and it can change the way we go forward in our own lives.
Sometimes the stories of our ancestors can really turn the hearts of young kids toward their ancestors in a very poignant way. While traveling in England a few year ago with our son's family, he asked me to share a family history story with their family one evening. A very sad story that I learned of from the 1800s came immediately to mind.

One of my father's great aunts had three older children in their teens when she was expecting another child. They lived on the prairie in North Dakota and their father was a farmer and away one day when the mother went into early labor. The children had no idea what to do or how to help their mother. Unbeknownst to any of them she was trying to give birth to triplets. As things started to go very badly the oldest boy, who was 15, ran to the fields to find their father. He did not succeed.
One tiny girl had been born first after much laboring. During the next hours all but that little girl died. Both the little boys and their mom perished that day. 

I asked our same age grandchildren to imagine what it must have been like for those bigger kids as they stood by helplessly not knowing what to do. I asked then to consider how much they love their own mom and each other.  

When the father returned he found a very disturbing scene. His wife had died and two babies, his 12 year-old daughter was sobbing and trying to comfort her weak, tiny newborn sister, and there were two inconsolable sons to greet him. I asked our grandchildren to also consider how the father felt coming home after what he thought was just another work day in the fields.  Within two weeks the first baby also died. In researching their lives I discovered that they had lost twins also five years earlier.

This story had a huge impact on our oldest grandson with us on this trip. Since that day two years ago, Connor has thought of those ancestors a lot. It changed him and he is now very interested in our ancestors and their stories. He has learned to appreciate our family so much more because of them. When he faces adversity, he thinks of them and is grateful for their examples of courage and strength and he presses forward. Knowing about our ancestors is a good thing for all of us. Do you have a story to share with us?


Their Family Now

The Family History Guide
Family Activities: 1. Anytime Activities and Games 2. Plan-Ahead Activities 3. Making Family History 4. Documenting the Past 5. Social Media Activities 6. Service Activities 7. Activities for Research 8. LDS Activities Resources.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...