Rootstech is almost here!  I am so excited to be returning to Salt Lake City to attend. I hope you are too! This is my 6th Rootstech experience and it just keeps getting better. Last year was my first year working for The Family History Guide.  Working in the Expo Hall at RT, teaching some mini-classes in our booth, doing demos of the website and meeting so many wonderful people was fabulous!  It is so rewarding to share the contents of The History Guide and watch people’s reaction to the treasures inside our website. I cannot wait to do it again. Our grandson, Connor, was there last year and had a great time in our booth. This year will mark his fourth Rootstech Discovery Day experience.  He’s a freshman at the University this year. The photo below is of Connor with our granddaughter, Julia, from a few years ago. They were mapping out their day in the Expo Hall. Julia will be coming this year too if all goes well. What makes these young adults want to come and learn more about our family history?

When we have a love and are passionate about finding and knowing who our ancestors were, we want to pass this great joy onto our children and grandchildren.  How do we do that is the question?

There are so many great ideas shared in The Family History Guide and here are just a few.  Family Activites for Children and Youth, Kids Corner, Memories, Photos and Stories, The Come, Follow Me Companion, Indexing, YouTube Videos and more. Here is a new video just added to our YouTube Channel this week, by Angelle and Scott Anderson entitled “Detective Discovery Day”. You’ll love this!

I think stories are a wonderful way to involve children, as well as, adults in their own family history. The ones they write themselves, the ones they hear and read all contribute to their desires.  I asked Connor why he wants to come to Rootstech and here is his reply.

“In all honesty, my love for family history stems from our family members who are actively engaged in it. I remember my Grandma G., showing me years worth of pictures and stories that she had collected in massive binders over the years. My Grandma and Grandpa Mattson, came to the United Kingdom where we were living, to visit us and also with the intention of going to Carmarthenshire, Wales to research more about our ancestors from there. They had great experiences and success there to share. They have also told us lots of other stories.  In elementary school, they helped me to do a special project on my 2nd great-grandfather from Italy, Andrew Ferrera.

To be in my family means a lot to me and by the age of 12, I had already indexed dozens of names and even taken some others to the temple.

My experiences at Rootstech have always been uplifting, It’s a time when people like my grandmothers can get together to learn and exchange ideas. People can share innovations, and ultimately celebrate our modern technology and skills as we investigate and rediscover the missing members of our family tree.

Every year that I come to Rootstech adds another layer of assurance for me that this work needs to be done. Families were the first social units created on earth and they will be extremely important in the life to come.  I know that it is a blessing and opportunity to participate in this great work so that we can all return to God one day.”

I was delighted to get this message from Connor. I believe that his experiences with his immediate family and his living extended family, and his interest in his family history have all strengthened him. Knowing who we are and the people who came before us to provide us the opportunities we have today is important.  It cannot help but build a truer sense of security and belonging in all of us. All the ideas in The Family History Guide for strengthening families will ultimately make this world a better place to be. It makes all of our lives better to know we are not alone and never have been. Nor will we ever be!